Alan Raine, 39, of Percival Street, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on April 9. He was fined £80 and was told to pay a surcharge to fund victim services of £30, compensation of £100 and costs of £85.
Tag Archives: Sunderland
Thug celebrating ‘lenient’ sentence launches racist attack on woman shop worker… and walks free from court AGAIN
Attacks woman in front of her children just hours after walking free from court
Mother-of-four had chunks of hair pulled out and vile racist abuse was thrown at her
He had just been given a community order for previous assault on a man with learning difficulties
A thug out celebrating his ‘lenient’ court sentence left a shop worker cowering and crying in front of her children in a sickening attack.
Kieron Wright was given a community order in March for his part in a cowardly assault that left a man with learning difficulties battered and bleeding in a pub toilet in Sunderland.
Within 24 hours of walking out of court the 19-year-old, who was given an ASBO in 2010, had turned his violence on Syeda Chowdhury, known as Sally, at a store in the city.
Newcastle Crown Court heard yesterday during the terrifying attack the victim had chunks of her hair pulled out and vile racist abuse was thrown at her.
Wright was handed a suspended sentence for his latest attack by Judge Roger Thorn QC.
The mum-of-four has been told it could take two years for her missing hair to grow back.
Prosecutor Richard Herrmann told the court the violence flared when Mrs Chowdhury confronted Wright over a pack of pork scratchings he had walked out of the store with but not paid for.
As the trouble spilled outside Mrs Chowdhury ended up standing at the door of her nearby home and her children came out.
Mr Herrmann said: ‘The defendant became racially abusive to her, throwing punches in her direction.
‘Two other people became involved, one who was convicted of threatening behaviour
‘The complainant describes she was very upset during the incident.
‘She was shaking, crying and chunks of her hair were on the ground.
‘Her children were screaming at the distress of the situation.’
Wright, of no fixed address, admitted breaching the original community order, breach of an antisocial behaviour order and affray.
Judge Thorn said: ‘He got what he thought was a lenient sentence and went out to celebrate to such an extent he committed the affray.’
Tony Hawks, defending, said Wright has been in Durham jail since March, which he has found an ‘intimidating experience.’
Judge Thorn said because Wright has spent the equivalent of a 12-month sentence on remand his 12-month prison sentence for the offence will be suspended for 18-months, with supervision.
The judge told him: ‘Newcastle Crown Court, in your view clearly, gave you a lenient sentence that you were not expecting.
‘I’m not going to express my own view of that because I don’t know the circumstances in which you were sentenced.
‘You went out and celebrated in a completely foolish way and committed further offences.’
As Wright left the court Judge Thorn warned him: ‘The last thing you ought to do is go and celebrate.’
Daily Mail
Four dealers in court after selling drugs to undercover police officers
DRUGS CHARGES … clockwise, from top left, Thomas Allen, Deborah Ritchie, Daniel Sayers and Adam Sayers.
FOUR drug dealers were arrested when police launched an undercover operation to tackle city centre crime.
Officers who posed as users ‘Gary and Emma’ were easily able to buy drugs from strangers they met while hanging around the busy streets of Sunderland.
Over a period of weeks the covert cops were regularly offered and sold cannabis.
On one occasion they were able to buy diamorphine during a deal that took place near Hudson Street Primary School.
As a result of the operation, Adam Sayers, 27 and Deborah Ritchie, 28, both of Somerset Street, Daniel Sayers, 31, of Hill View Square and Thomas Allen, 29, of Guildford Street, all in Sunderland, all admitted drugs charges.
All four have dozens of previous convictions for a variety of offences.
Prosecutor Micahael Hodson told Newcastle Crown Court; “This was an investigation into crime generally, in the centre of Sunderland.
“The prosecution say Adams Sayers is the busiest of all and he involved his girlfriend Miss Ritchie.
“Daniel Sayers made the first approach to the two officers, who were sitting on a wall in Sunderland town centre.
“The crown submit they are street dealers.”
The court heard the first meeting with the undercover officers was in early April last year.
The operation came to an end in August when the home of Sayers and Ritchie was raided and 14 wraps of cannabis were found.
Between those dates the officers had been able to purchase small amount of drugs, in exchange for cash, cigarettes and even razors.
The deals were often arranged via mobile phone after the initial street meeting in April.
Adam Sayers, who admitted supplying and offering to supply cannabis, was jailed for nine months.
Ritchie, who admitted supplying and offering to supply cannabis, was sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with a two month curfew.
Allen, who admitted supplying cannabis, was sentenced to four month imprisonment, suspended for 18 months with supervision and a two month curfew.
Daniel Sayers, who admitted one charge of supplying diamorphine, was jailed for nine months , consecutive to a sentence he is serving for unrelated offences.
Judge Paul Sloan QC told them: “Your offending was detected as a result of a police operation where two undercover officers were deployed to operate covertly in Sunderland.”
The judge said he accepted Ritchie, who has turned her back on trouble and is co-operating fully with officials who are trying to help her, and Allen, who has no previous convictions for drugs offences and has settled down with a family, were lesser involved.
The court heard the diamophine handed over by Daniel Sayers during his brief involvement was worth less than £10 and he exchanged it for 100 cigarettes.
Alec Burns, defending, said the class A drug was in prescription tablet form, which got ground down during the exchange near the school.
Mr Burns said; “It was not someone who had heroin ready to supply, it was someone who improvised at the time.”
The court heard Adam Sayers has been diagnosed with health problems and has vowed to turn his back on trouble.
The EDL supporter in this article is Tommy Allan
Sunderland arsonist who torched ferry on way from North Shields to Amsterdam is jailed for 11 years
Passengers had to be airlifted to safety as smoke filled the ferry’s corridors when Boden Hughes torched his cabin while smoking cannabis
Arsonist Boden Hughes has been jailed for 11 years after setting a North Sea ferry on fire while smoking cannabis in his cabin.
Hughes was so drunk he could barely walk or talk as he travelled to Amsterdam with friends aboard a DFDS ferry.
After being ejected from the ship’s casino for being too intoxicated, he went back to cabin number 568 alone and, as he tried to light a cannabis bong, the room went up in flames.
Damage caused by fire started on DFDS ferry by Boden Hughes
The crew were unable to bring the blaze under control using fire extinguishers and only the ship’s sprinkler system managed to douse the fire.
Many of the 946 passengers on board, including children and a pregnant woman, began to panic as smoke filled the narrow corridors of the ship.
A total of 27 people needed medical treatment for smoke inhalation while six passengers, including the pregnant woman, had to be winched to safety by a helicopter.
The drama unfolded around 25 miles out to sea aboard the King Seaways ferry, on December 28 last year.
As Hughes was jailed for that and a separate offence of stealing railway cable, it emerged the fire had left DFDS £800,000 out of pocket.
Judge James Goss QC, at Newcastle Crown Court, told him: “Passengers had to be evacuated from their cabins and there was panic and children were screaming.
“The fire caused enormous danger and panic and the total cost of the fire was £800,000.
“It was a spectacular piece of recklessness committed by a drunk man on bail at the time and the consequences could have been disastrous.
“Fires on a ship are even more serious than those on land because escape routes are limited and the stability of the vessel can be affected by the water used to put it out.”
The court heard Hughes, his girlfriend and others made a last minute decision to travel to Holland between last Christmas and New Year.
They took a bottle of vodka and drank that and other alcohol on board the ship after departing from North Shields.
Hughes then went off on his own for an hour, visiting the casino and consuming more drink.
Around 10pm he was trying to get back into his cabin but went to the wrong room. A member of security spotted him walking in a “zig zag fashion” and helped him back to his cabin.
Prosecutor Ian Lawrie QC said: “It was not easy to get him to the cabin, he had to keep steadying himself against the deck and walls.
“Eventually they got him in the cabin and it was within one minute or so that the fire alarm was activated on the main bridge.
“The response crew were asked to go to the deck and they found the corridor full of smoke.
“People were yelling and pushing each other in anticipation of the evacuation. One witness tells how she had to be winched into a helicopter while pregnant.”
Half-naked Hughes was partially out of his cabin and sprawled on the floor. When security picked him up he became aggressive and refused to do as he was told.
He was taken to another deck, where he then started fighting with James Curry, a friend of his.
In front of other, already terrified passengers, including children, the bare-chested pair started hitting each other and Curry also hit a member of security.
The pair were eventually detained and thrown in the ship’s cells as the captain aborted the trip and headed back to Tyneside.
The court heard DFDS had to pay £80,000 for repairs, £30,000 deviation costs, £25,000 medical evacuation costs, £475,000 for passenger liabilities, lost £170,000 in revenue and had to pay £25,000 legal costs.
Hughes, 27, of Fulwell Road, Sunderland, admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and affray for the fight with Curry. He got nine years for that plus two years for stealing copper cable from the rail network along with others.
Curry, 29, of Calshott Road, Sunderland, admitted assaulting a crew member during the fracas, threatening behaviour and the copper cable theft. He got three years and three months prison.
Christopher Morrison, for Hughes, said: “The person most at risk from this act of errant stupidity was the defendant.
“He wants to say he is extremely sorry, especially to those who had to be airlifted.”
Jane Foley, for Curry, said: “He became involved in a fight because of Hughes’ involvement with the incident which led to the fire.”
Newcastle Chronicle
Sunderland man admits drunken arson aboard North Sea ferry
A FIRE on a North Sea ferry which sparked a major rescue operation when it was carrying around 1,000 people was started by a drunk passenger who was smoking cannabis in a cabin, a court has heard.
Boden George Hughes, 26, admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered, during a brief hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, where his trial had been due to start.
The fire on the DFDS Newcastle to Amsterdam service happened at around 11pm on December 28 when the vessel was 30 miles off the North Yorkshire coast.
Six people were winched off the ferry by the RAF and helicoptered to hospital.
Hughes, who also admitted affray, pleaded guilty to arson on the basis that he was drunk, was smoking cannabis in a bong, and the fire started when his lighter’s flame set a pile of clothes ablaze.
He had altered his lighter so it produced a constant flame, he claimed.
Judge James Goss, the Recorder of Newcastle, will sentence Hughes, of Fulwell Road, Sunderland, in September.
Hughes was remanded in custody and warned to expect a lengthy prison sentence.
Judge Goss said: “Be under no illusions as to the seriousness of the crimes you have admitted today.
“This (arson) was a very serious offence which will attract a substantial sentence of imprisonment.”
Ian Lawrie QC, prosecuting, said figures will be produced at the next hearing to show the losses incurred by DFDS after the fire.
He said the helicopter rescue alone cost £50,000.
Mr Lawrie said a reconstruction of the fire showed that a blaze in a cabin using the same combustible clothing took just two minutes to engulf the space.
Hughes was guilty of “spectacular recklessness”, he said.
He added: “He was clearly drunk, he was clearly also on drugs.”
After the terrifying experience of a fire and rescue operation miles out to sea, Hughes’s fellow passengers faced the frustration of returning to Newcastle.
Passengers hugged family members in relief at the ferry terminal when they were finally allowed off, with some vowing never to sail again.
Julie Bell and Shaun Richardson, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, were on a weekend away.
At the time she said: “It was like a scene from a movie, a chaotic mess, horrible.
“It was terrifying and I won’t be travelling by boat again. I think I will stay in the UK from now on, it’s a lot safer.”
The King Seaways vessel was carrying 946 people at the time, plus crew.
RAF helicopters from Leconfield near Hull and Boulmer, Northumberland, were scrambled to the vessel along with RNLI lifeboats from Bridlington and Filey.
As he was led away, Hughes, dressed in a grey sweatshirt for the hearing, said: “Thank you, Your Honour.”
Racist thug fined for damaging mosque at EDL rally
DAMAGED … the Jami-Masjid mosque on Chester Road.
A RACIST thug has been fined for damaging a mosque after a far-right rally in Sunderland.
Connor McIntosh launched the attack on the Jami Masjid mosque in Chester Road, Sunderland, drunkenly kicking a drainpipe.
The 19-year-old had been at a demo over proposals for a new mosque in Millfield on March 30.
He was arrested after being captured on CCTV lashing out at the building.
Sunderland magistrates were told how he ranted about Islam and bragged about being a member of the EDL during his interview with police.
He pleaded guilty to causing racially-aggravated criminal damage.
Penny Bottomley, prosecuting, said McIntosh, an unemployed scrapman, was so drunk at first that he did not know why he had been arrested.
She said: “The defendant, when he was interviewed, was asked why he had been detained.
“He thought it was because he was too drunk, but then said there were too many mosques and they (Muslims) were grooming our kids.
“He said he had a child on the way and he did not want his child getting involved in all of that.
“Then he said the police should stop them burning our poppies.
“He confirmed he was a member of the EDL, and he was the male on the CCTV, and had ripped the pipe off the building himself.”
Jason Smith, defending, said father-to-be McIntosh, of Heathgate, Houghton-le-Spring, had never been in trouble before.
He said: “Usually, this is a matter that should have been dealt with by way of a caution.
“I accept the reason why it was not is because of the nature of the allegation, and because of his involvement with the EDL.”
Mr Smith told magistrates that the protest McIntosh had been to was organised with the “understanding” of the police and that McIntosh had the right to air his views.
He added: “Unfortunately, he had a bit too much to drink, and at the end of the march he caused damage to the drainpipe, then he walked away.
“He did not cause any more damage and he did not shout and swear or abuse anyone.”
McIntosh was fined £110 and ordered to pay £100 compensation to the mosque, along with £85 court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.
Shoppers cower as Sunderland and West Ham Utd fans battle
MEMBERS of the public were forced to cower as football yobs from a gang known as the Sunderland Youth Firm clashed with rival fans in the city centre.
CCTV footage of the organised mass brawl, outside the Revolution bar in Low Row, shows punches and kicks being thrown while bottles were being broken, leaving the pavements covered in shards of glass.
One witness told police they felt “sick to the stomach” by what they saw that day.
Troublemakers then boasted about the violence with West Ham fans, via social networking sites and text messages.
Videos of the fight were also posted on video-sharing website YouTube.
Newcastle Crown Court heard members of the public looked on in fear and were worried for the safety of their children, when the afternoon trouble broke out ahead of the match on January 12.
The yobs were spared jail, but handed football banning orders for three years.
Judge Jeremy Freedman told them: “Football is a source of pleasure to literally millions of people.
“What football hooliganism of the type you engaged in does, is besmirch the good name of football and deter people from going to matches, particularly parents who want to take young children, lest they get caught up in scenes of violence.
“Members of the public can reasonably expect to enjoy the amenities of the town centre without being exposed to this kind of frightening activity.”
Prosecutor Robert Adams told the court the violence itself lasted only about three minutes, by which time police arrived. Mobile phones were seized when the gang was arrested.
Nobody reported any serious injury.
Mr Adams told the court: “It is the Crown’s case that all of the defendants were involved, to some extent in any event, with an organisation self-named the Sunderland Youth Firm.”
Mr Adams said the seized mobile phones showed a series of text message exchanges and boasts on social networking sites both before and after the trouble.
One message said: “Anyone who comes to our city doesn’t leave without a good clip.” Another message, relating to a future game, said: “What are they going to do? Get punched from one end of Sunderland to the other.”
As well as the written messages, the court heard the phones contained pictures and videos of the violence that day.
One of the men declared he “loves football hooliganism” on his Twitter biography.
The court heard the men are not heavily convicted and come from respectable backgrounds.
Defence barrister Christopher Knox said: “The reality is, as soon as the police arrived, everybody ran away.”
Sunderland Chief Superintendent Kay Blyth, said: “There is no place for violence at football matches and we will always do everything possible to make sure those suspected of being involved are traced and put before the courts.”
Football hooligans named and shamed
Lewis Dodsworth, 19, of Bowburn Avenue, Wear View, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 250 hours’ unpaid work.
Bradley Dixon, 19, of Patton Road, Plains Farm, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with £1,000 costs.
Thomas Kelly, 19, of Eighth Avenue, Chester-le-Street, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with supervision and 250 hours’ unpaid work.
Former EDL member Anthony Smith, 26, of Purvis Terrace, Trimdon, who claimed to love hooliganism on his Twitter page, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with supervision and 250 hours’ unpaid work.
Connor McCoy, 21, of Perth Avenue, Jarrow, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 250 hours’ unpaid work and 12 months supervision.
Paratrooper Jamie Phenny, 21, of The Spinney, Bridgend, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with £1,000 costs.
Christopher Webb, 24, of East Herrington, Sunderland, was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with supervision and an alcohol treatment programme.
All pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder at an earlier hearing.
Far-Right Criminals 