Justice continues to be administered at Gloucestershire’s courts despite the recent lockdown.
Although juries are not sitting at the moment there are cases still being heard at Gloucester Crown Court and Cheltenham Magistrates’ court.
From minor crimes, including motoring offences, some of the more despicable acts, Gloucestershire Live reports on many of these cases.
Below is a recap of some of the cases Gloucestershire Live has covered since January this year.
To read more about each case, click the headline above each summary.
January
Repeat offender Samuel Johnson behind bars after raiding Cheltenham home
A prolific burglar was jailed in January for two years and five months after breaking into a Cheltenham home.
Samuel Johnson, 42, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Gloucester Crown Court to burgling the Beeches Road house on September 7, 2019, and stealing jewellery including gold jeweller cufflinks.
Prosecutor Ian Fenny said Johnson was effectively a 'three-strike burglar' subject to a mandatory three-year jail term because of his past burglary offences.
He has 30 convictions for 85 offences.
Baby-faced teen among gang dealing heroin and crack cocaine from Stroud supermarket car park
Three teenagers and an adult were locked up in January for a total of 11 years for dealing Class A drugs in Stroud.
In the dock at Gloucester Crown Court were a 17-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, Caleb Goggins, 18, of Hatherley Road, Gloucester, and Sallie-Ann Lane, 31, of Target Close, Stroud, who all pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
A fourth defendant, James Joyce, 18, Hucclecote Road, Gloucester, had denied the same offence but was convicted after a trial on October 15.
Sentencing the four defendants Judge Euan Ambrose said: “Your offending is so serious that only custodial sentences can be justified.”
Turning to the youth, the judge said: “An adult being sentenced at this court for your offences would be looking at a prison term of seven-and-a-half years, you will be detained in a young offender’s institution for three and-a-half years.
“I also order the forfeiture of £533.50 as the proceeds of drug dealing.”
The judge sentenced Goggins to two years and three months in a young offender’s institution.
The judge sentenced Lane to two years and three months in prison and endorsed her driving licence with six points who also admitted to driving with no insurance.
The judge sentenced Joyce to three years in a young offender’s institution.
All defendants were ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170 and ordered for the forfeiture of all drugs and all relevant paraphernalia seized.
Police feared for their lives throughout a four-hour siege when a man with an 'Aladdin's cave of weapons' in his Gloucester home started shooting at them through his letterbox, a court heard.
Brian Grater, 40, also told police he had a bomb in his house in Columbia Close in Kingsholm and the area was evacuated, Bristol Crown Court was told.
Grater was jailed for 21 months in January after he admitted having an imitation assault rifle with intent to make people fear it was real and would be used on February 13 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon, a taser stun gun, at his home address on December 19, 2019.
He asked for an offence of having a martial arts key chain, classed as an offensive weapon, to be taken into account.
Stalker jailed after admitting calling 112 victim times and threatening her with baseball bat
A man with an appalling record for harassing women threatened to smash a woman’s face in with a baseball bat and threatened her relatives.
Craig Francis, 40, of Watermoor Road, Cirencester, admitted calling his 22-year-old victim 112 times in a week in April 2019, with 48 calls made in a three-hour period.
Now he has been jailed for six-and-a-half years after appearing by video link at Gloucester Crown Court for stalking, witness intimidation, sending electronic messages and threatening his latest victim.
As well as jail, Francis was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115 and subject to an indefinite restraining order not to contact his latest victim.
A 21-year-old businesswoman told a court in January how her life and dreams were wrecked in an instant by a Slovakian van driver who smashed into her father's car and left her so badly injured that she is now confined to a wheelchair.
As Lauren Woodward's emotional statement was read to a judge there was not a dry eye in the courtroom where Lubomir Tokoly, 63, sat awaiting his fate after admitting that he caused her serious injury by dangerous driving.
Gloucester Crown Court was told that Lauren's father was taking her to work in his Vauxhall Astra car on the A436 in the Cotswolds when Tokoly's Fiat Ducato van went onto the wrong side of the road - crossing double white lines - and smashed into them.
Although Lauren's father stepped from the wreckage relatively unharmed, she suffered devastating injuries which are still blighting her life 10 months later.
Tokoly, of Piatanova Kosice, in Slovakia, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury to Lauren on March 23rd 2019 by driving dangerously on the A436 near Seven Springs, Glos.
He was jailed for 16 months and banned from driving in the UK for four years.
Man jailed for racially abusing three school pupils and punching one of them
A 28-year-old Gloucester man who racially abused three terrified school pupils and assaulted one of them by punching her to the ground was jailed for 18 months in January by a judge at Gloucester Crown Court.
Byron Taylor, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated assault of a teenage girl by beating her and damaging her property on May 2, 2019.
He also admitting assaulting two other teenagers by beating on the same date.
Gloucester mum who allowed her flat to be used for drugs jailed for three years with dealers
Two men and a woman involved in the 'county lines' operation in the city were jailed for a total of nine years and ten months between them.
Gloucester Crown Court was told the trio were brought to justice in January 2019 thanks to observant under cover police officers keeping observation near Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Charlotte Nairn, 24, of Mount Pleasant, Kingsway, Gloucester had £450 worth of Class A drugs hidden in her bra.
She pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and cocaine, both class A drugs, with intent to supply on January 15, 2019 and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Andreas Nicoladies, 36 of Tyndale View, Wotton Under Edge also pleaded guilty to possessing of quantity of cocaine with intent to supply on the same date.
Ricardo Ricketts, 29, of Tomlins Orchard, Barking was found guilty by a jury of possessing £400 worth of cocaine with intent to supply on the same occasion. The police also found £750 in his possession which they believed to be the proceeds of drug dealing.
He was sentenced to prison for four years and four months.
In sentencing Nicoladies the judge stated that while he was found with a small quantity of drugs on him, he still played a significant role in the county lines drug operation and jailed him for two years and six months
The judge also ordered for the forfeiture of the £750 seized from Ricketts and for it to be donated to Gloucestershire Constabulary drug prevention programme. He also ordered for the forfeiture and destruction of all the drugs and relevant paraphernalia from all three defendants.
February
Motorist attacked with metal bar in "one of the worst" cases of road rage at Gloucester rugby club
Two road rage attackers pursued another motorist with a metal bar after “taking offence” at his driving, Gloucester Crown Court heard.
George Villis, 20, of Pembury Road, Gloucester, and Cameron Dix, also 20, of Tredworth Road, Gloucester, got annoyed at Mohammed Amin’s driving in Eastern Avenue before pursuing him in their white VW about a quarter of a mile to Saintbridge Rugby Club.
There they got out and smashed the window of Mr Amin’s BMW with a crowbar and kicked it while neighbours watched, the court heard.
Villis and Dix both admitted charges of affray and criminal damage.
The defendants were each sentenced to 162 days (five months) in a young offender’s institution in February.
Six men jailed for running cannabis factory in Gloucester
Six Albanian illegal immigrants who ran an ‘industrial’ scale cannabis factory in a semi-derelict Gloucester building have been jailed for a total of five years and five months.
Gloucester Crown Court heard that the police found more than 500 cannabis plants in the building - enough to produce almost half-a-million pounds worth of the drug.
The defendants, Xhuljano Bircaj, 28, Glen Rami, 28, Ervin Bajraktari, 31, Besmir Bajraktari, 32, Enea Sela, 24, and Andi Sela, 31, all of no fixed abode, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis between September 1 and September 6, 2019.
All the men had entered the UK illegally, usually in the back of lorries at different times, and had sought employment wherever they could to pay back their fee to the human traffickers who got them into the country.
The court was told in February that the cannabis factory came to the police’s attention on September 5, 2019 when a member of the public reported that there was a strong aroma coming from the Spa Road property.
Inside 546 plants were found which, and if they had all reached maturity, would have had a street value of £458,640, the court heard.
Alcoholic James Osborne inflicted shocking injuries on his partner in a fit of rage, before telling her 'you didn't look like that when I left you'.
Osborne, 24, who drank 20 pints of beer a day, 'pulverised' Judith Bevan, fracturing ribs and her thyroid cartilage in her throat, Gloucester Crown Court was told.
Jailing Osborne for 16 months in February, Judge Timothy Rose said: "You left her body bloodied and bruised all over. She had a cut lip and severe black eyes and a broken nose. She also had a large hematoma swelling on her skull."
Osborne, of Northwood drive, Kingsway, Gloucester, pleaded guilty to assaulting Ms Bevan causing her actual bodily harm at Chantry Gate, Bishops Cleeve, Cheltenham, on February 27 last year.
But he disputed that he caused the full extent of the injuries that she suffered and a 'trial of issue' was held this week for the judge to hear evidence and decide the extent of his guilt.
Pictures of Ms Bevan's injuries were released after the hearing, with her consent.
The judge sentenced Osborne to a prison sentence for one year and four months and ordered that a £140 victim surcharge to be paid. He also imposed a five year restraining order for him not to contact his former partner.
Homeowner locked burglar in garage, then gave him food when he realised he was homeless and starving
A shocked Stroud man who found a burglar in his garage locked him in and called the police - but then offered him food when he realised he was homeless and starving, a court heard.
Paul Gardiner went into the detached garage at his property in Ebley, Stroud, to get the laundry and found intruder Robert Watkins, 49, searching through his freezer for food, Gloucester Crown Court was told.
He quickly locked Watkins, of no fixed abode, in the garage and called the police.
The judge sentenced Watkins to a total of 14 months and seven days in prison.
Cyclist's head stamped on in Kingsholm after getting knocked off bike by gang of youths
A cyclist in Gloucester was kicked off his bike and stamped on his head when he was surrounded by a gang of biker youths.
Anthony Keating was cycling home along Dean’s Way in Gloucester when he was surrounded by a group led by Kyle Stevens, and “tormented” by them, Gloucester Crown Court heard.
Stevens, 19, of Wood Lane, Chippenham, originally denied assault causing actual bodily harm to Anthony Keating and attempting to rob him on October 5, 2018, but changed his plea in December.
Judge Rose said to Stevens: “You stamped on Mr Keating’s head and you could have caused him serious harm. He could have died and that’s why the courts take these matters so seriously.”
Stevens was sentenced to a total of eight months in a young offenders’ institution for the assault causing actual bodily harm and breach of a community order.
Man with two names on the run for four years caught on M5 with £1,600 in counterfeit bank notes
A counterfeit currency crook who avoided capture for more than four years by using a false name has finally been jailed at Gloucester Crown Court - after his DNA was found at the scene of a burglary in Bristol.
James Ryan, 30, alias Sam Quilligan, was one of four men stopped by police on the M5 slip road in north Gloucestershire in October 2015 in a car bearing Irish number plates.
He was one of four - David Donovan, Frank Cleary, and Patrick Mullane, all of Winterbourne Caravan Site, Old Gloucester Road, Bristol - involved in handling fake Bank of England notes.
Earlier this month Ryan was jailed for a total of two years and four months and angrily shouted a string of obscenities at the judge as he was taken down to the cells.
Cheltenham clubber told he 'could have caused a death' when he smashed bottle over head of reveller
A clubber high on drink and drugs chased a man down a Cheltenham street and smashed him over the head with a bottle.
Ben Gladden,25, of St Mary’s Lane, Tewkesbury, was told he 'could have caused a death' when he attacked Jay Taylor on November 1, 2018 outside the Cotswold Kebab in High Street after arguing with him inside The Tree nightclub in Bath Road.
At Gloucester Crown Court on Monday (February 24) the 25-year-old admitted attempting to unlawfully wound Jay Taylor with intent to do him grievous bodily harm.
The court heard there was “a lot of blood” and the defendant also suffered significant injuries in the attack.
He was jailed for three years and four months
March
Drunk who ran amok in Morrisons and attacked a security guard jailed
Drunk Justin Birt ran amok in a Gloucester Morrisons store - head butting a security officer, smashing up the medical room and spraying an aerosol can in a police inspector’s face, a court heard.
The 39-year-old also damaged a police van during the rampage which resulted in him being jailed for 10 months.
Gloucester Crown Court heard the series of incidents began shortly after 4pm on June 25 last year when Birt of Southgate Street, Gloucester and his then partner, entered the supermarket in Metz Way.
Birt admitted assault causing actual bodily harm; assaulting a Gloucestershire Constabulary police officer; theft of alcohol; criminal damage and damage to police van cage and using threatening words and behaviour.
He also admitted to failing to surrender to bail on two occasions.
Man from Thrupp jailed after he shone laser beam into his dad's eyes
A man with a past conviction for shooting his father in the chest with a BB gun was jailed for pointing a powerful laser beam into his dad's eyes.
Adrian King, 23, was living with his parents in Thrupp, Stroud when his father Stephen was woken up at 4am on November 1 last year by what he thought was the central heating system making a noise but turned out to be his son making noise.
King Jr, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to affray and breaching the terms of his suspended prison sentence from September 2018.
The judge at Gloucester Crown Court sentenced King Jr to 18 months in prison and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £149.
Thug who broke man's jaw with single punch in Gloucester attack is jailed
A man from Gloucester was jailed for two years for an unprovoked attack on a nightclubber in Eastgate Street which required surgery to fix.
Gloucester Crown Court heard how Luke Pegg floored another man with one punch, sending him dizzy and breaking his jaw.
Aaron Davies has been left struggling to eat certain foods since the incident, the court heard.
The 28-year-old, formerly of Midland Road, Gloucester, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm at his pre-trial hearing admitting the assault in a police interview.
April
Jail for yob who coughed and spat at policeman in Cheltenham
A yob who deliberately coughed and spat at a policeman after he was arrested for being drunk and disorderly in Cheltenham Town Centre on Easter Sunday was jailed for 17 weeks in April.
Magistrates in Cheltenham heard that Luke Beresford, 24, of High Street, Cheltenham, was topless and drinking in the sunshine when he got into 'a physical altercation' with someone and was arrested.
Beresford was asked by PC Bennett if he had symptoms of Covid-19 while he sat in the rear cell of the police van. As he was asked this he deliberately coughed into the face of the officer and then began to bring up the phlegm into his mouth and tilted his head back as if about to spit.
He admitted that he had been drunk and disorderly and that he might have coughed when the officers were talking to him in the van and pleaded guilty to common assault on an emergency worker.
A man has been jailed for spitting in a Gloucester security guard’s face and telling him “I hope you die a horrible death.”
Cheltenham Magistrates Court heard that Ricky Baker, 29, spat at Gloucester City Council security guard Kyle Griffin at the Central Hotel on Thursday April 9.
Mr Griffin was asked to attend his room and escort him from the Clarence Street premises after he had been warned about his behaviour.
Prosecutor Charlotte Hunt said in court that "this is when Baker became aggressive" and spat in his face. "He then laughed at him and said, ‘You've got it, I hope you die a horrible death as you are infected now’.
Baker was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £100 compensation to Mr Griffin.
Gloucester man banned from dialling 999 is jailed for calling 999
A Gloucester man barred from calling 999 after a string of incidents when he abused police call handlers is behind bars after calling the emergency number yet again.
Over the last few months Gloucestershire Constabulary had become so concerned at Ankaran Rangarajan’s constant abusive 999 phone calls at all times of the day and night they applied for a criminal behaviour order (CBO), Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court heard.
The court had made an order preventing the 41-year-old from Westgate Street calling 999 except in a genuine emergency - but three weeks later he rang the number three times in the space of five hours after he started drinking, prosecutor Cathy Thornton told the court.
Rangarajan – who was made subject to an alcohol treatment order as well as the criminal behaviour order – appeared via video-link from a Gloucestershire Constabulary custody suite and admitted breaching the CBO between April 21 and 24.
Rangarajan was sentenced to 22 weeks in jail and ordered to pay a £128 victim surcharge.
Cheltenham man jailed after assaulting a police officer, shoplifting, burglary and thef
A Cheltenham man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison after admitting a litany of offences including shoplifting, theft, burglary and assaulting a police officer.
Lee Henry, 38, of Compton Road appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court following an investigation by the Cheltenham Neighbourhood Policing and Local Investigation teams.
He was charged with 13 counts of shoplifting, three counts of theft of a pedal cycle, one count of assaulting a police officer and one count of a non-dwelling burglary.
