It has been yet another busy month for the courts of North Staffordshire and South Cheshire this October.

Rapists, paedophiles, thugs, drug dealers and killers are among those locked up by courts in Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding areas.

StokeonTrentLive journalists attend courts across the region every day to cover cases.

Our reporters cover the latest proceedings at North Staffordshire Justice Centre , Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court , Stafford Crown Court and other courts when local people are in the dock.

We've reported on the following cases where criminals have been sent to prison by courts in the area during October 2018.

Click the full story option below each to read more about the case.

For the latest cases to appear before judges and magistrates across the region and beyond, check our dedicated court page for the very latest news from the courts.

Blurton

Sharon Sparkes

'Mean' burglar Sharon Sparkes tricked an elderly couple into allowing her inside their home before stealing a jewellery box containing three watches.

But the couple, in their 70s, became suspicious and challenged the 39-year-old as she came down their stairs and she eventually handed over the box.

Four days later the defendant stole a purse containing £140 from a woman's handbag in a cafe at the intu Potteries shopping centre.

The next day the defendant, who was under the influence of monkey dust, walked into an occupied house in Northwood and was arrested by police at the scene. She was found in possession of the homeowner's medication at the police station.

More here

Bucknall

Scott Docksey
Scott Docksey

Wanted criminal Scott Docksey left a female police officer with cuts and bruises after he absconded when she tried to arrest him.

The 29-year-old was wanted for recall to prison after breaching his post-sentence supervision when the officer located him in the garden of a house.

But as she tried to handcuff him he struggled with her and managed to get away - riding off on a bicycle. He was finally arrested eight days later.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the police officer found Docksey at a property in Dividy Road, Bucknall, on September 18.

More here

Burslem:

Paul Kelly has been jailed after he downloaded indecent images of children

Pervert Paul Kelly has been jailed after he downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children over a 12-year period.

The 56-year-old was arrested after police executed a warrant at his Burslem home and seized his laptop, phone and some CDs.

They were examined and were found to contain 23 still images at category A – the most serious; 23 still images at category B; 732 category C images and 12 prohibited images.

And police found he had used search terms including ‘pre teen’.

More here

Burslem:

Karl Hall

Shocked homeowners returned from a trip to London to find burglar Karl Hall had moved into their home.

The couple noticed the front door of their Burslem property had been forced open.

And when they went inside they found the 34-year-old monkey dust user in their living room.

The pair confronted him but Hall claimed he was living at the address.

More here

Burslem

Wayne Baker was jailed for four years and two months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court

Pervert Wayne Baker has been jailed after he performed a sex act on himself in front of a child who later underwent a precautionary HIV test.

The 43-year-old - who has a history of making indecent images of children - committed the offence in front of the youngster for his own sexual gratification.

He also breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and failed to comply with the notification requirements of the sex offenders' register.

More here

Cobridge:

Faruque Ahmed, of Rushton Road, Cobridge
Faruque Ahmed, of Rushton Road, Cobridge

Islamic tutor Faruque Ahmed has been locked up for 14 years after being convicted of sexually abusing two schoolgirls during study sessions at their home.

The 46-year-old Imam, of Rushton Road, Cobridge, routinely sexually assaulted the sisters underneath a marble dining table after being employed to teach them between 2009 and 2011.

The 'sexual predator' even threatened to cane one of the girls if she refused to let him have his evil way.

But his catalogue of abuse was eventually disclosed in 2016 after one of the girls told an NHS mental health nurse what had happened.

More here

Crewe:

Ninad Joshi

This was the moment a married man was confronted by a paedophile hunting group outside a town restaurant.

The footage taken in early October shows 35-year-old Ninad Joshi being challenged outside Nando's in Crewe.

Chester Crown Court heard Indian national Joshi was working as a sub-contractor for Bentley at the time of the offence.

Joshi, of Wistaston Road, Crewe, has now jailed for six months at Chester Crown Court and made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

More here

Fenton:

Arsonist Steven Stopford
Arsonist Steven Stopford

A couple had taken monkey dust before starting a house fire which killed their dog - because they feared people were hiding in the loft.

Paranoid Lisa Shaw set fire to a quilt in the bedroom of their Fenton property before Steven Stopford flung it out of the window.

But the blinds set alight during the incident and firefighters were unable to save the dog.

Witnesses reported seeing the fire and hearing the defendants shout, 'there's people coming to get us'.

More here

Hanley:

Ilyas Mohamed and Abdilatif Warsame have been jailed.

Robbers Ilyas Mohamed and Abdilatif Warsame have been jailed after a street attack saw their victim stripped of his phone, shoes and gold watch.

The pair were with a schoolboy when they became involved in an altercation with another group in Brockley Square, Hanley, at 3.30am on September 11.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the teenager - who cannot be named for legal reasons - knocked out one of the men from the other group with a single blow.

Warsame then stamped on his victim, kicked him, and robbed him as he lay still on the floor. He then left the scene - and gave the boy a handshake before discarding the victim’s shoes.

More here

Knutton:

A picture of Kevin Eagles on the roof - and his police mugshot
A picture of Kevin Eagles on the roof - and his police mugshot

Drugged-up Kevin Eagles ripped tiles off the roof of a block of flats and hurled the 'missiles' to the ground - during a six-and-a-half hour police stand-off.

The paranoid 34-year-old climbed onto the roof of the three-storey building and endangered the safety of passers-by after a monkey dust binge left him wrongly believing the police were chasing and harassing him.

Damage was caused to the roof of the Aspire Housing-owned property, an unmarked police car and another vehicle during the incident which led to a section of Albemarle Road, in Cross Heath, being cordoned off.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard the Ashfield Court incident started at 10.40am on Saturday, October 13 - and ended at 5.10pm.

More here

Leek:

Homeless Robert Shaw stole items from three shops so he could get money to fund his heroin addiction.

Magistrates heard how the 35-year-old helped himself to two bottles of Jack Daniels whiskey from Sainsbury’s, in Leek , where he was caught on CCTV on August 30.

Weeks later – on September 26 – he targeted Asda in the town, where he stole three jars of coffee and three bags of sweets. On that occasion, staff spotted him grabbing the items and challenged him as he tried to leave the store.

It was to be one of two shoplifting incidents that day as Shaw also targeted Peacock’s, in Leek, where he took a pair of boxer shorts and some socks. Altogether, the items from the three stores were worth more than £100.

More here

Longton:

Disqualified driver David Powell has been jailed after leading police on a chase through city streets in a stolen car.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how the 36-year-old had ‘panicked’ when he saw the officers as he knew he was banned from the roads.

He was finally arrested in someone’s garden after driving down a dead end and running off on foot.

The police first spotted the Vauxhall Vectra in Meir on September 19 and realised it had been reported as stolen the previous day. They began following the car and activated their flashing blue lights.

More here

Meir:

Scott Onions

Rapist Scott Onions has been jailed for seven years after forcing a woman to perform a sex act on him outside a Stoke-on-Trent health centre.

The 40-year-old had been smoking monkey dust before he made the victim give him oral sex in a terrifying street attack close to Meir Primary Care Centre.

His horrific crime was witnessed by a passer-by who tipped off the police before Onions was arrested on suspicion of rape.

The defendant, of Mollison Road, Meir, denied the charge but was found guilty following a trial last week before being sentenced on Friday.

More here

Meir:

Stalker Craig Fletcher, of Bordeaux Road, Meir
Stalker Craig Fletcher, of Bordeaux Road, Meir

Stalker Craig Fletcher has been locked up for five-and-a-half years after hacking into a 14-year-old girl's social media accounts and sharing explicit pictures of her.

The IT expert - who lives in Bordeaux Road, Meir - became obsessed with the girl as he monitored her every move and threatened extreme violence against any male friends.

On one occasion he went even to McDonald’s and threatened to break a boy’s legs if he went near her and pursued another in his car.

Leeds Crown Court heard the girl later got a boyfriend. But the couple began receiving sexually-explicit messages from Fletcher and the defendant hacked into their accounts to send private photos of them to their friends.

More here

Meir

Jamie Ball at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court
Jamie Ball at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court

A banned driver has been jailed after he was caught behind the wheel of a van – with a firearm tucked into his waistband.

Police stopped Jamie Ball after spotting him driving a van and realising he was subject to a disqualification.

But Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how they got more than they bargained for as he was also in possession of drugs and the gas-powered pistol.

The 22-year-old told the officers he had the weapon and voluntarily handed it over without any threats made. It transpired the handgun was loaded with 29 pellets.

More here

Staffordshire:

Kelly punched 18-year-old Liam Roche at the McDonald's in Tamworth

A 25-year-old year man has been jailed after punching a teenager in a Staffordshire McDonald's - leading to the youth's death.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard Samuel Kelly had got into a row with Liam Roche at the fast food restaurant on Ventura Park in Tamworth just before midnight on January 22.

Kelly, who was shouting and drawing attention to himself while drunk, became abusive to other customers and punched Mr Roche, aged 18, when he tried to stop him rowing with another young man.

Roche went home and his mother called an ambulance when his condition deterioriated. He was rushed to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham in critical condition.

More here

Staffordshire:

A Staffordshire Police officer has been jailed after killing a popular shopkeeper in a horror crash.

Off-duty Jason Bannister's Hyundai smashed into shopkeeper Balvinder Singh's Mercedes Sprinter van in a head-on collision in December 2016.

Birmingham Crown Court heard 59-year-old Mr Singh was taken to hospital but died later the same day from his injuries.

Bannister was treated for minor injuries and, following an investigation by West Midlands Police’s serious collision team, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving earlier this year.

More here

Tunstall:

Irfan Khan and Shanarwaz Rashid have been jailed for a total of more than seven years

Two drug dealers have been jailed after police swooped on a car and recovered hundreds of pounds worth of heroin and crack cocaine.

Irfan Khan, aged 25, and Shanarwaz Rashid, aged 24, were in the vehicle stopped in Wesley Street, Tunstall.

Officers recovered a kinder egg from Khan and when he was searched in custody he had bags of heroin and cocaine in his underwear.

Rashid was in possession of some cocaine deals and two mobile phones with one containing messages relating to the supply of drugs.

More here