It has been a busy start to 2019 for the courts of Stoke-on-Trent and 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 January 2019.
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.
Bentilee:
Nail technician Hayley Bartlett has been jailed after police found a taser in her handbag.
The 26-year-old was in a car stopped by police in the early hours of the morning. Officers searched all three occupants and found a stun gun in the defendant’s bag.
Now Bartlett, who gave no explanation as to why she was in possession of the weapon, has been jailed for 12 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Prosecutor Peter Gilmour said the defendant was in a car driven by her sister when the police indicated for it to stop at 2.25am on May 16.
Birches Head:
Burglar Dean Kirby broke into a city store before using an angle grinder in an effort to open up a cash machine.
The 31-year-old targeted the one-time Mayers Stores in Birches Head using a crowbar and later went on to spend 10 months on the run.
Now Kirby has been jailed for 40 weeks at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after admitting burglary and failing to surrender to custody.
The court heard how the defendant had broken into the business - which has since been taken over and transformed into a Premier convenience store - in the early hours of December 22, 2016.
Blurton:
Motorist James Virgo killed a motorcyclist after going on a six-day ‘drink and drugs-fuelled bender’.
The 33-year-old former squaddie is believed to have fallen asleep behind the wheel of his Citroen C2 on a road which runs adjacent to the A500, Stoke, before accelerating from traffic lights - 14 seconds after they turned to green.
But he collided with a Hyundai driven by a learner driver before reaching a speed of 70mph and ploughing into the back of a motorbike ridden by 65-year-old Stephen Phillips who was on his way home to Heron Cross following a game of bowls.
Burslem:
Foul-mouthed Christopher Winters has been jailed after pulling out a pistol and threatening two terrified salesmen on a garage forecourt.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how the trouble flared at Burslem Motors when the 42-year-old was spotted walking across the car lot. He would regularly use the premises as a short-cut to get to his home.
But on this occasion, the owner’s two sons approached him and they began arguing.
Richard McConaghy, prosecuting, said Winters swore at the pair and told them to ‘get **** back in over there or I’ll ****ing hurt you’.
Burton:
A twisted Staffordshire pervert who ejaculated into a woman's cup of tea before she drank it has been jailed for 12 years.
Sexual predator Garyth Twiselton recorded a video which showed him performing a sex act and then stirring the brew.
But he later confessed to police, and his victim, about what he had done, Stafford Crown Court heard.
The 32-year-old went on to tell officers that part of his motivation was to 'humiliate' the victim, having also recorded 'hundreds' of voyeuristic movies of her.
Chell:
Drug user Richard Archer has been jailed after he was found in his car with two ‘fearsome’ knives.
Police smashed their way into the 33-year-old's Vauxhall Corsa after a member of the public reported seeing a man slumped behind the wheel.
Officers searched the defendant and recovered cannabis, monkey dust and a butterfly knife.
And a large hunting knife was found in the vehicle.
Now Archer - who has previous convictions for possessing offensive weapons - has been jailed for eight months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Clayton:
Drug dealer Callum Bradley has been jailed after he was caught red-handed with 100 wraps of class A drugs.
The 19-year-old was a back seat passenger in a car stopped by police in Clayton.
Officers noticed the defendant appeared to be moving his trousers in the crotch area.
He was searched and was found to have 51 wraps of heroin and 49 wraps of crack cocaine, together worth £1,000.
Cobridge
Burglar Daniel Shaw has been jailed after he got inside a pensioner’s home and seven other buildings to commit crimes - including the New Vic Theatre, a social club and a care home.
The 50-year-old - who has 46 previous convictions for 140 offences - entered the victim’s flat at a Smallthorne sheltered housing complex and stole her handbag and purse which contained £80 and a bank card while she was in a communal area.
And within minutes he was using the card to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels and a cigarette lighter as part of a £92.97 spending spree.
Fenton:
Paedophile businessman Terence Hamblett installed a hidden camera in the toilet of a Stoke-on-Trent cafe to spy on teenage boys.
The 44-year-old former Scout leader - who dubbed himself ‘The Master’ - has been jailed for 12 years for a string of sickening sex crimes.
They included putting up the camera on the ceiling and creating a 'peephole' in the toilets of a café he ran at JTF Mega Discount Warehouse in Fenton.
Fenton:
Work-shy Liam Heath is now behind bars for drug offences - more than two years after dodging a prison term.
The 23-year-old was handed a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in November, 2016 after he admitted two counts of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and one of possessing a class B drug.
The punishment handed down at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court included 150-hours unpaid work and a requirement to attend around 45 appointments.
But he has completed just over 20 hours unpaid work and missed a number of the appointments.
Hanley:
Fearful Adam Wood told police he armed himself with a metal bar after being beaten up.
The 37-year-old admitted he would be willing to use the weapon to protect himself should he be attacked.
Now the defendant - who has a 'long history of convictions' - is back behind bars after being caught with an offensive weapon again.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard police approached him on Powell Street in Hanley at around 6.40pm on November 14 last year.
Hanley:
Drugged-up Michael Haddon drove on a pavement as he tried to give police the slip during a chase.
The 30-year-old, who has convictions for 189 previous offences, stole a van which had been left running in Hanley and drove dangerously as he tried to evade arrest.
Police brought the pursuit to an end by smashing the van window and taking the keys out the ignition.
Now Haddon, who had monkey dust and methadone in his system, has been jailed for 10 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Hanley:
Pervert Matthew Worthington was arrested in a park after he went there to meet a ‘13-year-old boy’ he had met online.
The serial sex offender was snared after police set up a fake Facebook profile claiming to be a teenage boy, who Worthington then befriended.
Their online chats quickly became sexual and 25-year-old Worthington arranged to meet the ‘boy’ in Stafford – but detectives were waiting for him.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Worthington was already known to authorities following his conviction for previous sex offences, and had disclosed disturbing sexual fantasies involving children to his probation officers.
Hanley:
Shoplifter Alexander Barker gave police an old school friend’s details when he was caught stealing - to avoid being arrested
He then failed to turn up for a voluntary interview and found himself in even more trouble when police caught up with him - because he was carrying a Stanley knife blade.
Now the 36-year-old has been jailed after magistrates at North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard he had two previous convictions for possessing an offensive weapon.
Leek:
Aggressive Vincent Stonier lunged at a police officer and spat in his face after being arrested.
The 26-year-old was put in a police car after he was involved in a fight in Market Street, Leek, but was allowed out after he asked to go to the toilet.
However, he refused to get back in and it took officers more than an hour to bundle him in the back of a van as he threatened to ‘tear their heads off’ and ‘bite their noses off’.
Then, on the way to custody, he tried to head-butt an officer before spitting.
Leek:
Pervert Alan Morley has been jailed after he was caught with ‘sickening’ child abuse images – for the third time.
Police found thousands of pictures - featuring children as young as four weeks old - on a USB device hidden in the 60-year-old’s bedside drawer.
Among the 13,253 images were 1,054 that experts deemed to be ‘Category A’, the most serious.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard police went to Morley’s home in Boundary Close, Leek, on October 26, 2017.
Leek:
Killer hit-and-run motorist David Leather was over the drink-drive limit and speeding when he mowed down a cyclist - just minutes after leaving a nightclub.
The 33-year-old had drunk four pints of Fosters, a cocktail spritz and half a gin and tonic during an eight-hour drinking session before getting behind the wheel of his Ford Ranger following a night out.
But the dad-of-two smashed into musician Steven Farrish, who was wearing a high-visibility jacket and had a flashing light on the back of his bike.
Longton:
Violent David Hammonds has been jailed after assaulting his former partner - and then visiting her at work.
The 34-year-old was last year handed a non-molestation order - which prevents him having any contact with his victim - after their relationship came to an end.
But on New Year's Day he punched her to the chin when she answered the door - and then went to her work to ask her who she had been sleeping with.
Now Hammonds has been jailed for 28 weeks at North Staffordshire Justice Centre.
Meir:
Monkey dust user Stephanie Bartlett has been jailed after she sold the class B drug to support her £40-a-day habit.
The 21-year-old was caught red-handed after she was seen by undercover police officers to return from a known drug dealer’s house and stuff a package down her bra.
She was stopped and searched and was found to have wraps of monkey dust in a tub as well as a mobile phone which contained messages advertising the drug for sale.
Now Bartlett has been jailed for nine months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Newcastle:
Burglar Johnathon Cherry smashed his way into a house before stealing two shotguns to be used in the 'criminal underworld'.
The 37-year-old broke glass panels in a conservatory of the Normacot home and then targeted a gun cabinet upstairs.
He tried keys he found in the property but could not open the cabinet so he used a tool to prize it open and take two single-barrelled shotguns.
The defendant was traced after he left his blood at the scene.
The weapons have not been recovered and are believed to be in the criminal underworld.
Newcastle:
Robber Nicky McLean terrified two shop workers by threatening them with a bottle of wine before reaching over and stealing more than £1,000 from the till.
The 37-year-old walked into the Co-op in Hartshill wearing a white hoodie and selected two bottles of wine before walking to the counter.
He then raised a bottle at the shop assistants and demanded they hand over cash.
The defendant fled the store with £1,071, two bottles of wine and a bottle of brandy.
Norton
Violent Stephen Machin inflicted ‘pure gratuitous violence’ on a man - after his victim tried to 'end the relationship' between them.
The 42-year-old left the man with extensive injuries to his face, swollen cheeks, a bruised left eye and cut lips following the savage beating.
The two men had earlier been drinking vodka together at the Stoke-on-Trent flat.
Now Machin has been jailed for 22 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court - and given a five-year restraining order to stay away from his victim.
Norton:
Aggressive Lee Daniels brandished a knife as he quizzed his ex-partner about her seeing another man.
The 33-year-old was not allowed to see his former girlfriend as part of his bail conditions for another set of offences.
But he tracked her down in a Middleport churchyard and demanded to know who she had been seeing.
The victim walked off but he followed and pushed her head into metal railings before producing a Stanley knife.
Norton:
Two brothers have been jailed after they violently attacked a man they believed had shouted abuse at their mum.
Thomas and Daniel Trueman chased after the man and punched and kicked him.
Thomas, aged 29, struck him with a baseball bat and 23-year-old Daniel plunged a kitchen knife into his abdomen on two occasions.
Now Daniel has been jailed for 33 months and Thomas was handed a two year sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
Smallthorne:
Armed police swooped on a Stoke-on-Trent house in the early hours after receiving a tip-off there was a sawn-off shotgun inside.
Officers surrounded the address in Duddell Road, Smallthorne, before forcing the front door.
They recovered a double barrelled gun and a bag with nine cartridges hidden under cuddly toys in the front room.
Stafford:
Dangerous driver Lee Stanton stole a £20,000 van before racing through the streets of Staffordshire, swerving pedestrians, other vehicles and even police stingers.
The 44-year-old, who has 255 previous convictions, broke into a commercial unit in Boothen Old Road, Stoke, on November 30 less than a month after he had been released from prison.
He stole a van from the premises and raced from Stoke to Stafford, where he was involved in a minor collision.
Officers spotted the van parked up before a pursuit ensued, with Stanton reaching up to 80mph through Stafford and Moss Pitt.
Stoke-on-Trent:
Murderer Madni Ahmed has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 36 years for the 'barbaric' killing of an elderly woman as she tried to protect her teenage grandson.
The takeaway worker, of Cavendish Street, Shelton, used a Rambo-style hunting knife to kill 86-year-old nan Riasat Bi at her Birmingham home on July 12 last year.
Just moments earlier he had used the same weapon to stab Mrs Bi's 18-year-old grandson, Faizaan Javed, in the back as he lay asleep in bed in a case of mistaken idenitity.
Police arrested him the following day at the Royal Stoke University Hospital after his dad Nadeem Nazir, went to Hanley Police Station to say his son may have been involved as news of Riasat's death spread.
Stoke:
Frustrated Daryl Gibson urinated in a police cell after he was arrested for visiting his ex-partner’s home the day he was released from jail.
The 26-year-old was released from the cells at North Staffordshire Justice Centre as he had served the sentence he was given on remand.
But he went to his ex-partner’s address, which he was prohibited from doing under a non-molestation order made in July.
The defendant left when the police were called and, when he was arrested two weeks later, he damaged a pen and urinated in a cell.
Stone:
Drug-dealer Kierell Woollery has been locked up after he was twice intercepted on his way to supply large amounts of class A drugs.
The 19-year-old drove at 110mph on the northbound carriageway of the M6 near Stoke-on-Trent before he was eventually stopped when officers deployed a stinger.
They recovered more than £4,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine which had been thrown from the vehicle.
And a month later while on bail the defendant was a passenger in a car stopped on the A34 at Stone. Officers recovered 13.1 grams of crack cocaine - after the drug had been thrown from the vehicle.
Trent Vale
Pervert Neal Hopkins has been jailed for eight years after carrying out a catalogue of sex offences against teenage boys.
The 46-year-old was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after admitting 26 sex offences against his victims. He must serve an extended four-year licence period when he is released from prison.
The defendant, of Stone Road, Trent Vale, committed the offences in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, North Wales, South Wales, Worcestershire and Yorkshire over a five-year period.
Tunstall:
Pervert Gary Stedman arranged to meet a schoolgirl at a Premier League football match - but was instead confronted by paedophile hunters in the club shop.
The 48-year-old, of Nash Peake Street, Tunstall, befriended what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl called Mia on an internet chatroom in December.
The convicted flasher - who said he would like to kiss and cuddle 'Mia' - offered to take her to an Everton game and asked if she would like to come back to his home in Stoke-on-Trent.
But when he turned up at Goodison Park, he was greeted by a decoy from predator hunting group Leave Our Kids Alone and arrested.
Uttoxeter
A prison officer who struck up a romance with a convicted killer has been jailed for smuggling drugs into prison.
Gemma Farr, who worked at HMP Dovegate for seven years, is now behind bars herself for her role in a smuggling ring.
The 34-year-old was caught after rumours began to swirl in September 2017 that she had fallen in love with prisoner serving a life sentence for a killing.
Prison bosses alerted police after suspicions were raised over Farr's conduct and her routine of regularly leaving the grounds of the prison, in Marchington, near Uttoxeter.
Weston Coyney:
Thug Grant Saville has been jailed after he kicked a traffic warden in the mouth - after receiving a £35 ticket for parking in a disabled bay.
The 27-year-old dad ‘lost the plot’ when he discovered the penalty charge as he returned to his car, which he had left in a blue-badge holders only space on The Strand, Longton.
He approached Stoke-on-Trent City Council enforcement officer, Daniel Fairclough, and verbally abused and threatened him before knocking him to the floor.
While he lay defenceless, the defendant booted him in the face resulting in the loss of three teeth.
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