Leeds Crown Court: Criminals sentenced this week including Harehills riots ‘ringleader’ and addict who stole from sick mum

They include the “ringleader” of a riot in Harehills that brought chaos to the community, a drug dealer who drove off at speed with a grandad on his bonnet and a gambling addict who plundered £17,000 of his own sick mother’s savings on Betfred game machines.

Below is a summary of some of the cases we have picked up in the courts in Leeds this week.

Alex Stoain

A ringleader in the Bonfire Night riots that rocked Harehills was finally brought to justice almost four years on from that night.

The terrifying large-scale disorder gripped the community on November 5, 2019 and made headlines across Britain as youths hurled fireworks, bricks and stones at police, injuring six officers.

At just 15-year-old at the time, Romanian-born Alex Stoian was identified as one of those at the forefront of the violence and chaos. He was handed 16 months’ detention at a young offenders institution this week, having fled the country after that night.

Ashton Sutton-Barrow

A drug dealer drove off at speed with a grandad clinging to his bonnet after being challenged to fight during a road-rage incident.

Ashton Sutton-Barrow, 31, drove straight at the man after a verbal spat on St Chad’s Road in Headingley, and he was forced to jump onto the bonnet of his Vauxhall or go under the wheels in the terrifying incident witnessed by the man’s granddaughter.

At a later date Sutton-Barrow was stopped by police and found with over £1,000 worth of heroin and cocaine in his underwear.

He was jailed this week for five years and four months, and banned from driving for four years and two months.

David Sergeant

A man caught armed with a kitchen knife said he was protecting himself against “kids” on a Leeds estate.

David Sergeant, 52, was stopped by police on Bailey’s Lane in Seacroft on February 24 after reports of him kicking the door to a nearby block of flats to gain access to where his partner lived.

He said he was carrying the blade in his jacket pocket for protection after being robbed by a gang of youths of his iPhone weeks prior.

He was sentenced to six months, suspended for a year.

Mark Thompson

A gambling addict plundered his hospitalised mother’s savings account and spent more than £17,000 in a bookies in just three months, then rang 999 on himself.

Mark Thompson, 52, of South Elmsall, was given his mother’s bank card to “buy essentials” after she was admitted to hospital, but then squandered the cash on gaming machines in the Betfred shop, including one day where he spent £2,000.

Thompson was handed a 20-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with 25 rehabilitation requirement days.

Xhesian Miminin

A cannabis farmer tending to an £82,000 crop at a suburban Leeds home was caught trying to destroy iPhones in the kitchen sink as police burst in.

Officers forced their way into the property on Town Street in Middleton and found a “sophisticated and professional” drugs set-up. They found Xhesian Miminin trying to break up the phones and running them under the tap to quickly destroy them.

He was sentenced to two years for his part in the operation.