Leeds Crown Court round-up: Motorist who left BMW 'unrecognisable' in 80mph lamppost crash and man who stabbed wife to death in Headingley sentenced this week

A beautician that was high on cocaine while driving on the wrong side of the road to evade police and a perverted support worker who sexually abused a man with special needs were also punished.

Those sentenced at Leeds Crown Court this week included:

David Sparkes

A motorist smashed into a lamppost on a Leeds suburban street at more than 80mph in a 30mph residential area, throwing his girlfriend clear from the vehicle and causing a serious spinal injury. David Sparkes left the sporty BMW “unrecognisable” after the horror crash involving him and his partner in Yeadon in the early hours of November 22, 2020. Sparkes put his foot down in the high-powered car while arguing with the female. He was jailed for 25 months and banned from driving for 62 months.

Satpreet Singh Gandhi

Satpreet Singh Gandhi was handed a life sentence this week for the bloody murder of his estranged partner and mother-of-two, Harleen Kaur Satpreet Gandhi, in revenge for leaving him. Chilling CCTV footage from an Asda store caught the moment he bought the knife which he used to stab his wife to death on September 5 last year. Judge Andrew Stubbs KC told him: “You could not tolerate the freedom she had found. This was not a spur-of-the-moment killing. You killed her in her own home where she should have been safe.”

Steven Wagstaff

A prisoner escaped from jail before slashing a man with a knife outside a Leeds pub and attacking a police officer who later tried to apprehend him. Steven Wagstaff prised open a ground floor window and fled from HMP Hatfield near Doncaster in January last year. While at large, he became involved in a dispute at The White Horse pub in Osmondthorpe on April 22 and attacked a man with a knife. When being chased by police he kicked, spat at and headbutted an officer before being arrested. He was jailed this week for seven years and four months.

Damon Suthers

A perverted support worker who sexually abused a man with special needs was jailed. Sick Damon Suthers was found guilty after a trial of forcing the man, who is in his 20s and has severe learning issues, into sexual activity. Jailing him for 18 months, Recorder Makepeace said: “You do not have the slightest remorse or appreciation for what you have done, or the slightest acceptance of the offending.”

Adele Rowland

A mum high on cocaine hit speeds of more than 100mph while trying to outrun police on the Leeds ring road during an early-morning pursuit. Trained beautician Adele Rowland, 28, crossed the central reservation and drove into oncoming traffic for around 200 metres before re-joining the correct side. She was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

Muhammad Saqib

A Leeds man who exposed himself and performed a sex act in front of three girls in a mosque was sentenced this week to a two-year supervision order and a five-year sexual harm prevention order. Muhammad Saqib “seemed abnormal” when he performed the sex act in front of the girls.