Leeds Crown Court latest cases: Teenager's threat kill family, drug dealer sold to undercover police, man's unprovoked attack on stranger

Judges at the court also heard the case of a illegal immigrant who was found looking after a cannabis farm in Beeston, an uninsured driver who drove at 100mph trying to flee the police and man who walked into a doctors surgery shouting that he was going to kuill someone.

Those sentenced at the court this week included:

Liam Gardiner

A dangerous prisoner who went on the run was recaptured after a police firearms team were called to the B&B in Knottingley where he was hiding out.

Liam Gardiner fled HMP Sudbury - an open Category D prison in Derbyshire - on March 31, sparking a nationwide manhunt.

Leeds Crown Court heard the 36-year-old got a taxi from Derbyshire to West Yorkshire, where he visited his father due to concerns over his health.

It was heard that Gardiner then went "partying" and was eventually located two days later at the Wentvale hotel on Great North Road, where he was staying with a woman.

Considered a dangerous prisoner, police scrambled an armed team to arrest him.

He had been convicted in 2017 of possessing a firearm with an intent to endanger life.

Caleb Awe

A Leeds teenager armed with two huge knives threatened to set fire to a family's home and kill everyone inside after getting into a dispute with their 15-year-old son.

Caleb Awe had his hood pulled up and was wearing a ghost mask and gloves when he turned up at the property with a similarly dressed accomplice on September 15 last year, Leeds Crown Court heard.

CCTV and doorbell camera footage showed Awe leading the way as the pair arrived outside the house at around 4.30pm, prompting the boy and his dad to come outside.

As the confrontation escalated, Awe brandished the knives and told the man: "I'll set your house on fire. I'll kill your son, I'll kill everyone."

David Wilson

A Leeds man who attacked a stranger without provocation and left him with bleeding on the brain has been jailed by a judge who warned of the dangers of throwing a single punch.

David Wilson's victim fell backwards after being hit in the face and banged his head on the road, causing serious injuries that meant he needed hospital treatment for eight days and is still in the care of a community health team 18 months on.

Leeds Crown Court heard the man had been walking to work on November 23, 2020 and was near Fearnville Sports Centre at around 12.45pm when he saw Wilson approaching.

The man tried to calm him down and offered to buy him a sandwich and drink in a nearby cafe so they could talk it over, but Wilson continued to be abusive.

Mohamed Bouziane

A Leeds street dealer who sold Class A drugs to undercover officers working on three different West Yorkshire Police operations has been locked up.

Mohamed Bouziane was identified as the man responsible for operating the LG Adam dealing line, answering calls made to the mobile phone number and arranging to meet people looking to buy crack cocaine.

Leeds Crown Court heard how the 24-year-old had sold the drug to a plain clothes officer on six separate occasions between August and November 2021.

Lee Mortin

A drunken drug addict who went on a four-day Christmas binge before threatening to "do in" his partner with a 12 inch knife has been jailed.

Lee Mortin tried to burn Christmas cards containing money for his partner, before grabbing the blade and his partner by her hair, Leeds Crown Court was told.

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The 50-year-old had been in a relationship with the woman for four years, but last year began to travel regularly to Manchester where she suspected he was taking drugs.

Stephen Charles Silvester

A man armed with Stanley knives walked into a Wakefield doctors surgery and began shouting about how he was going to kill someone.

Staff and patients at Trinity Medical Centre in Thornhill Street were left terrified after Stephen Charles Silvester entered the building at around 4pm on February 24 this year.

Prosecutor Jemima Stephenson told Leeds Crown Court that he was bleeding from his cheek and was shouting about how he was going to hurt someone as he pulled out the two knives.

The 36-year-old was heard to say: "I'm going to stab someone. I just want these voices to stop."

Edmond Kovaci

An illegal immigrant was found looking after a crop of cannabis plants worth as much as £191,000 when police raided a house in Leeds.

Albanian national Edmond Kovaci was sleeping on a mattress at the property in Marley Terrace, Beeston, when officers gained entry on February 1 this year, Leeds Crown Court was told.

There were 117 mature cannabis plants and 65 younger plants growing in three bedrooms and two downstairs rooms. Other equipment including lights, transformers and a watering system had also been set up.

Craig Wright

A dangerous uninsured driver with a "hopeless record" put lives at risk as he reached speeds of more than 100mph while trying to escape police.

Leeds Crown Court heard Craig Wright was already banned from driving when he got behind the wheel of a friend's BMW 320 on March 14 this year.

Police spotted the car in Whitehouse Lane, Leeds, and put on their blue lights, but Wright mounted the pavement and drove around their vehicle instead of stopping.

A pursuit began, with officers travelling at speeds of up to 90mph along Preston Lane in an attempt to keep up with the BMW.

Prosecutor Oliver Connor said Wright continued to drive at speed along an unlit road and travelled in excess of 100mph with the car's lights turned off.

Jack Mallinson

A Wakefield special constable has been given a two-year suspended sentence for posting online messages fantasising about abusing children and possessing thousands of child sexual abuse images.

Jack Mallinson, 26, a trainee solicitor and special police constable with West Yorkshire Police, was identified by NCA investigators after he used instant messaging app Wickr to send encrypted content.

In posts from October 2020, he described a graphic, fictional scenario of him abusing two young children and discussed his intentions to abuse a baby.

NCA operations manager Matthew Brooks said: “Jack Mallinson has undoubtedly abused the huge responsibility entrusted in him as a solicitor, and by West Yorkshire Police."

Jetmir Metushi

A man who helped to find empty homes for use as cannabis farms and taught others how to run them has been locked up for five years after police raids in Leeds.

Mobile phones seized from Jetmir Metushi showed he was involved in finding suitable properties and supplying the necessary plants and growing materials as well as arranging for people to work in the cannabis growing operation and giving them technical advice.

Leeds Crown Court heard how he was arrested near a property in Wetherby Road, Leeds, which was raided by police on September 5, 2021.

Inside were 402 cannabis plants ready for harvest, with an estimated street value of nearly £200,000 if sold to individual drug users.

Metushi appeared via video link from HMP Leeds alongside fellow Albanian national Aleks Gjini, who acted as the gardener for the Wetherby Road farm.

David Foster

Cocaine, cutting agents and cash were found in the family home of a Leeds man with a longstanding drug addiction after police received a tip-off.

Leeds Crown Court heard intelligence had been received suggesting that David Foster's address in Middleton was being used for drug dealing, leading officers to carry out a raid on July 10, 2020.

Foster gave no comment during a police interview but later admitted possessing cocaine and possessing cocaine with intent to supply. He has seven previous convictions for 13 offences, with the most recent in 2015.