In addition, a drug dealer who claimed the £2,000 worth of cocaine found on him by police was for personal use, a man who stabbed another during an argument in an Asda car park, and Albanians who were put to work on cannabis farms to pay off trafficking gangs were also handed stints behind bars.
7. Edison Picari
Desperate cannabis farmer Edison Picari fled a house in Wakefield when police turned up, but left his driving licence and multiple fingerprints around the property where 220 cannabis plants were found. The 30-year-old had left his home in Albania for a “better life”, but paid an organised gang a “significant amount” to smuggle him into the UK, the court heard. Jailing him for 27 months, Judge Tom Bayliss KC said: “You are one of a growing number of defendants coming before the courts for such activities. The financial rewards for growing cannabis are high, but the courts must reflect that in sentencing." (pic by WYP) Photo: WYP
8. Danny Holmes
'Cowardly' Danny Holmes struck a reveller on Wakefield's Westgate in his car, before running over him get away. The man suffered a broken nose, fractured skull, chipped teeth, fractures ribs and injuries to his back. Holmes, age 45, of Primrose House, William Street, Wakefield, was later arrested. He admitted causing serious injury through dangerous driving. The court heard that Holmes had "panicked" and driven off. He was jailed for 28 months. (pic by WYP) Photo: WYP
9. Craig Meredith
Morley paedophile was convicted at Leeds Crown Court of 38 sex offences, including rape, sexual assault by penetration, sexual activity in the presence of a child and sexual touching. The offences covered a period from 1987, when he was 14 years old, to 2019 when he raped a victim under the guise of a paranormal entity which had possessed her. The 50-year-old was sentenced to 33 years. (pic by WYP) Photo: WYP