CONNOR COYLE

A Bradford man who drove dangerously at more than double the speed limit on narrow residential streets while under the influence of cocaine and ketamine has been jailed.

Connor Coyle, 27, of Abbotside Close, Bradford, was spotted by police in his then ex-partner's car, which he had taken without her consent, in the early hours of the morning last year.

He pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, driving dangerously and drug driving and was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

In sentencing, Recorder Batty said he had clearly not been "thinking straight" when he was in charge of something that could be "in essence a lethal weapon" itself.

She added: "It is absolutely amazing that no one was hurt in this incident and that no other cars or property were damaged."

And she want on to berate Coyle, who had attended a funeral the day of the incident, saying: "The irony of that is you were mourning the loss of a friend that day and you could have caused someone else to go through the same thing."

Bradford Crown Court had heard that Coyle was spotted by police at around 1.10am on October 7, 2020, in a Citroen C3, travelling at speed in the Summerfield Road area, and was signalled to stop.

Almost immediately he pulled over to let a passenger out of the car, but then drove off.

The prosecutor told the court at Monday's hearing that the police pursued Coyle for around 15 minutes, with the defendant reaching 80 mph in a 30 zone, driving up on the kerb, running through red lights and swerving on to the wrong side of the road.

He eventually pulled over and was arrested by police. He was later found to have both cocaine and ketamine in his system, although he did not test over the drink drive limit.

The court also heard that Coyle had access to his then ex-partner's house, due to them having a young son together, and had taken the keys to her car without her consent.

"She had no idea the vehicle had been taken," the court heard, with the first she knew of it being when the police pulled up outside her house - where Coyle ended the police chase.

Coyle initially gave no comment in interview, but then was said to have told officers: "He knew he didn't feel right when he entered the vehicle, but chose to drive anyway."

At first he also told police his drink must have been spiked when he was at the pub earlier that night.

In Coyle's defence, the court heard that he had been drinking at the pub following a funeral, but could give "no real reason" as to why he got in the car that night, and could not recall picking another person up.

He added that Coyle had expressed remorse and said: "He recognises that he has behavioural problems and has sought assistant from the community mental health team."

He said that Coyle had now got back together with his partner and had accepted that his drink had not actually been spiked - he had consumed the drugs - cocaine and ketamine - himself.

Coyle also pleaded guilty to driving without a licence and using a motor vehicle without insurance.

In addition to the 10-month sentence he was disqualified from driving for 29 months and must pass an extended retest before getting back on the road.

In sentencing Recorder Batty said: "You drove dangerously for quite a period of time in a residential area. You were driving up to 80mph in a 30 zone. You don't need me to tell you how dangerous that was. If that had happened in the day time, someone would have been seriously injured."

She added of his lack of licence: "No one had ever said you were fit to drive - you could be an appalling driver even on the best day."

RICHARD SZABO

A 55-year-old man has been jailed for 18 months after sexually abusing a teenage girl in Bradford.

Richard Szabo, now of Appleton Court, Wigan, admitted touching the underage girl, with the offence dating back several years.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Szabo was caught on top of the youngster, who was semi-naked, and was touching her sexually.

Judge David Hatton was critical of the length of time it took for Szabo to be charged, which was a number of years after the attack.

He added that Szabo appeared to show no remorse until he pleaded guilty last month. Although he said he understood that Szabo had experienced “considerable stress” in the time since his arrest.

Szabo was placed on the sex offenders’ register for ten years, and must now comply with a sexual harm prevention order for the same length of time.

ANDREW PORTER

A Bradford man has been sentenced for pleading guilty to an amended charge of attempting sexual communication with a child after online and social media conversations with a 'decoy' police officer who was posing a 13-year-old teenage girl.

Andrew Porter, 54, of Lavinia Terrace, Clayton, received a six-month suspended prison sentence, a community order with 30 days rehabilitation and he was put on the sex offender register for seven years.

The original charge of engaging in sexual communication with a child, to which Porter had pleaded guilty in Magistrates Court, was vacated because a "decoy" police officer had posed as a 13-year-old girl in an online chat.

Judge Richard Mansell said to Porter: "You attempted sexual communication with a child who was in fact a police officer, so I will allow you to vacate that plea of guilty."

The judge told Porter that the charge was amended to attempted sexual communication with a child for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification, a charge in which he also then entered a plea of guilty.

The communication between Porter took place from September 4 to 6, 2019, with initial communication in an online chat and dating site and then via WhatsApp.

The two carried out their initial conversation with Porter using the profile name "Zinger".

The court heard from the Crown prosecutor that during that three-day period that Porter tried to communicate with the 'decoy' believing the person to be a 13-year-old girl.

Their conversation talked about her "soon going back to school" and she wrote "Don't report me, I'm 13".

In their conversations, Porter talked about "taking her shopping" and being "jealous of her boyfriend".

He made comments about "watching her in a changing room" and engaging is oral sexual activity.

The prosecutor also told the court that Porter "probably masturbated during their conversations gaining sexual gratification".

After West Yorkshire Police received intelligence on April 9, 2020, from a North East police operations unit, Porter was arrested at his home address on April 14, 2020.

Porter's solicitor told the court that Porter, at 54 years of age, had "no previous convictions and was a low risk of re-offending".

He also said that Porter was "generally regretful and remorseful" for his behaviour and that during the waiting time between his arrest and the court case he has "essentially been a nervous wreck for the last year".

He also told the court to consider a community order and rehabilitation as his client "wants to address his issues".

In handing down the sentence, Judge Mansell said to Porter: "You clearly believed you were speaking to a 13-year-old girl.

"You effectively enquired when the school holidays would end and at some point requested a picture. You commented she was 'hot'.

The judge said that Porter "clearly sought out the girl" and "engaged in grooming behaviour to see if she would react".

"You never once incited or encouraged her to meet you or to do anything to herself, but you simply derived gratification from sexual conversation.

"You at least contemplated taking this further and you have an unhealthy interest in teenage girls.

"But you do realise the harm you caused to who you believed was a young girl and you realise you made a mistake.

"A sentence of nine months in prison would have been appropriate, but with the guilty plea you are entitled to a one-third reduction."

Judge Mansell then gave Porter a six-month sentence which was suspended because "you are 54 years of age and of good character and you accept that you've done wrong and are willing to atone for your offending".

The judge said Porter then must comply with a community order in which he will have to "perform 30 days of one-on-one rehabilitation".

Judge Mansell said Porter is "subject to sex offender notification requirement for seven years" and must pay £425 in cost and a statutory surcharge.

MARK CHAPMAN

A man who downloaded more than 1,600 "truly depraved and sickening" indecent photographs of children over a decade has been jailed.

Mark Chapman, 58, was found to have 714 images and videos of the most serious nature, category A, on his computer, when his home in Nursery Close, Baildon, was raided.

In addition police officers found a number of extreme pornographic images, including animals, and a prohibited image of a child.

A forensic investigation of his seized computer also uncovered a series of Skype chats with others, where Chapman had shared three indecent videos of children, two of category A and one of category B.

They also found 428 category B photographs and 472 category C photographs on his Apple Mac and external hard drive.

Chapman, now of Kinclaven Gardens, Perth in Scotland, admitted all seven charges, which dated back to between 2004 and 2015, and was jailed for 16 months.

Bradford Crown Court heard from the prosecutor in the case, who described how police raided Chapman's home in May 2017, seizing the computer and hard drive.

Some of the indecent images had been encrypted and some Chapman had attempted to hide within files with innocuous-looking names.

The images ranged in date from September 21, 2004 and March 21, 2015, showing the length of time over which they had been downloaded.

Victims in the indecent images ranged from newborn babies to 13-year-old boys, the court was told. Some also included animals, such as a horse and a dog.

In Chapman's defence, the court was told that he did not share the images of the younger victims - it was only those containing older children that he shared on the Skype chat - person to person and not with a large group or multiple people.

Of the encrypted files, his barrister added: "They were images received through the post by DVD and the encryption was part of the DVD."

"It is right that some of the file names were innocuous."

He described how Chapman had been in a 38-year relationship and that his partner, who now knows about the images, remains supportive, in fact quitting his job as a teacher.

He said that the period over which the images were opened was lengthy, but that given the length of time the number of images he amassed was relatively low, adding that he only turned to them "in times of crisis".

In addition, he had not downloaded any images for around two years before the raid of his home in 2017 - so six years in total as of now.

He had already completed a Safer Lives Programme available in West Yorkshire and both he and his partner had given up their jobs as a result of his arrest and subsequently moved to Scotland.

"The defendant has taken very real steps to move away from (the internet fantasy world) and protect himself from future behaviour," he added.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC described the worst of the images found of Chapman's computer as "truly depraved and sickening".

He added that the lengthy period of time over which he downloaded the images and videos showed that his "interest in children and other extreme porn was well and truly entrenched".

But he said he realised this was now six years ago.

The judge added that Chapman's interest had succeeded to "feed this vile trade" but that his jail sentence would hopefully deter others.