Bradford Crown Court: Here's who has been jailed this week

A MAN was stabbed in the leg with a large kitchen knife by a drug-fuelled assailant ‘behaving like an animal’ who he feared would bite his nose off.

Stephen Titchener and a women accomplice attacked the victim after midnight at an address in Little Horton Lane, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Titchener, 43, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty on the day of trial to unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm on December 10, 2020.

He was jailed for five years and three months with an extended licence period of two years. He will serve two-thirds of the custodial term behind bars before he can be considered for release.

The sentence runs concurrently with a jail term of eight and a half years he is serving in HMP Ranby imposed in September, 2021, for offences including attempted robbery.

Recorder Andrew Latimer found that Titchener was dangerous and presented a high risk of serious harm to the public.

Prosecutor Lily Wildman said the police were called to a report of a stabbing and saw the victim in the street bleeding heavily from his leg.

He said he was watching television late on December 9 when Titchener and a woman called round. He and Titchener knew one another from when they had lived in London.

Titchener made an allegation against him which he strongly denied. The defendant then ‘lost the plot’ and punched him causing immediate pain. The woman then joined in the assault.

Titchener bit his nose and he was terrified he would bite it off. He described him as ‘behaving like an animal.’ The defendant got a large kitchen knife from his waistband and lunged at him, stabbing him in the back of the leg while the woman punched him.

Titchener threatened to ‘bury him alive’ if he told the police.

He was treated in Leeds General Infirmary for the stab wound, lacerations and an injury to his nose.

Titchener had 16 offences against the person on his record, including ABH and possession of an offensive weapon.

Ian Cook said in mitigation that he was in ‘a very chaotic position’ at the time and had been on drugs since he was aged 11.

He had serious mental health problems and difficulty in coping with the side effects of his anti-psychotic medication. He had stopped taking it and was living on the streets or sofa surfing.

Titchener had earned enhanced status in prison and was taking educational courses. He now looked back on his history of serious violence with shame and regret.

He was drug free and there were encouraging signs that he could turn his life around.

Recorder Andrew Latimer said Titchener had produced a large kitchen knife and stabbed the man in the leg.

The victim thought he was going to be killed but, fortunately, the damage was not as serious as it could have been.

But Titchener had used a highly dangerous weapon to play a leading role in the prolonged and persistent assault. The offence was aggravated because he was under the influence of drugs and it was a joint attack.

A TERRIFIED woman ran shoeless down the street pursued by the man who had brutally assaulted her, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Tyrone Moyo was locked up for 32 months for the attack in which he hit her, squeezed her throat, pulled out a clump of hair and threatened to kill her.

Moyo, 20, of Crag Road, Shipley, Bradford, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm, making a threat to kill, assault by beating, damaging a police vehicle by smashing the windscreen, and resisting a constable in the execution of his duty.

Prosecutor Marte Alnaes said he was in a short relationship with the victim until he ‘brutally assaulted her.’ He had been out partying the night before and taking drugs when he attacked her at his flat on June 4.

He grabbed her to stop her leaving the flat and when she slapped his face to try to get away, he squeezed her throat causing swelling.

Moyo seized her by the hair, banged her head on the wall and dragged her upstairs. He bit her shoulder and arms and punched her in the face with a clenched fist.

Miss Alnaes said he threatened to kill her and she believed him.

She managed to escape and ran down the road shoeless with Moyo running after her. She sought help from a passer-by but when she got into his car, Moyo joined her in the vehicle. The man drove to Shipley Police Station with both of them on board and when he went inside, Moyo again assaulted the woman and then ran off.

She sustained a cut to her head, a burst lip, bruising to her arms and body, and a clump of her hair was pulled out.

Moyo refused to let the police into his flat and they had to break down the door.

He smashed the windscreen on a police vehicle and kicked out at a custody officer.

He had ten previous convictions for 23 offences, including three for battery, assaulting the police, robbery and damage. Moyo’s barrister, Sam Roxborough, conceded that there were simply no excuses for the attack but his remorse was genuine.

He had no previous convictions for domestic violence and this was his first appearance before the court as an adult.

Moyo was brought up in the care system and had never learned to handle his emotions properly. He turned to drug misuse as a coping mechanism.

He had spent time in custody on remand in HMP Doncaster.

Recorder Andrew Latimer said Moyo squeezed the woman’s throat, slapped her face and banged her head against the wall. He bit her, punched her to the head and tried to strangle her again.

He said: ‘I’m going to make sure you’re dead’ and she believed him.

She had bite marks, her lip was burst and a clump of hair pulled out.

Moyo was sentenced to a total of 32 months in a young offender institution. A ten-year restraining order protects the woman from him in the future.

A BURGLAR who walked up to a Bradford house with a garden spade and smashed a window to break in has been jailed for 37 months. 

Drug addict Michael Coultous was caught on CCTV approaching the address in Parkside Road, West Bowling, in broad daylight and leaving minutes later with a TV. 

He pleaded guilty to the burglary and was locked up by Judge Jonathan Rose who said he had a very lengthy record of serious criminal offences. 

Coultous, 55, of Lime Tree Square, Shipley, was seen on the security cameras on a neighbouring property on the afternoon of June 28, prosecutor David Ward told Bradford Crown Court. 

He broke a rear kitchen window to get in, made an untidy search upstairs and stole the £500 television set which was sold on and never recovered. 

He was tracked down and arrested after the spade he left behind was found to have his DNA on it.  

Coultous, who was remanded in HMP Leeds, made no comment when questioned by the police. 

The court heard he was more than a ‘third striker’ with a lengthy criminal record for offences of dishonesty. 

David McGonigal said in mitigation that Coultous looked significantly older than 55 because he had a history of drug addiction.  

“One can see the effects of that on him today,” Mr McGonigal told the court. 

Coultous had managed to stay out of trouble following his release from prison in about March, 2020. He was on licence and free from drugs but he relapsed and needed money to fund his addiction.  

He didn’t want to commit crimes but ‘he is not entirely his own master,’ Mr McGonigal said. 

He wanted an implant that was now available to stop him taking drugs in the future. 

The house was unoccupied at the time but Coultous took an implement with him to gain entry and the address was searched, it was conceded. 

Judge Rose said it was evident that Coultous had been ravaged over a period of time by his addiction to Class A drugs.  

He had a very lengthy record of serious criminal offences for dishonesty and dwelling house burglaries. 

He had been given opportunities in the past, including a Drug Rehabilitation Requirement that had failed. 

Judge Rose said that Coultous would continue to offend while he was addicted to drugs. Locking him up would protect the public from him for a time. 

A WOMAN has been jailed for 20 months for starting a series of fires with a lighter and a can of deodorant when support workers and paramedics were in her home. 

Janet Boocock, 21, caused £1,500 at the address in Copley Street, Little Horton, Bradford, on January 15. 

She was remanded in HMP New Hall following her arrest and pleaded guilty to reckless arson at the first opportunity. 

Bradford Crown Court heard that she told two support workers who had attended her address that she had just been to hospital and thought she was having a seizure. 

Prosecutor Peter Byrne said an ambulance was called but then she changed her story about having been to hospital and became aggressive when they declined to take her there. 

She used a lighter and a can of deodorant to start ‘massive flames’ and then lit a series of small fires at the property owned by Concept Housing. 

Paramedics doused the flames with an extinguisher and left the building. But Boocock followed them outside and turned the aerosol can and lighter towards one of them. 

She then started a fire in the front room by lighting paper and putting it on the carpet. 

A window was smashed to gain entry to the address and the extinguisher used to put out the blaze. 

Damage to the carpet, window and curtains came to £1,500, Mr Byrne said. 

Boocock made no comment when she was questioned by the police. 

The court heard that there had been issues about her fitness to plead. 

She had previous convictions for arson, criminal damage and threatening to destroy property. One of the arsons involved her setting fire to a Council bin bag in Bradford city centre.  

Olivia Fraser, Boocock’s barrister, said that probation and psychiatric reports had been prepared ahead of the sentencing hearing.  

Boocock had been in custody since the offence, the longest period she had spent locked up.  

Miss Fraser said the fires were small and Boocock was only intending to harm herself. 

Judge Jonathan Gibson said she had behaved in a similar way before.  

Even though the fires were quickly extinguished, she not only put herself at risk but the mental health workers and ambulance personnel that were present. 

There was clearly a significant risk of harm and £1,500 of damage was caused. 

Judge Gibson took into consideration the psychological effect on the professionals trying to help Boocock when she started the fires. 

A MAN who ‘poses a high risk of serious harm to women’ was jailed for two years for twice attacking a former partner in the space of three days.

Ashley Broadbent, 33, was reported to the police for dragging the woman along outside his address in Tyersal Road in Bradford on June 2.

Three days later, he punched her unconscious while driving dangerously in the Holme Wood and Sticker Lane area in a car he had taken from his mother without permission, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Broadbent was sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds after pleading guilty to assault by beating, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, aggravated vehicle taking with dangerous driving, failing to provide a specimen and driving unlicensed and uninsured.

Ian Howard, prosecuting, said the woman had an injury to her cheek after the first incident of violence.

She was treated in hospital for injuries including bruising and lumps in the second attack on June 5. The court heard that Broadbent took his mother’s car without consent and shouted at the victim to get into it.

When she did, he drove off punching her as he went along. She was fearful for her life and rendered unconscious, Mr Howard said.

At one stage, she was pleading with him to stop the vehicle. When he did, he made off on foot.

Broadbent had previous convictions for aggravated vehicle taking, battery, dwelling house burglary, obstructing the police, criminal damage, possession of heroin and assaulting a police constable.

Allan Armbrister said in mitigation that he had a troubled past and had not behaved well with women. He wanted to improve but he would have to show a lot more commitment to that.

He conceded that the offending was aggravated by Broadbent’s record.

He had been in custody on remand for about three months.

Recorder Tahir Khan KC said Broadbent had a bad record generally, and also in relation to violence.  His probation officer said he represented a high risk of serious harm to women.

He was bailed for the assault on June 2 and three days later, a more serious offence was committed against the same woman.

He took his mother’s car and assaulted the victim in it while driving dangerously with no licence or insurance. He then failed to provide a roadside breath test.

Broadbent was banned from driving for 21 months and until he passes an extended test.