Bradford Crown Court: The criminals jailed this week

A MAN and a teenager were locked up for their roles in an organised crime gang that saw a loaded shotgun discharged at a woman’s head and a string of house raids and vehicle thefts across northern England.

Dale Poppleton (left) and Ali Abbas (Image: West Yorkshire Police)

Dale Poppleton, 42, of Charnwood Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, who was handcuffed during the hearing, and Ali Abbas, 18, of Cragg Street, Great Horton, Bradford, were ‘regular and willing participants’ in the group, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Poppleton was jailed for a total of eight and a half years and Abbas was sent to detention in a young offender institution for four years and two months.

Both pleaded guilty to possession of a shotgun with intent to cause fear of violence on January 11 and a string of house burglaries and thefts of vehicles.

Poppleton also admitted dangerous driving in a stolen Audi when he crashed into another vehicle causing extensive damage while being pursued by the police.

Prosecutor Tonicha Allen said the shooting was a targeted attack on a family in their home at Christophers Court, Idle, Bradford, at 1.30am.

Poppleton was armed with a sledgehammer and Abbas had a loaded shotgun that he pointed at the female householder and discharged as she leant out of the window.

She was unharmed but left shocked and severely distressed.

Poppleton was caught wielding the sledgehammer on ring doorbell footage. He was wearing a motorcycle helmet he had burgled from a Bradford address.

The court heard that the helmet was recognised by its owner when he saw film of the shooting incident.

Police enquiries led to the Plaza Hotel on Manningham Lane, Bradford, where Poppleton was seen showing his missing ear when checking in.

Abbas was arrested by armed police officers and denied all the offences.

Poppleton had 22 previous convictions and an extensive history of house burglary.

Miss Allen said the burglaries were targeted attacks on occupied addresses across the north of England with thefts of vehicles from the properties.

The woman shot at said it would stay with her forever. She was a mother with young children who was forced to live in another city after the incident.

In mitigation for Abbas, Peter Moulson KC said that all his offences were committed with others. He was 17 at the time and immature with intellectual difficulties.

He became involved with the criminal group over a short time. He had a hitherto unblemished record with no previous convictions.

Mr Moulson said there was little by way of confrontation in the house burglaries and no injury caused.

Nicholas de la Poer KC, Poppleton’s barrister, said he did not encourage or instigate the discharging of the shotgun.

He could be heard shouting:  “You’ve shot her…why did you shoot her? Why did you shoot her?” after it was fired.

Poppleton was a recidivist criminal who was part of an organised criminal group with others but he had no propensity to carry firearms.

He had a son and he sincerely wished to be part of his life in the future, Mr de la Poer said.

Poppleton knew this would be his most substantial prison sentence. Several of his relatives had died from heart disease and he feared he may never leave custody.

Judge Jonathan Rose said that between December last year and February the defendants were motivated by greed when they engaged with others in serious criminal activity.

Their primary targets were innocent members of the public whose occupied homes were targeted at night. Disguises were worn by the gang and cloned vehicles used to commit the burglaries.

Abbas was ‘a junior but willing participant’ in the offending while the older Poppleton was the leading light. He was on licence for house burglary at the time.

He was sentenced for four offences of dwelling house burglary and Abbas for three.

Judge Rose said the shooting incident was motivated by the desire to cause violence and there was perhaps an element of vengeance or a vendetta behind it.

Abbas pointed the gun at the woman and fired it. By some good fortune or miracle he missed her but the risk of death of serious injury was very high.

Judge Rose accepted that Poppleton had instructed Abbas not to fire the gun. The teenager, who was 17, acted on his own volition. He was in the eyes of the law a child and one with no previous convictions.

He was immature and naïve and sought the approval of older men to have his self-esteem raised.

Abbas fired the gun as an instinctive reaction to the woman appearing at the window to challenge them, Judge Rose said.

A LATE-NIGHT robber who strangled his vulnerable victim with his own bedsheet before making off with his money was labelled a public danger and given a ten-year extended prison sentence.

Paul Coles, 36, of Fairmont Lodge, Otley Road, Shipley, repeatedly shouted from the dock at Bradford Crown Court and had to be told be quiet by Judge Kirstie Watson.

He was jailed for seven years with a three-year extended licence period.

Judge Watson told him he will serve at least two-thirds of the custodial period behind bars.

Coles pleaded guilty to robbing the man of £110 in cash after midnight on August 10 last year.

A second charge of doing an act that affected his ability to breathe and constituted his battery was left on the file after the court heard that the case would be dealt with on the full facts.

Lily Wildman, prosecuting, said the robbery victim was a middle-aged man living in Bradford. He had mental and physical vulnerability and was known to Coles who had once cleaned his windows.

It was shortly after midnight when he answered a knock on his door to see Coles standing outside. He had a plastic flask and asked for water but the man refused to let him in because of the lateness of the hour.

Coles then stuck his foot in the door to prevent it from closing and pushed his way into the kitchen, shouting: “I’m going to kill you. I’m going to take all your money.”

The victim fell to the ground with Coles on top of him. He forced a bedsheet over his head and pulled it tightly round his neck. He was choking and struggling to catch his breath.

He thought he was going to die, Miss Wildman said.

Coles asked ‘Do you know who I am?’ and when the man said no, he became friendly ‘in the blink of an eye.’

He suggested they went into the lounge and seemed to know there was a tin of money in there. The victim was so shaken and distressed that he showed it to him.

Coles stuck it under his jumper and then took a bag to put it in.

He told the man he was ‘a desperate crackhead’ before making off with the tin. The police were called and Coles was identified from his prints on the flask he left behind.

He was arrested and denied the robbery. He claimed he had never been to the address and said he had been ‘fitted up.’

In his two victim personal statements, the man spoke of the significant physical and emotional trauma he had suffered. He had throat pain, neck and back pain and disturbed sleep. He stayed in with the doors and windows locked.

Coles had 28 previous convictions for 52 offences, including assaulting police officers. He had repeatedly breached a Criminal Behaviour Order.

Ella Embleton said in mitigation that he had no robberies on his record. He didn’t take a weapon to the scene, the sheet was already there.

Coles had taken positive steps in custody after struggling with his mental health. He had spiralling depression and ADHD.

Judge Watson said the victim didn’t want Coles in his property but he pushed his way in and forced him backwards.

He picked up a bedsheet left out to wash, forced it over his head and pulled it tightly, giving himself extra leverage by putting his knee into his neck. He then released the choke-hold and suddenly became friendly, asking where the money was.

The victim felt forced to tell him where the £110 was kept and Coles made off with it.

Judge Watson said he had used significant force with a weapon, although not the usual type.

She said he had an unhappy and unstable background that had contributed to his offending, his drug use also being a factor. She understood that he would miss his children while serving the time in jail.

A restraining order prevents him from contacting his victim for the next ten years.

A MAN was jailed for five years after he was caught transporting almost a kilo of cocaine worth up to £60,000 across Bradford.

Mohammed Ismail, 29, of Gloucester Avenue, Fagley, Bradford, also had a large amount of Ketamine on board the grey Mercedes when he was stopped on March 27.

He was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on a video link to HMP Leeds where he was remanded.

Ismail pleaded guilty ahead of his trial to possession of 976 grams of cocaine with intent to supply it and possession with intent to supply the Class B drug Ketamine.

Prosecutor Clare Walsh said the case involved a kilo of cocaine.

Police officers searched the car and seized a green bag from the footwell containing the cocaine. There was also a large amount of Ketamine and £1,500 in cash.

Mrs Walsh said the cocaine had a wholesale value of up to £30,000 but was worth up to £60,000 if split into street deals.

Messages on Ismail’s phone showed that he was being directed by others higher up the chain.

A directions hearing on January 25 for a Proceeds of Crime Application will look into clawing back money he has made from his criminality.

Mrs Walsh said that Ismail had no previous convictions.

In mitigation, Fuad Arshad said that he was supported by his family who had attended court.

He was couriering the drugs to pay off a debt and did not have a significant role in the operation.

Recorder Dafydd Enoch KC said that Ismail was involved in a drug dealing enterprise that was on a very large scale.

He needed to make money and he agreed to act as a courier for large quantities of Class A and Class B drugs.

He was bound to receive very significant financial gain and he must have been aware of the scale of the operation although he was performing a role under direction.

He would receive credit for his pleas of guilty but they were made after his first appearance at the crown court.

“You knew what you’d done and you knew you were guilty of these offences in some shape or form,” he said.

He made allowance for Ismail’s previous good character which he said was unusual for a defendant in such a case.

Ismail was jailed for a total of five years.

The drugs will be forfeit and destroyed at the end of the POCA proceedings.

A MAN was jailed for five-and-a-half years for sexually abusing several young children.

George Lincoln, 57, of Berkeley Crescent, Harehills, Leeds, was imprisoned after a jury at Bradford Crown Court convicted him of the offences, some of which were committed in Bradford.

Lincoln, who worked in the demolition industry, was sentenced on a video link to HMP Leeds where he was remanded.

Judge Sophie McKone said he had shown no remorse or empathy towards his young victims.

He had previous convictions, including serving a jail sentence for burglary, but nothing for sexual offences.

Rodney Ferm said in mitigation that Lincoln was a hardworking man in the demolition industry. He was catching up with his education in custody and had no intention of returning to this area on his release.

Judge McKone said Lincoln will serve two thirds of his sentence in prison before he is released on licence.

She made a Sexual Harm Prevention Order without limit of time.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Constable Joanne Besford, of West Yorkshire Police’s Bradford Safeguarding Unit, said: “Lincoln committed serious sexual offences. He is someone who poses a risk of significant harm to children."

Det Con Besford said the impact upon the victims had been profound.

"However, I hope the sentence today brings some comfort to the victims and their families, whose bravery should be commended," she added.

“I would like to encourage any other victims of both recent and non-recent sexual abuse to come forward and report these matters to police in the confidence that they will be investigated thoroughly, no matter how much time has passed.

“Be assured that we are here to listen and that your case will be treated with the upmost sensitivity.”

A SORE loser who turned to violence against his then-girlfriend after she beat him in a game of bowling was put behind bars.

The woman was suffocated by Damon Broadhurst who forced her face into the bed, before punching her to the face and throwing away her phone so she could not call the police.

The 48-year-old appeared before Bradford Crown Court to be sentenced on charges of intentional suffocation, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

He was convicted of the first two after a trial but pleaded guilty to the latter, with a judge concluding that immediate custody was the only appropriate punishment worthy of his offending.

The facts of the case were outlined by Lauren Smith, prosecuting, who explained to the court how the victim was his then-girlfriend.

On an unspecified date in November 2021, they were living together in the Shipley area and had been out drinking, with Broadhurst ‘kicking off’ as they returned home.

She left the home, causing the defendant to ring her but fail to get through. He then rang her father, demanding to know where she was and threatening to ‘kick his head in’ if he did not say.

The woman returned home, at which point Broadhurst kicked the bannister, pinned her to the wall, punched her to the face and stomped on her iPhone, causing £200 worth of damage.

Further violence was inflicted on July 2 last year, with the pair going for dinner and then bowling. Both were in drink, with the defendant becoming ‘angry and frustrated’ when she started to beat him at bowling.

He made ‘nasty’ comments to her, leading to them getting an Uber back to her home at around 9.30pm, where he told her the relationship was over and she asked him to leave.

He called her a ‘fat, ugly b***h’ and then attacked her in the bedroom, pushing her and punching he to the face, leading her to scratch his face in self-defence.

As a result, Broadhurst forced her face down into the bed, leaving the victim panicking as she struggled to breathe, but she managed to free herself from his grip.

She grabbed her phone to call the police but he snatched it from her, threw it out of a window and punched her repeatedly to the face, causing a cut to her ear and facial bruising and swelling.

The woman managed to free herself again by kicking the defendant and ran to a neighbour who helped her to call the police. Broadhurst was arrested in his car outside.

Ms Smith also revealed to the court that the defendant has four previous convictions for 14 offences, nine of which are for offences against people.

These include three counts of assault and one of inflicting grievous bodily harm in April 2019.

Exerts from an impact statement written by the victim were read out in court, in which she spoke of how reliving details in court made her feel ‘anxious and sick’.

Parts of a victim impact statement were read to the court.

“It is hard to express how someone you trust and thought you would spend the rest of your life with has it in them to destroy another human being as he did,” the victim said.

“I do not believe he will accept responsibility and apologise as he thinks it was a normal way to behave. What he did was unforgivable, unwanted and unwarranted.”

She added that at times she did not want to attend court due to finding the experience ‘too traumatic’, however she did not want another woman to be subjected to what she went through.

Ella Embleton offered mitigation in the form of a letter Broadhurst wrote to the court in which he said he will never repeat his behaviour.

“I want to express my deepest remorse for my actions, and the distress they have caused. My behaviour was unacceptable,” he wrote.

The court also heard how the builder has been in a new relationship for the past 12 months and wants to be a role model for his stepson.

Since the offending, Broadhurst said he'd engaged in counselling and a meditation course and had not drunk alcohol, which he admits is the cause of his problems, for the past 15 months.

But Recorder Patrick Palmer ruled that a suspended sentence was inappropriate, concluding: “You behaved in an extremely unpleasant way towards her.

“The offence crosses the custody threshold no doubt. All things considered, immediate custody is the only way that appropriate punishment can be achieved.”

Broadhurst, of Bowman Avenue in Latchford, Warrington, was given an 18-month prison sentence.