The latest cases to be heard at Harrogate Magistrates Court between April 20 and April 25

The following was heard at North Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court on April 20:

Joe McKenna, 32, received an 18-month community order for an epic shoplifting spree in which he stole over £300 of goods from shops and supermarkets across Harrogate. The two-month spree began at Sainsbury’s on Kings Road on February 8, when McKenna stole Stella Artois packs worth £36. On March 7, he stole a 10-pack case of Strongbow cider at the One Stop shop on Knaresborough Road. The following day, he stole two cases of cider worth £24 from the Co-op store in King Edward’s Drive and two cans of Captain Morgan rum from the Morrisons Daily shop in the same street. On March 30, he stole four cans of cider from the Texaco store at Oakdale Service Station on Ripon Road and stole about £220 of goods, including two carrier-bags full of meats and desert boxes and a 12-pack case of lager, from the Co-op on Skipton Road. McKenna also admitted assaulting a named man at a property on Knaresborough Road, Harrogate. That offence occurred on March 7. The community order includes a six-month alcohol-treatment programme and up to 30 days’ rehabilitation activity. McKenna was ordered to pay £135 costs and a £114 surcharge to fund victim services, but there was no order for compensation.

The following were heard at North Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court on April 21:

Kathryn Richardson, 49, of Battle Close, Boroughbridge, received a 12-month motoring ban after she was caught driving while over four times the legal alcohol limit. She was stopped in Gracious Street, Knaresborough, on September 11 last year. A drink-drive test revealed she had 325mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal alcohol limit is 80mg. Richardson was also given a 12-month community order which includes a six-month alcohol-treatment programme and up to 20 days’ rehabilitation activity. She was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 statutory surcharge.

Dinson Chirackal Varkey, 42, of Olive Way, Harrogate, received a 20-month motoring ban for failing to provide a specimen for analysis following a suspected driving offence. Varkey failed to provide a specimen of breath at Harrogate Police Station on December 27, 2021. He denied the offence but was found guilty. He also received a 12-month community order with 60 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £620 prosecution costs, along with a £95 surcharge. There was no separate penalty for driving without a licence on Lancaster Park Road, Harrogate.

Wayne Herrington, 43, of Butts Hedge, Long Marston, was ordered to undergo rehabilitation after breaching a community order. He failed to comply with the order by “presenting inappropriate behaviour” at a probation appointment in January and failing to turn up for an appointment in February. The original order was varied to include up to five days’ rehabilitation activity.

The following was heard at North Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court on April 24:

Benjamin Donnelly, 36, of Somerset Row, Ripon, received a 16-week jail sentence for assaulting police officers including a custody nurse at Harrogate Police Station and breaching post-custodial supervision requirements. The attacks on the three police officers occurred in Ripon and at Harrogate Police Station on April 21, when he also assaulted a custody nurse. Donnelly breached his supervision requirements by failing to attend three probation appointments in February. He was ordered to pay the victims a combined £300 compensation.

The following were heard at North Yorkshire Magistrates’ Court on April 25:

Cieran Bamford, 31, of Knaresborough Road, Harrogate, was jailed for 16 weeks for threatening a named woman with violence. The offence occurred at a property in Milby on April 23. Bamford admitted causing the victim to fear that violence would be used against her by making threats towards her and others. The jail sentence was imposed because of Bamford’s “flagrant disregard for people and their property”. He was also made subject to a five-year restraining order which bans him from contacting the victim and entering the boundary of her property. Bamford was made to pay a victim surcharge of £154.

Gregory Baines, 40, of no fixed address, received a 10-month jail sentence for assaulting and threatening a police officer in Harrogate. The incident occurred in Mayfield Grove on April 17. Baines was ordered to pay the officer £100 compensation. He also admitted possessing cannabis on Kings Road, Harrogate, on March 29, and breaching a suspended prison sentence imposed in November last year for failing to comply with a restraining order. The new 46-week jail sentence was imposed because Baines had a “flagrant disregard for court orders, people and their property”. There was no separate penalty for being drunk and disorderly on Kings Road when he was caught with the cannabis.