The notorious Hull criminals spending Christmas behind bars

A local councillor who fell from grace, a trio who brutally tortured and killed a fellow party goer and a “promising engineer” turned drug dealer are some of the most notorious criminals spending their first Christmas[1] behind bars. Others include a cold-blooded murderer[2], a dangerous BMW driver who killed two children, and a company director who received a long jail term for a GBP7m tax fraud. Meanwhile, two robbers were sent down for forcing their way into the flat of a terrified woman.

Hull Live covers our courts on a daily basis, in order to ensure that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done. You can read the latest cases in our courts section[3] . These cases were heard this year and the criminals were handed sentences which means they will be tucking into turkey behind bars this Christmas.

Follow the link at the end of each to read the full details of each case.

Harley Robinson

Harley Robinson was jailed for life for killing Jason Whincup.

Cowardly and merciless killer Harley Robinson repeatedly stabbed Jason Whincup in a frenzied knife attack after being paid to do so. In March Robinson was jailed for at least 27 years. A jury took just one hour and 26 minutes to convict the serial knife-crime offender of murdering Mr Whincup – one of the shortest times seen at the court for such a serious case.

Sentencing Robinson, Judge John Thackray KC said: “You thought nothing of the unending pain you would cause to the family and friends of Mr Whincup. This was a murder for gain. Mr Whincup was adored by many and his life was precious and priceless to his family and friends.”

The 23-year-old had shamelessly pretended that it was not him who was clearly shown in CCTV pictures that provided overwhelming direct evidence against him. He kept up his cynical pretence throughout his murder trial at Hull Crown Court[4]. Robinson, formerly of Huntingdon Street, Hull, had denied murdering Mr Whincup, who died on September 2 last year, after being stabbed on August 31.

However, he was unanimously convicted by a jury on Thursday last week after a nine-day trial. Mr Whincup suffered “catastrophic internal bleeding” and needed a “massive transfusion” of blood to try to save him, but his condition deteriorated over a two-day period because his liver was badly damaged. It became clear that he could not be saved.

The cause of death was the stab wound to the liver. Read the full story.[5]

Jack Hart

Jack Hart admitted causing the deaths of two children by dangerous driving

Speeding motorist Jack Hart killed two young friends, aged 10 and 11, by dangerous driving while hurtling along a bus lane in a high-performance BMW. Hart had six penalty charges for using a bus lane in the previous year. He removed and destroyed dashcam evidence from the powerful car that he was driving and later lied to the police.

He finally changed his pleas to guilty – many months after he originally denied the matters and he left it until the day before a trial before he formally admitted his actions. At Hull Crown Court in February he was jailed for nine years. He was undertaking other vehicles in the bus lane and was driving at about 57mph in a 30mph limit when he hit best friends Steven Duffield, 10, and Mason Deakin, 11.

They were on a bicycle in the same bus lane and were heading against the flow of traffic towards Hart, with Mason riding and Steven sitting on the handlebars. Hart, 32, of Anlaby Road[6], west Hull, admitted causing the death of Steven on October 19, 2020 and causing the death of Mason on November 2, 2020 by dangerous driving on Anlaby Road.

Steven Duffield and Mason Deakin were rushed to hospital after being hit by Jack Hart’s BMW but both sadly died (Image: Humberside Police)

Steven and Mason were taken to Hull Royal Infirmary[7] but Steven later died. Mason was kept in intensive care and had been transferred to a hospital in Leeds, where he remained in a coma and on life support.

He died two weeks later, with his family by his bedside. Judge John Thackray KC told Hart: “It’s clear you caused devastation to the families of those boys in addition to the loss of life of two young boys who had their whole life ahead of them.” Hart used the bus lane as his “own personal racing track”, the judge added. He was banned from driving for 13 years and will have to pass an extended retest before he can drive again. Read the full story.[8]

Danielle Stafford

Danielle Stafford’s drugs empire ‘unravelled before her eyes’ when she was pulled over in her silver Audi

Her criminal enterprise allowed Danielle Stafford to live the high life.

She made so much money by selling drugs that she bought a second house and lived without touching any of her job salary. The luxury-loving engineer tried to pretend that she was just the victim of a Liverpool drug dealer, but she could give no evidence of that and, as well as selling crack cocaine and cannabis, she had most recently also started dealing heroin, Hull Crown Court heard in May. Stafford, 29, of Hallgate, Cottingham[9] had a long-running “additional cash income stream” but tried to fool a court that most of the expensive items that were found were not designer but were fake and had only been given to her by her family members from their foreign holidays.

She had luxuries including nine watches and three expensive Louis Vuitton handbags. She was caught by pure chance when police caught her speeding in a silver Audi heading along Priory Road towards Hull city[10] centre at 7.30pm on May 12, 2020. They later found GBP29,617 cash stashed around her home and drugs with a street value of GBP33,600.

Judge Mark Bury told Stafford: “You are well educated. You are a promising engineer. Your life went out of control some time in 2017 when you started dealing cannabis.” Read the full story.[11]

Mark Stead

Mark Stead has been jailed for six years. (Image: Facebook)

He was the director of a Hull company but during that time Mark Stead committed a tax fraud that ran to more than GBP7m.

Stead, 49, lived a life of luxury as he spent the ill-gotten gains on boats, caravans, holiday homes and putting his children through a private education. But he also dragged four other people into his elaborate scheme – including his wife and brother – who were also jailed. Stead embarked on a campaign of tax evasion and pocketed nearly GBP7m by failing to pay VAT, among other offences.

His brother David Stead, 61, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for his part in the fraud. Mark Stead’s wife Jennifer Everett, 44, and his personal assistant Denise Milestone, 61, were jailed for 18 months. Benjamin Wragg, 32, received a two-year sentence.

Mark Stead ran Pink Innovations and Pink Services Ltd, a construction installation firm that traded from premises on the Estuary Business Park, on Henry Boot Way, Hull, and in the village of Laceby near Grimsby. From 2010 to 2018, Mark Stead, of Croxton, North Lincs, embarked on a campaign of tax evasion at his two companies. During that time he pocketed nearly GBP7m by failing to pay VAT and almost GBP250,000 by deducting national insurance from employees’ pay, but failing to pass it on to Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

At Hull Crown Court in June, Simon Gledhill, prosecuting, said: “The couple benefitted from the fraud. It funded expensive boats and cars, along with school fees, investment in a motor racing team and property abroad. They could buy boats and caravans using the PAYE receipts they never paid to achieve the lavish lifestyle they wanted.”

None of the others benefitted much from the fraud, with Milestone and Wragg paid a salary for their work. David Stead also came away with no major financial reward. Read the full story.[12]

Christian Belcher

Christian Belcher, left, killed his long-time friend Richard Gray, right. (Image: Humberside Police)

Drug user Christian Belcher killed his friend in a violent punching, kicking and stamping attack following an argument that “got out of hand”. Regular criminal Belcher was jailed for a minimum of 14 years and 196 days after he was sentenced at Hull Crown Court in August for the brutal killing of Richard Gray.

Belcher, 31, of Gainford Grove, Greatfield estate, Hull, admitted murdering Mr Gray, 45, who died of injuries suffered during the “persistent and determined” attack. Caroline Goodwin KC, prosecuting, said that a female neighbour of Belcher heard shouting and arguing from his home at 4.08am on March 2. There was a lot of swearing and she looked out of her window to see Belcher dragging Mr Gray.

Belcher’s brother earlier woke up and heard the defendant repeatedly shouting: “Get out of the house” and “Get out, get out.” Belcher and Mr Gray had been taking drugs in Belcher’s bedroom before the attack. Belcher told his brother at the scene: “I got agitated and it got out of hand.” Judge Peter Kelson KC told Belcher: “This was a persistent and determined attack upon a man rendered senseless and seen by witnesses to be incapable of defending himself.

This was a repeated severe kicking and stamping attack.” Read the full story.[13]

Joshua Hawksworth

Joshua Hawksworth, from Bridlington, drove recklessly at over 100mph, causing a fatal crash, on a rural road near Driffield, East Yorkshire. (Image: Humberside Police)

Banned driver Joshua Hawksworth killed his best friend after crashing his girlfriend’s Range Rover into a tree while hurtling along roads at “breathtakingly fast speeds” of more than 100mph. Reckless and speed-obsessed Joshua Hawksworth was treating the road as his “own private racetrack” when he suddenly lost control on a slight right-hand bend while doing about 104mph. The horrific crash left his 23-year-old passenger, Connor Machon, dead and himself seriously injured.

Hawksworth, 32, had two previous convictions for dangerous driving and was even caught driving while disqualified after the fatal crash, Hull Crown Court heard in September. He admitted causing the death of Mr Machon by dangerous driving on July 24 last year. The accident happened at about 6.50pm when Hawksworth was driving his girlfriend’s black Range Rover Evoque on a straight section of the B1253 at Langtoft, north of Driffield[14].

He lost control on a slight right-hand bend and hit a large tree before coming to rest in an agricultural field. Mr Machon, the front-seat passenger, was pronounced dead at the scene. Hawksworth suffered serious injuries, including a smashed elbow and jaw, and broken collarbone, ankle and ribs.

The maximum speed on the road was 60mph, but Hawksworth had been driving at up to 104mph in the minutes before and he did not brake in the five seconds shortly before the crash. Hawksworth was on licence at the time after a previous prison sentence and he was on bail for a suspected theft from July 15 last year. He had a shocking record for driving offences.

Judge Mark Bury told Hawksworth: “You used the road as your own private racetrack and drove at breathtakingly fast speeds. You took a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road. You think that the laws relating to driving don’t apply to you.”

Hawksworth, of Trinity Road, Bridlington, was jailed for 12 years and banned from driving for 10 years. Read the full story.[16][15]

Ryan Langley

Former councillor Ryan Langley was jailed for sex offences (Image: Hull Live)

Disgraced former Hull city councillor Ryan Langley was jailed for three years in October because of his “morally corrupt behaviour” and “depravity” after having sex with a teenage boy and being found with indecent images of children. He seemed to “rejoice” when he found out the boy’s real younger age and, instead of being “shocked and appalled” about it, he carried on with similar sexual activity. It was a fall from grace for the ex-councillor who once hoped to step up to frontline Westminster politics, Hull Crown Court heard.

Langley, 34, of Hessle[17] Road, west Hull, admitted causing or inciting the sexual exploitation of a teenage boy between January 2019 and April 2021. He also admitted distributing indecent images of children and three offences of making indecent images of children. Dale Brook, prosecuting, said the boy and Langley met on a website and the boy told him that he was aged 16, which would be the legal age with no offence committed.

But it turned out he was only 14. When the boy told Langley that he was only 14, the ex-councillor told him: “You’re the youngest I have had.” Langley continued to send messages despite knowing that the boy was only 14. Langley was arrested and his phone and laptops were seized.

Images of the boy were shared and Langley expressed the hope of having further sexual contact with the boy before he turned 16. Langley distributed several photographs and videos of his sexual contact with other boys under the age of 16, including one aged 15. Ayman Khokhar, mitigating, said: “Despite mental health difficulties, he threw himself into local politics and had aspirations eventually to go to Westminster.”

“Against that background, rather than being shocked and appalled, you seemed to rejoice in the activity that had taken place and you demonstrated corrupt behaviour and a level of depravity by exchanging sexual images of the child and discussing future sexual activity,” said Judge John Thackray. The ex-councillor is a former deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group and previously represented Derringham ward in west Hull. He was first elected to the council for that party in May 2016 but later sat as an independent from June 2021.

He stood down from the council at the local elections in May. Read the full story.[18]

Hailstone, Edge and Kehoe

Lee Hailstone, Amie Kehoe and Keeran Edge were found guilty of murdering Lee Rhoades (Image: Humberside Police)

Lee Rhoades was brutally attacked in the block of flats where he lived after a party turned nasty. Lee Hailstone, 33, of Bathurst Street, and Keeran Edge, 26, of Hull, as well as Amie Kehoe, 24, of Blisland Close, Bransholme[19], Hull, all denied murdering Mr Rhoades as the result of an attack on him on March 11 but they were all found guilty in November after a trial at Hull Crown Court. They were all jailed for life on December 20. Edge will serve a minimum of 31 years behind bars before he can even be considered for release.

Kehoe will have to serve a minimum of 28 years and Hailstone, who had lesser involvement, will have to serve a minimum of 16 years.. A fourth defendant, Garry Harris, 25, who had been living with Mr Rhoades at his flat in Bathurst Street at the time, was also charged with murder but he was cleared by the jury. The trial heard Mr Rhoades, 45, who was also known as Leo, was punched, kicked or stamped on in a vicious and “cruel” group attack after a petty quarrel turned nasty during a party in a high-rise block of flats in Bathurst Street.

The partygoers had been in “high spirits” and were dancing and singing along to loud music but the mood was said to have changed when an argument erupted involving Mr Rhoades. The people involved in the violence jointly punched, kicked and stamped on Mr Rhoades during an attack that left him suffering serious brain injuries. He was pronounced dead at 3.20am on March 12.

Senior Investigating Officer (SIO) Detective Superintendent Al Curtis, leading the investigation into Lee’s murder, said: “The unforgiveable and horrendous actions of Hailstone, Edge and Kehoe, resulted in Lee losing his life after being brutally tortured.

“Lee had his life cut short by the people he trusted and called his friends.

Hailstone, Edge and Kehoe preyed on Lee’s vulnerabilities before subjecting him to a series of horrific assaults.” Read the full story.[20]

References

1. ^ Christmas (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
2. ^ murderer (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
3. ^ read the latest cases in our courts section (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
4. ^ Hull Crown Court (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
5. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
6. ^ Anlaby Road (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
7. ^ Hull Royal Infirmary (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
8. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
9. ^ Cottingham (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
10. ^ Hull city (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
11. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
12. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
13. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
14. ^ Driffield (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
15. ^ Bridlington (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
16. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
17. ^ Hessle (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
18. ^ Read the full story. (‘Fall%20from%20grace’%20for%20’depraved’%20former%20Hull%20councillor%20as%20he’s%20jailed%20after%20having%20sex%20with%20teenage%20boy)
19. ^ Bransholme (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)
20. ^ Read the full story. (www.hulldailymail.co.uk)