Faces of criminals jailed for terrifying Devon crimes

It might be statistically one of the safest parts of the country but Devon is no stranger to violent crime. The court in Exeter[1] regularly deals with criminals convicted of serious assault. In the past 12 months alone dozens of defendants, almost all of them men, have been jailed for brutal crimes.

Many of the cases involve domestic arguments that got out of control. Others are unprovoked stranger attacks. Often there is a background of drink or drugs.

Several have been sentenced to life for murder. Judges set a minimum tern which murderers must serve inside before being released. Here DevonLive looks at those convicted of the most serious violent crimes in Devon.

Hammer robbery in Torquay shop

Two men were jailed for a brutal robbery during which a shop worker was repeatedly battered over the head with a hammer.

CCTV captured dangerous thug Patrick Grady swinging the claw hammer and striking the victim to the ground. He helped himself to booze from the shelves before stepping over the fallen victim and leaving the shop in Torquay[2]. The bloodied cashier was taken to hospital.

A judge said he might have been killed were it not for the thickness of his dreadlocks which helped to cushion the blows.

Jonathan Simpson has been jailed for attempted murder (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A man attempted to kill a stranger in a public library in order to “educate” him on good manners, a court heard. Jonathan Simpson launched the ferocious attack when his victim became “huffy” about moving his bag.

With no warning he pulled out a knife and stabbed him repeatedly in the head. He then followed his bleeding victim outside and chased him around a car. When the violence was over Simpson calmly waited for police to arrive at the scene.

He told them: “I stabbed him because he was annoying me. I’d do it again if I had to. The guy p*ssed me off.

He had his bag near me. I was trying to kill him. I’m disappointed.”

Christopher Goodman has been jailed in Exeter (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A nightmare boyfriend hit his partner on the knees with a hammer and embarked on an obsessive stalking campaign when she ended the relationship. Christopher Goodman started crying and apologising after violently assaulting his teenage girlfriend, a court heard. The pair remained in a toxic relationship for several years but when she finally ended it he would not let her move on.

He repeatedly sent her messages, turned up at her address, kicked her door, followed her in his van, and made threats about stabbing. After tracking her down to a Travelodge he sent her a chilling message saying: “I can do this for days. Can you keep on hiding is the question.”

Brian Jewell has been convicted of murder (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

Brian Jewell murdered Exeter homeless man Stephen Cook during an explosion of violence in the city centre. Jewell was just 19 when he stabbed Mr Cook in the chest outside Betfred in Sidwell Street. Mr Cook died of the single wound which cut into his heart.

Jewell was found guilty of murder at Exeter Crown Court. He was arrested a couple of hours after stabbing Mr Cook. He needed 22 stitches to his face after being injured with a broken bottle by Mr Cook.

Vincent Stanton has been jailed for violence in Torquay (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A thug was jailed for kicking-in a man’s door and punching him repeatedly while he lay in bed. Vincent Stanton, aged 52, jumped on top of the victim and struck him fives times while wearing a metal knuckleduster, a court heard. He also carried out a separate attack on another tenant living in the same flats in Avenue Road in Torquay.

On that occasion he tricked his way into the man’s room and punched him four times. Stanton appeared at Exeter Crown Court for sentence and was jailed for 20 months. He has a history of violence but has not been in any serious trouble for more than 30 years.

Gregory White has been jailed for violence (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A man had a chunk of his ear ripped off when his boyfriend attacked him with a metal step ladder, a court heard. Gregory White lost his temper during a late-night argument at his flat in Exeter. He pummelled his partner repeatedly on the head with the ladder while he was on the floor and raged that he would kill him.

When his bloodied victim got to his feet he noticed part of his ear was on the floor. The ladder used to hit him had snagged on an earring and ripped it apart. Surgeons could not reattach it and he has been left permanently disfigured.

Daniel Leitch and Tina Westcott (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A pair of violent intruders were jailed for breaking into an elderly couple’s home and using an angle grinder to demand money from them. Daniel Leitch and Tina Westcott burst into the caravan at 3am when the man and woman were both asleep and then attacked the man with a piece of wood which he picked up to defend himself. They believed the couple had at least GBP1,000 cash and Westcott picked up and plugged in an angle grinder before handing it to Leitch, who held it at the terrified male victim’s head.

He suffered a cut hand as he tried to fend off the grinder, which was operating at full speed but was left traumatised by seeing its blade held just centimetres from his neck. Leitch humiliated the woman victim by forcing her to take off her top so he could look at her breasts.

Christopher Harper (Image: Ted Davenport / Exeter Court Service)

A man has been jailed after aiming an axe at the neck of a police officer. Devon and Cornwall Police[10] was called to a domestic incident at Christopher Harper’s home in Kingsteignton when the terrifying attack took place.

Police Sergeant Mark Smith arrived at the scene in Avery Hill alone on September 2022 and was met by Harper who was armed with an axe and a sword. After unsuccessfully deploying a taser, Sergeant Smith withdrew to a marked police van. Harper, 49, followed him to the vehicle and aimed a blow with the axe at the officer which smashed into his car and came close to his neck.

Police reinforcements, including firearms officers, soon arrived and he was arrested outside his home in the early hours of September 11.

Craig Harrison from Torquay has been convicted of manslaughter (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A Torbay[12] man died after being punched in the face by a drunken homeless man in Paignton[13] town centre. Craig Harrison killed 69-year-old Timothy Smith in a senseless and unprovoked attack in Victoria Street.

Mr Smith sustained a head injury in the assault and died 16 days later in Derriford Hospital. Harrison, an alcoholic with a history of violence, has been convicted of his manslaughter. A judge said: “You killed him.

You killed an entirely innocent, decent man for no more reason tyhan you were nasty and drunk”. Harrison, 46, from Torquay, was jailed for five years and four months. Plymouth[14] Crown Court[15] heard moving tributes to Mr Smith from his broken-hearted family. He was described a ‘lovely and entertaining person’.

The scene of the crime at Tesco Extra in Barnstaple (Image: Paula Davies)

A psychotic Barnstaple[17] man who stabbed to death a stranger outside Tesco[18] in 2018 was suffering from a mental illness so severe that he did not have full control of his actions at the time the killing. Kevin Gale[19], also known as Kit Kat, was hearing voices and exhibiting bizarre behaviour before launching the fatal attack on Lee Turner in the supermarket car park. Mr Turner, 39, died after a Spider-Man throwing knife was plunged into his back four times during the random attack. He had gone to the Tesco Express in Barnstaple to buy milk and collapsed into the arms of a worker, saying ‘Why me?’[20]

Gale, 54, received treatment under the Mental Health Act at Langdon Hospital in Dawlish[21] after a court hearing in 2019[22] found he was responsible for the killing. At the time he was deemed not fit to stand trial. He later entered a guilty plea to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Tanya Hoskin has been jailed for manslaughter for killing her partner in Exmouth (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A woman with a personality disorder was jailed for 10 years for stabbing to death her partner in a ‘sudden and unexpected’ assault in Exmouth[24]. Tanya Hoskin, 52, plunged a kitchen knife into Nigel Johnston while the pair were shielding together over Christmas[25] on December 27, 2020. She snapped as a result of a build-up of frustration at their life together and after the couple had spent the day drinking together at their home in Tennyson Way.

Mr Johnston, 54, collapsed in the kitchen and died of a single deep wound despite the best efforts of paramedics to save his life. The former cafe and holiday park worker stood trial for murder at Exeter Crown Court. The jury found her not guilty but guilty of manslaughter.

Chad Brading, Benjamin Parry and Thomas Pawley – all found guilty of manslaughter of David Crawford (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

Three men were jailed at Exeter Crown Court after they were found guilty of killing a member of a rival motorcycle chapter. Benjamin Parry, aged 42 and Chad Brading, aged 36, both from Plymouth, along with Thomas Pawley, aged 32 from Ivybridge[27], were found guilty of manslaughter following the death of 59-year-old David Crawford, also from Ivybridge who was killed following a collision on the A38 earlier in 2022. Parry was jailed for 12 years, while Pawley and Brading were both jailed for four years each.

During the trial in November at Plymouth Crown Court, the jury was shown footage of Crawford riding his black 2,000cc Kawasaki motorbike on the evening of 12 May, when it was stopped by Pawley and Brading in Pawley’s black Mercedes car on the St Budeaux A38 on-slip.

Levi Hackett has been jailed for GBH with intent in Totnes (Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)

A 23-year-old man was jailed for slamming a paving slab onto the head of a rough sleeper in a sickening attack in Totnes[29]. Levi Hackett was seen on town centre CCTV raising the 12inch long block above his head in both hands and bringing it down with force on his victim.

Benjamin Martin was sat on the ground outside the Happy Apple[30] food store when he was attacked and did not see Hackett approaching. He suffered a fractured skull and was told by doctors that the impact had been like ‘somebody cracking a coconut’. Hackett said he was motivated by revenge after his girlfriend’s flat was ransacked.

He did not know Mr Martin but said he had once dated his partner.

Dwayne Huggins has been jailed for a violent attack in Exeter (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police)

Two men were jailed in 2022 for a frenzied and brutal armed ambush of a couple in Exeter. Dwayne Huggins and Curtis Dhers attacked the man and his girlfriend as they were walking home near Polsloe Bridge.

Huggins tried to murder his victim with an axe shouting ‘I’m going to f*****g kill you,’ as he struck him on the head. Dhers, who Huggins had recruited to help him in the attack, hit the victim’s terrified partner with a baseball bat. He shouted “Go on Dwayne get him, f*****g get him,” as he joined the beating of the man.

Michael Robinson has been found guilty murdering Carol Hart

A ‘merciless’ killer was jailed for life in 2021 for the brutal murder of a disabled pensioner who he was supposed to be caring for. Michael Robinson has been told he must serve at least 30 years in jail for strangling and kicking the 77-year-old to death during an attack in her home in Northam[33]. He killed her to silence her after she discovered he had stolen half her life savings and reported him to the police and his employers.

He tried to cover his tracks by throwing his bloodstained boots and clothing into a bin lorry shortly afterwards but was caught because one bloodied boot was found at a tip.

References

1. ^ Exeter (www.devonlive.com)
2. ^ Torquay (www.devonlive.com)
3. ^