The court resumed sittings on Friday January 2 after the Christmas and New Year break.
It followed a foreshortened month in December due to enforced closure of the Old Elvet court complex for more than a week due to pipework repairs.
The first day of hearings in 2026 brought a sentence for a man who carried out a robbery at a bookmakers’ premises where staff recognised his voice as a previous customer at the shop.
The masked robber claimed to have a gun as he demanded an assistant at the William Hill branch in Seaham, hand over £3,000 in cash.
Gary Redmarcher
This defendant placed a handwritten note on the counter saying, “I have a gun, and I don’t want to hurt anyone,” as he demanded the cash at the premises in The Avenue.
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Gary Redmarcher (Image: Durham Constabulary)
He warned the assistant not to raise the alarm, in the incident on November 27, last year, but she recognised his voice from a previous visit to the store
When told it could take 20 minutes to get access to that amount of money, Redmarcher told the assistant to just give him what was in the till, and left with the £132.81 contents.
Officers went to his home the next day and recovered the note, but no weapon was found.
When interviewed, he denied responsibility, claiming the description given by witnesses did not match the clothing he was wearing that day.
Appearing at the court on January 2, the 45-year-old defendant, of Jasper Avenue, Seaham, admitted robbery and was jailed for 27 months.
John Harris
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John Harris (Image: Durham Constabulary)
A Ferryhill man who befriended his elderly neighbour “cleaned out” her savings, taking “every penny she had”, a court heard.
John Harris, 35, also took three guitars, one a rare, limited edition, worth a total of £1,500, heirlooms which had belonged to her late husband.
The court was told Harris “seriously exploited” the woman, in her 70s, whose trust he gained and initially saw her as a “grandmotherly figure”.
She considered it a “pleasant relationship” after Harris moved in next door, shortly after her husband died in 2020.
Relying on him for household chores, lifts, shopping trips and tech support, she also trusted him to take delivery of her post.
Such was the level of trust, she gave him the key to her home while she was recovering from illness at a friend’s house.
But the court was told this allowed Harris “unfettered access” to her credit cards and bank accounts.
She first had an inkling something was wrong in September 2024 when she discovered some Apple products she knew nothing about had been bought in her name, with £3,000 in outstanding payments still to be made.
The woman, who at one stage was threatened with bailiffs over the recovery of the money, called police and further inquiries were made into her finances.
It emerged Harris used her bank card to make 28 transactions worth £7,780 from her savings account in just two months, with only £4 remaining by June 2024.
The court was told it was also discovered the defendant sold her husband’s guitars on eBay but told her they had not attracted any interest and kept the money raised for himself.
In total, Harris, previously of Butterknowle, near Bishop Auckland, but living recently in Stephenson Street, Ferryhill, fleeced her of more than £12,400.
He was arrested and later admitted seven counts of fraud and one of theft.
Jailing Harris for two years, Judge Tom Mitchell said he, “seriously and significantly abused the position of trust placed in him, over a sustained period of time.”
Irmantas Zilinskas
A booze-fuelled thug strangled his girlfriend in a terrifying attack before she made a desperate bid for freedom, scrawling ‘help’ on a car window, on June 19, last year.
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Irmantas Zilinskas (Image: Durham Constabulary)
The victim was both suffocated and strangled by Irmantas Zilinskas, of Darlington, and, in the aftermath, made the cry for ‘help’ on the window of a car she was driven in by the defendant, supposedly to hospital.
Her ordeal came to an end when Zilinskas pulled in at a petrol station and she was able to run to a nearby police vehicle, where the officer was filling up at one of the pumps.
Zilinskas, 39, of Henry Street, appeared for sentence on January 9 after admitting both intentional strangulation and suffocation on the day of a scheduled trial in December.
Judge Tom Mitchell told Zilinskas he, “engaged in a terrible violent assault” while heavily in drink.
He said it was a “prolonged and terrifying” attack which caused injuries to the victim and left her fearing she would be killed.
Imposing a three-year prison sentence, the judge also put in place a restraining order prohibiting Zelinskas from contacting or approaching his victim, by any means, for life.
Benjamin Carr
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Benjamin Carr (Image: Durham Constabulary)
A drug addict tried to push a woman out of a moving car before taking the vehicle and ploughing into another car, a telegraph pole, and a teenager.
Benjamin Carr drove off, leaving behind a trail of debris and the 14-year-old boy who was left lying under a bush with a broken collar bone.
The court heard 32-year-old Carr had only been released from prison a week earlier and was thought to be undergoing a drug-induced psychotic episode at the time due to the amount of crack cocaine he had smoked.
The court was told the VW Golf used in the incident belonged to a friend of his partner, who had only bought it a week earlier.
Its owner was visiting the defendant’s partner, in Waldridge Close, Chester-le-Street, at about 3.45pm on August 15 last year.
Carr, who was described as “heavily intoxicated” at the time, ordered both women out of the house and into the car, which, in the state he was in, he thought belonged to his mother.
At a hearing in September, last year, Carr, of no fixed abode, admitted aggravated vehicle taking, robbery, driving without insurance and failing to stop after an accident.
Imposing a total four-year prison sentence, at the January 14 sentencing hearing, Judge Nathan Adams told Carr: “It’s luck, and nothing else, that you didn’t cause more serious harm.”
He also banned the defendant from driving for five years.
A student who made up false rape claims against a serving police officer has been jailed for six years.
Hao Li
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Hao Li (Image: Durham Constabulary)
A police officer was detained in custody for 35 hours and suspended from work for nearly five months before it was decided that no action would be taken against him after Hao Li made the false rape allegations.
Her false reports were made after pair had engaged in sexual activity, which she was said to be the “driving force” behind.
The officer then drove her home, during which they rowed, and when he began his return journey, Li rang the police, accusing him of rape, and he was apprehended before getting home.
A judge said it was only due to the “foresight” of the officer who set his phone to record the earlier events at his home, that he was not, ultimately, charged with rape.
Li, 29, formerly of Howard Street in Newcastle, was remanded in custody and denied the allegations at a plea hearing in July last year.
She was convicted of three counts of perverting the course of justice after a two-week trial in December.
Appearing before the court on January 16 via video link from HMP Low Newton, she was jailed for six years.
Judge Nathan Adams said: “Anyone making false allegations of rape to police will be treated seriously.
“Police have taken great strides to persuade victims of sexual offences to come forward.
“Anyone making false complaints and proceeding with them creates a wider-still impact on genuine victims coming forward, with a further impact with him being a police officer.
“Rape is about the most serious allegation you can make.
“You know they would have to take your word for it.
“I can’t downplay how serious these allegations were and the impact they had on the victim in this case.”
Passing the six-year sentence, Judge Adams said he had taken into account Li’s previous good character and the fact she has proved “a model prisoner” at Low Newton.
He also made her subject of a six-year restraining order, prohibiting contact or approaching the victim.
The judge told her she would serve about half of the six-year sentence in custody before being released on licence, when she will probably be deported to China.
Mitchell Ingham
A young inmate serving a life sentence at a County Durham prison was found to have used a mobile phone to make illicit contact with a female officer.
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Mitchell Ingham (Image: Durham Constabulary)
The phone, also said to have been used by other inmates, was found in a cell at HMP Deerbolt, near Barnard Castle.
Teenage killer Mitchell Ingham, now aged 24, was said to have used the phone to communicate with members of his family and with the officer with whom he appeared to have formed something of a relationship, referring to her as “babe”, while her messaging to him included kisses (“XXX”).
The court heard the officer was arrested once the illicit messaging came to light and she will be sentenced later in February.
Ingham, of Trafford Close, Darlington, appeared at the court for sentence via video link from HMP Lindholme, in Doncaster, where he is now detained, having admitted having unauthorised possession and use of a prohibited article (the phone) in prison.
The court heard he was detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure for life, the term for a life sentence for a youth, as a 15-year-old at Manchester Crown Court, where he admitted murder, at a hearing in 2016.
It followed the street stabbing of another teenager in Denton, Greater Manchester, when he was aged 14, in June 2015.
The phone, the subject of the latest allegation, came to light in a search by a specialist team of another inmate’s cell in Deerbolt, in June 2023.
Behind a false panel at the top of a cabinet the mobile and a charger were found and seized.
It was sent for digital examination and some of the messaging was attributed to Ingham, revealing onward contact with his family and to the prison officer.
The messages included the mobile phone number belonging to the officer.
She was arrested on July 31, 2023, when her phone was seized and examined.
It emerged she had engaged in illicit communications with Ingham, including 37 minutes’ face-time contact on June 16, 2023, while she also sent him a text saying: “Miss You, XXX”, on July 13, that year.
In another message Ingham asked her to phone him, calling her: “Babe”.
The court heard Ingham is not eligible to go before the Parole Board until August 2028.
Judge Adams imposed an extra 12-month sentence for the offence, but reduced it to nine months because of the defendant’s guilty plea.
The judge told Ingham it would push back his earliest release date by at least half of the nine-month term (four-and-a-half months).
Daryl McBurnie
A former soldier, who has found it difficult to adjust to life on Civvie Street, has been jailed for assaults on his wife during a five-year controlling relationship.
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Daryl McBurnie (Image: Durham Constabulary)
Daryl McBurnie inflicted both physical and emotional abuse, as well making threats and damaged property, leaving the victim isolated from family and friends.
But the court heard the defendant also used emotional blackmail, at times threatening to commit suicide if she did not comply with his demands, while he also took her pet cat on one occasion.
The defendant’s violence included bite attacks and when police were summoned to her home in Wheatley Hill, County Durham, teeth marks and bruising were seen on her body and legs.
Weeks later McBurnie returned to her home address and again bit her, causing further injuries, while also holding a knife to her neck.
The victim, suffering “severe pain”, rang 999, as she feared for her life.
McBurnie, 28, of Princess Louise Road, Blyth, in Northumberland, admitted controlling and coercive behaviour in a relationship and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.
Imposing a 27-month prison sentence, Judge Adams said McBurnie would spend up to half in custody before being released on licence.
Keith Fagan
A ‘lonely’ former casino boss told a 13-year-old ‘girl’ she was ‘gorgeous’ and encouraged another to perform a sex act, the court heard.
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Keith Fagan (Image: Durham Constabulary)
Keith Fagan has been subject to indefinite registration as a sex offender and a Sexual Harm Prevention (SHPO) order since his first sentence, in 2014.
He received a three-year prison sentence for four counts of attempting to cause or incite a female under 16 to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.
But in 2023 he was given a further 20-month sentence for breaching the SHPO.
The now 68-year-old defendant, of Bridge Street, Bishop Auckland, appeared back before the court on Friday (January 30), via video link from HMP Holme House.
He has been remanded in custody at the Stockton prison since he admitted six charges on his first appearance before magistrates, in November.
Read next … more court stories from The Northern Echo by clicking here
Robber demanded £3k from William Hill betting shop in Seaham
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Newcastle student made false rape claims about police officer
They were attempted sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause or incite a girl aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity, plus four counts of breaching a SHPO.
Imposing a 28-month prison sentence, Judge Adams said Fagan would serve about half in custody before being released subject to licence conditions.
But he warned him he remains subject to the SHPO and registration as a sex offender, so any further breaches would only result in him serving longer behind bars.
