Cat died in Bicester fire
Paul Glen was accused of setting fire to a mid-terrace house in Chichester Close, Bicester, in a revenge attempt.
The 48-year-old had been asked to leave by the tenant, who had taken him in out of the goodness of her heart when he was left with nowhere else to stay. Glen was said to have become aggressive and there were concerns about him taking drugs at the property.
A neighbour called the fire brigade when he heard a fire alarm coming from the house. He briefly spoke to Glen, who had been thrown out the house by police earlier that day, and saw him get in a taxi.
The house was badly smoke damaged and the family’s cat perished in the blaze. When he was arrested later that evening, Glen had soot marks on his face, hands and clothes.
Jailing him for 44 months, Judge Nigel Daly said: “You were in a right mess at the time, I accept that. A real mess. Hopefully you will be able to pull yourself together a bit in the future.
“You spent some time not getting into trouble – quite a long period of time – so you can do it and you can do it particularly if you get help.”
READ MORE: Good Samaritan’s cat died in fire
Nightmare before Christmas
Oliver Walters was suspected of being over the limit when he crashed his Mercedes into the car of a family out in Carterton to see the Christmas lights in December 2020.
He fled the scene, not handing himself into the police station until 11 days after the crash.
One of the occupants of the other car was left with broken bones. All of them - including an 11-year-old boy - were badly shaken.
Judge Nigel Daly, who jailed Walters for 28 months, said: “I have to conclude [that] on the day in question you’d been drinking in various public houses with your friends. How much you’d had to drink we will never know because you fled the scene. You drove far too fast; you were totally out of control.”
READ MORE: Christmas lights drive ruined by speeding Mercedes driver
Explicit pictures
Michael Hall sent pictures of himself in ladies’ underwear to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.
But the ‘girl’ was in fact a grown woman, working for vigilante ‘paedophile hunter’ group the Geordie Chasers.
The group went on to confront Hall outside Reading railway station when the ‘girl’ made a surprise visit from her home in the north east.
Hall told jurors at Oxford Crown Court that he believed the person with whom he was talking was over-18. His explanation was rejected by the jury, who found him guilty of seven counts.
He was jailed this week for four years.
READ MORE: Man sent explicit photos and messages to ‘girl’
‘No lectures’
A judge told George Morgan he was not going to give him any lectures as he activated a 12 month suspended sentence and sent the Henley man inside.
Morgan was spared an immediate prison sentence earlier this year after he admitted wounding his partner during a laughing gas and alcohol binge.
The judge who gave him the suspended sentence noted that Morgan had already done months in prison on remand awaiting trial.
Morgan’s failure to keep in touch with the probation service saw him return to the dock this week.
Judge Gledhill told the defendant: “I am not going to lecture you, George Morgan, about the breach. You know exactly what I would say if I were to comment on your lamentable failures to comply with the order.”
READ MORE: Laughing gas binge attacker jailed
‘Consummate liar’
Joshua de Banks was called a ‘consummate liar’ as he was sentenced for two years’ imprisonment for repeatedly breaching a court order aimed at limiting his access to the internet.
The 24-year-old was originally given the order in 2019 for sexual messages he sent to a child.
He has since spent time behind bars either for breaching the order or on remand awaiting trial on allegations he assaulted a prison guard.
Released from prison late last year, police visited his home in January and found an unregistered smartphone stashed beneath an oven. The phone did not have security software installed on it that would have allowed the police to monitor his online activities.
De Banks admitted that breach of his sexual harm prevention order as well as a number of other breaches.
READ MORE: 'Consummate liar' had unregistered smartphone hidden beneath oven
Fence stole car in Kidlington
Kane Jones, 26, was given 12 months behind bars for handling Amazon parcels stolen in a robbery days earlier – then going on to steal a B&B owner’s car while he was on the run from police.
Police raided Jones’ mum’s home in Berinsfield in the wake of the January 2020 robbery, discovering stolen items in the bedrooms and the loft.
Jones was only picked up several days later, having led police on a high-speed chase. The car Jones was driving, a Vauxhall Antara, was stolen by him and friend Joseph Holden from outside a Kidlington guest house two days earlier.
READ MORE: Thief with ‘appalling record’ jailed for theft and handling stolen goods
Read more from this author
This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.
To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk
Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward
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