These Sheffield and South Yorkshire offenders who appeared at Sheffield Crown Court and Lincoln Crown Court had taken either alcohol or illicit substances when they perpetrated their crimes, according to barristers.
Some explanations show how offenders’ difficult lives led them to resort to alcohol or drugs and they have ended-up suffering with uncontrollable addictions which have compounded their situation.
These nine cases include a boozed-up convicted paedophile who killed a fellow inpatient on a hospital ward, an alcohol-fuelled thug who attacked two former partners, and a motorist who had been drinking and smoking cannabis just hours before she was involved in a crash which left left he son-in-law paralysed.
Judges have the unenviable task of both punishing but also trying to provide scope and support for rehabilitation where alcohol and illicit substance abuse can be viewed as both sad influences on a defendant’s character but they can also be perceived as aggravating factors of offending.
1. Paul Franks
Boozed-up convicted paedophile Paul Franks, pictured, of Cinderhill Lane, Sheffield, was put behind bars after he attacked and killed a fellow inpatient on a hospital ward. Franks, aged 48 when he was sentenced in June, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to eight years of custody after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter following the death of fellow inpatient Paul Reed at Rotherham District General Hospital and after he breached a previously imposed community order. Photo: SYP
2. Benn Smith
Boozed-up thug Benn Smith, of Ribston Place, Darnall, Sheffield, pictured, who attacked two former partners - including one who was pregnant with his child – was put behind bars. Smith, aged 33 when he was sentenced in April, received 33 months of custody after he pleaded guilty to three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault by beating, threatening to cause criminal damage, causing criminal damage and stalking. Photo: SYP
3. Ryan Winter
Thug Ryan Winter, of Grove Place, Doncaster, pictured, who threatened to kick his unborn baby out of his pregnant partner after he had been drinking alcohol and taking drugs was jailed. Winter, aged 28 when he was sentenced, was jailed after he pleaded guilty to affray following physical and verbal abuse towards his pregnant partner. Prosecuting counsel Louise Gallagher told Sheffield Crown Court Winter said he was going to “kick the baby out" of his partner before he put his arm around her throat in a headlock. Winter was sentenced to 20 months of custody at Sheffield Crown Court in July. Photo: SYP
4. Matthew Liversidge
Booze and drugged-up thug Matthew Liversidge, pictured, was jailed after he stabbed a friend in the abdomen and slashed him across his neck leaving his victim with life-threatening injuries. Sheffield Crown Court heard in April how Liversidge, aged 33 at the time of sentencing, of Park View, in Maltby, Rotherham, attacked his friend in the street in Maltby stabbing him twice in the buttocks, once in the abdomen and once to the neck after he had mistakenly claimed his victim had attacked him earlier in the day. Judge Graham Reeds sentenced Liversidge to eleven years of custody with an extended two-and-a-half year custodial licence period due to him being deemed dangerous and he must serve two-thirds of the eleven-year term before he can be considered for release. Photo: SYP