Biggest Bristol jail terms imposed in the last nine months

From murderers to rapists, judges at Bristol Crown Court have handed down some hefty sentences in the past nine months. And every week, Bristol Live is there to report them.

Reporting forms an important part of the UK’s open justice system, that justice can be seen to be done. Some of the key benefits of open justice include ensuring public confidence and respect in democracy and the administration of justice, as well as deterring people from committing crimes and thereby the details of those crimes becoming public knowledge.

Here are the criminals we reported on who were handed the biggest prison sentences in the last nine months. You can read more about why we publish defendants’ names and addresses here.

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Timothy Schofield, 12 years

The brother of TV presenter Phillip Schofield was jailed after being found guilty of sexually abusing a teenage boy. Timothy Schofield was convicted of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019, including two of sexual activity with a child, following a trial at Exeter Crown Court.

On April 3 the jury found him guilty on all counts with a majority of 10-2 after more than five-and-a-half hours’ deliberation. The 54-year-old, a civilian Avon and Somerset Police worker from Bath, told the jury while giving evidence that he had watched pornography with the boy, whom he insisted was over the age of 16 at that time, and they had masturbated while sitting apart, but he denied performing sexual acts on the teenager.

This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield welcomed the guilty verdicts in the case, adding: “My overwhelming concern is and has always been for the wellbeing of the victim and his family. I hope that their privacy will now be respected.

“If any crime had ever been confessed to me by my brother, I would have acted immediately to protect the victim and their family. These are despicable crimes, and I welcome the guilty verdicts. As far as I am concerned, I no longer have a brother.”

Sitting at Bristol Crown Court The Honourable Mrs Justice Cutts jailed Schofield for 12 years.

Read the full story here

Joshua Delbono, life

A man was given a life sentence after being convicted of the murder of 16-year-old Charley Bates in Radstock last summer.

Appearing at Bristol Crown Court (April 11) Joshua Delbono, 19, was found unanimously guilty of killing the boy on Sunday, July 31, 2022. Charley was fatally wounded by Delbono in a public car park, off The Street, in the centre of Radstock.

Delbono will serve a minimum of 21 years in prison.

Read the full story here

Steve Sutton, life with a minimum 13 years

A tearful mum told a court the “monster” who subjected her young daughter to a hideous campaign of rape, which he filmed, that her wish is that he stay behind bars for life. The mum gave her emotional impact statement at the sentencing of Steve Sutton (March 23, 2023), which moved everyone including the judge.

Sutton, 60, an electrical engineer of Knowle of previous good character, came to the attention of police for downloading images of child sexual abuse. He ultimately pleaded guilty to 30 offences.

The Recorder of Bristol His Honour Judge Peter Blair KC jailed him for life with a minumum 13 years.

Read the full story here

Marcus Carter, seven years and eight months

A mum looked into the face of the man who shook her baby to death at their Easton home. And she told him exactly how she felt about it.

Amber Collins made her victim personal statement, at times directly to Marcus Carter. He admitted killing their 10-week-old son Remari – but has never revealed how, despite experts agreeing the tot was shaken with such force he suffered rib fractures, respiratory failure and a catastrophic brain injury.

Miss Collins told Bristol Crown Court: “He’s responsible for my son’s death. He was supposed to be my son’s dad.

“He shook him to death and he denied it for two-and-a-half years. Why don’t you care what Remari went through?”

Carter, 43, whose address was given as Burns Road in Moxley, Walsall, originally faced a murder charge after Remari’s death in August 2020. He was due to face trial but in January this year he pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which was accepted.

The Honourable Mrs Justice Henrietta Hill jailed him for seven years and eight months. Read the full story here

Harry Barton, 21 years extended sentence

A “manipulative sexual predator” used a domineering fictional character to coerce teenage girls to have sex with him. The victims were so taken in by a computer hacker called A9 they acceded to his demands to have sexual activity with Harry Barton, Bristol Crown Court heard.

When A9 threatened repercussions unless they have sex on camera and be whipped by Harry Barton they did so. But it transpired A9 was none other than Barton himself, who at the time was aged in his late teens.

Barton, now 20, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to: meeting a child following sexual grooming; two rapes of a second complainant; three rapes of a third complainant.

Judge Euan Ambrose handed him an extended sentence of 21 years, comprising of 16 years’ custody and five years’ extended licence. Read the full story here

Ionut-Valentin Boboc and Iacob-Bebe Chers, life with a minimum 76-and-a-half years

A pair of former abattoir workers convicted of murdering and butchering two men were both jailed for life. Iacob-Bebe Chers and Ionut-Valentin Boboc tricked their way into the Easton home of former workmate Denzil McKenzie, who was with visitor Fahad Hossain Pramanik.

They brutally stabbed both men and arranged their bodies in a scene of horror in Mr McKenzie’s sitting room, Bristol Crown Court heard. Mr McKenzie had been stabbed 23 times, Mr Pramanik three times, and jurors heard the extent of their injuries and how their bodies had been left on “macabre display”.

Boboc, 22, of Abingdon Road in Hillfields, pleaded guilty to murdering Mr McKenzie but denied murdering Mr Pramanik in September last year. Chers, 46, of Whitefield, Hillfields denied both murder charges. A jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted them both of the murder charges they denied. Read the full story here

Steven Craig, life with a minimum of 34 years

A man who was found guilty of murdering his former partner nearly 25 years after he attacked her was jailed for life.

Steven Craig, 58, of Brailsford Crescent, York, was originally convicted of causing grievous bodily harm to Jacqueline Kirk in 2000 after he poured petrol on her and set her alight two years earlier.

Jacqueline sustained 35% burns in the incident and spent nine months in hospital – including three months in intensive care – before being discharged.

Craig was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for the attack before being released on licence in 2015 and then later recalled. In August 2019, Jacqueline, known as Jackie, died aged 61.

A post-mortem examination recorded her cause of death as a ruptured diaphragm caused in part by burn injuries to her airway and torso.

Last month, a jury at Bristol Crown Court was asked to determine if the injuries she sustained at the hands of Craig directly led to her death and whether he was therefore guilty of murder.

They convicted Craig following a three-week trial and today, at the same court, he was given a mandatory life sentence with a minimum of 34 years behind bars. Read the full story here

Abigail White, life with a minimum 18 years

Kingswood mum-of-three Abigail White was jailed for life after a jury convicted her of murdering her partner Bradley Lewis. White, 24, of Chipperfield Drive, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Bradley in March but pleaded not guilty to his murder.

After a two-week trial at Bristol Crown Court a jury of six women and four men convicted her of murder. Trial judge The Honourable Mr Justice Fraser jailed her for life with a minimum jail term of 18 years.

The judge sentenced White immediately. He told her: “My view is you did intend to kill.” Read the full story here

Simon Mills, 15-year extended sentence

A trespasser entered a woman’s home near Bristol and raped her. And he was handed a hefty jail term.

Simon Mills denied wrongdoing. But a jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted the homeless 37-year-old of rape and sexual assault by penetration,

Judge Julian Lambert handed him a 15-year extended sentence. That comprises of ten years’ custody and five years’ extended licence.

The judge told Mills: “The jury found you showed her no mercy and abused her sexually. They found no consent, and you knew there was no consent. There is an element of a predator about you and I find that very disturbing.

“You waited for her friend to be out of the way. You were cold, calculating, cruel and callous in what you did. I think you are dangerous.” Read the full story here

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