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STV News
08-05-2025
- STV News
Charity worker who helped prisoners with addiction jailed for smuggling drugs
A charity volunteer who visited youngsters in prison to help them with their addictions has been jailed for three years after admitting that he was simultaneously smuggling drugs into the UK. Jack McGuire, 36, agreed to a series of parcels containing cannabis and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) worth some £100,000 to be posted from Canada and the USA to his home in Banknock, Stirlingshire. He was arrested after the packages were intercepted at international sorting offices as they entered the country. McGuire, a martial arts instructor, claimed to police who raided his home nine days later that he had thought they contained 'designer clothes' and he was paid £300 a time to accept them on behalf of a friend. He claimed it wasn't until later that he suspected 'something dodgy'. He told police: 'I got a couple of letters saying stuff had been stopped at the border and it was coming to this house. I thought it was a scam and trashed them.' Officers found, however, that he had a spreadsheet detailing different strains of cannabis, together with tracking numbers. Father-of-two McGuire, pleaded guilty to charges of importing and being involved in the supply of cannabis and THC between August and October 2023. Solicitor-advocate Martin Morrow, defending, said the offences were 'out of character' and McGuire had been suffering from depression. Mr Morrow said: 'He was at his darkest moment. That manifests itself in this ridiculous decision that he makes.' He produced references to the court from the Scottish Prison Service, where he said McGuire had helped people in the past in Polmont Prison and the Young Offenders' Institution, and from an organisation Mr Morrow named as Fire and Peace Recovery. Mr Morrow said McGuire had also been involved in Scottish Recovery Month, held every September across a range of organisations involved with substance abuse and mental health. Mr Morrow said: 'With the Peace and Recovery charity, he is involved in helping people get from a terrible state into a place where they are able to become clear of illicit substances.' Imposing the three-year jail term, Sheriff Derek Hamilton said: 'According to these references, whilst he was in Polmont to support Recovery Month he is smuggling drugs into the country. When he's in there saying he's supporting through their addiction, at the same time he's importing illegal drugs.' He told McGuire, who appeared by video link from Low Moss Prison: 'One of the testimonials stated that you had attended HMP and Young Offenders' Institution, Polmont, in furtherance of your work in assisting people with their addiction issues in September 2023 to support Recovery Month. 'As I'm sure the irony is not lost on you, when you were purportedly supporting young offenders with their recovery from addictions, you were also supporting the abuse and feeding the need of drug users by smuggling drugs into this country. 'Smuggling drugs into this country is a serious issue, and the penalties require to be significant.' Get all the latest news from around the country Follow STV News Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
BBC News
31-03-2025
- BBC News
Jail for teenager who left farmer with brain damage in Leeds
A teenager who left a farmer with brain damage from a "sustained and persistent" attack outside a Leeds pub has been jailed for 22 years. Leon Richards, 19, of Melton Road, Wakefield, punched Christopher Allott in the head before hitting him with a pipe and throwing beer kegs at him outside The New Penny on Call Lane last July. Richards had denied attempted murder, but changed his plea to guilty after watching CCTV footage of the attack at the start of his trial. Sentencing him at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Guy Kearl said Richards carried out a sustained attack on a man who was lying "motionless and defenceless" on the ground. The judge said Richards had been out in Wakefield before going to several bars in Leeds, arriving at The New Penny in the early hours of 31 July. CCTV images showed him sitting at the bar drinking not far from Mr Allott, but there did not seem to be interaction between the two men. Judge Kearl said the victim was "highly intoxicated" and was asked to leave the pub, which he did, but was attacked by Richards as he stood outside. The judge said: "You punched him repeatedly and he put up no defence. "You claimed he had been talking to underage girls, but there was no evidence of this."You were taken away and he was too. But then he stood against a lamppost and you could have left at that point but you didn't – you led him to an alleyway, where you punched him and he fell to the ground." He told the court how Richards kept leaving the scene then returning, inflicting injuries on his victim each time. He was seen on CCTV hitting him with a pipe "using full force", before picking up a beer keg and smashing it against his head and the upper part of his body a total of 14 times. Mr Allott was left with a bleed on the brain and was in an induced coma for 10 days, and required hospital treatment for a month. He was left with fractures to his jaw and cheek, and continuing brain damage. 'Catastrophic effect' The court heard a victim impact statement in which Mr Allott said the brain injury affected his balance and the strength in his legs. He suffered ear damage, hand damage and nerve damage affecting his grip. He has not been able to work as a farmer since the attack. "I do not have the energy levels and my ability to organise and make decisions has been impacted," he said. "It has had a catastrophic affect on my business, as well as on my emotions." Richards' defence barrister said he accepted what he had done was wrong and was left "disgusted and horrified" at his actions. He said: "He does not accept that he intended to kill, but when he saw the CCTV he contemplated it and realised the severity of what he had done and he changed his plea to guilty."Richards, who was 18 at the time of the attack, was sentenced to 22 years partly in a Young Offenders' Institution and then in jail. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Yahoo
Polish drug dealer avoids deportation because he ‘doesn't speak the language'
A convicted Polish drug dealer has avoided being deported because he claims he cannot speak Polish. Nikodem Lopata, who came to Britain at the age of four, was arrested when he was 16 years old for dealing cocaine. He was convicted of cannabis offences aged 18, and three months after that he was caught with more than £1,000 of crack cocaine and heroin while carrying a 'Rambo-style' knife. The Polish national was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in a Young Offenders' Institution and was told by the Home Office that he would be sent back to the country of his birth. However, after being released, Lopata appealed the decision under article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights saying that it would breach his right to a family life. He claimed that he could not speak Polish and had no close family or friends living in Poland anymore, which would mean it would be very difficult for him to reintegrate into Polish society. Despite his 'unenviable list of convictions', judges found in his favour, rejecting the Home Office's argument that he should be forced to leave the UK. The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws to remain in the UK or halt their deportations. They include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets, and a Pakistani paedophile who was jailed for child sex offences but escaped removal from the UK as it would be 'unduly harsh' on his own children. The Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber in Manchester was told that Lopata – now 22 and who settled in Crewe, Cheshire – came to Britain from Poland in 2006. Summing up the case, Judge Greg Ó Ceallaigh noted: '[He] has an unenviable list of convictions given his young age.' In 2019, when 16, he got a community order for supplying cocaine, followed in 2021 by a fine and six points on his licence for possession of cannabis and motoring offences. A year later, he was convicted of possessing a knife, class A drugs and dangerous driving. Stopped by police, he was searched and found with 80 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, a further seven grams of heroin, a small bag of cannabis, a large knife described by police as 'Rambo-style' and £673 in cash. The drugs were worth up to £1,340. After being threatened with deportation following his sentencing to 54 months custody, a lower tier tribunal upheld his human rights appeal on the basis that he had spent his 'formative years' in the UK and had built friendships outside of his family. 'It was accepted that [he] would have little physical family support in Poland given that his mother and uncles are resident in the UK, and he do[es] not appear to have had any contact with his father,' the court was told. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, appealed the ruling, arguing there needed to be 'very compelling circumstances' not to deport foreign criminals sentenced to four years in prison. The Home Office rejected claims that there would be 'very significant obstacles' to his reintegration into Poland and that he did not speak Polish, an argument which it said was 'not adequately reasoned'. Andrew Mullen, for the Home Office, described the finding that Mr Lopata did not speak Polish to be 'very odd' and said it was difficult to imagine a 'much more serious offence' than one involving Class A drugs. However, the Upper Tribunal judges ruled that Judge Ali had carried out a 'detailed analysis' of Lopata's case. 'In our view, the conclusion of the [first tier tribunal] that Mr Lopata did not speak Polish was one properly open to him on the facts. The fact that he visited Poland for a week-long holiday when he was nine does not further the Secretary of State's case in this regard,' they said. 'The [first tier tribunal's] conclusion in substance was that a person who had lived in the United Kingdom since the age of four, who does not speak Polish and would have little or no family support in Poland, would face very significant obstacles to reintegration into Poland. In our view this is a conclusion that was adequately reasoned.' Upholding the original decision, Judge Ó Ceallaigh ruled that Lopata's appeal against the Secretary of State's decision to refuse his human rights claim was allowed. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
28-02-2025
- Telegraph
Polish drug dealer avoids deportation because he ‘doesn't speak the language'
A convicted Polish drug dealer has avoided being deported because he claims he cannot speak Polish. Nikodem Lopata, who came to Britain at the age of four, was arrested when he was 16 years old for dealing cocaine. He was convicted of cannabis offences aged 18, and three months after that he was caught with more than £1,000 of crack cocaine and heroin while carrying a 'Rambo-style' knife. The Polish national was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in a Young Offenders' Institution and was told by the Home Office that he would be sent back to the country of his birth. However, after being released, Lopata appealed the decision under article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights saying that it would breach his right to a family life. 'Difficult to reintegrate into Polish society' He claimed that he could not speak Polish and had no close family or friends living in Poland anymore, which would mean it would be very difficult for him to reintegrate into Polish society. Despite his 'unenviable list of convictions', judges found in his favour, rejecting the Home Office's argument that he should be forced to leave the UK. The case, disclosed in court papers, is the latest example exposed by The Telegraph where migrants or convicted foreign criminals have used human rights laws to remain in the UK or halt their deportations. They include an Albanian criminal who avoided deportation after claiming his son had an aversion to foreign chicken nuggets, and a Pakistani paedophile who was jailed for child sex offences but escaped removal from the UK as it would be 'unduly harsh' on his own children. The Upper Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber in Manchester was told that Lopata – now 22 and who settled in Crewe, Cheshire – came to Britain from Poland in 2006. Summing up the case, Judge Greg Ó Ceallaigh noted: '[He] has an unenviable list of convictions given his young age.' In 2019, when 16, he got a community order for supplying cocaine, followed in 2021 by a fine and six points on his licence for possession of cannabis and motoring offences. A year later, he was convicted of possessing a knife, class A drugs and dangerous driving. Stopped by police, he was searched and found with 80 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, a further seven grams of heroin, a small bag of cannabis, a large knife described by police as 'Rambo-style' and £673 in cash. The drugs were worth up to £1,340. After being threatened with deportation following his sentencing to 54 months custody, a lower tier tribunal upheld his human rights appeal on the basis that he had spent his 'formative years' in the UK and had built friendships outside of his family. 'It was accepted that [he] would have little physical family support in Poland given that his mother and uncles are resident in the UK, and he do[es] not appear to have had any contact with his father,' the court was told. Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, appealed the ruling, arguing there needed to be 'very compelling circumstances' not to deport foreign criminals sentenced to four years in prison. The Home Office rejected claims that there would be 'very significant obstacles' to his reintegration into Poland and that he did not speak Polish, an argument which it said was 'not adequately reasoned'. Andrew Mullen, for the Home Office, described the finding that Mr Lopata did not speak Polish to be 'very odd' and said it was difficult to imagine a 'much more serious offence' than one involving Class A drugs. However, the Upper Tribunal judges ruled that Judge Ali had carried out a 'detailed analysis' of Lopata's case. 'In our view, the conclusion of the [first tier tribunal] that Mr Lopata did not speak Polish was one properly open to him on the facts. The fact that he visited Poland for a week-long holiday when he was nine does not further the Secretary of State's case in this regard,' they said. 'The [first tier tribunal's] conclusion in substance was that a person who had lived in the United Kingdom since the age of four, who does not speak Polish and would have little or no family support in Poland, would face very significant obstacles to reintegration into Poland. In our view this is a conclusion that was adequately reasoned.' Upholding the original decision, Judge Ó Ceallaigh ruled that Lopata's appeal against the Secretary of State's decision to refuse his human rights claim was allowed.
