Some of the defendants included in our court round-up admitted to their crimes, while others were found guilty following a trial.
Scroll through the pictures for a brief summary of the case, and to read the cases in full, click on the below links:
Court cases included within this list:
1. Joshua Bostwick: Thug is jailed after he beat his pregnant partner so badly she was disfigured
Sheffield Crown Court heard on January 5 how Joshua Bostwick, aged 27, of Hoyland Road, Hoyland Common, Barnsley, fractured one of his partner’s eye sockets and broke her nose after he had repeatedly punched her at their home while she was seven-months pregnant. Louise Gallagher, prosecuting, said Bostwick had become argumentative after drinking alcohol and told his partner she had no chance of keeping their unborn child before he threw drink into her eyes and her memory of what happened next is blurred. Ms Gallagher added the complainant recalled being at the bottom of the stairs with Bostwick above her and she recalled phoning a friend to get the police and being in the hallway with her head resting on dog food. Judge David Dixon told Bostwick: “Even in the course of an argument, your reaction was simply appalling. It was not just horrible words, it was horrific violence.” He added that for reasons that are difficult to understand – given there was little negative to be said about Bostwick before the assault – the defendant had subjected his partner to a series of punches weeks before she was about to give birth. Ms Gallagher added the complainant had heard Bostwick say she had been unconscious for several minutes as he held a towel to her injured nose before police arrived and found her with a bloody nose and mouth. The court heard the complainant had suffered a fractured eye socket and nose with swelling and bruising around her left eye and cheek. Bostwick, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after the attack on April 17, 2022. Edward Moss, defending, said: “He is absolutely and thoroughly ashamed of what he did to his former partner. Words cannot describe how he feels in relation to that and he has difficulty to this day to understand how and what he did.” Judge Dixon sentenced Bostwick to 27 months of custody and made him subject to a ten-year restraining order. Photo: SYP
2. Andi Alushi and Valdemaras Kasinskas: Men jailed for nearly 20 years following 'deeply disturbing' false imprisonment case
Valdemaras Kasinskas, aged 39, and 27-year-old Andi Alushi left were each sentenced to 19-and-a-half years in prison today (January 3), after pleading guilty to two counts of false imprisonment last month. The pair were arrested on May 14, 2022, after armed police officers raided a home on Firth Park Road, Sheffield, to find two Albanian men chained to radiators. The two victims were found in seperate rooms upstairs and next to them were empty dog food bowls, which they had been forced to eat out of after being starved for days. One of the men had severe burns to his hand, having been assaulted and scalded. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Oughton, who led the investigation, said: “What officers found inside that house was deeply disturbing, clear evidence two people had been kept prisoner and subjected to absolutely barbaric treatment. Torture is the only word to describe what Kasinskas and Alushi did to one of the victims, giving him violent beatings and burning him with scalding liquid, causing significant burn injuries." Photo: Google
3. Caine Holmes: Sheffield murder victim's son jailed after carrying out crime spree across city
While the individual responsible for murdering Michaela Hague in a frenzied knife attack at a Sheffield car wash on Bonfire Night 2001 may still be at liberty some 21 years later, her 26-year-old son, Caine Holmes, has now been put behind bars for multiple offences including robberies and a burglary, all of which were committed in Sheffield between September and November 2022. Photo: SYP