Criminals jailed at Sheffield Crown Court this week for offences including robbery and burglary

Sheffield judges have brought the below defendants to justice over the last week.

Anthony Parry: "Cowardly" Sheffield knifeman and two masked men robbed 73-year-old newsagent worker

Sheffield Crown Court heard on September 20 how Anthony Parry, aged 39, of Bankwood Road, Gleadless Valley, Sheffield, struck at Claypit News, on Claypit Lane, Rawmarsh, Rotherham, where a 73-year-old woman was working alone in the early hours.

David Webster, prosecuting, said the woman was confronted by three masked men with hoods and face coverings, including Parry.

Mr Webster told Judge Peter Kelson KC: “She realised what was happening and as your honour might expect she was shaking with fear and panic and she moved towards the panic button but she was instructed by this defendant not to move and she would not be hurt.”

Parry handed bin liners from the shop to an accomplice who put down a large kitchen knife which was picked up by the defendant and he pushed the woman and pointed the knife at her before the offenders fled with money, cigarettes and alcohol, according to Mr Webster.

Mr Webster said the 73-year-old woman has worked at the shop for 17 years and she had survived a previous similar incident but insisted that she did not want this robbery to stop her working.

Parry, who has drug issues, was linked to the offence from finger prints left on bin bags from the shop, according to the court.

The defendant, who has 39 convictions for 79 offences including burglaries, pleaded guilty to the robbery which happened on October 16, 2019.

Judge Kelson sentenced Parry to seven years and two months of custody which is to be served consecutively to an existing custodial term imposed in May of two years and eight months for a burglary.

Michael Holmes: 'Fifth strike' burglar jailed after breaking into homes and stealing irreplaceable WW2 medals and birth certificates

Defendant, Michael Holmes, had already been convicted of four other burglaries between March 2013 and July 2020, when he broke into two Sheffield properties in February and April this year, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Prosecuting barrister, Louise Gallagher, told a September 22 hearing that ‘fifth strike burglar’ Holmes gained access to the first property located on Brincliffe Edge Road in Brincliffe, Sheffield between February 10 and 12 by smashing a glass conservatory door to the rear of the property with a brick.

Ms Gallagher said an internal door had also been broken, and the occupiers found all three upstairs bedrooms had been searched when they returned to the property at 5.25pm on February 12.

"Jewellery including antique jewellery had been taken, along with six medals from World War Two. Marriage and birth certificates had also been taken,” Ms Gallagher said, adding that Holmes, of Edward Street, Netherthorpe, was subsequently identified from blood found on a bedroom wardrobe.

In statements read to the court, one of the occupiers described how some of the items stolen were ‘irreplaceable’ such as the WW2 medals, and the jewellery which had been passed down from family members.

She said she felt ‘unsettled, unsafe’ and ‘unable to sleep’ following the burglary, and remained concerned about the prospect of the stolen birth and marriage certificates being used to fraudulently set up accounts.

Holmes struck again at a property a few streets over on Glenorchy Road, Millhouses on April 23, when he broke into the property by climbing through a small upstairs window that had been left open, the court heard.

Ms Gallagher said the occupier returned home at around 10.50pm and found the lights at her property had been left on.

She called out to check her daughter was not there; and after receiving no response and hearing ‘rustling’ she fled to a neighbour’s house and called the police, the court heard.

The occupier did not feel able to stay at the property overnight, Ms Gallagher said, adding that when she returned home the following day, she found that jewellery, a purse containing 250 Euros and two sets of car keys had been stolen.

Ms Gallagher said: “The defendant’s DNA was recovered at the point of entry.”

The occupier said she was fearful the burglars responsible would return to the property in a statement.

Ms Gallagher said that when Holmes was arrested, he was found to be in possession of two Omega watches worth £8,000 and an Acer laptop stolen during two other burglaries.

Holmes, who has a criminal record of 18 previous offences from 12 convictions, was subsequently charged with, and pleaded guilty to, two offences of burglary and two offences of handling stolen goods.

The judge, Recorder Jacques Algazy KC, jailed Holmes for 973 days.

James Dixon: Serial burglar jailed after targeting wheelchair-bound man

Sheffield Crown Court heard on September 15 how 39-year-old James Dixon had persuaded his victim to let him into his adapted flat on Shaftesbury Square, near Eastwood, Rotherham, so he could get some water before he refused to leave and stole a set of miniature whiskeys.

Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting, said the wheelchair-bound complainant who suffers with cerebral palsy saw Dixon peering at him through railings in his garden and after his carer left the defendant appeared at his door with a bottle asking for water.

Ms Hollis added that after Dixon had been allowed into the complainant’s bathroom he sat down in his lounge, looked at his computer and he was captured on a security camera link to his mother’s home but he refused to leave until he stole four miniature bottles of whiskey.

Recorder Angela Frost told Dixon: “You went into the living room that he occupied and made yourself at home. You sat down in the living room and looked at items in the flat.

“It’s fortunate for the complainant in this case that he had cameras in his living room that enabled his mother to see what was going on.”

Dixon was identified from a DNA match taken from a bottle in the complainant’s sink and the mother of the complainant had seen what was happening via the security camera at the property, according to Ms Hollis.

Dixon, of no fixed abode, who has had 34 court appearances for 98 offences including robberies and burglaries, pleaded guilty to the burglary which happened on June 11, last year.

Recorder Frost sentenced Dixon to three years of custody.

Patrick Maloney: Man jailed for burglary while occupants walked their dog

Patrick Maloney, 20, of no fixed abode appeared before Sheffield Crown Court on September 13 when he was jailed for three years and ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge for breaking into a Rotherham home last year.

On 9 December 2021 at around 3.30pm, neighbours of the home on Whiston Grange heard an alarm sounding. When looking outside, they saw two men running from the property and into a black Jaguar car. They immediately alerted police.

The neighbours went to check on the property and found that the offenders had gained entry by smashing a rear glass door and climbing through.

The occupants of the house also had an alert on their mobile phones that their alarm had been activated, and after rushing home, they were met by police officers and saw that their home had been ransacked.

The offenders, one of which is now known to be Maloney, stole a pillow case and sewing box.

During the burglary an e-cigarette was recovered and forensics matched the DNA from the e-cigarette to Maloney.

Maloney pleaded guilty to the charges of burglary.

Rotherham Neighbourhood Inspector Chris Blake said: “In this case the offenders didn’t get away with any items of monetary or sentimental value but the psychological effects of burglary are still significant. Victims suffer for years knowing that an intruder has been in their home, they no longer feel safe in a place that they should.”