These dangerous men and women have been convicted of heinous crimes including murder, rape, terrorism and illegally manufacturing a firearm.
Some of the individuals have been sentenced to life at His Majesty's Pleasure, while others have received extended sentences due to the risk they are deemed to pose fo the public.
Between them, these 15 defendants will spend decades languishing behind bars, after receiving a combined total sentence of 248 years, 8 months.
1. Fifteen of the most dangerous criminals locked up in Sheffield in 2023 so far
Top row, left to right: Mark Nicholls; Ashley Podsiad-Sharp; Louis Maidment; Anthony Woodward Middle row, left to right: Dereck Owusu; Louis James; Richard Sampson; Boe Barton; Cyrus Scarborough Bottom row, left to right: Andrew Hague; Yaqeen Arshad; Marcus Hamlin; Sibusiso Moyo; Christopher Gill
2. Mark Nicholls: Callous killer bludgeoned beloved mum-of-three to death with dumbbell
Mark Nicholls, 43, has been told he will spend a minimum term of 17 years and six months behind bars after murdering ‘dearly loved’ 50-year-old Emily Sanderson. At around midday on Tuesday 30 May, 2023, the body of Emily, who was a mum-of-three was found by officers in the upstairs bedroom of a property on Crofton Avenue. A post mortem examination later concluded she died as a result of head injuries. A Sheffield Crown Court sentencing hearing held on October 6, 2023 was told that Nicholls bludgeoned Emily to death with a dumbbell. After pleading guilty to murdering Emily, Nicholls, of Crofton Avenue, Hillsborough was jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years and six months during the hearing earlier this month.
3. Ashley Podsiad-Sharp: 13 year sentence for ex-prison officer from Barnsley who possessed ‘white supremacist murder manual’
Ashley Podsiad Sharp, aged 43, from Barnsley was sentenced to eight years imprisonment and an additional five years on licence (following his release from prison) at a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court held on August 31, 2023. He had previously been found guilty of one offence of possessing a document which may be of use to a terrorist, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Sheffield Crown Court heard the manual contained information about how to kill people, use various weapons, build bombs and evade detection by police. Jurors were told it opened with a white supremacist mantra, calling for armed resistance to the “threat to the white race” from Jews and non-white people. The court heard Podsiad-Sharp was the founder of the White Stag Athletics Club, which The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, described as “a cauldron of self-absorbed neo-Nazism masquerading as a low-grade, all-male sports club”. The judge told Podsiad-Sharp the club “sought to camouflage your real purpose – to incite violence against those you hated” and that the terrorist manual played an integral part. Podsiad-Sharp was sentenced to 13 years in prison – a custodial term of eight years and an extension period of five years.
![Sending defendant, Louis Maidment, to begin a nine-year prison sentence for the rape and sexual abuse of two boys, Judge Graham Robinson told the 28-year-old: “In the five references that have been written by individuals [in support], what’s striking is that it is clear that you are capable of behaving properly with people. And, so, why you targeted your two victims may forever be a mystery.” Maidment was convicted of a string of horrifying historical sex offences, including four counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court. An April 4, 2023 hearing was told how Maidment, of Hinde House Lane, Firth Park, Sheffield had sexually abused the two boys, who were not known to each other, when he was between 15 and 16-years-old, and his victims were aged 10 and 11. Summarising the facts of the case, Judge Robinson said police began to investigate Maidment after one of his victims, Boy A, saw Maidment in a ‘chance sighting’ in Sheffield in 2019, several years after the offending took place; and decided to finally report him. A police report made against Maidment relating to the other victim, Boy B, shortly after the abuse took place resulted in no further action being taken at the time, but was reviewed after Boy A made allegations against Maidment.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2023/10/20/15/Louis%20Maidment%3A%20Remorseless%20Sheffield%20man%20jailed%20for%20raping%20and%20sexually%20abusing%20two%20boys%20when%20he%20was%20a%20teenager.jpg?crop=3:2&width=640)
4. Louis Maidment: Remorseless Sheffield man jailed for raping and sexually abusing two boys when he was a teenager
Sending defendant, Louis Maidment, to begin a nine-year prison sentence for the rape and sexual abuse of two boys, Judge Graham Robinson told the 28-year-old: “In the five references that have been written by individuals [in support], what’s striking is that it is clear that you are capable of behaving properly with people. And, so, why you targeted your two victims may forever be a mystery.” Maidment was convicted of a string of horrifying historical sex offences, including four counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court. An April 4, 2023 hearing was told how Maidment, of Hinde House Lane, Firth Park, Sheffield had sexually abused the two boys, who were not known to each other, when he was between 15 and 16-years-old, and his victims were aged 10 and 11. Summarising the facts of the case, Judge Robinson said police began to investigate Maidment after one of his victims, Boy A, saw Maidment in a ‘chance sighting’ in Sheffield in 2019, several years after the offending took place; and decided to finally report him. A police report made against Maidment relating to the other victim, Boy B, shortly after the abuse took place resulted in no further action being taken at the time, but was reviewed after Boy A made allegations against Maidment.