Several criminals have been taken off the county's streets, following hearings held at Sheffield Crown Court in the first couple of weeks of 2024.
Some of the defendants brought to justice this year acknowledged their wrongdoing through guilty pleas, while others were convicted after a trial.
The 8 defendants included in this list have received prison sentences totalling 41 years at His Majesty's Pleasure.
5. Qudrat Timori: Man who punched cop in immigration hotel and blamed 'Taliban flashbacks' branded 'liar' by Sheffield judge
A defendant who 'forcibly punched' a South Yorkshire Police officer - and claimed he did so because of traumatic Taliban interrogation flashbacks - has been condemned by a Sheffield judge for repeatedly lying in an attempt to 'manipulate the system'. Police officers from the force attended the 'immigration hotel' where the defendant, Qudrat Timori, was residing on September 29, 2023, after receiving reports that a fight had broken out there, Sheffield Crown Court heard. Prosecution barrister, Mark Thomas, said Timori, who arrived in the country earlier that month, was seen to be injured with a cut on his hand when officers entered the room where he was located. Describing the circumstances of the attack carried out by Timori, Judge David Dixon told him: "When the officer arrived, you jumped up from a bed, put your hand up, as if it was a gun, and pretended to shoot her, before punching the officer forcibly twice to the face." Mitigating on Timori’s behalf, Mahdev Sachdev referred to claims made by his client to the author of his pre-sentence report, in which Timori said he 'felt like he was being interrogated by the Taliban at that stage'. Judge Dixon, however, said he 'did not accept' that as an explanation for the violence carried out by Timori 'for one second at all'. Timori was jailed for 10 months by Judge Dixon, who also ordered for his sentencing remarks to be passed on to the Border Agency, prior to Timori’s asylum application being considered. "It seems to me that everything you’ve said has been a lie to manipulate the system. As a result of that, the Border Agency should give very careful consideration to your stay in this country," Judge Dixon said. | SYP
6. Mohammed Latif: Convicted killer from Sheffield jailed again after raping vulnerable woman
Mohammed Latif was jailed for eight years and four months in 2008 for offences of manslaughter and perverting the course of justice. Jurors found Latif unanimously guilty of one count of rape at the conclusion of a Sheffield Crown Court trial last year, and on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, Judge Peter Hampton jailed him for 12 years and told him he must remain on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life. | SYP
7. Colin Shaw: Man who plied child with booze at his Rotherham home jailed for sex assault
Colin Shaw, aged 51, gave his 15-year-old victim several cans of beer before touching her inappropriately and attacking her inside his home in Rotherham. The court heard he put his hand up her top and inside her bra leaving his teenage victim traumatised, and the morning after Shaw encouraged her to stay silent and downplay what had happened to her. Shaw, who had previously lived in the Worksop area, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault and not guilty of another following a trial at Sheffield Crown Court. He was jailed for three years and four months at the same court, and has been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life | SYP
8. Taylor Blackburn and Jahmaine Watson: Gang members jailed after DNA found on stashed guns
Jahmaine Watson, 34, of Northumberland Lane, Denaby, was arrested in June 2023 after his DNA was found on swabs taken from the trigger of a converted revolver. The revolver and a pistol, along with rounds of ammunition, were seized from an address in Denaby following a warrant executed under Section 32 of the Misuse of Drugs Act. The two loaded firearms were found concealed in a cupboard in the hallway of the property along with a quantity of drugs. Watson (right), who was part of an organised crime group (OCG) called the 'Pitsmoor Shotta Boys' (PSB) gang before his arrest, was remanded in custody after being arrested and charged in June. He pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition at Sheffield Crown Court on 30 November 2023. Watson was jailed for seven years and two months at Sheffield Crown Court on January 4, 2024. The DNA of another man - Taylor Blackburn - was also found on one of the weapons following the warrant executed at the Denaby home in December 2022. Blackburn, 24, of Bosville Street, Rotherham, was charged with possession of a prohibited firearm and jailed for five years at Sheffield Crown Court in November 2023. | SYP