Police 7: Community Policing News March ’22

The NYE’s Police 7 articles are intended to be a one stop shop for our readers covering crime prevention advice, court reports, Police appeals for assistance, local community policing news, information on victim support, updates from the North Yorkshire Police (NYP) and the Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (PFCC) for North Yorkshire and the Coroner.

Police 7 has been one of our most popular features with our readers, who appreciate getting regular updates from the Police via the NYE.

We lead these articles with a photograph of the late Shaw Taylor, as a tribute to him. Shaw was a groundbreaking forensic journalist, who pioneered police media appeals for information in the programme Police 5. His work led to the successful conclusion of many casses in the UK, Europe and the United States through local programmes that followed the pioneering format of his original programme called Police 5 in 1962.

The NYE will continue to immediately publish urgent appeals for information from North Yorkshire Police (NYP), in missing person’s cases etc.

Police 7: Community Policing News March ’22

NORTH YORKSHIRE’S MOST WANTED

Stephen Howard

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for the public’s help to locate Stephen Robert Howard 31, after a major Police operation in Whitby.

A large quantity of suspected Class A drugs was seized from a car that was heading to Whitby, search warrants were executed at several addresses in Whitby which led to the recovery of the sawn-off shotgun.

Two people have already been arrested and released under investigation while enquiries continue.

Howard is described as white, 5ft 8in tall, short brown hair, green eyes, medium build, and he usually has a trimmed beard.

John Dodds

John Trevor Dodds 69, from Seamer is wanted on recall to prison for breach of licence conditions.

Dodds is described as white, around 5 ft 9 tall, of medium build with brown hair and brown eyes.

NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING

The following witness appeals and court reports may be of particular relevance to our readers and can be accessed from the NYP website. Link below:

https://www.northyorkshire.police.uk/news/news-search

Witness Appeals

Woman abducted in Scarborough

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and any dash-cam footage after a woman was held against her will inside a vehicle that was being driven dangerously around Scarborough, including through red traffic lights between 9pm and 10.30pm on Monday 21 March.

The vehicle involved was a silver-grey coloured Vauxhall Insignia.

At one point, the woman attempted to get out the vehicle near The Ship Inn on Falsgrave Road and began shouting for help towards a group of people who were drinking on the seating in front of the pub.

Officers believe some of the group may have heard the woman, who had her three-year-old daughter on her knee, as they looked towards the vehicle. Were you in this group of people?

Or did you see the vehicle being driven dangerously during this time or do you have any dash-cam footage or any other CCTV footage that could help the investigation?

Whitby school bus stolen

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information after a Ford Transit minibus was stolen from a school in Lythe near Whitby.

It is believed the bus was stolen from the car park of Lythe Primary School between the evening of 29 March 2022 and the morning of 30 March 2022.

Anyone who may have seen the minibus should contact police as soon as possible. It clearly has the name ‘Lythe CEVC Primary School’ on the side of it.

Scarborough assault

Scarborough Police are appealing for witnesses and information about an alleged assault inside the Sanctuary nightclub on St Nicholas Street at around 2.20am on Sunday 13 March 2022.

The victim suffered head and facial injuries which required medical treatment.

Arson attack in Scarborough

North Yorkshire Police is appealing for witnesses and information following an arson attack in the communal entrance to a property on Prince of Wales Terrace at 11pm on Wednesday 16 March 2022.

Someone entered the property and deliberately set fire to a pile of letters which started a blaze. The suspect is then thought to have fled down Prince of Wales Terrace towards The Esplanade.

The fire has damaged the floor and wall of the communal lobby. This is a very concerning incident as the fire was started inside the block of flats where residents were sleeping. It could have proved fatal if it was not for the automatic fire alarm and quick actions of the residents.

North Yorkshire Police are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen a suspect acting suspiciously near the junction on West Street and Prince of Wales Terrace and asking anyone who has CCTV along Prince of Wales Terrace to check footage and see if a suspicious person is seen in the area around 11pm on the Wednesday 16 March.

Contact

Anyone with information is urged to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, select Option 1, and speak to the Force Control Room.

If you would prefer to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Court Reports

Scarborough paedophile jailed

Ashley Stephen Grime. aged 31. from Scarborough, was sentenced at York Crown Court to eleven years imprisonment and has been made subject to an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order after being found guilty of sexual assault and child cruelty offences against a boy.

If you are seeking further support, advice, or ways of reporting child abuse:

• Victims who would prefer not to go direct to the police and are not in immediate danger, can contact Bridge House, North Yorkshire’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC), on 0330 223 0362, email sarc@nhs.net or go to bridgehousesarc.org/
• You can also contact Supporting Victims direct at the org or call 01609 643100.
• NSPCC Helplines: * Help for adults concerned about a child – call 0808 800 5000 * Help for children and young people – call Childline on 0800 1111 * Go to nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse

Whitby drug dealer jailed

Emma Louise Seed, aged 31, was jailed at York Crown Court has been sentenced to 11 years and nine months’ imprisonment following an extensive ‘County Lines’ drug dealing investigation linked to Whitby.

Following the development of information and intelligence about suspected Class A drug dealing in Whitby, Safer Neighbourhood Officers from Scarborough and Ryedale CID executed a warrant at a house on Abbots Road on 12 February 2020.

This action resulted in the seizure of drugs, drug dealing paraphernalia, telephones and other devices.

A further drugs warrant was executed at an address in South Bank, in the Cleveland Police area, on 9 December 2020. Heroin and cocaine were seized, and Seed was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply.

Detective Sergeant Andy Hall of Scarborough and Ryedale CID, who led the investigation, said:

“Emma Seed has brought nothing but misery and harm to the Whitby community. She has ruthlessly exploited vulnerable and drug-addicted people for her own financial gain while operating a County Lines drug dealing conspiracy between Teesside and Whitby.

It is also a great outcome for the people of Whitby who have had to put up with this dangerous and damaging activity on their doorsteps.

We thank every resident or business owner who has passed on vital information to us directly or anonymously through Crimestoppers.  

We can’t stress enough how important this flow of information is for effective policing and bringing offenders like Seed to justice.”

The signs of drug dealing can include:

• Increased callers at a property at all times of the day or night.
• Increase in cars pulling up for short periods of time.
• Anti-social behaviour at a property.
• Not seeing the resident for long periods of time.
• Drug-related rubbish – small plastic bags, syringes.
• Windows covered or curtains closed for long periods.

To get help for drug or alcohol addiction:

• North Yorkshire Rise – young people’s specialist drug and alcohol service- freephone 08000 14 14 80 (Option 2) – uk/service/nyrise/.
• North Yorkshire Horizons – adult specialist drug and alcohol service – freephone 08000 14 14 80.
• Changing Lives – City of York Drug and Alcohol Service – 01904 464 680 – changing-lives.org.uk/services/drug-alcohol/york-drug-alcohol-support-services/.
• NHS – uk/live-well/healthy-body/drug-addiction-getting-help/.

Crime Prevention

Stricter mobile phone legislation on 25 March

Between 11.30am and 2.30pm on Tuesday the 22^nd of March 2022, Police in Scarborough issued 20 traffic offence reports (TORs) during a road safety operation targeting distracted driving – including mobile phone use. not being in proper control of a vehicle and eight warnings were given for other motoring offences. One vehicle was seized for having no insurance.

New legislation takes into account the evolving technology of smart phones since the original ‘hand-held’ offence was introduced in 2003.

• The meaning of ‘using’ a phone whilst driving will be expanded to cover things such as checking the time, unlocking the device, checking notifications, making, receiving, or rejecting a telephone or internet-based call, drafting any text, and accessing any stored data such as documents, books, audio files, photos, videos, films, playlists, notes or messages.
• The only exemptions will be the existing one of making an emergency call, plus making contactless payment using a phone at a payment terminal for goods or services. The vehicle must be stationary, and the item being paid for must be provided at the same time or after the contactless payment is made.
• Such phone-based transactions include paying for a car park or at a drive-through food and drink retailers.

For more information, please go to Changes in the law on driving while using a mobile phone (parliament.uk).

FORCE HEADQUARTERS

Cold Case Unit.

North Yorkshire Police Cold Case Unit has re-opened the investigation into one of the most enduring mysteries North Yorkshire Police has ever encountered. In 1981 officers found a woman’s decomposed remains in the undergrowth near Sutton Bank. The deceased has still not been identified.

Retired Detective Chief Inspector Adam Harland leader of the Cold Case Unit said:

“This has been one of the most enduring mysteries I’ve worked on. It’s highly unusual for someone who has died in these circumstances to remain unidentified for decades. 

Despite the passage of time, nobody deserves to be simply forgotten about – this was someone’s mother. And it’s likely she had friends who cared about her.

If names are put forward, we’re now in a position where we can apply this information to our DNA forensic records for this lady. Local knowledge may offer up this information. People’s lives and allegiances move on, and time can tease out information that has been closely guarded in the past. 

Another possibility is someone who’s researched their family tree might have found a gap, or discovered a relative who disappeared from official records around 1979 to 1981 without any clear explanation.”

The mystery woman was probably born between 1935 and 1940, making her between 39 and 44 when she died.

It was impossible to determine an exact date of death. But other evidence at the scene, and her advanced state of decomposition, led detectives to believe she probably died in 1979.

A post-mortem showed she gave birth to two or perhaps three babies, who could now be in their 60s.

She was white with brown hair, around 5ft 4ins tall and wore size-four shoes.

She had several distinguishing features, including a mild upper spine malformation that could have made her hold her head at an unusual angle.

She also had several missing teeth and other evidence of a lifestyle that involved regular smoking and drinking.

A wax model of her face was sculpted in the 1980s, based on skeletal evidence, and investigators still believe this is a reasonably accurate depiction.

Full report here, with image.