A SERIAL shoplifter and perverse paedophiles are among the Worcestershire criminals to be put behind bars at Worcester and Hereford Crown Courts in March.
A court case is often passed from the Magistrates’ Court to the Crown Court if the Magistrates decide that the offence is too serious and requires a greater sentence than the six-month maximum they can hand out.
Here are some of the high-profile cases the Worcester News has reported on last month:
Natalie Cull
Natalie Cull (Image: West Mercia Police)
In January, 31-year-old Cull, of Madresfield Village, Malvern, appeared before Judge Nicholas Cartwright at Worcester Crown Court to be sentenced for three counts of theft and 19 breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order.
Rather than sending her to jail, Judge Cartwright ordered her to complete a drug rehabilitation course at a specialist facility in Shropshire.
However, just three months later, Cull was back in court facing Judge Cartwright, facing an additional three counts of theft from shop, one attempted theft, and seven counts of breaching her CBO.
The court heard that, eight weeks into her time at the facility, Cull failed a drug test for cocaine and was kicked out. Once she returned to Worcestershire, she reconnected with an ex-boyfriend and resumed her drug habit, all while shoplifting from stores in the town she had already been banned from.
After pleading guilty to the 11 new offences, Judge Cartwright sentenced Cull to four years and six months in prison.
FULL STORY: Malvern shoplifter jailed months after avoiding jail
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Christopher Webb
Christopher Webb (Image: West Mercia Police)
38-year-old Webb, from Tilesford, near Pershore, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for a serious of offences which culminated in him trying to meet with a child.
Webb had been communicating with what he believed was a 12-year-old girl on Snapchat and WhatsApp, sending explicit images of himself and asking for similar images in return.
Officers arrested Webb at Gloucester Train Station in March, where he had arranged to meet up with the girl.
On his arrest, an envelope full of girls’ underwear was discovered in a black bag he had been carrying.
He was jailed at Worcester Crown Court for causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity with penetration, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to meet a girl under 16 years of age following grooming.
FULL STORY: ‘Disgusting’ paedophile living near Pershore jailed
Paedophile jailed for asking 13-year-old girl to send sexual photos
‘Appalling and sickening attack’ – Anger at teen rapist’s sentencing
Prisoner admits to stabbing prison officer while behind bars at HMP Long Lartin
Karl Roberts
Karl Roberts (Image: West Mercia Police)
50-year-old Roberts, of no fixed abode, was jailed after he strangled and headbutted his ex-partner of 15 years after she told him to leave her house.
The court heard that Roberts left his victim bruised and swollen after grabbing her by the throat and headbutting her in the nose twice.
After police arrived at the property to arrest Roberts, he used foul and abusive language to describe his ex-partner and said: “at the end of the day she needs to die.”
Roberts had previously been convicted of offences, including two where he had assaulted his partner in 2018 and 2022.
Judge Martin Jackson sentenced Roberts to two years and two months in prison at Hereford Crown Court
FULL STORY: Worcester man who strangled and headbutted partner of jailed
Ben Barnes
Ben Barnes (Image: West Mercia Police)
Barnes, 41, of Back Lane South, Worcester, was jailed for seven years for sexual assaults on children at Worcester Crown Court.
He was sentenced for five counts of assaulting a girl under 13 and will be added to the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.