These are the faces of 19 criminals who were among those jailed at Northampton Crown Court in cases covered by this newspaper during March 2023. They include Brayden Phillips, aged 19, who battered a teenager to death in the town centre, a man who flipped a Mercedes after a 100mph police pursuit, two drug dealers who took over a house in Briar Hill to move heroin and cocaine into the town, and four men who stabbed their victims….
5. Paul Strong
The 65-year-old fled to Thailand to avoid jail after being convicted of sexual assault. Strong, of High Street, Weedon, was sentenced in his absence to three years in prison. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
6. Ryan John Smith
The 29-year-old from Daventry was sentenced to ten years — with a minimum of seven years behind bars — after a court heard he grabbed a woman, ripping a chain from her neck and threw her to the ground, stood over her and repeatedly punched her before sexually assaulting her as she screamed for him to stop.
The victim suffered black eyes, a fractured toe and extensive bruising to her body.
Smith pleaded guilty to criminal damage and assault — he denied sexual assault but was convicted by a jury who took just 40 minutes to deliver their verdict at a trial in December. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
7. Abdul Hassan (left) and Pedro Armando
The two Londoners who admitted drug dealing, moving heroin and cocaine between the capital and Northampton, were jailed after police raided a house in Briar Hill last October. Pedro Armando, 21, was jailed for three-and-a-half years and 22-year-old Abdul Hassan for five-and-a-half years. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
8. Lee Paul Osborne
Local councillor Jason Smithers used his martial arts skills to rescue a mum and her baby as Osborne went on a drug and drink-fuelled rampage in Rushden last December.
Cllr Smithers told the court he was driving by when he saw a bloodied and naked man – later identified as Osborne – attacking a woman with a child in a buggy.
Osborne, of Upper Kings Avenue, Higham Ferrers, then 24, had attacked a number of people and smashed a glass door before demanding keys from a female motorist by standing in front of her car and placing his hands on the bonnet. He later assaulted three police officers. Osborne was sentenced to a total of 30 months. Photo: Northamptonshire Police