Here are faces of just a few of the criminals who started 2024 by being put behind bars and whose stories we brought you during January 2024…
1. Ryan Maxwell
Northampton Crown Court was shown footage of Maxwell beating a man with a wrench as he walked through Kettering town centre to take a meal to his homeless pal. A judge sentenced the 41-year-old, of Rutherglen — who had moved to Kettering only a few weeks earlier — to a total of 24 months for GBH and possession of an offensive weapon. Adrian Hillyer, aged 38, of Duke Street, Kettering, was sentenced to 18 months suspended for two years while 41-year-old Chloe Maxwell, of Highfield Road, Kettering, will be sentenced at a later date for their part in the attack. Photo: Nothamptonshire Police
2. Jake Oliver Warren
The 30-year-old drug driver was sentenced to a total of 28 months after admitting causing serious injury to a mother and her child in Northampton while driving dangerously under the influence of drugs. Northampton Crown Court heard how Warren, formerly of Dunster Street, had swerved in and out of traffic on the A45 Nene Valley Way in his black Vauxhall Astra before swapping lanes and cutting in front of other cars at the Barnes Meadow roundabout. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
3. Steven Michael Gaskell
Drug dealer Gaskell crashed his car, killing a young mum just 24 days after being given a suspended prison term for driving a stolen vehicle in the A14. Northampton Crown Court heard the 31-year-old had only one eye, a broken leg and cannabis in his system when he took his girlfriend Courtney Donnelly for a ride in a Mini he bought for £400 on Facebook marketplace. Gaskell, of Fotheringhay Road, Corby, who had been previously caught driving while banned seven times and had never passed a driving test, clipped a verge on the A427 near Brampton Ash and rolled several times. Front-seat-passenger Courtney – mum to Lily-Mae, aged just two – suffered “catastrophic” head injuries.
He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to five years, two months. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
4. Lauren Marie Talbot
Talbot was jailed for six years after setting her Northampton flat on fire and causing an explosion outside her former partner’s home. The 39-year-old admitted setting multiple fires inside her Shelley Street flat in Kingsley at around 2.10am four days before Christmas in 2022. Firefighters found writing on the wall, which read: “This flat can burn in hell”. Photo: Northamptonshire Police