Prolific sex offenders, violent thugs and heartless thieves are among the serial offenders to appear in North East courts in 2022.
Their cruel crimes leave their victims with mental and physical scars. But that hasn't stopped them racking up hundreds of convictions between them.
One serial offender has clocked up almost 200 previous convictions, while another had 109 previous convictions on their record. Another has a sickening history of sex attacks on male children going back as far as the 1970s.
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These are the North East serial offenders who keep appearing in the dock.
Jack Bolton
Serial paedophile Jack Bolton is back behind bars for ruining the life of another young boy by sexually abusing him.
The depraved former Boys' Brigade officer has a sickening history of sex attacks on male children going back as far as the 1970s and was jailed for nine years in 2011 for 33 offences of indecent assault. Now the 79-year-old pervert, of Yetholm Road, Dunston, Gateshead, has admitted abusing a boy he groomed by offering to let him drive his car and sitting him on his knee around 30 years ago.
The victim, now an adult, bravely came forward after keeping the abuse to himself and said it has had a devastating impact on his life. Newcastle Crown Court heard the victim recalled how Bolton used to sell eggs and would take him out in his car.
As well as the prison sentence, lifelong sex offender registration continues, as does a sexual offences prevention order.
The court heard Bolton has 52 previous convictions, mainly for abusing young boys. In 1970 he was convicted of two counts of indecently assaulting boys.
In 1992 he was convicted of eight counts of indecent assault and gross indecency. In 1995 he was sentenced for indecently assaulting a 12-year-old. In 1997 he was convicted of four indecent assaults on boys aged 12 and 14. In March 2011 he was jailed for nine years for 33 indecent assaults on boys.
Annelise Haugstad, defending, said Bolton pleaded guilty and added that the offences happened over a short duration.
Mark Reynolds
Mark Reynolds left one woman injured by trying to rob her on the Metro and stole another lady's bag as she packed her car with shopping. The 52-year-old, who has 109 previous convictions, was in the grip of a crippling addiction after turning to heroin following an attack and his weight had plummeted to just seven stone.
On Sunday September 19 last year, Reynolds was refused entry to a Premier shop in South Shields as he was barred and he became agitated and was seen brandishing an axe and knife. The following day he targeted a 29-year-old woman on a Metro between South Shields and Pelaw. When the train stopped at a station, he tried to grab her bag, which contained her phone, cards and cash.
She bravely resisted but suffered a fractured little finger and a soft tissue injury to her neck in the process. She said the attack affected her mental health and made her feel unsafe and afraid.
Within half an hour, Reynolds struck again, this time targeting a 41-year-old woman who had just finished shopping in Hebburn. He suddenly appeared next to her and took her handbag from her trolley as she put the shopping in the car.
She grabbed the bag, screamed for help and tried to resist but became afraid when he looked at her threateningly and said 'Don't, it's not worth it." Prosecutor Neil Pallister said: "She felt he was about to use violence and pull something out like a knife or a screwdriver. In fear for her safety, she let go."
Two men chased Reynolds, who fell and the contents of the bag spilled on the road and were recovered, albeit the phone was damaged. A security guard from a nearby Aldi stopped Reynolds.
Reynolds, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to possessing offensive weapons, attempted robbery and robbery and was jailed for three years and three months.
Scott Hanson
A heartless fraudster Scott Hanson took £50,000 from a good-Samaritan pensioner by pestering the victim into giving him sums of money for various things, including rail tickets, rent, and damage to his property. Hanson made the man, who is in his 70s, believe he would be paid back after telling him he had a job at Asda and was due to receive £81,000 that had been left to him in a will.
But the lying 38-year-old never paid the victim back, and his crime only came to light when the pensioner tried to withdraw a large sum of money from his bank account and staff became concerned and called the police.
The court heard that Hanson made "repeated promises" to give the money back, but he would also give "deadlines" to his victim, telling him when he needed money by. Hanson would tell the victim that if he did not get the money he asked for, he would lose his job. The court was told Hanson took £50,000 from the man between January and June, last year, and paid none of it back.
The court also heard Hanson, of no fixed address, had 20 previous convictions for 35 offences, including four convictions for fraud and theft. In 2009, Hanson had even defrauded the same victim. In 2019, Hanson approached a church and introduced himself to a member, striking up a friendship before making requests for money. The victim of that offence believed they were doing their "Christian duty" by helping him with funds.
Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, jailed Hanson for 32 months and imposed a lifetime restraining order, banning contact with the victim.
Shurn Hall
Shurn Hall left his girlfriend with permanent damage to her eye in a shocking attack at his home in Blyth, Northumberland, after which he refused to get her the medical help she needed. Newcastle Crown Court heard the young woman was left with multiple facial fractures, a blood clot behind her eye and is likely to have permanent issues with double vision.
The attack happened at Hall's flat on February 12. Jessica Slaughter, prosecuting, said: "An argument began because she wanted to use his phone and he would not let her, which made her think he had something to hide." She left his home but it was snowing and cold so she returned and asked to use his phone to call a taxi, which he refused.
Miss Slaughter said: "They continued to argue and she threw a chicken burger at him and slapped him across the face. He then came up behind her and threw several punches at her head. She tried to defend herself with her hands to her head. He threw more than ten punches while she covered her head.
"He then stopped the flurry of punches and she lowered her hands. He then hit her with a blow directly at her face with extreme force. She saw a flash of light and felt intense pain and there was blood dripping from her eye. She was staggering around saying she couldn't see and she asked him to call an ambulance, which he refused to do.
"He did nothing to help her. She was in extreme pain and struggling to see." The woman managed to find her way to a friend's home nearby.
Hall also attended and after initially admitting he caused the injury, he then claimed she had fallen downstairs. He left without helping her get to hospital.
Hall, of Cowpen Road, Blyth, who has 31 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to GBH with intent and was jailed for five years and four months. He was also given a ten year restraining order.
Fiona Lamb, defending, said he is remorseful for leaving her with an eye that looks different to the other one and that has affected her vision. She added that he cares for his mum.
Adam Sayers
Prolific thief Adam Sayers threatened a shop manager with a syringe when he tried to stop him stealing boxes of chocolates.
Sayers, who has 195 previous convictions, was already subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order due to him repeatedly stealing from shops. The order banned him from some retail premises and required him to leave when asked.
On February 9 this year, he went to a shop from which he was not barred, a One Stop in Roker, Sunderland. The manager became suspicious when he saw him piling up a large amount of boxes of chocolate bars in a basket.
Matthew Bean, prosecuting, told Newcastle Crown Court : "The manager approached him because of his concerns and when he went up to the defendant he indicated the police had been notified.
"The defendant responded by saying 'call the police, I don't give a s***'. He tried to move the basket away from the defendant and the defendant tried to take it back.
"He then shouted 'here man I've got a syringe' and produced one from his pocket and pointed it at him. He believed it would be used to injure him and he backed away.
"This allowed the defendant to leave the store with a quantity of stolen chocolates and he made off on a pedal bike."
Sayers, 34, of Franklin Street, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to robbery and was jailed for three years and nine months.
Mark Skelton
A disabled pensioner was returning home when despicable thug Mark Skelton attacked and robbed him on his doorstep. The 75-year-old amputee, who has a prosthetic leg and walks with a stick, briefly lost consciousness and was left bloodied and bruised after being targeted by Skelton who then stole his car and wrote it off.
When he came round, he saw his BMW, which he described as "effectively my legs", had been stolen. Skelton, 30, who has 88 previous convictions, then crashed it nearby, writing it off and damaging two other vehicles in the process.
A court heard the formerly "fiercely independent" pensioner has now been left anxious and nervous about leaving his home. In a statement read at Newcastle Crown Court, he said: "As a result of being attacked my whole life has been turned upside down. I was attacked on my own doorstep and now I don't feel safe living like I used to, especially as I live on my own.
"I have been dependent on my car to move about and get out. When that man stole my car he stole what are effectively my legs for getting out and about."
Skelton, of Marine Avenue, Whitley Bay, pleaded guilty to robbery and aggravated vehicle taking and was jailed for 40 months. He was also given a five-year restraining order and will be banned from driving for three years following his release.
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