Yorkshire courts: Bank boss sentenced, badger baiters and rioter jailed, TV auctioneer cleared, ex-soap star jailed for £13.6m scam

A former Co-operative Bank chairman Paul Flowers will be sentenced for fraud after he handed himself in to the police following a warrant for his arrest.

In July last year, Flowers, 74, pleaded guilty to a catalogue of fraud, amounting to nearly £100,000, when he abused his position as the executor of the will, and holder of power of attorney, for a woman named Margaret Jarvis.

On February 14, former Bradford councillor Flowers did not turn up to his sentencing hearing at Manchester Crown Court and Judge Nicholas Dean KC issued a warrant not backed for bail.

Three days later, he handed himself in to police and was remanded in custody to be sentenced.

Two men have been jailed for forcing their dogs to fight a badger on Yorkshire farmland.

Kenneth Kieron Wade, 29, and Stephen Thomas Rose, 39, were stopped by police near Melsonby in January 2023 after rural watch members reported a suspicious vehicle.

Officers found three injured terriers, a muddy spade, and later discovered a dug-up badger set, more spades, and a mauled badger’s body.

Both men pleaded guilty to killing a badger, disturbing a sett, and causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs.

Wade received a two-year prison sentence and a lifetime dog ownership ban. Rose, who also admitted to GBH in a separate case, was jailed for 23 months and banned from keeping dogs for 10 years.

Two men have been jailed for their roles in the Rotherham hotel riot on August 4, 2024.

Arron Bailey, 28, from Darfield, threw bricks, bottles, and fence panels at police, stoked a fire inside the Holiday Inn Express, and rammed a trolley into officers.

Despite wearing a balaclava, he was identified by a distinctive calf tattoo.

He was found guilty of violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life and was sentenced to eight years in prison, with three more on licence.

Curtis Laycock, 30, was caught on footage throwing a chair and rocks at police.

Identified through a media appeal, he admitted violent disorder and was jailed for two years and eight months.

Celebrity auctioneer Charles Hanson has been unanimously cleared of coercive behaviour and assault charges brought by his wife.

A jury deliberated for four-and-a-half hours before acquitting the Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip star of two assault allegations from 2015 and 2023, as well as a controlling and coercive behaviour charge spanning eight years.

During his trial at Derby Crown Court, Hanson, 46, claimed he was "almost a slave" to his wife, while she alleged he had been violent towards her, including putting her in a headlock in 2012 and pushing her during a row.

Former Brookside actor Philip Foster has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for masterminding a £13.6 million fraud targeting aspiring models, National Trading Standards (NTS) said.

Foster, 49, ran a network of sham modelling agencies for over eight years, exploiting more than 6,000 victims.

Based in Marbella, Spain, he used associates in cities across the UK to lure hopefuls with false promises of modelling work, pressuring them to buy expensive portfolios that led to no real opportunities.

A six-year NTS investigation uncovered the scam, revealing that victims were left in serious debt, emotional distress, and financial ruin. Foster used the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury watches and cars.

He was sentenced in his absence at Sheffield Crown Court, alongside eight associates convicted of fraud and money laundering. Michael Foster, 27, was jailed for three-and-a-half years, while others received suspended sentences.