Much of the country's usual day-to-day business may have ground to a halt but the courts carry on their important work.

Around the UK, there have been some shocking cases which have seen serious offenders brought to justice.

Judges, lawyers and court staff are carrying out these hearings in very testing circumstances, often via video links.

Here is a round up by the Manchester Evening News of some of the biggest cases to go before the courts in the UK last month.

Colin Hill aka Martin Cooper

Colin Hill, who has changed his name to Martin Cooper, who was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court to seven years in prison for the rape, false imprisonment and three counts of assault occasioning ABH of a woman

A judge described Colin Hill as a 'sadistic psychopath' when he was convicted of the rape and murder of teenager Leanne Scott in Cambridgeshire in 1987.

Last month, 61-year-old Hill was convicted of rape, kidnap and assault of another victim in the lead up to the killing.

In 1987 he was given a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years in prison, and was eventually released on licence in 2018.

He was recalled to prison in November 2019 for allegedly breaching his licence conditions, and later charged with five unrelated offences against another woman, which happened between 1984 and 1987.

Hill, who has since changed his name to Martin Cooper, admitted three counts of assault by ABH, one of false imprisonment and one of rape, and was sentenced to another seven years in prison.


The court heard that in 1984, Hill pushed the victim to the floor and kicked her repeatedly in the stomach while she was pregnant. The baby died after it was born.

In 1987, Hill repeatedly struck the woman’s head against a wall and assaulted her again the following day.

He then drove the woman to some woods, raped her in his car then held her against her will before she managed to escape, the court heard.

Weeks later, Hill raped Miss Scott, strangled her and shot her in the face with a sawn-off shotgun.

Hill will not be released by the Parole Board until it is safe to do so, the court heard, and has been given an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting the woman he was most recently convicted of offending against.

Melvin Miller

Undated handout photo issued by Merseyside Police showing Melvin Miller, 44, who was jailed for 16 years at Liverpool Crown Court for a series of rapes and sexual assaults on two young girls as well as possessing more than 250,000 indecent images

Melvin Miller, 44, was jailed for 16 years at Liverpool Crown Court for a series of rapes and sexual assaults on two young girls

A prolific paedophile was jailed after police found videos of him raping two children on his computer.

Melvin Miller was sentenced to 16 years in jail for carrying out sickening attacks on two young girls.

The 44-year-old, from Merseyside, was arrested by police after one of the victims told a friend about the sexual abuse.

Officers found explicit video footage of him raping and sexually abusing both girls, along with 140,000 images of children being abused, on two computer hard drives that belonged to him.

The court heard that this was the largest collection of indecent images ever encountered by Merseyside Police.

Miller pleaded guilty to 35 charges, including 16 offences of raping a child under the age of 13, 12 counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and one count of assault by penetration of a child.

He was sentenced to 16 years in jail and told he would be on the sex offenders register for life at a hearing conducted on Skype.

John Rodney

Undated handout photo issued by Wiltshire Police of John Rodney, 66, who has been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years at Bristol Crown Court after he was convicted of three counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm, relating to recklessly infecting three women with HIV

A pimp who had unprotected sex with women despite knowing he had HIV was jailed for infecting three women with the virus.

John Rodney, 61, from Swindon, who was diagnosed in 2013, admitted three counts of grievous bodily harm (GBH).

One of Rodney's victims told of the devastating impact her positive diagnosis had on her life - leading her to try to commit suicide multiple times.

The prosecution told Bristol Crown Court that medical professionals reported Rodney was reluctant to say how many people had had slept with.


He was also said to have only sporadically been taking medication intended to reduce the chance of him infecting others - and claimed to not have had intercourse for a decade.

But police found that Rodney had engaged in unprotected sex with numerous women over several years - without informing them of his condition or taking the essential treatment.

More than 50 women were then approached by officers and health professionals.

Rodney was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, of which he must serve at least two thirds behind bars, and an extended licence period of four-and-a-half years.

Christopher Connolly

Undated handout photo issued by Kent Police of Christopher Connolly, who has been jailed for poisoning his friend by spiking her coffee sweetener with prescription drugs

A man has been jailed after poisoning his friend by spiking her coffee sweetener with prescription drugs.

Christopher Connolly, 29, used a grinder to crush up medication and added it to her sweetener several times a day.

Police were made aware of his crime when he called 999 in a panic after slipping her a larger dose than usual.

Connolly, from Chatham, Kent, confessed to his actions fearing he had seriously injured the woman, who was known to him but has not been named by police.

When scientists tested the sweetener they found the presence of codeine, clozapine and other medications.

She did not suffer serious physical harm but her memory has been affected by the poisoning.

Connolly pleaded guilty to attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for four years.

Jonathan Clayton

Jonathan Clayton, 27, from Carlton, Stockton, has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years for sexually assaulting girls at a North Yorkshire school

A supply teacher was jailed for eight and a half years for sexually assaulting six primary school pupils.

Jonathan Clayton, from Stockton-on-Tees, was found guilty of 13 counts of sexual assault at a trial in February.

The court heard how Clayton, 27, had a sexual interest in young girls and used opportunities in the classroom to touch them inappropriately, watch them dress and help them get changed, even though they were old enough to do it themselves.


Clayton faced similar allegations at a previous school, which his current headteacher was unaware of, but they were dropped around two years ago.

The supply firm he worked for said important information about the dropped prosecution was ‘withheld’ and claimed that the first school, where he worked from 2016 to 2017, recommended him.

He was suspended by the second school after a number of pupils came forward with allegations about the incidents, which happened between March and May 2019.

Clayton denied the offences, saying there was nothing sexual about his behaviour, but admitted he gave the children hugs, helped them to get dressed and let them sit on his knee.

Ryan Howard

Undated handout custody photo issued by Merseyside Police of Ryan Howard, 27, who he has been jailed for nine years for killing a taxi driver and his passenger after speeding through a red light while drink driving on February 27 last year

A drink driver who killed two people when he ran a red light has been jailed for nine years.

Ryan Howard, 27, was more than twice the drink-drive limit when his BMW collided with a taxi driven by David Sherwin, 51, who was taking mother-of-two Michelle Jennings, 35, to work.

Mrs Jennings died in hospital later that morning while Mr Sherwin, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, died around two weeks after the crash.

The judge who sentenced Howard told the court that cases of dangerous driving 'do not get much worse than this'.

The court heard Howard, from St Helens, had driven to Liverpool with friend Lewis Heyes and had been drinking in pubs and clubs until about 4.30am.

Howard insisted he would drive the pair home when they returned to the car, the court heard.

Mr Heyes said Howard had been driving at speeds of up to 75mph when they left the city.

The court heard that the traffic lights he drove through had been on red for 16 seconds when he passed them.

Howard was also disqualified from driving for nine years and ordered to take an extended driving test before he is allowed to drive again.

Costel Nicuta

Undated handout photo issued by the Home Office of Romanian national Costel Nicuta who has been sentenced to three years and four months imprisonment after assisting unlawful immigration into the UK


A people smuggler who doused his human cargo in bleach in a bid to avoid detection has been jailed.

Three Albanian men wearing clothing stained with bleach were found hidden in a trailer by Border Force officers.

They needed medical treatment before they could be handed over to authorities, the Home Office said.


Romanian national Costel Nicuta, 42, was arrested at the Channel Tunnel entrance in Coquelles, France.

There was a strong smell of bleach and Nicuta also had some on his hoodie.

The men were found inside a purpose-built compartment on the trailer’s roof.

Nicuta was charged with assisting unlawful immigration into the UK and has been sentenced to three years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to the offence.

Haitch Macklin

Undated handout photo issued by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of Haitch Macklin who fantasised about raping and murdering a child has been jailed after he was caught with some of the most "horrific and disturbing" abuse images investigators have ever seen


A paedophile was jailed after undercover police found him advertising a £10 a month 'streaming service' for sick child abuse images.

Haitch Macklin, 38, from Salford, told police that he was hearing voices 'telling him that he was a paedophile'.

Police executed a warrant at his home and found Macklin had downloaded more than 2,000 indecent images of children.

He was released under investigation and then began to offer an online 'streaming service' to other paedophiles, using a device he kept in his loft.

Macklin used a number of different online profiles, including one named 'UK Perv'.

Experienced officers described the footage he possessed as 'some of the most horrific and disturbing content they’ve ever seen in many years’.

He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.

Lloyd Birkby

Undated handout photo issued by West Yorkshire Police of Lloyd Birkby, 27, who was jailed for five years at Leeds Crown Court after he had admitted manslaughter for the murder of his girlfriend Levi Ogden, 26, as a court has heard the mother of two died in the street after he threw a mobile phone at her neck


A mother-of-two died in the street after her drunk boyfriend threw a mobile phone at her neck.

Levi Ogden, 26, suffered a cardiac arrest after she collapsed on the ground in Halifax town centre due to the impact of the phone causing bleeding in her brain, a court heard.

Her partner, Lloyd Birkby, 27, was jailed for five years after he admitted manslaughter.

The incident, which was captured on CCTV, happened as an argument developed during a night out in Halifax in November last year, the court heard.

Birkby, of Elland, West Yorkshire, had a history of domestic violence against Ms Ogden, serving a number of prison sentences for battery, the court heard.

Police had been called to their home around 20 times before the fatal incident.

On the night she died, Birkby had thrown a phone he found lying on the ground 'with as much force as he could muster' at his partner, who was around 6ft to 8ft away, the prosecution said.

Ms Ogden staggered for a few seconds and then 'collapsed in a heap on the floor', the court heard.

Birkby was given a sentence of two months in prison for assaulting Ms Ogden’s friend, who witnessed the incident, to run concurrently with the five years for manslaughter.

John Ward and Aaron Farrell

John Ward (left) raped a terrified mum while Aaron Farrell (right) watched through a window

A rapist has been jailed after he forced his way into his victim’s home before attacking her in front of her children.

John Ward, from Rochdale, was high on cocaine and drunk when he broke into her home, pushed her onto the stairs and covered her mouth before raping her.

One of her children shouted in vain for Ward, 24, to 'get off' their mum after he slammed the living room door on them.

The victim moved out of her home on the day of the attack and has never returned.

Ward was sentenced along with his accomplice Aaron Farrell, 24, from Middleton, who watched the rape through the kitchen window.

Ward was jailed for 12 years with an extended licence period of four years after he pleaded guilty to sexual assault and two counts of rape.

He has also placed on the sex offenders' register.

Farrell was jailed for one year and nine months after he admitted perverting the course of justice. He was told he would be released half way through his sentence.

Junior Chester Bryan

Handout photo dated March 2018 issued by Cleveland Police of Junior Chester Bryan who has been handed a 29-year extended sentence after he raped schoolgirls and gave another victim a cannabis joint laced with heroin to get her addicted to hard drugs

A sexual predator who raped schoolgirls was handed a 29-year extended sentence last month.

A court heard how Junior Chester Bryan gave one of his victims a cannabis joint laced with heroin to get her addicted to hard drugs.

The 63-year-old used violence against the much younger women he controlled, forcing some of them into prostitution.

The court heard Bryan, who came to London from Jamaica when he was 15, was violent, domineering and manipulative.


One victim met him in a nightclub when she was 18 and had never tried any hard drugs before, but by the time she was 19 she was addicted to crack and heroin and became a prostitute under his control.

He was convicted of 20 offences and admitted three more, including rape, sexual assault, false imprisonment, living on prostitution and supplying class A drugs.

His offences, which spanned two decades between 1993 and 2013, took place in Middlesbrough, Leeds, Darlington and London.

Bryan was sentenced to 24 years in jail, with an extended five-year tariff.

Kadeer Hussain

Kadeer Hussain was jailed for attacking a police officer

Kadeer Hussain brutally attacked a policewoman who was responding to a 999 call in Birmingham.

The 38-year-old, from Handsworth, was jailed for two years following the attack.

The policewoman and her partner had been trying to find out the reason for the call when they were approached by Hussain who initially appeared calm.

The court heard that Hussain punched the male officer in the face ‘without warning’ before turning to the female officer, knocking her on the floor and continuing to punch her while she lay bleeding.

The officer begged Hussain to stop, the court heard.

The defense told the court it was a spontaneous act by Hussain who had previously had 'issues with the police'.

Mark O’Reilly

Mark O'Reilly threw boiling water in the face of a fellow inmate at HMP Peterborough

Mark O'Reilly threw boiling water in the face of a fellow inmate at HMP Peterborough (Image: Cambridgeshire Police)

A prisoner in HMP Peterborough was handed a further six years in jail after he threw boiling water in another inmate’s face.

In 2014, Mark O’Reilly, 29, was jailed for nine years after he admitted to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The night before he was due to be released on licence after serving half of his sentence, he attacked a fellow inmate.

His victim, who is in his 20s, was playing pool when O’Reilly approached him with a kettle and threw boiling water into his face.

He told officers he borrowed the kettle from another inmate after overreacting to something his victim had said.

The man suffered life-changing injuries and no longer has the full use of his right eye.

In addition to a further six years in prison, which will run alongside the remainder of his current nine-year sentence, O’Reilly will be placed on licence for four years after his release from prison.