THESE people were all jailed in Gwent this month, and here are details of the crimes which put them behind bars.
Stephen Parker
Parker, of Orchard Street, Brynmawr, was caught with more than 200 films of child sex abuse and extreme animal pornography.
Officers from Gwent Police’s high tech crime unit raided Parker’s home in July, where they found the videos of child victims aged 5-14 in “pain and distress”.
Parker had more than 180 category A images which depict the most serious examples of child sexual abuse.
The court heard Parker had 24 previous convictions for 55 offences, which included fraud and theft, but none for sex crimes.
Jeffrey Jones, mitigating, said Parker “lives an isolated existence and his relationship, his marriage, is currently on the rocks and he has been separated for some time”.
Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke jailed Parker for 20 months and told him he had to register as a sex offender for the next 10 years.
Parker was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for a decade, and must pay a victim surcharge upon his release from jail.
Taylor Blackley
Blackley, 19, was sent to a young offenders’ institution after admitting an “extreme case” of controlling or coercive behaviour.
The court heard Blackley had verbally abused his victim, threatened to injure or kill himself, and monitored where that person could go or who they could see.
He also stopped the complainant seeing family and friends, and prevented the victim going out to a family meal.
Blackley, formerly of Broadmead Park, Newport, admitted controlling or coercive behaviour during his trial at Cardiff Crown Court in June.
He was cleared of false imprisonment, grievous bodily harm with intent and grievous bodily harm.
The court was told Blackley had “anger management issues”.
Sentencing him at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke sent him to a young offenders’ institution for two years and three months.
Blackley, now of Corporation Road, Newport, had already spent 189 days on tagged bail which will count towards the time he spends in custody.
The judge also imposed a restraining order for 10 years prohibiting the defendant from contacting the complainant, and Blackley must pay a £140 victim surcharge within three months of his release.
Ben Stead
Stead, of Rhymney, was arrested in June during police raids on properties across Caerphilly and Blaenau Gwent, as part of Gwent Police’s Operation Dynamic.
A sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court was told Stead had supplied undercover officers with heroin and crack cocaine from an address in High Street, Rhymney, in February and March this year.
He pleaded guilty to three charges of supplying heroin and one of supplying crack cocaine.
The court heard how Stead said he could supply heroin and for £20 provided two wraps of the drug. Telephone numbers were exchanged so further deals could take place.
Stead's defence counsel, Kevin Seal, said his client knew a prison term was inevitable, but had been dealing to maintain his own habit, and had also started to tackle his addiction whilst in custody.
Judge Nicola Jones said it was clear Stead had shown "genuine remorse", but she had to send him to prison.
He was jailed for two years and eight months.
Kyle Bush and Joseph Burnapp
Bush and Burnapp were jailed at Newport Crown Court for their part in a "sophisticated commercial operation" to sell cocaine in Newport.
They were arrested, along with two other defendants, following a seven-month Gwent Police operation, codenamed Empire, which involved undercover officers.
The court heard how the officer “ingratiated” himself with the group, and exchanged money and drugs seven times over the course of the operation.
The final deal, in May this year, involved trading two kilograms of cocaine for £36,500.
The purity of the cocaine exchanged was largely very high, ranging from 77-81 per cent.
Bush, of Monnow Walk, Bettws, Newport, was described as the ringleader of the group; with Burnapp, of Commercial Street, Pontypool, acting as his second in command.
The two pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to supply Class A drugs following their arrest on May 1.
Defending Bush, Sue Ferrier her client had indicated his remorse and accepted his responsibility for his offending.
Defending Burnapp, Be Waters said his client was remorseful, apologised for his offending, "and will not be troubling the courts again".
Judge Jeremy Jenkins handed down prison sentences of six years to Bush, and five years and four months to Burnapp.
Philip Banning
Running coach Banning, from Penhow, was jailed for a "regime of sexual abuse" against teenage girls at the athletics club where he worked.
Banning pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to 18 charges of indecent assault against four girls, three aged under 16 and one from when she was aged 11, dating back to the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The court heard Banning had targeted youngsters who were his "favourites" and to whom he gave "special treatment" while working as a coach for Andover Athletics Club.
One of Banning’s victims said: "A girl's first kiss is meant to be special. I remember my first kiss, it was brutal, forceful, slimy, unpleasant and I didn't want it – it was from Banning, it shattered all my dreams."
Euan Bennett, defending Banning, said his client had “genuine feelings of remorse”.
But sentencing, Judge Keith Cutler told Banning: "I am absolutely sure [your victims] must have idolised you, a very well-known young athlete, and what you were doing to those four was grooming them, abusing your position, seeking them as your sexual relief."
He jailed Banning for seven-and-a-half years, and ordered him to be put on the sex offenders' register for life.
Philip Stokes
Stokes was jailed at Newport Crown Court for a range of drugs and weapon offences.
He was arrested after a police officer found him unconscious in his car with a sword, a throwing knife, a crossbow and cannabis.
The court heard how Stokes, of Maes-y-Bedw, Bedlinog, was discovered with “slurred speech” and “blood-shot eyes” in his silver-coloured Vauxhall in February this year.
Mitigating, Nigel Fryer said that Stokes had pleaded guilty and was grieving following the loss of three close family members.
Mr Fryers added: “As a result of that, Mr Stokes went, in his own words, ‘off the rails’. That is why he found himself in this vehicle.”
Judge Jeremy Jenkins said the defendant’s last conviction was a suspended sentence in 2018 for possession of amphetamine with intent to supply.
The judge added: “I am afraid that these offences are too serious to be dealt with by anything but immediate custody.
“A crossbow is capable of death or serious injury.”
Stokes was sentenced to nine months in prison and disqualified from driving for two years.
Michael Moore
Drug dealer Moore was arrested shortly after doing a street deal on a footpath near Maindee Primary School, Newport, on June 24.
Police found quantities of heroin, cocaine, and cannabis on his person, as well as a knife in his waistband and £235 in cash.
Later, at Moore’s flat on Corporation Road, officers found 170 grams of heroin with a street value of around £17,000.
Moore subsequently pleaded guilty to charges of possession of heroin with intent to supply, possession of cannabis with intent to supply, possession of cocaine, and possession of an article with a blade/point in a public place.
Defence counsel Gareth Williams told Newport Crown Court that Moore had got into taking heroin after being released from prison, then began selling the drug to support his own habit.
Judge Daniel Williams sentenced Moore to three years and four months in prison on the heroin supply charge.
Lesser sentences for the other offences – eight months, four months, and six months respectively – will run concurrent to that.
Jay Kent
Kent was found guilty at trial of carrying out a barbaric attack on his victim, causing catastrophic head injuries.
Kent, from Newport but of no fixed abode, attacked Peter Cole at a drinking session in October last year – grabbing him by the throat, punching him, and stamping on his head until he was unconscious.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Cole’s mother said: “I have lost my son – he has been taken away. All I have left is a shell of the person I loved.”
She said her son’s head had been “caved in” in the attack, and that she had started making funeral arrangements for her son.
Mr Cole has brain damage “and will be disabled for the rest of his life”, his mother said.
Kent, represented by Harry Baker, had claimed self-defence.
It took the jury of eight men and four women just 20 minutes to come back into the courtroom with guilty verdicts after they retired.
Kent was also convicted of assaulting another man, Jason Pearce, on the same night while the three of them drank in Newport’s Tewkesbury Walk.
After returning their guilty verdicts, the jury were also told that the defendant was an habitual criminal with 55 convictions for 96 offences, including drugs, robbery and burglary.
Sentencing, Judge David Wynn Morgan told Kent he had “shown not a hint of remorse”.
Judge Morgan said Kent was a dangerous offender and imposed an extended 16-year sentence because he poses a risk of serious harm to the public.
This means the defendant will have to serve a 12-year custodial term with an added licence period of four years.
Rhys Coulson
Coulson was jailed after pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, common assault and criminal damage.
The court heard how the defendant, of Bryn Bevan, Newport, bit his victim on her neck and breasts following consensual sex in February this year.
Coulson also swung a hammer around and punched the complainant in the face as she was reporting his assault to the police.
The court heard Coulson had 14 previous convictions for 19 offences, and had punched a previous female victim in the stomach.
Timothy Evans, mitigating, said his client suffered with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and had admitted the offences.
Judge Michael Fitton QC said Coulson had shown no remorse, adding: “You are violent and aggressive. Your behaviour is disgraceful and frightening.”
Coulson was jailed for 13 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge upon his release from prison.
Neil Skiffington
Skiffington is back in jail after pursuing a vendetta against two Gwent Police officers.
His grudge against the two officers stemmed from a 2015 conviction for grievous bodily harm (GBH), the court heard. Skiffington believed he had been a victim of a miscarriage of justice and had branded the two police officers as “corrupt”.
Skiffington, of Dockwell Terrace, Station Road, Llanwern, received a 33-month sentence for that GBH offence for assaulting his ex-partner.
Then in April this year, Skiffington was again jailed after admitting sending malicious communications to the two officers. He was also made the subject of a restraining order.
But after his release from jail, Suzanne Payne, prosecuting, said, Skiffington continued to pursue his feud, making eight “aggressive and abusive” calls to the police 101 service between July and August.
Skiffington admitted two counts of breaching a restraining order.
Hilary Roberts, mitigating, said his client had pleaded guilty and had “paranoia about the police” because “he felt he was being improperly thwarted”.
Judge Daniel Williams told the defendant: “It is clear you are still simmering with resentment. It is resentment of your own making.”
Skiffington was jailed for 16 months and an amended restraining order was imposed for an indefinite period, which prohibits him from contacting any police force in Wales and England, save for an emergency or via a solicitor.
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