Richard Dyson Murder Trial - Defence

I've been reporting from Sheffield Crown Court where a "weapons fanatic" from Barnsley who’s accused of shooting his lodger and dismembering his body claims he did not fall out with him. Richard Dyson disappeared in November 2019. His remains were discovered in a concrete-filled barrel on a trailer at a farm in Barnsley in July last year. 

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Shanice Brookes Memorial Service

I've been reporting on the memorial service for Shanice Brookes, an innocent bystander who was shot dead while on a night out in Sheffield. I helped write this article for the BBC News website as well as this TV report...

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Sheffield Siege

I've been reporting from Sheffield Crown Court as a man who threatened to blow up an apartment block during a 33 and a half hour police siege in Sheffield city centre has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. In February last year, Yaqub Younis triggered an evacuation of The Gateway apartment block, falsely telling residents and armed officers he had guns and explosives. I recorded a report for radio bulletins, helped write this article for the BBC News website and then put together this TV report...

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Abdullah Murder Sentencing

This week I reported from Sheffield Crown Court on the sentencing of a driver who killed a 16-year-old boy in Sheffield when he mounted the pavement and hit him with his car. Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb died when he was struck by an Audi driven by Zulkernain Ahmed in Sheffield a year ago.

The month after his death, I interviewed Abduallah's heart-broken and dignified family.

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West Street Shooting

I covered the shooting to death of an innocent bystander on West Street in Sheffield this week.

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Patricia Hall Inquest

The sister of a Leeds woman who went missing 34 years ago has said the opening of an inquest into her presumed death is a "tremendous milestone". Patricia Hall vanished in 1992. Her husband Keith Hall was tried for her murder but found not guilty after an alleged taped confession that he had strangled her was ruled inadmissible at his trial.

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Corrupt Prison Officer

I've been reporting on the sentencing of a prison officer who struck up a relationship with an inmate at HMP Lindholme in Doncaster. Charlotte Winstanley also smuggled a range of contraband material into the prison for prisoner Jabhari Blair including a mobile phone which they used to send intimate photos and videos. 

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Abdullah Darnall Defence

A driver who struck and killed an innocent teenager who was walking along a pavement in Sheffield says he feels deep remorse and didn’t intend for it to happen. Zulkernain Ahmed admits the manslaughter of 16-year-old Abdullah Yaser Abdullah Taleb but denies murder. 

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Roger Leadbeater Inquest

I covered the deeply disturbing story of the killing of Sheffield pensioner Roger Leadbeater by a woman who had absconded from a mental health unit. Click here for the online story and this is the TV version...

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Grimethorpe Trial

A man who’s accused of rigging his Barnsley house with traps to stop people stealing drugs he and his wife grew and stored inside was inspired by the film, ‘Home Alone’. Ian Claughton has gone on trial alongside his wife Lesley Claughton at Doncaster Crown Court. A hundred homes were evacuated in Grimethorpe in May last year when police raided the houses and arrested the pair. 

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Alfie Franco Murder Trial Defence

This week I covered a murder trial in Leeds. A man accused of stabbing a 16-year-old Syrian refugee to death said he only intended to cut his cheek and "didn't believe it" when police told him he’d died. Alfie Franco from Kirkburton, denies the murder of Ahmad Al Ibrahim, who was stabbed in the neck in a crowded shopping street in Huddersfield on the afternoon of the 3rd April this year. 

Alfie Franco has since been found guilty of Ahmad Al Ibrahim's murder.

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Dangerous Driving

I've been filming residents who're living by a street in Sheffield where dangerous driving is rife.

16-year-old Abdullah Al Yazidi died in hospital after being struck by a car on Staniforth Road in June. People living there say the road is a death-trap and are demanding speed cameras. I wrote this story for the BBC News website and made this TV story...

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Abdullah Hit and Run

I've been to meet the father of a 16-year-old boy who died after being hit by a car while walking on the pavement in Sheffield. In June this year, Abdullah Al Yazidi died in hospital after being struck by a car on Staniforth Road in the Darnall area of the city. His father Yaser described the deep sadness he and his family are now left with.

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Chris Marriott Murder

I've been reporting on the killing of 'Good Samaritan' Chris Marriott. This week Hassan Jhangur was found guilty of his murder when he drove into Chris while he was helping Jhangur's sister who was lying injured in the road. I helped put together this report for the BBC News website on Chris. I reported live on BBC Look North...

I also reported on the outcome of the trial on BBC Radio Sheffield...

markansell · Chris Marriott Murder Radio Sheffield 2 way

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Kidnap

A Yorkshire millionaire feared he would be killed after he was abducted alongside his girlfriend and held hostage for four days in Ecuador. Fifteen armed men dressed in police uniforms took Colin Armstrong and Katherin Santos from his farm in December 2023. He owns the Forbidden Corner attraction in North Yorkshire but lives much of his life in Ecuador.

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Lucas Akins

I've been reporting from court in Leeds on the jailing of a footballer from Yorkshire for causing the death of a cyclist...

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Shoplifting

Shoplifting is on the rise in South Yorkshire. According to police data, there were more than fifteen thousand reports of shoplifting in South Yorkshire in 2024. That's up more than a thousand on the previous year. Conversely, in Doncaster shoplifting is down in the same period - but some shop owners are not convinced and say thieving is worse than ever.

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House Murder Investigation

I reported live from York this week where two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a man in his seventies at a house in the Huntington area. 

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Doncaster Prison

This week I reported from outside Doncaster prison where a ten hour police operation to stop drugs and other banned items getting inside did not trace any contraband among 120 visitors or more than a hundred and fifty prison staff yesterday. However, Following searches of fourteen prison cells, illicit items were found including cannabis, spice, tobacco, USB sticks and charging devices.

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Baby Abduction

I headed to Barnsley this week on a very troubling story to do with an attempted abduction of a baby. Police are appealing for information after a man grabbed a baby from her mother's arms on a train in Worksop. Detectives investigating the attempted abduction of the baby have released a CCTV image of a man they say can help with their enquiries.

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