Thieves and thugs: Some of Shropshire's worst criminals locked up in recent weeks
June was a busy month for courts and crime fighters in Shropshire.
From thieves and rapists to a would-be murderer, the courts have been teeming with trials of all magnitude since we last looked back in May.
Notably, June saw the sentencing of Javed Qureshi, who was sent down for 18-years after bludgeoning a woman with a shock absorber in their home in Shrewsbury.
Later in the month, rapist Aron May from Bridgnorth, formerly an officer with West Midlands Police, was put away for 12 years for two attacks on the same woman in 2019.
Here are those, and some of the other cases the Shropshire Star has reported on over the month of June.
Jail for thief who assaulted man and stole petrol
A thief who stole petrol and assaulted a man was jailed for eight weeks in early June.
Colin Dillon, aged 30, attacked his victim in Shrewsbury and stole fuel from Sainsbury's at Meole Brace Retail Park, Shrewsbury on Saturday, June 1.
Dillon, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Kidderminster Magistrates Court to theft from a shop, assault by beating and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
Violent man bludgeoned woman with shock absorber before setting fire to their home
Javed Qureshi, aged 30, of Ellesmere Road in Shrewsbury was given an 18-year prison sentence for the attempted murder of a woman he attacked with a shock absorber in Shrewsbury.
The court heard how on October 31, 2023, officers responded to a call from a member of the public after they were approached by a women with serious injuries to her head and arm in Shrewsbury.
When officers arrived at the scene they quickly located Qureshi at his home address nearby, where he had started a fire causing extensive damage to his home and endangered the life of other people in the neighbouring properties.
Jail for man responsible for 'incredibly upsetting and invasive' theft
Ian Wyn Edwards, 58, of no fixed address, was sentenced to two years for stealing sentimental jewellery worth thousands of pounds after breaking into a couple’s home in rural Wrexham in May.
Following his arrest, he admitted to the offence, before the stolen jewellery was located in a rural wooded area nearby and returned to the victim.
'I'll slice you up': Machete-wielding thugs terrify mum as they threaten to stab her kids
Machete-wielding thugs threatened to stab a mum and her children before swinging the terrifying weapons at a father and his 12-year-old daughter just weeks later.
Cameron Buckley, 21, and Gregory Aston, 20, were jailed at Shrewsbury Crown Court for the offences which took place within weeks of each other – the second while on bail for the first.
'Merciless' fraud, 68, drained his own mother's bank accounts after she went into nursing home
Derek Walford took nearly £17,500 from an account his mother had used to pay for her funeral, and drip-fed from an account she used to receive her state pension. By the time his mother died, she had less than £300 to her name.
Walford protested his innocence to a crown court judge despite previously pleading guilty in November 2022 to two charges of fraud by misrepresentation. He had attempted to change his plea but had that rejected during what were described as "protracted" legal proceedings, before being locked up for two years.
Rapist policeman who attacked the same woman twice in a matter of weeks given 12-year prison sentence
PC Aron May, aged 40, was found guilty of the two sex attacks in April following a trial at Worcester Crown Court in June. He has since been dismissed by the force.
The officer, who is from the Bridgnorth area but was working for West Midlands Police, carried out his first attack on August 14, 2019, before preying on the same woman again just days later, at the end of the August bank holiday weekend.
May, of Romsley Lane, Romsley, near Bridgnorth was sentenced to seven years for the first rape and five years for the second rape, with the two sentences to be served consecutively.
Long jail sentence for prolific thief who 'needs to be off the streets'
Magistrates were told that Bradley David Howes' 'body craves drugs' and he commits offences to pay for his dependency.
Howes, who is aged 26, from Hollybush Road, in Woodside, Telford, was sentenced to 32 weeks in prison at Telford Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to 23 offences at Telford Magistrates Court on Tuesday, June 11.
They included assaults, carrying a bladed article, and driving off in a £17,000 Audi after burgling the keys from behind the counter at a Premier Inn in Telford on May 29 this year.
Armed robbers jailed for two-week Telford crime spree that hit charity shops, bookmakers and barbers
Three men were jailed for a combined 18 years after a string of armed robberies across Telford.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard how Jordan Hickman, 29 and Jake Jones, 21, both of Millstream Way in Leegomery, along with an 18-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons, carried out a series of robberies across the town in March 2023, over a two-week period.
Telford man jailed for breaking domestic violence order meant to protect victim
Kerry Steven, 52, of Crescent Road in Hadley, was sentenced at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court to 56 days in prison.
Steven was also given an additional nine days' imprisonment for breaching a Post-Sentence Supervision Order.
Evidence was shown to the court that Steven had breached his Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) by being in the company of the person the order was put in place to protect.
'Psychotic' Telford man asked victim for a cigarette - then stabbed him in the eye when he refused
A Telford man who stabbed a man in the eye and arm after he refused him a cigarette was jailed for nearly five years.
Craig Hull, of no fixed abode, left his victim with a 5cm-deep gash under his right eye and a 4cm deep cut in his arm, after the attack on October 30, 2021.