A young woman who threatened to stab a cabbie and a gran-of-six caught dealing heroin and crack cocaine are just some of the crime queens from Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire who have been jailed in the last year.
Our courts are filled with criminals who have broken the law, for offences ranging from rape and burglary to assault and robbery.
While the vast majority of those who have appear in the dock are men, judges have to deal with their fare share of women too.
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One such example was Keeley Dwyer, 20, who was jailed for 33 months after pulling out a knife and threatening to kill a taxi driver, while 58-year-old Heather Bailey was given a two-year sentence for her part in transporting drugs.
In another shocking case, Sheila Pickerill was locked up for six years after attacking a mum who later died.
Here are just 14 of the women who have all been locked up after being convicted of carrying out crimes.
These are the women who have been jailed in the last year
Single mum Katie Sheldon stole £45,466 from a young couple in just six months - before blowing it on online gambling sites.
The 25-year-old initially asked for cash to buy her daughter Christmas presents before bombarding the couple with 11,000 messages.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that when the boyfriend asked for a naked picture of Sheldon, she sent a revealing photo of herself and threatened to accuse him of sexual harassment.
He sent her money until his savings were wiped out, the court heard.
The judge was told the girlfriend has made two attempts on her life and been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. The couple had been saving for a mortgage and to get married.
Sheldon, of Coniston Drive, Cheadle, was jailed for 21 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
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Drug dealer Cathryn Williams sold crack cocaine and heroin to clear her ex-partner's debt.
The 35-year-old was arrested in July and September and found to be in possession of drugs. But she was not deterred and, in October, police forced their way inside her Stoke home after stopping a known drug user who had left the address with drugs.
The defendant was arrested and, during a strip search in custody, she was found to have four wraps of crack cocaine inside a condom secreted inside her vagina.
Her two phones contained texts which showed she was involved in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
Williams was jailed for three years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
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Aggressive Victoria Everill wracked up her 18th attack on emergency workers - after spitting in a police officer's face.
The 31-year-old lost her temper as she was being led away to custody.
She lashed out and kicked out at two officers as they tried to take her to the police vehicle.
Her volatile behaviour continued in custody when she had to be taken to the floor to stop a further assault.
And she spat in an officer's face and said, 'I am being touched up by a d***, she is a d***'.
Everill was jailed for eight months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
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Arsonist Samantha Bond was jailed after she put lives in danger by starting a fire.
The 24-year-old had taken heroin when she used a naked flame to set fire to her bed frame at Concrete Housing, formerly the Flower Pot Hotel in Shelton.
There were seven other vulnerable women in the hostel at the time.
Staff later discovered the damage to the bed, bedding and carpet.
Bond was jailed for 27 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
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A woman who attacked a mum who later died was handed a six-year extended sentence.
Sheila Pickerill launched a vicious assault on Nicola Bray who was then found dead on her settee at her Cliffe Vale home in August, 2020.
A post-mortem examination later discovered 45-year-old Nicola had suffered fractures to her right eye socket and left jawbone as well as bleeding and bruising.
Pickerill, 49, of Steel Street, Hanley, pleaded guilty to a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent.
Her sentence included a four-year jail term.
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Cocaine dealer Michelle Riley bought trainers, designer clothes and sunglasses with money she made from selling drugs.
The 41-year-old was arrested after police raided her Tunstall home and seized cocaine and cannabis from several locations in the property.
Riley, of Henry Street, Tunstall, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine; being concerned in the supply of cannabis; possession of cocaine; and possession of cannabis with intent to supply, and was jailed for 47 months.
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A gran-of-six who fell into drug addiction at an early age was jailed - after helping to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
Heather Bailey helped move the drugs with three other defendants, collectively known as ‘The Marley Line’.
Bailey, who has 110 previous convictions, appeared alongside Omar Malik, Akaash Hasham, Akeel Saleem after their phones were linked.
A court heard their cars were stopped by police earlier this year, with wraps of the drugs, phones and cash found on each of them.
Bailey admitted possession with intent to supply class A drugs and possession of a knife.
The 58-year-old's long history of drug addiction started when she was introduced to heroin by an ex-partner aged just 17.
She was jailed for two years.
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'Professional thief’ Amanda Hauser stole bank cards from a woman having an epileptic seizure.
The 48-year-old had talked her way inside the victim’s home a short time before the fit.
And she then spied her chance to pick up the woman's purse and stash bank cards in her bra.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard she later tried to discard them after being picked up by the police near the scene of the crime in Longton.
Hauser was jailed for 15 months after she admitted the theft, plus a series of shoplifting offences during which she stole almost £500 of goods from supermarkets and Boots – after going into stores she was already banned from.
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Drug user Keeley Dwyer pulled out a knife and threatened to kill a taxi driver before making off without paying her fare.
The 20-year-old took a cab from Sneyd Green to Stoke and then on to Trentham Lakes.
She paid £12 but the fare reached £30 and she had no funds to pay so she handed her phone to the cabbie and asked to be taken to Norton.
When they arrived, she pulled a knife out on him and said, 'Give me my phone or I will kill you'. He feared for his life so he handed the phone back.
But she went 'crazy' and the driver injured his hand when he grabbed out after fearing she would kill him.
Dwyer, of Highgate Close, Norton, was jailed for 33 months after pleading guilty to threatening another with a knife, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, making off without payment and possession of a knife in public.
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Drug addict Tia Bradbury was jailed after she burgled properties to fund her addiction.
The 21-year-old tried to break into a community hub in Tunstall before burgling a property in Henry Street in the town with her co-accused, 49-year-old Michael McGuinness.
And two days later, she burgled a guest house in Roundwell Street and stole the owner's purse.
Both she and 49-year-old McGuinness were captured on CCTV using a stolen bank card to buy goods.
Bradbury also burgled Asda, in Tunstall, and made off with goods worth £108. Her offending placed her in breach of a suspended sentence.
Bradbury, of no fixed address, was jailed for 15 months. While McGuinness, of Jacqueline Street, Tunstall, was handed a 12-month community order at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court.
A mum caught in the act burgling a pensioner's home threatened to report him for rape if he laid a finger on her.
Samantha Lear sneaked into the Abbey Hulton home of an 82 year-old neighbour.
But her movements alerted the householder who then challenged her for being in his kitchen.
After ordering her out of the Crestbrook Road address, Lear callously threatened to accuse him of sexual assault.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard that incident came just days after Lear walked into a house in Burslem which had been left unlocked and stole an iPad, keyboard and cans of beer.
The 35-year-old, of Crestbrook Road, Abbey Hulton, was jailed for four years. after pleading guilty to two charges of burglary.
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Fraudulent bookkeeper Julie Goldstraw was jailed after she ripped her employer off to the tune of almost £85,000.
The 41-year-old, who has a previous conviction for three offences of fraud by false representation, was working for Signs Express at Fenton Industrial Estate when she helped herself to the cash over three years to fund her lavish lifestyle.
In total, she took £84,896.83 of the company's funds.
This included: £4,353 to pay off a car loan; £20,872 towards her mortgage; £12,356 on another mortgage; £8,758 on nine or more holidays and spa breaks; £2,200 on council tax; £10,725 to Amazon for hundreds of transactions; £4,300 on credit card payments; and £20,252 on household purchases, food, takeaway meals, cash and shopping.
The victim had to pay £5,844 to an accountant to go through the accounts after the fraud was discovered and the HMRC told him he owed £33,000.
Goldstraw, of Whitmore Avenue, Werrington, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position.
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Killer Kayley Mahood was convicted of manslaughter after Oliver O'Toole died at their home.
Following a two-week trial, a jury of five women and seven men took only two hours to reach a unanimous verdict convicting her of manslaughter. She was found not guilty of murder.
Throughout the trial, jurors had been told about the couple's tempestuous relationship, in which Mr O'Toole would hit Mahood. They also heard she had previously stabbed and glassed him but she claimed that this was done in self-defence.
Mahood, 30, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
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Fraudster Hayley McKay was jailed after she befriended people on Facebook and dating apps - and then duped them out of cash.
The 29-year-old targeted various people over a three-and-a-half year period by claiming she was struggling for money.
But McKay would go on to use her victims' banking details to set up accounts on betting sites and for credit cards.
She was jailed after admitting 32 counts of fraud against 11 people between July 2017 and January 2021.
McKay, of Elizabeth Avenue, in Rolleston-on-Dove, was sentenced to three years and eight weeks in jail after appearing at Stafford Crown Court.
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