From shoplifters and yobs to predators and paedophiles – these men are all now behind bars
06:00, 03 May 2026
Jailed in Bristol in April 2026(Image: Bristol Post/Avon and Somerset police)
A dangerous predator, a persistent shoplifter, three violent teen robbers and four yobs who used a car as a weapon were among those jailed in Bristol in the second half of April.
It was a busy fortnight for Bristol Crown Court and Bristol Magistrates Court as a number of high-profile cases came to a conclusion with sentencing hearings.
Bristol Live reported on some of those cases in the first half of April here – these included a man who got abusively drunk on a flight into Bristol Airport, a fraudulent builder and a prolific shoplifter.
The second half of April saw some serious reports, including a man who grabbed and kidnapped a woman at random off the street in Bristol. Read more in the round-up below:
Sadistic stranger dragged woman off the street
Mitchell Lee Rogers(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
Mitchell Lee Rogers grabbed the woman as she was working to work in Henbury, north Bristol, early on the morning of Friday, August 1 last year.
He pressed a sharp object against her neck and dragged her to a nearby flat. Thankfully she managed to escape the terrifying ordeal before it escalated even further.
Rogers, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to charges of kidnap and committing a criminal offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.
Judge Martin Picton described Rogers’ actions as ‘utterly horrific’, ‘chilling’ and ‘sadistic. He was jailed for 12 years, and when he is released, he will be on licence for another eight years.
You can read the full story here.
Gang of teens use car as a weapon
A screenshot of the mobile phone footage which was filmed by one of the passengers inside the Mini Cooper
Video of four teenagers who filmed themselves in a stolen car chasing after and running down a bike rider in South Bristol went viral in May 2025, in a case which shocked the city.
The four teenagers were finally brought to justice this month. Zak Goldsmith, Harrison Dodds and two teenagers who cannot be named because of their age were in a stolen Mini being driven around Hartcliffe on May 29 last year.
The car rammed into a young man on a bike, causing him significant injuries.
They were sentenced as follows:
Goldsmith, 19 and from Knowle, was sentenced to four years and nine months at a youth offenders’ institution after the judge acknowledged his previous good character. He received an additional sentence of two months, to be served consecutively, and a driving disqualification having previously pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of dangerous driving, driving without insurance or licence, and theft in Weston-super-Mare from October 2025.
Harrison Dodds and Zack Goldsmith were the two adults involved in the attack(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
Dodds, 18 of Hengrove, was sentenced to seven years and four months at a youth offenders’ institution. He received an additional sentence of four months, to be served consecutively, and a driving disqualification having pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of dangerous driving, driving without insurance or licence in Bristol from April 2025.
One 17-year-old boy, who denied any involvement in the first collision but accepted being the driver in the second collision, received a custodial sentence of three years and six months.
The second 17-year-old boy, who was seen to have a bladed weapon in the mobile footage, was given a custodial sentence of four years and nine months.
You can read the full story on this case, here.
Policeman made nude photos of a colleague
Michael Elmer(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
A police officer called Michael Elmer doctored private family photos of a female colleague to make her look naked and distributed them to online perverts, a court has heard.
PC Elmer, who resigned from Avon and Somerset police, also admitted making and distributing indecent images of children and doctoring photos of girls in school uniforms.
Elmer, 36, was based in Bristol but was sentenced at Exeter Crown Court last week, after admitting in February to four counts of making and distributing child abuse images, which included very young girls being raped by adults, and one count of sharing an image of a person in an intimate state for the purpose of sexual gratification.
He was jailed for a total of 13 months and placed on the Sex Offenders register, and a 10-year-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order was imposed.
You can read the full story here.
Teens targeted New Year’s Eve revellers
Danius Melgailis, 18, of Orchard Street, Mohammed Ahmed, 19, of Ashcombe Gardens, and Henry Hathaway, 18, of Longridge Way, all of Weston-super-Mare, were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 17 April.(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
Three teenagers drove around Weston-super-Mare in the early hours of January 1 targeting people making their way home from celebrating New Year’s Eve, and carried out a series of violent robberies.
Danius Melgailis, 18, Mohammed Ahmed, 19, and Henry Hathaway, 18 – all from Weston – pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, GBH and criminal damage.
They were sentenced to nine, eight and seven years respectively.
Many of their eight victims, who were all men aged between 18 and 56, needed to go to hospital for treatment after being beaten up.
One victim suffered life-changing injuries including a punctured lung, broken ribs, a broken eye socket, a head injury and permanent damage to his right eye.
Sentencing them, Judge Hart said the men used ‘truly appalling violence’. You can read the full story here.
Man jailed for child abuse
The young victim of a paedophile spoke in court ahead of his sentencing, telling him he had ‘taken away my childhood’.
Adrian McNab, from Shirehampton in Bristol, was found guilty of two counts of sexually assaulting a girl under 13 with offending dating back to between 2019 and 2021.
In a personal statement read out at the hearing, the victim said: “You’ve taken away my childhood. I don’t want to do anything anymore and I feel sad, thinking ‘what would it be like if this never happened’.
“Whenever I see men on the street, I cross the road. I just do it without thinking. I do it out of safety and I know it is because of you.”
Speaking directly to McNab, the victim said: “I want you to know I have a life ahead of me. While I live with the effects, this hasn’t stopped me from [my future].
“I’m not going to let what you’ve done control my life.” McNab, 62, was jailed for four years.
You can read the full story here.
Persistent shoplifter jailed
David Carter, 37(Image: Avon and Somerset Police)
David Carter was well known to staff in shops in north Bristol, but for now he is behind bars.
Carter, 37 and of no fixed abode, was already the subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order, but between January and April this year he continued his thieving spree at shops including Morrison’s in Little Stoke and Tesco Express in Stoke Gifford.
He was charged with 28 different thefts – everything from beauty products and washing detergents to meat and confectionery.
He was arrested for a theft on Friday, April 17, and by the Monday morning he was in court being jailed for 26 weeks – six months – by magistrates.
You can read the full story here.
NSPCC advice – signs of sexual abuse
Knowing the signs of sexual abuse can help give a voice to children. Sometimes children won’t understand that what’s happening to them is wrong. Or they might be scared to speak out. Some of the signs you might notice include:
Emotional
Avoiding being alone with or frightened of people or a person they knowLanguage or sexual behaviour you wouldn’t expect them to knowHaving nightmares or bed-wettingAlcohol or drug misuseSelf-harmChanges in eating habits or developing an eating problem
Physical
BruisesBleeding, discharge, pains or soreness in their genital or anal areaSexually transmitted infectionsPregnancy
If a child reveals abuse
listen carefully to what they’re sayinglet them know they’ve done the right thing by telling youtell them it’s not their faultsay you’ll take them seriouslydon’t confront the alleged abuserexplain what you’ll do nextreport what the child has told you as soon as possible.
Source
