The horrific cases include an abusive husband who murdered his wife with a hammer before fleeing to Scotland and a dangerous sex predator who laughed at his victim and told her he had HIV after abducting her in Leeds city centre.
There was also a “cruel” father sentenced for murdering his son after being found guilty more than two decades years after the fatal attack and a Wakefield man who was jailed for strangling his victim to death before impersonating her on Facebook.
We’ve included a summary of each of the horrific cases alongside the pictures of the criminals in our gallery below.
1. Life sentences in 2022
Judges at Leeds Crown Court sentenced a number of criminals to life sentences for their crimes in 2022 Photo: West Yorkshire Police
2. Mark Barratt
A Leeds killer who attacked his wife with a hammer before strangling her to death at their home in Whinmoor was handed a life sentence in August. Mark Barratt, who controlled his wife through years of manipulative behaviour, claimed his wife was possessed and he wanted to "kill her demon" but the judge and jury dismissed this as "nonsense". Photo: West Yorkshire Police
3. Austin Osayande
Sex predator Austin Osayande, who laughed at his victim and told her he had HIV after abducting her in Leeds city centre, was given a life sentence in February. Osayande was captured on CCTV footage carrying his victim through the streets moments before subjecting her to the brutal attack. The 40-year-old remained at large for six years despite police releasing the chilling images in an appeal to catch him in 2015. Osayande was finally arrested in 2021 after he subjected a second victim to a serious sexual attack in her own home in Leeds. Photo: West Yorkshire Police
4. Matthew Fisher
Matthew Fisher was jailed for life for the murder of his wife Abi in November. Leeds Crown Court heard that Matthew Fisher strangled 29-year-old Abi and dumped her body 12 miles away from their home in Castleford during the summer. Photo: West Yorkshire Police
5. Alan Bird
Alan Bird was handed a life sentence in March after a jury found him guilty of murdering his son Lewis Turner more than 20 years after he suffocated him when he was a toddler. Leeds Crown Court heard that Bird inflicted life-changing injuries upon Lewis in 2001 and caused permanent brain injuries. Lewis, who was two at the time of the attack, died at the home of his adoptive parents in Tingley in 2019. Photo: West Yorkshire Police
6. tony brooks.jpg
Twisted murderer Tony Brooks, of Agbrigg Road, Wakefield, beat and strangled his girlfriend Kirstie Ellis to death on February 1 this year before leaving her body to rot for weeks and using her bank account and impersonating her on social media. Brooks was sentenced for life at Leeds Crown Court, where it was heard how Brooks impersonated Ms Ellis by using her Facebook messenger account to convince her friends and family she was still alive. Photo: Tony Brooks