There were a lot of people who committed offences and were jailed for their crimes last month.

Here’s just some of the criminals including burglars, murderers, thieves, thugs, perverts and people smugglers who were locked up in July.

Valeriu Cobzarencu, Andrei Stefan, Vincentiu Gheorghe, Ionut-Razvan Gheorghe and Alin Chica

Brazen thieves who stole more than £70,000 worth of alcohol from numerous supermarkets across the county were jailed.

Valeriu Cobzarencu, Andrei Stefan, Vincentiu Gheorghe, Ionut-Razvan Gheorghe and Alin Chica worked together to steal from stores in Kent, as well as London, Essex and Norfolk.

The group targeted stores in towns including but not limited to Aylesford, Gravesend, Maidstone, Broadstairs and Dover between November 2021 and September 2022 when supermarket chains such as Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Sainsbury’s were all stung.

Each of the men had roles and worked together using earpieces and mobile phones to ensure vehicles were nearby to swiftly remove the stolen goods.

The gang stole between £2,000 and £5,000 worth of alcohol during each visit, and Chica and Ionut-Razvan Gheorghe were arrested in February 2022 after they were reported to have stolen alcohol from Sainsbury’s in Pepper Hill, Northfleet.

Police launched a probe which gathered CCTV and mobile phone data which revealed the group had been travelling across the county and officers were able to build up a picture of the supermarket raids and they were all later arrested and subsequently charged with conspiracy to steal alcohol.

At Maidstone Crown Court 35-year-old Stefan, of Sutherland Road, Greater London was jailed for two years, 30-year-old Cobzarencu, of the same address, was jailed for one year and eight months.

The other men were sentenced at a previous sentencing in July at the same court, Vincentiu Gheorghe, 34, of Raglan Road, London, was locked up for two years and one month and 35-year-old Ionut-Razvan Gheorghe, of Byron Road, Walthamstow, was jailed for two years and three months.

Chica, 23, of Erskine Road, Walthamstow, was locked up for a year-and-a-half.

Blue Butler

A footballing wannabe was sent to prison for what a judge said was “shocking and wanton” street violence.

Blue Butler, who claimed on social media to have signed for a sports agency, was 18 at the time of the attack near a pub in Dartford High Street.

Now 21, Butler, of Hard Dyke Road, Swanley, and a friend had launched the attack outside the Clipper pub in 2020, after the victim had left the venue at 2am but was followed by Butler and a pal, Jack Smith and Maidstone Crown Court heard how the man was then punched with such force he was knocked to the floor and then the duo delivered a “frenzy of blows” and kicks.

He fell to the floor where he was then subjected to a sustained assault by the two men who kicked, stamped and punched him while he was on the ground “curled up in a ball” and was later treated for a broken ankle.

Butler and another pal George Button then carried out another attack a month later – again targeting another innocent victim as he left the pub after objecting being asked to move seats in the boozer and they then lay in wait and attacked the man as he walked away.

In February, 2020 Butler’s pal Smith and a woman, Layla Hales were also caught on CCTV repeatedly kicking and stamping on an unidentified man as he lay seemingly unconscious after being knocked to the on the ground in Hythe Street, Dartford.

Butler and Smith, 22, of Conifer Road, Swanley were each jailed for 15 months after both admitting causing GBH and Butler also admitted affray.

Button, of Pentstemon Drive, Swanscombe, was given a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months and was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and Hales, 21, of Westwood Lane, Sidcup, received a 12 month community order after admitting affray.

Suleman Altaf

A man who tried to flee across the Channel in a dinghy after the horrific murder of a heroic 15-year-old was jailed for life.

Suleman Altaf, who knifed the boy to death as he tried to stop an attack on his mum, was arrested by Kent Police in Dungeness after he was intercepted while trying to sail to France.

Altaf had launched a frenzied knife attack on his ex-partner and mum-of-four Katarzyna Bastek in Manchester, in June last year and her son, Jakub Szymanski, who tried to step in and stop the attack, sadly received a catastrophic injury to his neck, which proved fatal.

Altaf was in the home for just two minutes, then took a taxi to his home in Slough, where he collected his belongings and drove to Kent, where he made his attempt to sail across the English Channel in a dinghy.

But he was intercepted by a lifeboat crew the following day about four miles out at sea and said he intended to sail to France before continuing his journey to Portugal, but he eventually accompanied the crew back to Dungeness where he was arrested by police and transferred back to Manchester.

Manchester Crown Court heard how Altaf launched a frenzied attack on Katarzyna and called for help from her son, who was upstairs but came to her aid and Altaf turned his violent intent towards him, before resuming the attack on Katarzyna.

Katarzyna herself had been seriously hurt, including nine stab injuries, various facial fractures, chest injuries, a collapsed lung, along with nerve and vascular injuries. She was operated on the same evening.

Altaf was found guilty of murder and the attempted murder of Ms Bastek and will serve a minimum of 30 years before being considered for parole.

Xieng Ly and Warren Wright

Drug dealers were jailed after more than £30,000 of cash was found in a Deliveroo bag.

The men were involved in the supply of more than 45kgs of cocaine between March and June 2020.

The drugs were prepared for onward sale across south east London including to county lines drug gangs and they were charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in January 2021.

At Woolwich Crown Court Xieng Ly, 42, of Stone Gardens, Halling, was sentenced to 18 years for conspiracy to supply 11kgs of cocaine and conspiracy to supply 6kgs of cannabis.

Warren Wright, 48, of Camdale Road, Greenwich, was sentenced to 11 years at Isleworth Crown Court for conspiracy to supply more than 15kgs of cocaine.

They were found guilty at the Woolwich court the month before and Ly used multiple addresses in south east London to store drugs and cash.

At the home of Wright, more than £30,000 of cash in a Deliveroo bag was seized by police.

DC Imran Hansraj, of the Met Police's serious and organised crime squad, said: “They took a calculated gamble when they became involved in the illegal drugs trade, but this operation involved multiple teams across the Met and it’s thanks to their hard work and dedication that this organised crime group has been dismantled.”

To read more of our in-depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates’ courts across the county, click here.

To see the criminals locked up in July click here.

Jamie Broadmore

A burglar stole more than £55,000 of agricultural equipment from farms across the county, causing “significant disruption” to farmers.

Jamie Broadmore went on an eight-month crime spree stealing plant equipment from farms and businesses in Allhallows, Shorne, Sandling, Gravesend, Southfleet and West Malling.

He used recovery trucks to steal the vehicles before he sold the items by pretending his uncle had died and he was selling them on behalf of the family farm.

Broadmore, of Elaine Avenue, Strood, first stole a Ritchie Cattle Handling System worth £20,000 from a farm in Allhallows, in July last year.

He went on to steal a Spearhead Topper cutting machine worth £19,000 from a farm in Gravesend and a month later got away with a Pottinger Hay Tedder for spreading hay, four 200 litre barrels of Adblue – a liquid which helps reduce harmful emissions from diesel engines – and 10 orange ratchet straps, totalling £16,000, from another in the area.

Police began investigating the thefts and used ANPR to identify a recovery truck, which was seen on the M25 loaded with the stolen Spearhead Topper and they discovered the same vehicle had been used to transport the other stolen items and was traced to a site in Gloucestershire, but return to Kent each time loaded with straw bales.

Broadmore continued to visit farms and businesses where he stole further items and in March targeted a farm in Southfleet where he took 20 cattle hurdles – which are temporary fences – and a post knocker to hit posts into the ground, worth around £10,000.

Officers carried out further investigations and linked him to the burglaries and thefts and the 37-year-old was then arrested and charged and admitted five burglaries, two thefts, two frauds, and was locked up for for two years and four months at Canterbury Crown Court.

Omerfaraz Rahman and Jonathan Oscroft

Two money launderers were locked up after being caught with more than £270,000 in illegally earned cash.

Omerfaraz Rahman from Gillingham and Jonathan Oscroft from Nottingham were caught with bundles of banknotes in their possession following an investigation by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

Rahman, 43, and Oscroft, 36, pleaded guilty to money laundering and were each sentenced to three years in prison at Maidstone Crown Court last month after the charges arose from an incident in September, 2018, when officers watched Rahman get into the passenger seat of a Porsche in a residential road in Nottingham.

It was being driven by Oscroft, who travelled a short distance to a neighbouring street before Rahman exited holding a carrier bag which he placed into the boot of an Audi, which was then driven back to the Medway Towns before being stopped by police in Wigmore.

Rahmen told the officers he had around £35,000 inside the vehicle but they discovered a total of £61,155 and seized a phone containing various images showing a large number of banknotes.

Rahman was arrested on suspicion of money laundering, which led to officers carrying out a search of his home where they found a cash-counting machine and other evidence including bank statements and notebooks with records of cash values.

The carrier bag seized from Rahman's car contained a forensic link to Oscroft, who was arrested at his home in January, 2019.

A search of his house found £212,674 in cash and mobile phone evidence showing his links to the supply of illegal drugs.

Joseph Crabbe

A masked thug who stretched a dog until he yelped during a violent £20,000 robbery was jailed last month.

Callous Joseph Crabbe grabbed the animal and hurt it in an attempt to find the safe of his victim and former friend he was stealing from.

The 37-year-old, of Longhill Avenue, Chatham, committed the offence to settle a drug debt, and was handed an extended 13-and-a-half year sentence.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that during the attack Andrew Gibson could hear his pet yelp in anguish before he gave up details on where his safe was. He had his hands and legs tied together.

Mr Gibson later discovered one of the two raiders at his home in Cliffe, Rochester, was known to him as Joe Daley, who was in reality Joseph Crabbe, a former friend, who had targeted the victim in revenge and to settle a drug debt.

Crabbe and another pal carried out the attack in July 2021 after arming themselves with a hammer and a screwdriver and demanded to know where the safe was and used Mr Gibson's own snooker cue to hit him around the head.

While Crabbe was attacking the pet dog, the thugs stabbed Mr Gibson with a screwdriver before holding a Stanley knife to his throat.

He was then tied him up with a flex cable before the robbers escaped with £20,000 worth of items.

Salih Saruhan, Sean Bourke and Irnti Rapai

A barber who once admitted he had a hair allergy was jailed for attempting to smuggle drugs worth £1 million into the UK in a shipment of bananas.

Salih Saruhan was locked up alongside two other men for trying to bring in 10kg of cocaine via Sheerness Docks.

The 32-year-old was jailed along with Sean Bourke, 35, of Minster Road, Minster, and Irnti Rapai, 29, of Liddon Road, Bromley, for a combined total of 21 years.

All three pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to fraudulent evasion of a prohibition by bringing into or taking out of the UK a controlled drug.

Saruhan, who was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, ran barber’s Brothers and Scissors, in Broadway, Sheerness.

Officers recovered individually wrapped blocks of cocaine from the shipping container weighing a combined 10 kilograms with a street value of up to £1 million.

His jail sentence marks a dramatic fall from grace. In 2018, he was nominated for Britain’s best wet shaver in the London and South East.

He also hit the headlines in 2012 when he declared he was allergic to hair and would suffer hay fever-like symptoms such as itchy eyes whenever he would serve a customer.

Jay Barrett

A “cold and calculative bully” who terrorised a woman leaving her half-blind was sentenced to almost a decade behind bars.

Jay Barrett, 32, carried out a campaign of violence on the woman who had only been dating him for less than a month when he carried out an attack that “ruined her life” and blinded her in one eye.

The violent episode, which took place in Margate in December 2019, arose after Barrett found out his girlfriend had smoked a cigarette and in reaction, he threw a large Panasonic remote at her right eye, causing blood to “squirt everywhere”, and when she told him to call an ambulance, he went to the kitchen to get a knife and said something along the lines of “I need to finish you now”.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that the criminal’s behaviour then instantly changed - that he called an ambulance - carried her down the stairs and acted as if nothing had happened and she was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery but was left blind in her right eye after suffering a ruptured globe, a detached retina, a split lens and a fractured cheekbone.

But despite the attack, the relationship continued and just seven weeks later Barrett once again exploded in rage when in February, the couple were in the living room of the same address when the thug began shouting at her and then grabbed her, putting his hands around her neck and pinning her to the sofa.

Despite the woman’s pleas for him to stop, he continued to punch and kick her before pulling out a flick knife and threatening to dig out her other eye and stab her in the face.

Barrett’s aggression also continued with a subsequent partner, with whom the criminal had been involved on an on-off basis between 2015 and 2021 and he had also been convicted of raping a girl under 16 in 2012, so was under an obligation to annually visit a police station to reconfirm his details, but failing to do so in January 2022 resulted in a separate charge.

Barrett was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm, three counts of assault inflicting actual bodily harm, assault by beating, five counts of property damage, two counts of making threats to kill, burglary, failing to comply with notification requirements and possession of drugs and admitted all the offences.

Thomas Hawkwood

A “depraved” paedophile was locked up after years of his child sex offending were uncovered.

Thomas Hawkwood, 69, was responsible for the rape and indecent assault of a child dating back to the 1990s.

He was arrested in November 2020 as part of an investigation by the Medway Vulnerability Investigation Team but denied any wrong doing.

Hawkwood, of Wrotham Road, Gravesend, was later charged with inciting a child into sexual activity, rape and indecent assault.

A trial took place at Woolwich Crown Court last month where it was heard he had harassed his victim with threats of violence as well as abusing them.

He was found guilty by a jury on eight charges and was sentenced to 14 years in prison and put on the sex offenders register.

Luke Grimmett, who led the case against the sex offender, said: “Hawkwood is a depraved and intimidating individual who has shown no remorse for his appalling actions.

“He terrorised a vulnerable child with threats of violence and subjected them to the most abhorrent abuse.”

Dimitar Atanasov

A drug dealer was jailed after police discovered a magnetic box full of cocaine hidden in a car.

Dimitar Atanasov pleaded guilty after officers found 13 wraps of the drug after stopping his vehicle in Tunbridge Wells.

On Friday, May 19, officers from the town’s community policing team were on patrol when they saw a car they suspected was being used in the supply of the Class A drug.

The vehicle was stopped and after speaking to the driver, Atanasov, a search was completed under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

The constables located a magnetic box fixed under the driver’s seat which contained 13 wraps of cocaine. They also seized £455 in cash and Atanasov was arrested.

He was later charged with possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

The dealer pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and last month, the 41-year-old was jailed for two years and three months.

DC Katie Gregory, of West Kent CID, said: “Another visiting drug dealer has been brought to justice by the local officers of Tunbridge Wells.”

Craig Dunn and Richard Collins

Ruthless muggers who robbed a man within minutes of him leaving a bank with more than £2,000 in cash were jailed for a total of more than seven years.

Richard Collins, also known as Ricky, and Craig Dunn targeted their victim after spotting him withdrawing the money from a branch of HSBC in Folkestone on July 11.

A court heard they followed him down the street, threatened to “knock him out” and then snatched the bag containing the money.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the pair, who between them have 56 previous convictions for 94 offences, had been at the counter next to their victim and saw him being handed his money, totalling £2,200.

By the time he left the bank, 30-year-old Dunn was still carrying out his transaction while Collins, 39, was already outside and the victim then realised he had left his glasses case behind and went back inside to retrieve it, but when he emerged from the bank for the second time, he heard Collins mutter something before realising he was being followed by both men.

It was at that point that Dunn snatched the bag and they fled and the cash was never recovered and the man had to withdraw more from his savings to pay some building work he’d had carried out at his home.

Nine months earlier, in October last year, Collins and another accomplice had robbed a man in his 50s of his wallet on a night-out in Ramsgate, his accomplice in this robbery was jailed for three years earlier this year.

Collins, a former potato factory senior manager, of Plains of Waterloo, Ramsgate, pleaded guilty to two offences of robbery and was jailed for a total of four-and-a-half years and Dunn, a painter and decorator of Westbury Road, Dover, pleaded guilty to one offence of robbery and was jailed for two years and eight months.

Fred Livesley

A paedophile was jailed for 15 years for a series of sexual offences against two girls in the 1970s and 80s.

Fred Livesley, 77, assaulted the girls – who were younger than 14 at the time – in Bethersden, near Ashford.

His victims did not come forward until 2020, and Livesley was then investigated by police.

In court, Livesley was found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault and three counts of indecency with a child.

Livesley, formerly from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, was jailed for 15 years and ordered to serve an extra three years on licence following that term.

Investigating officer DC Antony White said: “Fred Livesley was brought to justice more than 40 years after his despicable crimes.

“Despite the passage of time, and his failure to admit what he had done, we were able to prove multiple sexual offences and he now faces a lengthy prison term.

“I hope the case encourages others who may have been victims of sexual abuse to report it to police, perpetrators should face justice for their actions, no matter how long ago their crimes took place.”

Christopher Hennigan

A man who fronted up an attempt to smuggle asylum seekers in a tiny locked storage compartment in a campervan was jailed.

Christopher Hennigan was arrested following an investigation sparked by the discovery of five Albanians in the motorhome’s cupboard on its way to Kent via the Channel Tunnel in Folkestone.

The startling discovery was made after Border Force officers stopped a Fiat Elsa-T-Line six berth motorhome at the UK controls in Coquelles, France in December 2020.

The Albanians were found in the rear of the van, inside a locked storage area which could only be accessed from inside the vehicle by raising the main double bed, which was on hinges.

Officers found the people hidden behind a bed sheet and a dressing gown which was used to conceal them and the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigations (CFI) unit launched an inquiry, and found that Hennigan and three others were involved in the conspiracy.

They found the 35-year-old was responsible for organising the trip to pick up the asylum seekers and had paid money to his co-defendants towards the cost of their journey to France and officers also found evidence that he was the link to the other co-accused in order to obtain a false document they needed to make the journey.

Hennigan, from Leeds, pleaded guilty to facilitating illegal immigration, for which he was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to five years and 10 months.

His total jail time will be 11 years and 10 months, with a three-year extended licence, after also being sentenced for firearm offences and an assault which were investigated by West Yorkshire Police.

Mark Hewitt

A prolific shoplifter who repeatedly targeted a number of supermarkets and stole items totalling £1,000 was locked up.

Mark Hewitt, from Sittingbourne, shouted racist abuse at officers, threw food and urinated in his cell when he was arrested for his crimes.

The 48-year-old was responsible for a catalogue of offences between May and August, when he stole meat and alcohol from shops including Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Marks & Spencer.

Hewitt, of Crown Quay Lane, was initially arrested by police on Sunday, May 7 and was charged and released on bail pending a court appearance but continued to steal.

On Wednesday, July 21, he was arrested again and charged with further offences and while he was detained, Hewitt threw food and urinated in his cell.

After appearing before court, he was subject to bail conditions prior to sentencing, but his crimewave continued.

On Saturday, August 5, an off-duty officer witnessed Hewitt committing another theft at a shop in East Street, Sittingbourne and it was later discovered he had taken items from the same store earlier that day and Hewitt was arrested and whilst being taken into custody subjected two officers to a tirade of racial abuse.

He was remanded to Medway Magistrates’ Court and was sentenced last month - having pleaded guilty to nine counts of theft, two counts of racially aggravated harassment, and two counts of criminal damage and was jailed for a year and fined almost £200.

Victor Walkom

A lying paedophile was locked up for 10 years after attacking two children.

Victor Walkom, formerly of Dumpton Park Road, Ramsgate, sexually assaulted his victims in 2016 and 2017, prompting them to alert the police.

The 89-year-old would later be charged and deny five counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of causing a child to watch a sexual act.

But a jury last month saw through his lies at Canterbury Crown Court, convicting him of all counts.

Walkom was sentenced to 10 years in prison and made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

DC Tania Muller, Kent Police's investigating officer, said: “Walkom's offences will have a long-lasting impact on his victims and he caused further harm by refusing to admit his guilt.

“I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of the two victims and I hope the sentence now imposed helps them as they attempt to rebuild their lives.

“I urge anyone who has suffered sexual abuse to report it to the police as soon as possible. We will take steps to keep you safe and bring the perpetrator to justice.”

Banet Tershana, Desmond Rice and Klodian Shenaj

A trio of men who smuggled people in small boats from France and Belgium to Kent were jailed for a total of 13 years.

The group used Joss Bay in Broadstairs as a drop-off point for refugees on October 8 and October 23 2022.

They were spotted by a coastguard helicopter, prompting an investigation from the National Crime Agency (NCA) and it was found that another man - Jetmir Myrtaj, from Albania - used a false identity to moor the boat at a Marina in Essex.

Aylesbury resident Desmond Rice, 47, bought a second vessel for more than £22,000, which he and another man, Klodian Shenaj, 49, from Nottingham, picked up from Poole.

GPS tracking was used to prove that the vessel had been to Belgium and then traveled back to the UK, while cell site data showed Albanians Klodian Shenaj and another man, Banet Tershana were in the Essex area when the boat returned.

And a kayak supplied by one of the group was also intercepted near Nieuwpoort after NCA officers – tipped off by the Belgium police force – lay in wait and two men were arrested.

It was found that 12 asylum seekers– including a woman and child – were waiting to board and the kayak only had six life jackets, none of which were suitable for use at sea and those arrested were prosecuted in Belgium.

The Albanian nationals, Tershana, Shenaj, Myrtaj and British national Rice, were taken into custody after the investigation.

All pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration at Nottingham Crown Court.

Tershana was jailed for five years, Rice received four years six months and Shenaj was jailed for four years nine months, and Myrtaj is due to be sentenced later.