Many of us have just enjoyed the festivities of Christmas at home with our loved ones, but there were a lot of villains in Kent who spent Yuletide season behind bars.

Here's just some of the killers, robbers, shoplifters, drug dealer and perverts who were locked up in December.

Ion Dragomir and Ionut Merchez

A pair of drug dealers started prison sentences after cocaine, £1,000 cash and a fake gun were found inside a locked safe.

Officers pulled over a BMW back in March which they suspected to be used in the supply of drugs.

Driver Ion Dragomir was searched and found to be carrying two mobile phones, five bags of cocaine and £200 in cash.

He was arrested but claimed not to know his home address, which inquiries later discovered to be in Sheals Crescent in Maidstone.

Officers went to search the building and found Ionut Merchez inside, who said everything in the house belonged to him and officers found a locked safe which contained 150 grams of cocaine, around £1,000 in cash and a fake firearm.

Merchez was arrested and later charged with being concerned in the supply of cocaine while Dragomir was charged with possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply and driving without a licence and insurance.

Merchez and Dragomir, of Alexandra Street, Maidstone both pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court.

Merchez, 29, was jailed for four years and four months which included 12 months’ imprisonment for breaching a suspended sentence and Dragomir, 22, was sentenced to two years and four months.

Charles Donte-Lauder

A brave lone woman told a masked robber in the midst of a violent crime-wave to “**** off” before wrestling him off her.

She was one of three of Charles Donte-Lauder’s victims when he targeted people in Ashford.

As part of his crime-spree, the 25-year-old robbed a man at knife-point - because he wanted to buy a burger at McDonalds.

But the father-of-one, who lived in the town, was arrested shortly after revealing his identity on the fast-food chain’s CCTV.

Donte-Lauder was locked up for six years after appearing at Canterbury Crown Court last month.

Judge Rupert Lowe told Donte-Lauder his robberies centred on people the thug "saw as soft touches, women on their own of a certain age whose handbags you thought you could easily steal.

“(One victim) told you quite rightly to f*** off," the judge said.

The court heard as she wrestled him away he kicked her in the leg and then fled empty-handed but the thief would snatch the handbag of a woman believed to be in her 70s moments later, knocking her over.

Karl Brazier-Denning

A thief who admitted stealing from Tesco, Morrisons and Peacocks to fund his drug habit was locked up.

Karl Brazier-Denning, 28, swiped almost £250 worth of items from six shops in the Margate area between October 14 and November 23.

He appeared before magistrates in Folkestone last month where he pleaded guilty to six shoplifting offences.

The court also heard his heroin addiction has cost him his job, his home and his girlfriend.

He was on a suspended sentence when he carried out the offences after being given the suspended term in March for similar matters.

Brazier-Denning, who gave a care-of address as Millmead Road, Dane Valley, Margate, when he appeared at Folkestone Magistrates' Court, had managed to leave the stores with all the goods he stole. He was identified later via CCTV images.

Magistrates decided to activate part of his suspended sentence and jailed him for 160 days for breaching the sentence and he was also jailed for 60 days for all the shoplifting offences so will serve 220 days in prison.

He was also ordered to pay £138.38p compensation to Tesco, £65 to Peacocks and £40 to Morrisons.

Dorjan Stafa

A man who tried to leave the country with a large amount of cash and fake documents was given jail time.

Dorjan Stafa was arrested at the Channel Tunnel terminal near Folkestone in May 2019 after officers became suspicious of his behaviour.

The Mercedes Stafa was driving was searched and police found around £8,800 in cash, two new iPhones and identity documents in the names of other people.

The 36-year-old was unable to properly account for the money and an investigation found evidence he was working for a group who supplied fake documents.

He was charged with and later admitted conspiring to facilitate a breach of UK immigration law.

Stafa of Ramsay Road, Forest Gate in East London was jailed for four years and seven months at Canterbury Crown Court.

Det Con Alex Milward, Kent Police's investigating officer, said: "The money and the documents seized from Stafa's car would otherwise be assisting criminal networks in the UK and abroad.

"The vigilance of our team on the UK border is part of our relentless work to disrupt these groups' activity and protect the public."

Kai Austen

A teenage drug dealer rammed a police car while trying to escape from officers, forcing an innocent passer-by to flee to safety.

Kai Austen, from Tunbridge Wells, narrowly avoided hitting a member of the public when he was trying to evade police in his white Range Rover in December last year.

The 19-year-old was wanted in connection with several drugs supply offences in the town after DNA matched him to packages containing cannabis and cocaine.

However, after being arrested and bailed, he breached his bail conditions and police were on the look out for him and traced him to an area in Hastings Road, Flimwell, Sussex, where the incident happened.

He managed to weave past a couple of vehicles before colliding with a police car and forcing a member of the public to run to safety, in total, he caused damage to three police vehicles.

Austen, of Summervale Road, was eventually detained after officers used batons to smash a car window and disable the engine.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to two counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs, four charges for possession with intent to supply drugs, dangerous driving, three counts of assault on emergency workers, three counts of criminal damage, and possessing a knife in a public place.

Austen was sentenced to three years and six months’ in prison at a young offender institution.

Lisa Bowden

A pregnant woman was sent to prison after driving her car at her sister in a rage – and her mum thanked the judge.

Cocaine-fuelled Lisa Bowden was involved in a row with younger sister Jade on December 14 last year after a bust-up over a man.

The furious 33-year-old mum-of-two got into her car after telling her sibling "I'm going to kill you" and then driving at her.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how Jade was struck in the leg by the car – which had Lisa's children inside – before being driving away.

Jade suffered a fracture and bruising after being catapulted over the bonnet and revealed later she feared she was going to die.

The incident was caught on CCTV and shown to Judge Oliver Saxby KC which showed she was almost injured by another passing car.

Bowden, of Wiltshire Close, Stone, Dartford, who was 16 weeks pregnant at the time she was sentenced, had admitted charges of unlawful wounding, driving under the influence of cocaine and without insurance.

She was jailed for 18 months, but after being led away to begin her sentence, a woman in the public gallery stood up and told the judge: "I am her mum and you did the right thing."

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 who was locked up in October, click here.

Danny Brown

A drugs trafficker helped investigators uncover his own organised crime group by sending a picture of his dog that included his partner's phone number on its tag.

Danny Brown, from Bromley, was working with co-conspirator Stefan Baldauf on a plot to send 448 kilos of MDMA worth £45 million to Australia in a digger.

He sent the picture of his pet dog Bob to Baldauf on the encrypted communications platform EncroChat, using the handle "throwthedice".

National Crime Agency investigators were able to zoom in on the image to see the phone number and they used it, among other tactics, in an investigation to prove Brown was part of the conspiracy.

Brown, 55, and Baldauf, 62, also sent accidental selfies of themselves on Encrochat, which gave investigators additional proof they were involved in the plan, which saw the drugs hidden in the arm of an industrial digger and shipped to Australia.

In one message, Brown sent a photo to his crime group of his television which showed his reflection in it.

EncroChat ended up being taken down in 2020.

Brown, of Kings Hall Road in Bromley, and Baldauf were convicted at Kingston Crown Court of drugs trafficking and last month, Brown was locked up for 26 years and Baldauf, of Midhurst Road, in Ealing, for 28.

Anthony Chiri

A “sick” knife-wielding trucker repeatedly stabbed fellow drivers after a football match in a terrifying ordeal at a lorry park.

Frenzied Anthony Chiri charged at colleagues before unleashing a horrifying flurry of violence at the Ashford International Truckstop in Sevington.

The 33-year-old had rowed with drivers he had fallen out with before arming himself with the blade.

Chiri, a French national, was jailed for 11-and-a-half years last month at Canterbury Crown Court, where details of the attack emerged.

The trucker arrived at the site on May 20 this year before confronting colleagues watching football inside a cafe, the court heard.

During a row, Chiri was knocked over, prompting him to lay in wait under a trailer armed with a blade, and about a minute later he came out and charged towards (one driver) and Geoffrey Telliez.

Mr Telliez reached into the cab of his lorry and grabbed a jack which he was hoping to use to defend himself, but as he turned around Chiri stabbed him in the right shoulder with the knife and then in the arm, but Mr Telliez parried further blows as the thug aimed the knife towards his stomach and back, Mr Telliez then ran to security for help.

Another trucker, Elvis Flahaut, confronted Chiri, saying: “What are you doing to my mate? Are you sick?” and Chiri replied: “Do you want me to do the same to you?”, before swinging the jack into Mr Flahaut’s jaw, knocking him to the ground.

Aturas Kurpis

A drunk and violent thug who stabbed a man to death after an argument in a restaurant was jailed for life and will serve at least 21 years.

Aturas Kurpis was tracked down and arrested in Dartford after killing Paulius Karalius last year.

Mr Karalius was visiting his girlfriend in east London, when they went out to a restaurant with friends.

Kurpis, 39, was also at the restaurant and began stealing the microphone from a singer and behaving badly before he was told to leave by Mr Karalius and his friends.

Minutes later Kurpis, of St Anne's Row, Limehouse, rang the restaurant, asked to be on speaker phone, before threatening to stab Mr Karalius.

After arming himself with a kitchen knife from his nearby flat he confronted Mr Karalius as he left his partner's home and stabbed him once in the chest. He underwent emergency heart surgery but died six days later.

Mr Karalius’ friends fought with Kurpis and took the kitchen knife off him. Kurpis then made his way back to his flat and called police saying he had been assaulted, but was later arrested in Dartford and charged with murder.

He was jailed for life at the Old Bailey last month and must serve 21 years before he's considered for release.

Sherrie-Ann Hunt

A pregnant woman who dealt drugs and shoplifted to fund her heroin addiction was jailed.

Sherrie-Ann Hunt, 41, of Folkestone, became hooked on illegal substances after being exploited by a former partner in her 20s.

She was locked up for 18 months last month after turning to petty crime to feed her habit.

She targeted Lidl, Wilko, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer in her home town, stealing meat joints, cosmetics, household items and beauty products to sell on the black market between February and September.

Appearing at Canterbury Crown Court, Hunt, who left the care system aged 17, handed the judge a note describing her struggles throughout her life.

Her most recent criminality placed her in breach of a suspended sentence order, handed down after she sold a wrap of cocaine to an undercover detective in 2019.

Prosecutor Oliver Kirk said: “The defendant entered various shops, stole items worth in the region of £60 to £100, and left without paying, all matters were admitted at the earliest opportunity.”

During the hearing, she appeared looking “visibly healthy” in the dock, having been held on remand at HMP Bronzefield for two months, while working to battle her addiction problems.

David Fuller

A double killer who sexually abused the bodies of more than 100 women and girls in hospital mortuaries was sentenced for further depraved acts.

David Fuller, 68, is already serving two whole life sentences for the murders of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells, in 1987.

But last month Fuller was also sentenced at the Old Bailey for further charges relating to sexual offences committed in a mortuary setting.

After being linked to the murders in 2020, police uncovered the systematic sexual abuse of the corpses of females aged between nine and 100 at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, in Pembury, where he had worked since 1989.

An examination of Fuller’s computer hard drive at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse as well as evidence of his “persistent interest in rape, abuse and murder of women”.

At the same time as pleading guilty to the murders, Fuller was given concurrent sentences totalling 12 years in respect of sexual offences against 78 deceased females at mortuaries in Tunbridge Wells Hospital and at the former Kent and Sussex Hospital.

Since then, a Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate investigation has provided evidence of a further 23 victims, making a total of 101 deceased females abused in these mortuary settings, between 2005 and 2020.

He was sentenced to four more years in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing the bodies of 23 more women aged between 45 and 92 – 10 of whom have never been identified.

Sinan Kizil

A drug dealer was jailed after 58 bags of cocaine worth £2,280 were seized from his hotel room.

Sinan Kizil was stopped after police recognised his car while on patrol in Tunbridge Wells.

On January 4, officers in Mount Ephraim saw a Mini slow down and stop and as the constables had previously seen the vehicle being used during a suspected drug deal, they stopped to speak to the driver, Kizil.

The 31-year-old claimed it was his first visit to the town and that he was trying to find somewhere to stay.

He was searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act and officers found a bag containing cocaine from his pocket as well as a door card from a nearby hotel.

Kizil was arrested and, when the officers searched his room, 58 bags of cocaine were seized from a sock inside a suitcase.

The cocaine was estimated to have a street value of £2,280 and Kizil, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was charged with possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and last month and was sentenced to two years and six months.

Nitesh Bissendary

A "disgraceful" drug-driver who killed a father and his pregnant daughter before fleeing the scene as his victims lay dying was jailed for 16 years.

Yoram Hirshfeld, 81, and Noga Sella, 37, died when Nitesh Bissendary’s car mounted a pavement and hit a family-of-five in Ramsgate in August.

During his trial at Canterbury Crown Court, Bissendary, 31, denied causing their deaths by dangerous driving.

But last month jurors returned unanimous guilty verdicts after deliberating for four hours and eight minutes.

After the verdicts were delivered, Bissendary could be seen sitting down in the dock, taking deep breaths.

He returned to the same court for sentencing the next day, when he was handed the 16-year prison term.

Judge Simon James told him he had shown "limited remorse" following his "blatant disregard for others".

Bissendary, of Highlands Glade in Manston, was found guilty of two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Peter Norman

A thug threw his girlfriend's puppy across a room, tried to strangle her and knocked a double-amputee out of his wheelchair during a drunken rage.

Peter Norman, 36, was given an extended jail sentence of 56 months following the outburst of violence, which happened as he was drinking in Queenborough, Sheppey.

Maidstone Crown Court heard he and his girlfriend – who he had been with for three years despite a history of domestic abuse – were at Steve Andrews' home on October 25, drinking along with two others.

Ben Wild, prosecuting said: "Norman became increasingly aggressive, at one point at Mr Andrews and was asking for £6,000."

Norman's girlfriend later went to sleep, but was woken up as Mr Andrews – who is a double amputee – saw the thug hit her eight-month-old puppy.

The defendant – now of Guisborough in North Yorkshire, but formerly from Queenborough – then called Mr Andrews a cripple and a s*****c.

Norman began scuffling with his girlfriend and hit her head against a radiator, which caused her to vomit and he also attempted to strangle her and she was then thrown to the floor and Mr Andrews was then thrown out of his wheelchair.

Norman, who admitted intentionally strangulation, assault and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, received an immediate 32-month jail sentence and will spend another two years on licence when he is released.

Barney Buttifint

A dad-of-five preparing for the collapse of society by hoarding guns and tinned food under floorboards was locked up.

When police raided Barney Buttifint’s Dover home they unearthed an arsenal of knives, bow and arrows and 17 legally held guns housed in a secret room.

A sawn-off shotgun, illegally held pistol chamber and illicit cache of bullets were also found at the Lascelles Road property in July.

Police were convinced the 36-year-old configured his home in preparation for a sustained gun fight with officers - complete with vantage and choking points.

They also painstakingly combed the home - plunged into darkness with a confederate flag and rugs draped in windows - for two days while searching for booby traps.

Kent Police would soon charge Buttifint for the illegal guns and bullets on the basis he was planning a shoot-out with officers - a substantial aggravating factor in the eyes of the law.

But a judge at Canterbury Crown Court threw out the police’s allegations and found Buttifint had no plans for a siege and instead found he was “something of a Prepper" - part of a fringe community preparing for social disorder or natural disaster.

Handing down a five-year and 10-month sentence, Judge Mark Weekes told Buttifint: “The reason the law takes such a serious view is a firearm such as that (the sawn-off shotgun) is a very dangerous one. That type of weapon is frequently used by criminals."

Harrison Langford

A pervert drove 100 miles to meet up and have sex with a schoolgirl after seducing her online, a court heard.

Paedophile Harrison Langford left his home in Milton Keynes to meet up with the teenager who he had groomed after meeting her via a chatroom.

The 28-year-old had booked a hotel room in Maidstone for a sex session, which included spanking and choking his shy victim.

A judge heard how a friend of the victim alerted her parents, and the sex fiend – who had secretly trawled chatrooms to look for children – was arrested by police still lying on his hotel bed.

Judge Oliver Saxby KC said: "One can only imagine the thoughts going through the mother's head as she tried in vain to make contact with her daughter.

"Driven by a warped sexual appetite, which you were capable of controlling but chose not to, you inflicted every parent's worst nightmare, causing incalculable damage on your victim."

Langford, of King Street, Milton Keynes who worked in marketing and had a live-in partner, was given an immediate five-year jail sentence and told he will have to serve two-thirds before he can be considered for parole.

Judge Saxby KC then added another three years which he will serve on licence when he is released.

Billy Brazil

A joy-riding jewellery thief crashed into a police car during a high-speed chase across various towns after swiping gold worth £11k.

The crook convinced jewellers to hand over luxurious items in Sittingbourne and Herne Bay, after claiming to be shopping for his wife.

Billy Brazil, 31, then fled the stores with jewels, ahead of stealing and crashing his new girlfriend’s Renault Clio, during a separate stunt.

Brazil, of Sittingbourne, was jailed for 20 months at Canterbury Crown Court last month, where the prosecution laid out its case.

He tried on a £4k belcher chain in Battrum & Son in Sittingbourne High Street in June, “looked in the mirror then ran out of the store,” prosecutor Harry Hewitt said.

The shop’s CCTV showed Brazil fleeing with the chain around his neck – he was arrested the same day but soon released.

It would be longer than two months before Brazil raised the stakes, when he set his sights on M & M Jewellers in Mortimer Street, Herne Bay.

He asked to view a 14 carat diamond cluster ring, worth £7.5k, then asked the shopkeeper if he could try another, but ran out of the shop with the diamond ring, neither item was ever recovered.

Sebastian Birzu

A bully was jailed after attacking his partner with a frying pan leaving her in a coma for six days.

Sebastian Birzu and the victim were living together in a flat in Heath Street in Dartford when he beat her with the cast-iron utensil.

He alerted a relative who came to the flat along with ambulance crews and police claiming the woman had fallen and banged her head on a radiator.

The woman was taken to hospital with multiple skull fractures after the attack on March 19.

The 23-year-old had left the scene by the time officers arrived but was arrested the next day at a property in Greenwich.

He was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded in custody.

Birzu appeared before Woolwich Crown Court last month where he pleaded not guilty but was convicted following a trial and sentenced to four years in prison.

After sentencing, Det Insp Adam Marshall said: "Birzu confessed his crimes to family members abroad but persisted with lies to police that the victim was only injured after falling and hitting her head on a radiator."

Abdul Malik

A “frenzied” takeaway worker who tried murdering his terrified victim during a sexual encounter was jailed for 28 years.

Abdul Malik, 29, repeatedly stabbed and slit the screaming man’s throat after luring him inside the bedroom of his Dymchurch home.

Malik’s courageous victim - who managed to escape the sustained knife attack - watched as his attacker was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court last month.

A jury unanimously convicted Malik in October after hearing he silently inflicted 12 knife wounds, including to the genitalia, on the evening of January 11.

Judge Simon James told Malik he was “remorseless” and his actions “frenzied, persistent and prolonged”.

“You produced an 18 centimetre bladed kitchen knife and without any warning or motive you slashed your victim’s throat, before repeatedly slashing and stabbing his body,” he added.

Previously, Malik’s victim gave jurors a blow-by-blow account of how he escaped the blood-soaked room.

After grabbing his coat containing his phone and car keys, he ran past Malik’s housemates gathered on the landing and fell down a flight of stairs, but managed to struggle to his vehicle and called 999, before he crashed into nearby railings.

Thomas and George Mcraye

A security officer - who tackled two brothers who were drinking in a casino - was praised by a judge.

The victim confronted the two who had been ordered out of a casino in Week Street, Maidstone but refused.

During a confrontation with Thomas and George Mcraye , the guard managed to land a punch and also evade two knife lunges.

Mr Tumana's actions were commended by the judge who said he had shown "considerable bravery".

Thomas, 38, and George, 34, of no fixed address, were each jailed for three years and four months after admitting attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor John Conner told Maidstone Crown Court how the brothers were both drinking alcohol "which is something that is not supposed to happen."

Maxim Rowan-Moy

A "disgusting predator" has been jailed after sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

The attack occurred when both were on a train to Rochester as Maxim Rowan-Moy tried to ply the teenager with alcohol.

On March 26 at 7.45pm the victim was sat waiting for a train at Dover Priory station when she was approached by Rowan-Moy.

He asked where she was travelling to before they boarded a train together and sat next to one another.

On the train, he offered her a bottle of vodka to drink. He then moved closer to her and sexually assaulted her, she then got up and attempted to move away from him as he followed her down the carriage and sat next to her again.

He then continued to sexually assault her, violently attempting to pull her closer to him and persistently touching her inappropriately, when the train arrived at Rochester, the police were alerted and he was arrested.

The 32-year-old, of Eglinton Hill, Plumstead, appeared at Inner London Crown Court in November where he pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault, one count of assault, and a public order offence for threatening behaviour.

Last month, Rowan-Moy was sentenced to 30 months and handed a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Ben Hanger

A man who tried to kidnap a schoolgirl was arrested after she screamed and ran away from him.

Ben Hanger targeted the 11-year-old in Halfway Road in Sheerness in January 2021.

But when he grabbed her by the arm, she screamed and pulled herself free before running to her grandmother's.

Now, the 31-year-old of St Agnes Gardens, Sheerness has been given a 15-year extended jail sentence for attempted kidnap.