The Kent criminals including robbers, dealers, attempted murderers, sex offenders and thieves who were locked up in February
05:00, 01 March 2023
There were lots of people who lost their freedom and started prison sentences last month.
Here's just some of the criminals including robbers, dealers, attempted murderers, sex offenders and thieves who were locked up in February.
Ahmed Mobarat
A teenager who stabbed a boy in his stomach was locked up.
Ahmed Mobarat approached a 17-year-old boy in Railway Street, Gillingham, on June 16 last year and a short altercation took place.
The victim walked away but was followed by Mobarat who stabbed him in the abdomen.
The 18-year-old had previously sent offensive messages to the victim online and continued the abuse in person.
Police were called to the railway station where the victim sought assistance and was treated by paramedics and then taken to a London hospital for further medical attention.
Officers arrested Mobarat at an address in Byron Road and they seized a knife with traces of blood on the blade.
Mobarat was charged with unlawful wounding and possessing a bladed weapon in a public place.
He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced to two years' in a young offenders' institution.
Michael Olarabiro, James Adodo and Sharif Flanders
Gang members who ran a drug trafficking county line were jailed.
Michael Olarabiro and Tia Henry were selling crack cocaine and heroin as part of a network in Gravesend known as the G-line.
Their supply chain involved at least two other dealers and police became aware of bulk messages from a mobile phone advertising drugs for sale and officers on patrol in Gravesend approached Olarabiro and arrested him.
A second phone seized also contained evidence Olarabiro had been coordinating drugs supply with Henry and she was arrested days later, however after being remanded the G-line continued, with new phone numbers set up.
It was then established James Adodo and Sharif Flanders were involved and both were arrested and officers recovered 124 wraps of Class A drugs from an address linked to Flanders in Gravesend.
Olarabiro, 21, of Berkley Road, Gravesend was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court to three years and six months after admitting two counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs, Henry, 40, of Lewisham Way, Brockley, was also convicted of the same charges and sentenced to 18 months.
Police said an image of Henry could not be supplied as the force did not have one, but Adodo, 22, of St Martin's Road, Dartford was convicted of two counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs and was locked up for three years at the same court last year.
Flanders, 26, of no fixed address was dealt with at Maidstone Crown Court and admitted two counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs as well as two further counts of possessing drugs with intent to supply and possession of criminal property and was also jailed last year three years and eight months.
Simeon Shaba
A knife-wielding thug who stabbed a teenage girl multiple times after she refused to stay in a relationship with him was jailed for more than 26 years.
Simeon Shaba, who was convicted of attempted murder, was told he will be in his late 30s before he can apply for parole.
The 21-year-old inflicted 22 wounds on his victim Taliyah Taylor – who was 17 at the time – as her mother, Tina, tried to prevent the vicious attack in Temple Hill, Dartford, on August 5, 2021.
Judge Julian Smith gave him an immediate jail term of 21-and-a-half years before adding a further five years which has to be served on licence when he is finally released.
He must serve more than 14 years before he is eligible to apply for parole and the judge said Shaba's relationship with Miss Taylor had been "characterised by anger and possessiveness".
"It is clear the offence was organised," he said. "He intended to ensure his relationship continued or, if she refused, to kill her.
"He told her it was her 'last chance' to agree to staying in a relationship and, when she refused, he put his plan into action.
Shaba, of Sandling Rise, New Eltham, continues to deny responsibility and is appealing his conviction.
Jimmy Price and Frank Matthews
A gang of thieves who raided stables and stole specialist riding equipment from a disabled Team GB horse rider were locked up.
Paralympic equestrian Rachel Taylor, was among those targeted in a series of burglaries across west and north Kent which happened during the 2020 lockdown.
Three of the thieves were given jail sentences for their part in the £100,000 heists which happened during a two week spree in May that year when eight stables and other properties were broken into.
Jimmy Price, 28, of Forstal Farm, Loose; Frank Matthews, 27, of Crispen Court, Westerhill Road, Coxheath and Lewis Collins, 25 of Clare Place, Maidstone all admitted one charge of conspiracy to burgle. Matthews was also charged with dangerous driving.
All pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court which heard how Price and Matthews broke into the Old Rectory Farm in Faversham in May that year and stole more than £80,000 worth of equipment including items belonging to Rachel Taylor.
Two days later all three took part in a raid at a farm in Paddock Wood and on the same night the gang struck at another farm in East Peckham and also raided the Bell Equine Vets premises in Mereworth where the total value of the destruction, including equine medicines, was £1,650.
Then Matthews struck 10 days later at a farm in Sevenoaks taking £5,000 worth of horse equipment and later all three broke into a riding school in Chatham taking equipment worth £1,500, and they also struck at a property in Sittingbourne where they took a £300 petrol strimmer and they also raided stables in Maidstone, stealing items worth £1,050.
Father-of-two Collins received an 18 month jail sentence suspended for two years, and was ordered to do 180 hours of unpaid work. Matthews was jailed for 27 months and Price for 18 months and all three were ordered to pay £400 compensation each.
To see who was locked up in January, click here.
Neil Jones
A jilted lover subjected his ex-partner to a terrifying beating after breaking into her home and finding her with a man.
Armed with knives, Neil Jones burst through the communal doors to her flat and then tried forcing his way through the entrance to her home in Ramsgate.
But the woman and man threw their bodyweight behind the door in an attempt to fend off the frenzied 44-year-old attacker.
Yet Jones broke through, rained blows on her as she tried to crawl to safety, and snatched her phone and a smart watch from her wrist.
He was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court last month after admitting his actions on the evening of November 7, 2022.
The woman and her friend, named in court as Mr Paul, were having a drink at her address in Spencer Square when Jones forced his way inside the property.
He delivered punches and kicks to the woman as Mr Paul fled the home, he also placed his hands on her throat and stole her belongings.
Jones, who has 28 previous convictions - including for two burglaries - pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and actual bodily harm at an early opportunity.
Ali Sesay and Romario Henry
Two men who threatened Olympic cyclist Mark Cavendish at knifepoint before robbing his home were jailed.
The balaclava-clad intruders, including one man from Medway, broke into the 37-year-old's home on November 27, 2021, as he slept upstairs with his wife.
Ali Sesay, 28, of Holding Street, Rainham, and Romario Henry, 31, from Lewisham, stole two Richard Mille watches valued at £700,000 when they raided the former GB athlete's Essex home at around 2.30am.
Sesay was jailed for 12 years, while Henry was given a 15-year sentence.
Mr Cavendish was in bed with his wife Peta and three-year-old child when the robbery took place.
The men were accused and found guilty of robbing Mr Cavendish of a watch, phone and safe – as well as his wife's watch, phone and suitcase.
Sesay’s DNA was found on Peta Cavendish’s phone, which was also stolen and later found outside the property.
Two men still wanted in connection with the investigation are Jo Jobson, from Plaistow, and George Goddard, from Loughton and Goddard also has links to the Isle of Dogs, in London.
Mark Cranstoun
A rapist was jailed after sexually assaulting a young woman.
Mark Cranstoun, from Strood, targeted his victim at his Gun Lane flat just after 11pm on Saturday, July 30, last year.
The incident was reported to police and officers arrested him at his home.
On July 31, Cranstoun was charged with rape and sexual assault.
The 48-year-old was remanded in custody and later pleaded not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court.
He was convicted after a trial and last month, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Cranstoun must serve at least eight years before applying for parole and will also be on the sex offenders' register for life.
DC Kath Lumsden-Earle, said: "Mark Cranstoun took advantage of a young woman for his own sexual gratification and his 12-year imprisonment means he can no longer harm anyone else for some considerable time."
Elryck Meek
A dangerous abuser threatened his partner in a sickening game of cat and mouse - where the flip of a coin determined whether she would be stabbed.
Remorseless Elryck Meek, of Ashford, also repeatedly choked and threatened her with blades in a cruel campaign of dominance.
The 42-year-old launched an obscene gesture moments after he was locked up at Canterbury Crown Court last month.
A judge told the painter and decorator he was a “very dangerous man” and “no woman would be safe entering a relationship with you.”
The stinging remarks came after Meek’s survivor described how she believed “I was going to die and lose everything,” during their relationship from June - December, 2021.
Meek denied a slew of domestic abuse charges but was unanimously convicted last year following a trial and returned to be sentenced last month.
Finding Meek dangerous in the eyes of the law, Judge Catherine Brown said: “(You have) no respect or empathy for anyone but yourself,” adding: “I am quite sure you are a very dangerous man.”
Meek’s victim attended court to see him jailed for four-and-a-half years, with a further year on licence and he will then be subjected to an indefinite restraining order.
Sherilee Woodward
A violent and drunk woman who bit and kicked an officer was locked up.
Sherilee Woodward attacked two officers and racially abused members of the public during a drunken tirade in Week Street, Maidstone.
Officers were called to the town centre after reports of a disturbance at a restaurant.
They approached Woodward, 44, to speak to her as she matched a description of a person involved in the incident.
Woodward, of Salem Street, Maidstone, was arrested and when officers tried to search her she kicked one of them and bit a second constable's hand.
It caused a deep cut and bruising which the officer required medical attention for.
Woodward was later charged with assault causing actual bodily harm, assaulting an emergency worker and a racially aggravated public order offence.
She pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court last month and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Liam French and Max Cuthbert
Two men were jailed for several burglaries and vehicle thefts during a two-day crime spree.
Liam French and Max Cuthbert targeted homes across Gillingham and were later chased by police to Sheppey.
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On July 29, 2021, the pair broke into an address in Collet Walk and stole car keys from the victim’s handbag before making off with their car.
In the early hours of July 30, they broke into another property in Hawbeck Road and the victim became alert after noticing torch light beams on their landing and called out, causing the men to flee.
Less than an hour later the pair targeted a third property in Howbury Walk, stealing a handbag containing a bank card, cash, perfumes, and car keys, which they used to make off with the victim’s car and both vehicles were later located travelling along Long Catlis Road, Rainham.
One vehicle was brought to a stop after officers deployed a stinger, and French and Cuthbert were arrested.
Cuthbert, 20, of Sutton Close, Rainham, was charged with one count of conspiracy to burgle and a charge of aggravated vehicle taking and was sentenced to two years and one month’s detention at a young offenders’ institution.
French, 22, of Lines Terrace, Chatham, was charged with two counts of conspiracy to burgle, one count of aggravated vehicle taking, failing to stop, and driving without insurance and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.
Lewis Mortimer
A convicted sex offender who had a paedophile manual and 23,000 indecent images of children was jailed.
Lewis Mortimer, of Shortlands Road, Sittingbourne, was sentenced to five years in prison after being found with a stash of child abuse material.
The 42-year-old had multiple previous convictions for child sex offences and at the time of his arrest he was restricted access to the internet by the court.
In December 2019, police were made aware Mortimer had contacted a woman online claiming to be a photographer who worked with young children and a similar report was made to police months later, when after contacting another woman he sent images of children being abused to her.
In April 2020 he was arrested at his home and had a number of his devices, including a tablet hidden in the base of his bed and officers found on his phone a file of indecent images, as well as pages from a so-called paedophile manual which had explicit details of how to groom and abuse victims.
More than 23,000 images were found on his tablet, many of which were in the most extreme category.
Mortimer appeared before Maidstone Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing images, four counts of possessing indecent images and possessing a paedophile manual.
He also admitted 10 counts of breaching notification requirements and seven further counts of breaching a sexual offence prevention order and was locked up for five years and he will be on licence for two years after his release and will remain on the sex offenders register for life.
Lee Walker and Alex Vassallo
Two men were jailed for more than five years after they were spotted exchanging a gun and carrying cocaine.
The pair were spotted acting suspiciously in Milton Avenue, Margate, in June last year.
Lee Walker, 35, and Alex Vassallo, 28, were approached by police, who had seen them exchanging a bag.
Walker, from West Cliff Road in Ramsgate, set off down an alley on the evening of Saturday, June 18, but was followed and caught.
Vassallo - from Gladstone Road in Broadstairs - was found inside a car, holding a rucksack into which the bag had been placed.
After a struggle with police he was arrested, and inside the rucksack a 8mm Bruni pistol and cocaine with a street value of up to £20,000 was found.
Walker was also arrested and both men were later charged with possession of a firearm and possession of cocaine with intent to supply.
Last month Walker received a five-year, seven-month sentence and Vassallo was jailed for five years and three months after they pleaded guilty to both offences at Canterbury Crown Court.
Emma Fuggles
A conwoman who helped a friend pose as a police officer and a social worker to defraud vulnerable pensioners was jailed.
Emma Fuggles of Roseholme, Maidstone, made off with a total of more than £700 from two elderly victims.
She helped habitual offender Kathleen Perry, 57, who knocked on one man's door in Maidstone pretending to be a police officer, saying she could arrest him for sexual assault if he didn't hand over his bank card and PIN number.
He handed over both to Perry, who has a long history of duping elderly and vulnerable people and she got a car and was driven by Fuggles to a nearby ATM at a McColl's shop and the pair withdrew two lots of £250.
The fraud happened in September, but just a month before the pair targeted another vulnerable 69-year-old, a woman who also lives alone in Maidstone when they knocked on her door and pretended to be from social services.
They persuaded her to hand over her bank card and PIN number and Perry and Fuggles went to a nearby supermarket and used an ATM to withdraw £120 and then put the card in again and withdrew another £100.
Perry was arrested and charged with theft and fraud offences and has been remanded in custody since but refused to come to court from prison for her trial and District Judge Stephen Leake heard her trial in her absence on November 15 last year.
Perry was found guilty of four theft and two of fraud by representation offences at Medway Magistrates' Court, and a date is yet to be set for Perry's sentencing, but last month, Fuggles, who had admitted her part in the incidents last year, was sentenced to two years and four months.
Kristian Moore
A drunk abuser stabbed his girlfriend in the back with a hunting knife during a sustained "punishment" beating.
The woman was discovered with serious injuries after managing to flee Kristian Moore’s savage assault at their Whitstable home.
The 24-year-old was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court last month, where his victim was forced to relive the traumatic events.
Moore, then 22, dragged his girlfriend by the hair, smashed her head into the floor, and punched, slapped and bit her, before plunging a hunting knife between her shoulder blades in October 2021.
Handing down a prison sentence of four years and two months, Recorder Bernard Richmond KC told Moore he was lucky to avoid a murder charge.
He said: “You, during an argument with your then-girlfriend, lost your temper and behaved in an extremely violent way, causing you to drag her by her hair, pulling her across the ground causing her painful injuries, then at some point grabbed a knife, a terrifying knife, and stabbed her in the back. It is fortunate the injury was limited."
The court heard Moore, who was supported by friends and family in court, unleashed the beating following an evening drinking and taking drugs.
Godfred Sarpong
A former soldier shot by the Taliban while on tour in Afghanistan was unmasked as a depraved paedophile who hoarded “sickening” images of child torture and bestiality.
Godfred Sarpong, formerly of Folkestone, was discovered with a stash of “grotesque” photos, including a person performing a sex act with a frog and films of others having intercourse with a live snake and a dog.
The 33-year-old was jailed for almost three years at Canterbury Crown Court last month.
Peter Alcock, prosecuting, explained officers discovered the obscene cache while analysing Sarpong’s iPhone for a separate matter.
The father-of-one had shared a number of the images with up to 36 recipients via Whatsapp.
Of those showing children being sexually exploited in horrific ways, one included a newborn being “horrendously abused,” the court heard and police also found deleted images of dead bodies and mutilation when his mobile was seized in Folkestone in September 2018.
Sarpong, now of Gascoyne Road, Hackney, admitted three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images of animals between 2016 and 2018 and also admitted six further offences relating to images involving children.
Sarpong wept as the judge passed the sentence of 35 months and told him he would be subject to a lifetime of notification requirements and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
John Gibbs
A teenage killer, who took the life of a dad-of-five with a single punch, received a sentence of less than four years.
John Gibbs, now 19, felled victim Andrew Looseley "like a tree" before fleeing the scene outside the Hare and Hounds Pub in Lower Boxley Road, Maidstone.
Mr Loosely was knocked unconscious on his feet before falling backwards striking his head and died days later without recovering, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
Last month Gibbs, of Nickley Woods in Shadoxhurst, near Ashford, was sent to a young offenders institute for three years and eight months after admitting a charge of manslaughter at an earlier hearing. He will be released after serving 22 months.
Prosecutor Ian Hope said the fatal blow was caught on CCTV footage and shown to the packed court.
He said the incident happened on August 20 last year when 47-year-old Mr Looseley - the captain of the Hare and Hounds Pool team - was "play-fighting' with a friend of Gibbs', Luke Wright.
"They had been playing pool together and Mr Looseley put Mr Wright in a headlock. Luke wanted a fight and urged Mr Looseley to go outside.
There was then an aggressive altercation which resulted in all parties going outside and into the street but the victim later returned to the pub, but unfortunately went outside again, which is when he was struck by Gibbs.
Brett Parker and Jordan Godfrey
Two men were jailed for robbery and kidnap offences after targeting lone women in the street, including one who escaped being dragged into a car.
Brett Parker left his victim terrified of returning to work after he tried to abduct her from Swanley as she made her way to the railway station.
Earlier that day Parker who had been drinking and taking drugs, tried to speak with a 14-year-old schoolgirl on the pretext of asking for directions before she fled to a supermarket.
The father-of-two, then harassed a 24-year-old woman, attempting to drag her into his car in November 2018 before she fought him off, Maidstone Crown Court heard.
Parker, Blackborne Road, Dagenham, was convicted by a jury and was jailed for three years and nine months, which will run consecutively to a seven-year sentence he is currently serving for other offences.
The 27-year-old along with a pal Jordan Godfrey, 28, also attempted to rob another woman of her mobile phone after their car was photographed.
Prosecutor Vivian Walters told the court how Parker's victim saw a grey Ford car drive towards the station before stopping and reversing where Parker, got out, opened the back door and told her to get in the car, luckily she managed to get away.
The pair were found guilty of attempted robbery and Godfrey, of Campernell Close, Colchester, was jailed for 30 months, they had both denied attempted kidnap and attempted theft.
David Shaw
A children's doctor who was found with more than one million child sex abuse images was jailed.
David Shaw was arrested at his old home in Maidstone in February 2019 where the National Crime Agency seized one of the "largest hauls" of indecent images it has ever seen.
The 48-year-old, who worked as a paediatrician and GP between 2005 and 2013, was found with more than 1.2million child sex abuse images on 16 of his devices.
Shaw, who most recently lived in Somerset, described himself as a "criminal" and "bad" person to officers before admitting to being sexually attracted to pre-pubescent girls.
The paedophile also claimed he became depressed when he tried to stop viewing the child sex abuse images and eventually quit his role as GP at this time.
He was charged with three counts of making and possessing indecent images of children and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court in October last year.
Last month he was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for the mammoth haul of indecent images which he downloaded using anonymisation techniques on peer-to-peer sharing network Freenet.
When sentencing him, Judge Oliver Saxby commented that as a specialist in paediatrics, Shaw more than others would have been aware of the harm inflicted on the children in the images he downloaded and he handed Shaw a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
Paul Burrows
A raging father almost killed a man with a single punch - forcing him to use a wheelchair due to his injuries.
Paul Burrows launched the attack in Broadstairs with such force, his victim's head cracked open on concrete, causing his brain to haemorrhage.
A judge told the 42-year-old he was “extremely lucky” not to have killed Kier Griffiths during the horrifying assault.
Burrows, of Erith, was jailed for 22 months at Canterbury Crown Court last month and the court heard Mr Griffith is waiting to undergo intensive surgery and is likely to be left with permanent hearing loss.
The court heard on the night of the attack, Burrows had made aggressive phone calls to his partner, who was drinking with Mr Griffiths and his girlfriend at their home.
Armed with a hammer, Burrows soon appeared outside the house in the early hours and levelled threats towards Mr Griffiths.
After dropping the weapon, Burrows punched Mr Griffiths with such force that he fell backwards, cracked open his skull and fell unconscious.
Burrows pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm at an earlier hearing and last month was handed a five-year restraining order, and told to pay £5,000 compensation within two years and £535 costs.
Valter Pimentel
A career thief who used a pensioner's stolen bank card and swiped jewellery worth thousands from a shopping centre was put behind bars.
Valter Pimentel, from Folkestone, also burgled an Asda store, shoplifted at Tesco and raided a clothes shop during a crime spree spanning more than a year.
The 42-year-old was jailed last month for 15 months in a move police say will protect the public and businesses from the "repeat offender".
He was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court after admitting five charges, including burglary, fraud and theft.
A judge was told the first offence was committed on July 28, 2021, when Pimentel fraudulently used a bank card that had been stolen from a woman in her 70s in Sandgate Road, Folkestone.
On October 14 that year, he swiped various items from a Tesco store in Cheriton High Street, and £2,500 worth of jewellery from Bouverie Place Shopping Centre three days later.
He returned to the Folkestone mall in April 2022, where he stole clothes from a shop, and on Christmas Eve last year burgled a nearby Asda store.
Police have confirmed some of the offences took place during the term of a suspended sentence Pimentel had previously been given for affray.
Ben Freeman
A drug dealer was jailed after more than a kilogram of cocaine and £7,000 was seized from his home.
Ben Freeman, from Tunbridge Wells, claimed around £800 of the cash came from a cake baking hobby and selling cigarettes to colleagues at work.
The 37-year-old was initially stopped by officers whilst driving and they discovered he had a wrap of cocaine hidden in one of his socks and he immediately confessed that drug supplies in far greater quantities were kept inside his home in Goods Station Road.
He told officers that the drugs were inside a bag at his home, which he claimed to be looking after for someone else and when police recovered it there was more than £7,000 inside along with 120 grams of cocaine.
During a police interview Freeman refused to account for evidence on his phone, which included a tick list of customers.
He insisted almost £350 of the money seized from his home was linked to a partner’s cake baking hobby and added that another £475 he was carrying in a wallet was derived from selling cigarettes to work colleagues.
Freeman pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine with intent to supply and with possessing criminal property (namely the cash seized).
Last month he was locked up at Maidstone Crown Court for two years and four months.
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