The criminals including thieves, robbers, thugs and perverts and rapists who were locked up in Kent in September
05:00, 01 October 2022
It was another busy month for the court system in September with thieves, robbers, thugs and perverts and rapists all jailed for their crimes.
We take a look at all the people who were put in cells and locked up during last month.
Dionne and Cherrelle Clarke
A mother and daughter addicted to drugs joined forces to violently rob and defraud the elderly in a “sickening” series of street attacks.
Cherrelle Clarke, 29, and mum Dionne, 57, were caught frittering away their ill-gotten gains in Wetherspoon's in Ramsgate.
The duo sparked a police manhunt after robbing an elderly man in a Sainsbury’s car park, before pickpocketing a frail woman in an alleyway and snatching her walking frame.
A judge told the thieves their “sickening behaviour” was “out of control", and they lacked “remorse or contrition” for their terrified victims.
The pair, who each have 22 previous convictions, were jailed for a total of more than eight yearsat Canterbury Crown Court.
Their crime spree began when Cherrelle left prison last summer, they attacked a good Samaritan who offered her and then-boyfriend Matthew Clark a place to stay.
Christopher James Medes
A man was jailed after his victim spoke out about being sexually assaulted as a child.
Christopher James Medes was handed a five-year sentence after being convicted of engaging in sexual activity with a minor.
The 33-year-old – whose bail address was given to the court as Old Road West, Gravesend, although he never lived there – had denied the charges.
But he was convicted following a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court in Julyand was sentenced last month.
The jury found him guilty of engaging in sexual (non penetrative) activity with a minor and three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Medes was made subject to a serious harm prevention order to remain in place indefinitely and also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely.
Michael Jibowu
A judge jailed a knifeman for a town centre attack but then admitted he was left baffled as to his motives.
Michael Jibowu, 20, admitted stabbing victim Kristian Hillyard, 18, three times near the KFC restaurant in Week Street, Maidstone in April this year.
But neither man revealed why the incident happened,Maidstone Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Bridget Todd told how Mr Hillyard had been eating inside the fast food chain as Jibowu passed walking a dog.
At some point Mr Hillyard got up and went outside which is when the stabbing happened.
KFC staff then took the victim to the back of the restaurant where paramedics were called and began treating the wounds.
Ms Todd said Mr Hillyard had received stab wounds to his neck, back and buttock.
Jibowu, of Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, was jailed for 32 months after admitting wounding with intent.
Kirk Holt
A judge told a sledgehammer-wielding thief who ransacked three properties in little more than 24 hours “burglary is not something you are good at”.
Kirk Holt swiped the hammer from his terrified victim’s shed before staring at her through the window of her Margate home.
The 32-year-old career criminal targeted the property at the end of a one-man crime wave, during which he ransacked two homes just hours before.
Handing down a six-year prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Courtlast month, recorder Mathew Turner told Holt: “You have an appalling criminal record.
“You are a prolific burglar, although it is clearly something you are not very good at, but you have, nonetheless, a very prolific record.
“You have a large number of previous convictions - you reoffended a day or two after your previous licence period expired.
“The public deserves to be kept from you for as long as possible - it is a substantial sentence but it is a sentence that reflects your criminality.”
Robert Jenner
Naturist Robert Jenner got another jail sentence after collecting his phone at Maidstone Police Station wearing see-through trousers.
The 49-year-old, dubbed the 'naked carpenter', was convicted of breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order which happened within hours of being released from jail.
Ex-soldier Jenner, formerly of Bingley Close, Snodland, had claimed during his trial at Maidstone Crown Court that he was allowed to go commando because he is protected under the Human Rights Act.
But Judge Macdonald said the order, imposed on March 14, 2019, had been the result of persistent criminal behaviour and a jury took minutes to see through the delivery driver's defence and convicted him.
Last month, Judge Charles Macdonald QC passed a one-year jail sentence, telling him that he had showed "a contempt for the court and the law".
Jenner, wearing a black T-shirt and grey pants, did not speak during the 25-minute hearing and as he had been on remand since the incident, it was believed he would be released immediately from custody but is still subject to the prohibition.
Christopher Bygrave
A robber who stole cash at a Sittingbourne shop was locked up after his victim stopped his escape.
Christopher Bygrave targeted a woman at a store in Milton Regis together with Jimmy Brazil, who was sentenced earlier this year.
On May 23, Brazil entered the premises where he saw a woman waiting to deposit a quantity of cash.
He left the building and spoke to Bygrave, who went in and stood next to the woman at the counter and then Bygrave snatched the money from her hand and ran towards the exit.
The woman chased him and prevented his escape by partially shutting the door. The robber cut himself in the process.
Bygrave ran from the shop before the arrival of patrols but investigators recovered CCTV that showed both men at the scene.
The 42-year-old, of Fern Walk, Sittingbourne, was arrested and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was jailed last month for two years and eight months.
Brazil, aged 30, was sentenced on May 26 to a 12-month community order and will have to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
To see who was locked up in August, click here.
Joseph Silver
A serial rapist who barged into a woman’s home and subjected her to acts of “deliberate degradation” was jailed last month.
Joseph Silver, of Margate, targeted the woman and another victim over a month-long period in east Kent in 2020.
Silver, 34, was found guilty of three charges of rape and two of assault by penetration following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.
He was jailed for 14 years after a judge ruled him "dangerous".He will serve two thirds of his sentence before being eligible for parole, and another four on licence.
Judge Simon James said Silver forced his way through his first victim’s door, then “grabbed her hair and ripped her clothing off" while ignoring her pleas for him to stop.
He branded Silver “self-centred” with no “insight into the pain and anguish he had caused,” to both women.
Silver maintained a “callous attitude” towards his victims while posing as a “high risk to others,” the judge added.
James Collins
A "dangerous" thief who tried to steal a cash machine using a stolen digger before ramming police cars as he fled was jailed.
James Collins, 30, was among a gang who targeted the ATM at a convenience store in St Martin's Hill, Canterbury.
Collins had taken the digger from the nearby Taylor Wimpey construction site in the early hours.
When police arrived on the scene, Collins who was wearing a balaclava and at the wheel of a Isuzu Trooper, drove into the patrol car as it approached.
A second police vehicle then made 'tactical contact' with the Isuzu and Collins tried to flee on foot before being tasered by officers and arrested.
The cash in the ATM was recovered by police, but extensive damage was done to the building.
It happened in November last year and Collins, of Lenham Heath, Maidstone,was charged the following day.
He was jailed for five years and five months at Canterbury Crown Court after admitting burglary at a previous hearing.
Dale Cooper
A racist thug who has 150 convictions for 285 offences has been jailed for carrying out a string of new crimes.
Dale Cooper, 58, not only kicked a police officer in the shin and slapped another around his face, he also punched two young women in the head as he walked along a road in Maidstone because he thought they were taking the mickey out of him.
Cooper, formerly of Marsham Street, Maidstone, appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court in September and admitted several offenceswhen he appeared via video link from prison.
Cooper was jailed for 12 months in April last year after he punched a nurse in the face during a terrifying tiradeof racial abuse at Maidstone Hospital.
In court last month, Cooper pleaded guilty to assault on an emergency worker and a racially aggravated common assault where he kicked his leg up to the face of a man in Maidstone and shouted a racist term at him.
He also admitted another assault on another police officer and racially abusing a shop worker after going to a Maidstone store while intoxicated.
While in the dock, he also pleaded guilty to abusing and threatening behaviour towards two women in Maidstone.
Cooper was locked up for 12 months for all the offences.
Jack Tester
A man threatened victims with acid attacks and a petrol bomb, in a sustained campaign of racial harassment and abuse.
Jack Tester of Havengore Avenue, Gravesend, was jailed for a series of offences after tormenting his two victims, and threatening to harm their family, between August and December 2021.
During a five-month period, the 29-year-old threw a brick through a window of a property and left an improvised petrol bomb on a victim's car, attaching a note to the glass bottle which threatened to "blow every one of you out".
In other incidents, Tester threw paint over a car and sent racist messages to one of the victims, with threats he would be stabbed or harmed with acid.
Tester was arrested in December 2021, and an investigation led to police gathering CCTV and forensic evidence, with his fingerprint detected on adhesive tape used to attach the note to the bottle left on the car.
Appearing before Maidstone Crown Court, Tester pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment and two counts of criminal damage, and he was sentenced to two years and four months.
He was also made the subject of a restraining order, lasting 10 years.
Joseph Scott
An incompetent thief who unveiled his identity on numerous occasions during a one-man crime spree was jailed after falling asleep at a victim's home.
Joseph Scott, who has more than 100 previous convictions, also infuriated a pub landlord by swiping his prized hanging basket displays in Wincheap, Canterbury.
The 34-year-old then crept through a woman’s window at night and snatched her purse, while committing the string of offences between June and July this year.
Scott, of Canterbury, was jailed for three years and seven months at Canterbury Crown Courtlast month.
The beginning of his persistent criminality was signalled following a bid to feed a “long term drug addiction” in “a depressing story all too familiar,” his lawyer argued.
The court heard Scott snatched £265 worth of razors and alcohol from Waitrose in St George’s Place on June 26, with staff identifying him to police.
He had been handed a six month prison sentence suspended for two years just a fortnight beforehand.
Tyrone Ludlow
An arsonist who blew up his ex-partner’s garden shed was jailed last month.
Tyrone Ludlow was caught on camera walking towards his victim's address in Gravesend shortly before an explosion destroyed the rear of her property.
Ludlow, of Lane Avenue, Greenhithe, admitted charges of arson, assault, criminal damage and a breach of a non-molestation orderrelating to the same victim.
The pair had been in a relationship that had ended prior to an incident on Wednesday, January 19 where an argument broke out at the woman's house.
During the confrontation, Ludlow threw a mobile phone – narrowly missing her head and causing damage to a wall.
He then destroyed a television and ripped a kitchen cupboard door off its hinges, whilst also shouting abuse in the victim’s face.
In April, the victim was at home with her three children when she heard a loud explosion and then noticed flames coming from her garden shed.
Ludlow was sentenced to three years and two months at Woolwich Crown Court after admitting to the charges.
Arminas Gudas and Andreas Narbutas
Two men were jailed after a stolen luxury car was pursued by police as it weaved "recklessly and dangerously" across both sides of the road.
The Maserati was spotted by officers on the M20 in June, and eventually brought to a stop using a stinger device. Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, the men were jailed for stealing the car in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, and dangerous driving.
Andreas Narbutas and Arminas Gudas were brought to a halt by the stinger device, but Narbutas continued to drive on the deflated tyres before he and Gudas eventually decamped in the Leeds area of Maidstone.
Narbutas, 34, from Ilford, London, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of a motor vehicle, going equipped for theft, dangerous driving and driving without third party insurance.
He was jailed for four-and-a-half years at Aylesbury Crown Court.
Gudas, also 34, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to one count of theft of a motor vehicle and going equipped for theft and was sentenced to two years and two months.
Both men will be deported to Lithuania following their release from prison.
Aaron Thornton
A blackmailing drug addict repeatedly trapped his ex-girlfriend inside cars before unleashing a campaign of violence and extortion attempts.
Aaron Thornton, from Margate, drove his former partner around east Kent for hours, delivering sporadic beatings and hurling insults.
The 34-year-old bricklayer also bombarded her workplace and mobile phone with threatening texts and financial demands.
Prosecutors told Canterbury Crown Court how Thornton rang her workplace about 25 times in one day in early January and texted her on 20 occasions in two hours.
Thornton banged on her front door, made 26 further phone calls and sent other threatening messages, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors initially accused Thornton of two counts of kidnap but the charges were left on file.
Thornton, of Hatfield Road, admitted two counts of common assault, blackmail, and putting a person in fear of violence by harassment before a trial and was jailed for two years and 10 months.
Handing down a five-year restraining order, Judge Catherine Brown told Thornton: “You are a bully, you are someone who thinks the law doesn't apply to you."
Audrey Baut
A woman spared prison for slashing her mum during a row over milk has now been locked up by a judge "sick" of giving her chances to mend her ways.
Audrey Baut received a suspended sentence last September for attacking Chengetai Chizanga with broken glass at their home in Aylesham, near Dover.
Initially, Baut told the authorities her mum and sister, who refused to assist the prosecution, were the aggressors.
But she later admitted wounding and assault and was given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Judge James also ordered Baut to complete 25 activity days with probation, then subsequently increased the length of the suspension to two years after she refused to attend the sessions.
Baut had not attended a single appointment by the time she was sentenced last month.
Judge James said he was “sick” of giving Baut chances, given her “steadfast inability to change her attitude”.
Activating the sentence in full, he said: “I only have so much sympathy and patience, and you have used up that reservoir and more.” Baut, of Cherry Blossom Way, was expected to be released within the next couple of months having spent time on remand and curfew.
Laurence Pata
A "childlike" thief stole Harry Potter Lego from a toy shop but was caught out months later after losing his ID.
Laurence Pata fled Smyths Toys on Ashford Retail Park in Sevington without paying for £600 worth of sets.
But the 34-year-old, who formerly lived in the town, then lost his ID after escaping Ashford's WHSmith store with handfuls of cigarettes.
He admitted six counts of theft before trial at Canterbury Crown Court and was jailed for nine weeks last month.
In a bid to feed his drug addiction, Pata targeted the toy chain on two consecutive days, making off with nine Hogwarts-inspired models in November 2021.
Three months later, he then snatched nine packets of cigarettes and two pouches of tobacco from a WHSmith employee in Ashford high street but as Pata sped off on a bicycle, he dropped his ID moments after Joanna French, his brave victim, gave chase.
Pata, who has 13 previous convictions, was originally charged with robbery for the WHSmith employee's ordeal.
However, prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to the lesser charge of theft earlier this year.
Constantin Barbuc
A gang of fraudsters used a fly swatter with double-sided sticky tape to steal £12,500, a court heard.
Constantin Barbuc toured Maidstone's "richest areas" to target up to 10 victims between May and August 2021.
The gang applied for bank cards and pin numbers in the names of the victims. They then retrieved them as they hit the letterboxes by using fly-swatter through people's letterboxes, Maidstone Crown Court was told.
Last month, the leader of the four-strong gang was jailed for 19 months after admitting three fraud charges.
Barbuc, who appeared by prison video link from Wandsworth, had been arrested while sitting in a car in Church street, Maidstone in August 2021.
Prosecutor Merrick Williams told how police officers, who were staking out the area, found the flyswatters in the vehicle which had double-sided sticky tape attached.
He said victims had had applications made in their names to 12 different financial institutions including American Express, Santander, NatWest Bank and Barclays.
Mr Williams added that an estimated £12,500 had been fraudulently obtained by the thieves; although police fear another £5,000 may have vanished.
Donna Meflah
A charity shop volunteer who helped her lover facing an attempted murder charge has been convicted of trying to pervert the course of justice.
A judge told mum-of-three Donna Meflah she has "thrown away her good name" after helping her partner Rodney Geisha by threatening to spread sexual allegations about prosecution witnesses.
Geisha had attacked rival Harry Cadwallader and cut him with a knife after a bust up in the centre of Maidstone.
It was then that Meflah, of Allin Place, Fairmeadow, Maidstone, became involved and had shown "enthusiasm" in trying to help spread sexual allegations against prosecution witnesses.
Judge Julian Smith gave her a 21 month jail sentence last monthtelling her: "You were cynical and desperate to do what you could in using a phone to engage the services of another to intimidate and passed on messages including threatening to spread unfounded sexual allegations.
"You also searched lines of defence which could be used by your partner (in his trial), " he added.
Ian Dear, defending, said the charity shop volunteer had become involved in an "ill-starred" romance with Geisha and had abandoned her "strong moral compass".
"The consequences for her were catastrophic and she feels she has let her family down," he added.
Lewis Puddifoot
A man who carried out a threatening knife attack as he tried to steal a mobile phone was jailed for seven years.
Lewis Puddifoot asked the victim if he "wanted to die" as he stood outside a restaurant in Dartford talking on his phone.
Puddifoot, 41, of Dickens Avenue, Dartford, placed a knife against the man's neck and pushed him to the ground and began assaulting him on Sunday, January 23 in Hythe Street.
A friend of the victim heard the incident and along with another person pulled Puddifoot off the injured man before he fled the scene.
The victim then realised he was bleeding and that he had been stabbed in the hand.
Officers attended and obtained CCTV with an image of Puddifoot being circulated to police who were patrolling in the area and he was seen in another part of the town centre standing outside a pub and was subsequently arrested and later charged.
He was jailed at Woolwich Crown Court after admitting assault with intent to rob and possessing a bladed article in a public place.
He was ordered to serve seven years in jail and is subject to an extended licence period of five years.
Marc Self
A bully forced his pregnant ex-girlfriend to flee her home with threats of rape, violence and death.
Marc Self also slashed a paddling pool with a knife at Louise Grimwood’s home in Wye, near Ashford, then damaged her clothesline and roof tile.
The 33-year-old terrorised her in July this year, leaving up to 40 missed calls on some days, after their relationship deteriorated.
The labourer was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court last month, where prosecutors disclosed his outbursts forced her to relocate to a safehouse.
The beginning of Self’s offending was signalled when neighbours overheard him threatening to rape Miss Grimwood during a row at her property on July 19.
After refusing to leave he threatened to break her jaw, then slashed a child’s paddling pool with a blade when she said she would call 999, Oliver Kirk explained.
After being arrested and bailed with conditions prohibiting him from contacting Miss Grimwood, he made a number of threats and went to the address almost straight away, the court heard.
Self would threaten to break her legs, kill her and accuse her of having other men in the house.
Self, who has 12 previous convictions for 17 offences, was jailed for two years and eight months.
Jerome Starkey
A thug who smashed a glass into a clubber's face knocking him unconscious was jailed - almost four years after the attack.
Jerome Starkey delivered the blow to Ryan Feacey at The Ashford Club, situated in the town’s High Street, in December 2018.
The attack left hotel boss Mr Feacey with depression and flashbacks. It also prompted him to move to Australia.
Starkey, from Ashford, admitted causing actual bodily harm earlier this year following roughly four years of delays in court proceedings.
The 30-year-old was jailed for two years at Canterbury Crown Court, where a judge heard police took 11 months to charge him.
Prosecutors said Starkey, who was with another man, “beckoned Mr Feacey over” in the smoking area, and then smashed the half-pint glass into his face.
Mr Feacey was unaware of the attack until he woke up behind the nightclub’s bar, with staff tending to his injuries, the court heard.
He suffered swelling to his head alongside multiple lacerations to the right side of his face, which required treatment with surgical glue at hospital.
Alistair Hitchcock
A lying rapist who claimed his victim and her friends pinned him down and subjected him to a sustained sexual attack was jailed.
Alistair Hitchcock violently assaulted the woman while people slept nearby at a home in Canterbury, following a night out in 2012.
The conniving 33-year-old, of Whitstable Road, would attempt to destroy their lives in a bid to evade the authorities by falsely accusing them of raping him.
Judge Mark Weekes told Hitchcock at Canterbury Crown Court last month: “You struggled roughly with her, you were oblivious to her distress, and you engaged in sexual intercourse of such violence that you inflicted an injury on yourself.
“I am sure that as the years went by you became more fearful of the knock on the door.
“Sadly you chose yet another cowardly option - to lie about what had happened, and to seek to blame falsely entirely innocent people.”
He told Hitchcock he exposed them to the possibility of prosecution, and “chillingly would have been content to see them sent to prison on the back of your lie”.
He praised Hitchcock’s victim, who gave evidence against him, as “articulate” and “brave”.
Hitchcock was sentenced to seven years in prison and must complete two-thirds of the spell, before being considered for parole.
Michael Cherry
A "sinister" stalker who harassed his victims and burgled their houses - putting hair gel in an oven at one home - was locked up.
Michael Cherry, from Tonbridge, also poured washing up liquid in a kettle and coffee machine during the break-in.
Between June 11 and 26, the 35-year-old made persistent phone calls and left messages for a woman he knew.
Cherry also called at her home uninvited and, on two occasions, damaged her partner’s car by deflating its tyres.
On June 25, he broke into the partner’s house and stole a bank card and some car keys.
While there, he also squeezed washing up liquid in the kettle and coffee machine and put hair gel in the oven.
Cherry then targeted the woman’s house, stealing a number of items and damaging a bed.
Officers arrested Cherry on June 27 and seized cocaine, plus the stolen property from the two victims’ houses.
Cherry, of no fixed address and formerly from the Tonbridge area, was charged with stalking, two counts of burglary and possession of cocaine.
He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. He will also be subject to a restraining order on his release.
James Sansom
A thief who tried to flee from officers over a roof after he was seen burgling two properties was jailed.
James Sansom burgled a commercial property and then a residential address in Marine Drive, Margate, on Monday, August 8.
At 8.20am that day, Kent Police received a 999 call to a commercial premises, which was not in use at the time, and quickly worked to put a containment around the area in order to find the intruder.
Officers from the Thanet Community Policing Team, accompanied by a police dog and handler, identified the suspect’s description as being Sansom, and made their way into the building to search each room for him while other patrols stayed to monitor the exits.
A report of a burglary in a nearby property was then received in which a games console, clothing and aftershave were stolen and Sansom was seen leaving through a window and climbing up on to the roof.
Officers followed on foot as Sansom tried to escape by running over the roof, carrying shopping bags on each arm as he ran. He was caught a short time later and the shopping bags filled with stolen items were recovered nearby.
The 42-year-old of Dalby Square, Margate, admitted two counts of burglary and was given a custodial sentence of two years and four months when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday, September 28.
DS Neil Martin of east Kent CID said: "James Sansom is a prolific burglar and went to extraordinary heights to evade capture. Unfortunately for him, the swift actions of attending officers working with CCTV operators meant there was nowhere for him to hide.
"As Sansom already had a suspended sentence through previous offending, he is now facing a longer time in prison.’"
