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More on KentOnline
There were lots of people who committed offences and were jailed for their crimes last month.
Here's just some of the criminals including sex offenders, thieves, thugs, liars, burglars and drug dealers who were locked up in April.
Emma Weller
An innocent prison officer was arrested three times because of false allegations made by an ex-lover who "craved attention".
Spiteful Emma Weller – described as "demanding, obsessive and manipulative" – set up fake social accounts and made claims she had received rape threats.
It resulted in Paul Miller – who worked at prisons on Sheppey – suffering a three-month nightmare in 2020 before finally being told there would be no charges.
Mr Miller told Maidstone Crown Court in his victim impact statement: "This was the start of the worst time of my life and I have been through a horrible divorce and I was arrested three times in May 2020.
Prosecutor Tanya Robinson told how Weller started dating a police officer after the break up with Mr Miller and that she created a fake identity of "Tara" on a dating website making threats to the PC that she would be raped in Mote Park by "someone she did not expect" when she turned up.
Ms Robinson added: "The officer, fearing for Weller's safety, believed the person messaging was Mr Miller, so the prison officer was arrested again on suspicion of harassment, malicious communication, robbery and attempted rape."
It was only later that officers tracked the fake accounts to an address in Waterlow Road, Maidstone, where Weller was living at the time.
Mark Lumley
A paedophile who planned to travel to America and pay $700 to sexually abuse a child was jailed for more than seven years.
Mark Lumley, a former Gravesend resident, committed multiple online sexual offences after contacting children aged between 14 and 16.
The crimes took place between July 2020 and October 2021 and police were notified of his offending and a search warrant was executed at his home where officers seized a mobile phone containing photos and videos, as well as chat logs from social media sites.
Lumley had been having obscene conversations with several teenagers who he believed were aged between 14 and 16.
Lumley was later charged with offences including sexual exploitation of a child, making indecent photographs of children and causing a female over 13 to engage in sexual activity.
The 56-year-old, now of Hinchley Wood, Surrey, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court after pleading guilty to 20 child sex offences and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years with a four-year extended licence.
A sexual harm prevention order was also imposed and Lumley was added to the sex offenders' register for life.
Lewis Oakley
An abusive man who strangled and threatened to kill his partner in a 'terrifying ordeal' was locked up.
Lewis Oakley, from Maidstone, repeatedly beat and throttled his victim before pressing the blade of an open pair of scissors against her face and arm.
The assault happened during the early hours of May 16, last year, when Oakley also slapped the victim, pulled her hair and threatened he would burn her house down.
Officers were alerted to a report of a disturbance at the address in Queen Anne Road at 3.30am and Oakley was arrested at the scene within 15 minutes.
The 25-year-old appeared before Maidstone Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm and making threats to kill.
Further charges of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship and threats to cause criminal damage were ordered by the court to lie on file.
Oakley was sentenced to two years and five months’ imprisonment.
He was also made subject to a five-year restraining order.
Ambrose Treeby
A prolific burglar who wore an electronic tag while raiding the homes of his elderly victims was jailed.
Ambrose Treeby, of Queen Street, Paddock Wood, preyed on a pensioner and stole £20,000 out of the 90-year-old's bank account.
Investigators used data from the GPS tag the 39-year-old was wearing, while on licence from prison, to prove he had stolen the cash.
Last month a judge jailed him for 40 months for two burglaries and a fraud, telling him: "You seem determined to spend your life in custody after committing even more frauds and burglaries."
It comes after the victim, who was from Wrotham Road in Borough Green, reported the five figure sum had been removed from her bank account in November.
Prosecutor Mary Jacobson told Maidstone Crown Court how in March Treeby tried to cash a cheque for £8,600 but it was refused by bank officials.
Undaunted, he returned days later and cashed a cheque from the 90-year-old for £20,000 - and then submitted a fake letter from his victim claiming it was for the sale of vans.
Treeby had also talked his way into the home of a second victim in Maidstone, who was recovering from fractured arms and needing a zimmerframe, and tricked her into leaving the room and while she was gone, he stole £150 from the 75-year-old's handbag.
Sean Musgrave
A drug dealer who was part of a group that used a teenage boy to move drugs was sentenced to more than three years in prison.
Sean Musgrave was part of a drug gang called 'Tony' in Ashford and booked hotel rooms which police linked to the use of the boy for drug trafficking.
The teenager, from outside the county, was being used by the group to move drugs to a property believed to have been 'cuckooed'.
Officers went to the property on January 20 and found wraps of heroin, a phone used to arrange drug deals and a quantity of cash.
Musgrove was tracked down and arrested on February 6, and police found a knife and a baseball bat at his home.
The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin, possession of a knife and possession of an offensive weapon and was sentenced to three years and two months in prison.
Detective Robert Goodban, of the County Line and Gangs Team, said: "This case shows how county line gangs exploit the young and the vulnerable to cash in on the plight of drug users in our communities.
"The weapons found at Musgrave's home show the threat of violence that so often lies behind these groups' activities and that is why we are determined to keep arresting drug dealers and shutting down their networks."
To see the criminals locked up in March, click here.
Tyler, Shamen and Brandon Williams
Three "dangerous" brothers who went on a string of violent attacks with machetes in a Kent town were jailed.
Tyler Williams, Shamen Williams and Brandon Williams committed a number of unprovoked attacks in Medway two years ago which left their victims with serious injures.
The first incident happened after a woman parked her car in Richmond Road, Gillingham, and was verbally abused by Shamen, 30, and Tyler, 33, before being punched and kicked to the floor and had her windscreen smashed.
Shortly after, three men were set upon in Institute Road, Chatham, where Shamen was armed with a machete and one of the group suffered serious stab and slash wounds to his face, shoulder and back.
Shamen, of Tupman Close, Rochester, Tyler, of St Albans Close, Gillingham, and Brandon, 24, of Denmark Street, Folkestone, were all arrested in March and two machetes were also seized.
After appearing at Maidstone Crown Court, Shamen pleaded guilty to affray, assault causing actual bodily harm and criminal damage. Tyler admitted affray and criminal damage, but the pair denied further offences to do with the incidents, machetes and drugs.
After trial, "dangerous" Shamen was found guilty of two counts of possessing a bladed article, wounding with intent, attempted wounding with intent and further affray and Tyler was found guilty of possessing a bladed article in public, wounding with intent, affray and possessing cocaine with intent to supply.
Both brothers were handed a 13-year prison sentence and Brandon had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of affray and was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment last year.
John Schock
A prolific burglar who carried out a series of raids at occupied homes told two of his victims "I'm not a nasty person!".
John Schock, of Clare Place, Maidstone, targeted homes in Swanley and Orpington between September and October last year.
The 33-year-old thief, who has clocked up 94 offences since he was 15 years old, stole cars, meat and clothes destined for the charity shop during the crime spree.
Last month he told Maidstone Crown Court how he was sorry for the offences which included targeting a pensioner in her 80s at home and said: “I want to apologise and I am human," the Maidstone thief said. "I am sorry...but I am not a nasty person and I now regret what I did."
Prosecutor Nicholas Jones told Maidstone Crown Court how on September last year, the banned driver was spotted in a stolen £2,000 Peugeot which he used as he swiped £55 worth of meat from a petrol station in Swanley and the month after he attempted to burgle a house in Orpington, but was was caught on CCTV.
Five days later he went to a house in Swanley and was caught on a doorbell camera, then on October 26 he broke into a home in Swanley where the victim, in her 80s, was asleep but fortunately had an alarm fitted, which was triggered when he got inside and a message was sent to a monitoring company who alerted police.
He also tried to get into another house in the same area on the same night and also broke into another house in Swanley, stealing £2,000 worth of equipment.
Schock admitted five offences of burglary and attempted burglary, as well as theft, handling stolen goods and twice driving while disqualified when he appeared in the dock and was jailed for a total of three years and given a three year driving ban.
Peter Wrotchford
A dangerous rapist who abducted and repeatedly attacked an unconscious teenager in a fake taxi was jailed.
Peter Wrotchford prowled Folkestone in a van at 4am before finding his victim alone, drunk and unable to walk.
The 46-year-old tricked her into thinking he was a cab driver, then subjected her to a terrifying five-hour ordeal and she attended Canterbury Crown Court last month to watch him get locked up for 18 years.
She said: “I now don’t go out as much as I used to, I don't like being on my own and feel down all the time and when men approach me and call me ‘darling’ or ‘babe’ at work, I find this really uncomfortable and derogatory.
A jury heard Wrotchford, a former Army soldier, attached onto his van magnetic signs for the community project he volunteered for, to trick his victim.
He spotted her stumbling in the gutter as she tried making her way home from a nightclub and CCTV played in court showed Wrotchford’s car pass her by, then circle back to pick her up.
The teenager got into the back of the vehicle and asked to be taken home, but Wrotchford, of Ashley Avenue, Folkestone, drove her to a secluded pull-off area away from the town centre and sexually assaulted her and raped her, before she woke up not knowing where she was.
Kenny McMahan
A woman whose life was made a "misery" by her abusive boyfriend told a court he forced her to have his initials tattooed on her body.
"Jealous" Kenny McMahan - who has convictions for attacking three partners - is behind bars after admitting two assaults on his ex-girlfriend, as well as smashing up her car.
His victim told Maidstone Crown Court she feared for her life during the relationship and was desperate to regain her confidence and during his trial, judge Recorder Sarah Counsel said McMahan, 31, formerly of Herne Bay was a jealous man and prone to losing his temper when he didn’t get his own way.
He had struck his girlfriend with his hand twice, once leaving her with a black eye - with probation concluding he was "a risk to women in the future".
Prosecutor Laurence Imrie said McMahan caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to her car after smashing it, leaving it covered in blood and McMahan had also made her get a tattoo of his initials on her body, which she later had altered into another design.
He said: "One of the assaults happened very near to the victim's birthday in Blackpool, causing bruising to her leg and on the same day in August 2020, he, in essence, smashed her car, damaging a windscreen, the rear-view mirror and the display, causing £8,000 worth of damage."
He pleaded guilty to two assaults and causing criminal damage part-way through his trial and McMahan, who now lives in Widnes, Cheshire, has previous convictions for battery and harassment of previous partners.
McMahan received a total sentence of one year and eight months and was made subject to a five-year restraining order.
Leia Jones and Kayleigh Stonestreet
Two women who used company credit cards to place more than 1,100 fraudulent orders totalling nearly £300k were jailed.
Leia Jones and Kayleigh Stonestreet were working for a business in Rochester between 2013 and 2017 when they cleared personal debt and bought luxury items for themselves using their employer’s accounts.
They ordered items including cleaning products, camping equipment, home décor, mobile devices and designer clothes from more than 600 retailers – all of which came to £289,074.
Their fraudulent activity was uncovered on December 7, 2017, when a mobile phone provider reported unusual activity on the company account.
After initial inquiries were made, it was revealed that Stonestreet had ordered 92 phones totalling £41,000 which she had then sold to an online phone recycling firm for just over half their value.
Further internal investigations led to the discovery of financial irregularities on other accounts and the two women were arrested by investigators from Kent Police’s Economic Crime Unit on May 21, 2018.
Stonestreet, 36, of Beacon Road, Chatham, was charged with two counts of fraud by abuse of position and Jones, 37, of Sun Road, Swanscombe, was charged with one count of the same offence and both were also charged with two further counts of fraud for spending more than £100,000 each on online purchases.
Both women admitted the charges and Stonestreet was jailed for three years and 10 months while Jones was sentenced to two years and seven months at Woolwich Crown Court last month.
Kieron Carter
A prolific shoplifter who racially abused and slapped a restaurant worker was banned from Canterbury city centre.
Kieron Carter, of no fixed address, refused to leave the outside seating area of a restaurant near the high street despite not having ordered anything.
When a member of staff asked him to move on, he made racist comments and attempted to headbutt the victim, before slapping him.
Police built a case against Carter following the incident in July, and a series of thefts from Tesco Express in New Dover Road between July and September.
The 29-year-old appeared before Folkestone Magistrates' Court last month where he admitted racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and 12 counts of theft.
He was jailed for a year and a criminal behaviour order was imposed stopping him from entering the city centre for two years once he has been released.
A restraining order was also imposed preventing him from going into the supermarket for two years.
Inspector Paul Stoner, of Canterbury's Community Safety Unit, said: “My officers are determined to protect Canterbury's businesses and their staff from repeat offenders like Carter and I hope the jail term imposed following this investigation, and the court orders we were granted, give traders some peace of mind.”
Robert Vyse
A stalker who put a tracker on his partner’s phone and made her change her job was jailed.
Robert Vyse, from Herne Bay, also controlled how the woman dressed, monitored her social media contacts and attacked her.
The 34-year-old, who lived in Dering Road, admitted harassment, controlling or coercive behaviour, assault and assaulting an emergency worker.
Last month he was jailed for four years and four months at Canterbury Crown Court.
An investigation into Vyse was launched when the victim visited the city’s police station in October last year after he sent a message saying that he would go to her home.
As she left her home, she saw him in his car driving in that direction and the victim told officers Vyse had previously put a tracker on her phone during a relationship and turned up when she was out with friends.
He also controlled how she dressed, who she could be friends with, monitored her social media contacts and made her change her job and the victim was also assaulted by Vyse and he caused damage to her home.
After they separated, he bombarded her with text messages and calls, which led to a threat to attend her home and the victim going to the police station and when an officer saw Vyse in his car, he attempted to lean into the vehicle to take his keys, but Vyse drove off, injuring the officer’s arm.
Tristan Goodwin and Angel Fuller
A Chatham sex offender who conspired with a woman to sexually abuse young children was jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
Tristan Goodwin, 24, and Angel Fuller, 19, were both jailed last month at Maidstone Crown Court, following sex offences committed against children over a two-year period.
The court heard how Goodwin committed sex offences with a child on at least three occasions after Fuller arranged for them to meet him between May 2021 and January 2022 and later that year, Fuller took another child to meet Goodwin, who went on to rape them.
Fuller, of Churchill Avenue, Chatham, and Goodwin, of Edinburgh Road, Chatham, were both arrested on 24 May, and detectives found Goodwin had being paying Fuller to introduce him to child victims and officers also discovered he had groomed two children in 2020, after he made contact with them on social media.
Their investigations found he had persuaded them to send indecent images and then meet him, before he sexually assaulted them and Goodwin was charged with raping a child, two counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence, two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of paying for the sexual services of a child and possession of indecent images.
Fuller was charged with aiding and abetting the rape of a child and two counts of arranging the commission of a child sex offence.
Both pleaded guilty and Goodwin was jailed for eight-and-a-half-years.
He will serve a further four years on licence under the terms of an extended sentence and Fuller was jailed for four and a half years, both have also been made subject to sexual harm prevention orders and added to the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.
Ronald Berko
A 30-year-old man who sexually assaulted a woman in a shop before “inappropriately” touching a police officer after he was arrested, was jailed.
Ronald Berko was arrested last August at a store in Luton Road, Chatham, after randomly approaching his victim and “aggressively grabbed her” over her clothing.
Challenged by the victim, he continued to pester her outside the shop and police were called.
Taken into custody, police say he “continued to act in a sexualised and abusive manner” inappropriately touching an officer and, after being put in a cell, removed all his clothes and committed an indecent act while calling for a female officer or member of staff on the intercom to visit him.
He pleaded guilty and also admitted unrelated offences, which took place in February and March 2022, which included four counts of assault on an emergency worker.
Berko, from Magpie Hall Road, Chatham, was sentenced to 22 months behind bars after appearing at Maidstone Crown Court and was made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.
PC Sam Mackey said: ‘Berko’s disturbing behaviour will have caused considerable distress and the victim he assaulted in the shop was left in genuine fear for her safety. I’m pleased we have been able to remove him from the streets as quickly as possible and that the courts have now rightly passed a custodial sentence.”
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