Lots of people committed crimes and were jailed this month and are now spending time behind bars.

Here are just some of the criminals including burglars, drug dealers, rapists and murderers who committed crimes and were locked up in July.

Damien Olubek

A pervert simulated a sex act while menacing a terrified student waiting for a train at Canterbury West station.

Damien Olubek was captured on CCTV subjecting his victim, who he did not know, to what was described as being among the "greatest fears" for a lone female traveller.

The 21-year-old repeatedly asked the woman for kisses and hugs, poked, squeezed and touched her arm and leg, and tried to pull her hand towards his crotch area as he performed his lewd act after he had followed her from a bench outside the station where he had first troubled her. He followed her onto a platform where someone came to her aid and alerted station staff.

Olubek then tried to avoid being identified by telling an officer his name was 'Steven Gerrard' before fleeing.

It was said on his behalf at Canterbury Crown Court that the touching of the victim was not in itself sexual, but Judge Mark Weekes but the "aggressive, humiliating and frightening" behaviour could not be merely regarded as the actions of what is colloquially termed a "sex pest".

Sentencing Olubek, of High Street, Margate, the judge told him: "The victim was subjected to what must have been for her a very distressing and alarming ordeal, lasting over an hour, in which you engaged in behaviour which sometimes, erroneously in my opinion, is referred to as acting like a sex pest.

"Pests are insects that annoy people momentarily, you were engaging in sexually aggressive behaviour towards her - asking her for kisses, asking for hugs and acting as you were with a random stranger,” he added.

Although his six previous convictions are not for any sexual offences, Olubek was said to be on licence from prison at the time, but details of those crimes were not given during the hearing.

Jailing him for 41 weeks, the judge said the fact he was also drinking alcohol at the time would have made him seem all the more "unpredictable" to his victim and on his release, Olubek will be subject to 12-months supervision and will have to sign on the sex offender register for 10 years.

Anthony Lamont

A builder who enjoyed a boozy 10-hour drinking session and fish and chips before trying to flee a hotel without paying his bill was jailed.

Would-be ‘dine and dasher’ Anthony Lamont attempted to run off without settling his £95 tab after knocking back nine pints and three double vodkas at The Royal in Deal.

Remarkably, the 43-year-old had avoided prison just five days before for an “identical” offence at an Italian restaurant in Rochester.

On that occasion, he ran up a £100 bill as he washed down a seafood linguine with Jack Daniels before telling staff at Don Vincenzo he had no means of paying.

CCTV footage showed the moment police officers arrived at the Medway restaurant on June 10 to arrest Lamont, who was hauled before magistrates two days later.

He was spared jail but within five days had struck again, targeting The Royal on June 17, he was arrested and the following day appeared before Folkestone magistrates, where he admitted theft and breaching his suspended sentence.

Lamont, who is from Poole in Dorset, had appeared before magistrates on June 12 and admitted the theft at Don Vincenzo and was ordered to pay the restaurant £100 in compensation and given a 120-day prison sentence, suspended for a year.

For the incident at The Royal he was jailed for 200 days and was also ordered to pay the business £95.80 in compensation.

Michael Scott

A prolific thief who has racked up almost 100 convictions was jailed after stealing meat from shops with his girlfriend.

Michael Scott was with Jodie Young when he stole chicken, bacon and sausages from several stores in Maidstone.

The 53-year-old, who has been addicted to heroin for more than a decade, was waiting to be sentenced for other shoplifting offences when he took the items. When he appeared before Maidstone magistrates on July 1, the court heard Scott had been convicted of theft 98 times.

Magistrates heard Scott and Young, who live together, had been charged with the thefts from a BP garage and Young had already been dealt with in court, but Scott, of Tonbridge Road, Maidstone, had admitted theft when he appeared in court in February and was granted bail - but went out stealing again.

He had also been given a suspended sentence in October last year of 50 days, suspended for 12 months and in February, he had been given an 18-month conditional discharge for theft.

Magistrates heard his co-defendant had been given a suspended sentence for her part in the thefts, as well as having to pay compensation.

The bench said they had no alternative but to activate Scott’s suspended sentence because he kept re-offending.

In total Scott, who admitted the charges, was jailed for 150 days, reduced to 137 when they deducted the time he had been in custody and he was also ordered to pay £159.25 compensation to the shops he stole from.

Alan Morris

A pervert who tried to lure teenage girls into performing sex acts for him online and kept indecent images of children was jailed for six years.

Alan Morris, who lived in Ruckinge near Ashford, sent sexual messages – including pictures of himself – to someone he thought was a child on an internet chat site in February.

Morris stated that he was 65 in his messages and also sent videos of sexual material to the youngster.

He was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order issued in 2018 after he was found guilty of previous offences.

This forbade him from accessing the internet without informing police, using devices without specific monitoring software on them and a range of other online activities.

The paedophile was arrested on February 8, and further examination of his mobile phone uncovered indecent images of children, as well as recent sexual communication.

He was charged later the same day.

Morris, formerly of Poundhurst Lane, admitted various offences at Canterbury Crown Court and was sentenced to six years in prison - including a year’s imprisonment for breach of the protection order - with four years to serve on licence upon his release.

Andre Harris

A dealer armed with a knife sold drugs to a user in an alleyway but was caught out by undercover cops.

Officers were on patrol in Railway Street, Chatham, when they saw a person speak to Andre Harris before making a withdrawal from a cash machine.

The pair then went into an alleyway where something was exchanged between them.

When Harris emerged from the secluded spot, he was stopped by police officers and detained and a search led to the recovery of three mobile phones and £514 in cash.

He was taken to a police station and a further search found 32 wraps of heroin and 13 deals of crack cocaine in his waistband and he also surrendered a lock knife.

Harris, of Hartford Avenue, Harrow, Greater London, was charged with possession of heroin with intent to supply, possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of a bladed article in a public place.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to the February 6 offences and the 22-year-old was sentenced to three years and two months’ imprisonment.

Det Sgt Kelly Leventis said: “Our investigators are actively patrolling areas frequented by county line dealers who are easily spotted when supplying local users and this was the case with Harris and he was swiftly detained following his arrival in Chatham.”

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 June, click here.

Paul Read

A “remorseless” rapist was jailed for more than a decade after attacking a teenager.

Paul Read, formerly of Morehall Avenue in Folkestone, was arrested on December 17, 2021, after police were made aware a girl had been sexually assaulted earlier that month.

It was disclosed shortly afterwards that Read, now 40, had also raped the victim and he was later charged with two sexual offences.

Following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court Read was found guilty of rape and sexual assault.

He was sentenced to 11 years in jail.

DC Gemma Chadwick, of East Kent’s Vulnerability Investigation Team, said: “Read has shown no remorse for his actions and did not admit his crimes, meaning the case went to trial.

“I commend the victim for her courage, which has seen Read convicted and put behind bars, and I hope the custodial sentence that has been imposed will offer her some closure.

“We will continue to strive to bring sexual offenders before the courts to face justice.”

Samuel Phillips, AJ Katnoria and Ben Hoey

Balaclava-clad men who ‘scoured’ the streets in search of easy victims to rob - including children - were jailed.

A metal bar, pole and wrenches were all used in a series of violent street robberies which left one teenage victim fearing for his life.

Samuel Phillips, AJ Katnoria and Ben Hoey targeted eight victims in less than two hours across Snodland and Rochester on January 13, which saw victims aged between 13 and 29 approached by Philips and Katnoria, who were wearing balaclavas.

Hoey waited in a nearby vehicle to assist their getaway and search for further targets and in Snodland, four victims were approached in Birling Road, Sharnal Lane and Constitution Hill, while in Rochester, there were further offences in Smith Street, Dale Road, Central Parade, and The Tideway.

The group demanded cash and other items including phones from their victims and in one of the incidents, a weapon was held to the throat of a man while in another, a 14-year-old boy was also struck with a metal bar.

Later the same evening, fast-track inquiries by officers had arrested Katnoria and Hoey and stolen items including wallets and keys were found in Katnoria’s possession and within hours, Phillips had also been detained.

Katnoria, 25, of Rivenhall Way, Hoo, Phillips, 22, of Southwell Road, Rochester and Hoey, 33, of Concord Avenue, Chatham, were charged and remanded in custody and they all pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery, three counts of attempted robbery and a charge of assault at Maidstone Crown Court.

Katnoria and Phillips also admitted possessing cannabis and Katnoria and Hoey were each sentenced to five years and three months’ imprisonment. Phillips received four years and seven months.

Wayne Kassim and Mark Duce

A pair behind a county lines operation were locked up.

Wayne Kassim and Mark Duce used a phone line which advertised drugs to users under the name 'DelBoy'.

Detectives began investigating following a medical incident involving one drug user, who was later found to have bought drugs from 'DelBoy'.

A phone number was also found to have been used to advertise heroin and cocaine in Canterbury, with a VW Beetle and a Vauxhall Mokka owned by Duce believed to be linked to the dealing.

On February 8, 2024, the Vauxhall Mokka was stopped in Kingsmead Road, Canterbury, and Kassim and Duce were both arrested.

The phone used to advertise the drugs was found on Kassim and a ball of heroin was found discarded nearby.

Duce later admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine and Kassim was convicted of the same charges, as well as possession of heroin with intent to supply, following a trial.

Duce, 51, of Hillcrest Road, Littlebourne, was jailed for two and a half years at Canterbury Crown Court and Kassim, 39, of Waterlow Road, Maidstone, got a seven-year sentence.

Elliot Scott

A cowardly thug broke his ex’s eye socket in a sustained attack while repeatedly dragging her inside her home when she fled.

Elliot Scott subjected her to sickening violence while imprisoning her for hours inside her Ramsgate address, insisting she could only leave when her injuries healed.

But the 22-year-old’s courageous victim – having suffered a broken eye socket, strangulation and bruising over her body - mounted an escape and alerted the police.

Held in a cell following his arrest, Scott, of Westgate, punched himself in the face before claiming she was the attacker during an interview.

He was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court for four years where the judge heard Scott carried out multiple attacks on the mum, leaving her with fractured bones, extensive bruising and severe psychological harm.

The court heard she used her t-shirt to mop blood from the floors of her home, where the “horrendous ordeal” unfolded last year and Scott, of Belmont Road, had 16 previous convictions for 32 offences, including battery, violent disorder, harassment and assault.

Judge Weekes deemed Scott to be a dangerous offender, essentially, meaning there is a significant risk to the public of serious harm being committed and he was handed four years behind bars and a further three on licence.

Scott was also handed a nine-year restraining order.

John Gilliver

A pervert who wore sunglasses with a built-in camera and a neck chain capable of recording was arrested after acting suspiciously at a beach.

Police later searched John Gilliver’s home in Charing, near Ashford, and found devices including indecent images of children.

The 62-year-old, from Ashford, was arrested and admitted multiple offences including voyeurism before being sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court where he was jailed for a year and eight months and was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Officers were called to Folkestone Harbour on July 10, 2022, after he was seen behaving suspiciously and taking photographs on the beach that afternoon. After he was arrested, a pair of sunglasses and a neck chain capable of recording and storing images were seized.

Further devices and recording equipment were found in a search of Gilliver’s home in Maidstone Road, Charing.

Data downloaded from the devices were found to include indecent images including of children and detectives uncovered further offences of voyeurism.

Gilliver was found to have secretly installed cameras at the home of a man and a woman he knew, to spy on them for his gratification.

He was charged and pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, voyeurism and possessing an indecent image.

Bradley O'Neil, Wayne Denton and Charlie Eatherton

Three men involved in a wholesale supply of high-purity cocaine worth millions on the street were jailed for more than 19 years between them.

Dad of three Bradley O'Neil, from Sheerness, was linked with panel beater Wayne Denton, from Norfolk, to a drugs plot operated through the illicit EncroChat phone network at the start of the Covid pandemic.

Using the handle CallMeCurly, O'Neil liaised with another unknown individual higher up in the enterprise to arrange collection and deliveries of at least 25kg of the class A drug between March and June 2020. Maidstone Crown Court heard police identified 22 exchanges with nine different customers in that period, for which postcodes and passwords - one being 'Lockdown' - would be provided.

Denton, using the handle CallMe Fisherman, was involved in one delivery carried out in April 2020 and arranged by O'Neil, and although his role in that Kent conspiracy was limited, he was also embroiled in a second cocaine supply plot linked to south east London and as far north as Lancashire, and with third defendant, youth worker Charlie Eatherton.

Although by December 2021 all three had been arrested and charged, it was not until this month that they appeared in court for sentencing.

O'Neil, 29, of Halfway Road, and Eatherton, 25, of Witherston Way, Eltham, had each pleaded guilty to one offence of conspiracy to supply a class A drug, while Denton, 37, of Palmer Way, Downham Market, had admitted two such offences. Eatherton also admitted dangerous driving in relation to a high-speed police pursuit through Sidcup in March 2021, while he was at the wheel of a rental Toyota Prius fitted with false plates.

The court heard O'Neil, an M&S warehouse operative with two previous convictions for possessing class A drugs with intent, and Denton had been on remand since their arrests in late 2021 and Eatherton, whose previous convictions include similar drug supply offences in 2018, spent almost eight months in custody on remand before being released on bail and subject to a tagged curfew for a total of 976 days.

On jailing all three men, Judge Gareth Branston concluded they had played significant, "operational and managerial" roles in the conspiracies, would have been aware of the scale of the supply, and had expected substantial financial advantage, with O'Neil being jailed for nine years, Denton for four years and nine months while Eatherton was sentenced to a total of five years and five months, and handed a three-year driving ban.

Emran Ahmed, Shah Ali and Hassan Abdullah

Three thugs armed with a machete and a steak knife who terrorised a couple for the sake of £200 have been locked up for more than 17 years between them.

Emran Ahmed, 21, had only been out of prison for nine days when he, together with Kent resident Shah Ali, 27, and 20-year-old Hassan Abdullah, targeted two of Ali's neighbours at flats in The Cockpit in Marden.

Grandfather Dean Smith was left with a nasty injury after the hooded-gang, fuelled by drugs or alcohol, forced their way into the property and stabbed him with a machete which cut his limb down to the bone and narrowly avoided a major artery. He also suffered injuries to his hand from a blade as he tried to protect himself from attack.

His friend who was staying at the flat, had the same machete held to her abdomen and the knife to her throat and Maidstone Crown Court heard how both had to flee their ordeal, which occurred late at night on January 5, through a window. A bleeding Mr Smith was left drifting in and out of consciousness, fearing he would die, while the woman had a glaring red mark caused by the pressure from the blade running from her left ear to the centre of her neck.

Police later found Ali, who lived in the same block, in his upstairs flat with bloodstained clothing and his accomplices within the vicinity of the building and all three, who have more than 30 crimes to their names, gave 'no comment' interviews following their arrests but later pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary.

Ali also admitted wounding Mr Smith with intent to cause grievous bodily harm while Ahmed pleaded guilty to assault on Ms Morgan causing actual bodily harm and the court was told Abdullah, of Cherry Tree Avenue, West Drayton, has four previous convictions for six offences, including robbery and possession of a bladed article, as well as possessing a handgun for which he was locked up for three years in 2021.

Ahmed, of Hopton Road, Streatham Hill, London, has eight previous convictions for 14 offences, including going equipped for theft and supplying drugs, while Ali, of The Cockpit, Marden, has eight criminal convictions for 12 offences, including robbery when he was just 17.

Recorder Vince concluded Ahmed be considered a "dangerous" offender, so it was necessary to impose an extended sentence of six years and two months which comprises a jail term of five years and two months, of which he will have to serve at least two-thirds before he can apply for parole.

Once released, he will have any licence period extended by 12 months and Ali, who the judge said had played the "most serious" role, was jailed for eight years, of which he will serve two-thirds and Abdullah was locked up for four years, of which he must serve half.

Lisa Willett

A prolific shoplifter who “caused misery in a town” was banned from several shops and supermarkets.

Lisa Willett continued offending just a few weeks after being released from prison for a thieving spree in Sittingbourne town centre.

The 45-year-old was handed a two-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) earlier this month after targeting the likes of Aldi, Morrisons, and Poundland.

She is now prohibited from entering several businesses in the area, including smaller shops and chain supermarkets.

Willett, of Grecian Street in Maidstone, is also barred from any previously banned premises and must leave upon request of the owner.

Police applied for the CBO following a series of thefts between January 1 and January 15, where Willett was then sentenced to 260 days in prison for the offences.

She was released on licence having served half of the time, but, in June she re-offended and is currently back in prison carrying out her full sentence.

PC Jamie Spencer said: “Willett has caused misery in the town since 2023 and is one of the worst repeat offenders in the area so her criminality was causing a detrimental impact on businesses within the town and if she breaches any of the conditions (when she is released) she will be immediately brought back before the court to answer for her actions.”

John Small

The discovery of a blood-stained cardboard box within a shipment of nearly half a tonne of cannabis led to a drug dealer being jailed.

Police were notified packages of the class B drug had been found inside a storage container in Formby Road, Halling, on May 16.

Inside, officers found hundreds of vacuum-sealed bags of cannabis weighing a total of 427 kilogrammes and worth between £1.5 million and £2.5 million.

John Small, 61 of Brunswick Street, Maidstone was later arrested after forensic examiners matched his DNA to the blood on a cardboard box.

On May 21, officers spotted Small filling his Chrysler 300 at a service station in Chatham and he was arrested.

After his vehicle was seized it was found to contain a further 1kg package of cannabis and £3,200 cash.

Small pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and possession with intent to supply cannabis and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court earlier this month.

Investigating officer DC Aaron Chapman said: “John Small was clearly part of an organised criminal network involved in the supply of cannabis on an industrial scale and the blood stain he left at the storage container coupled with the drugs and cash found in his car were such compelling evidence that he was left with little choice but to admit the offences he had committed.”

Charlie Brabon, Bradlee Reeve, Anthony Wallder, Kai Osibodu, Jalees Selby-Gangera, Enriko Spahiu and Connor Brooks

Seven men were jailed for a total of more than 150 years following a fatal shooting of a 24-year-old man.

The group were sentenced over the murder of Kai McGinley after detectives were able to piece together CCTV evidence, which placed several of them near where he was killed.

An investigation was launched after police were called on February 9 last year to reports of shots fired in Pembroke Road, Erith, where officers and paramedics attended to find Kai shot in the chest and despite the best efforts of emergency services to save him, he died at the scene.

A jury heard that Kai and two friends were driving along Pembroke Road in a Mini Countryman when a Land Rover and Peugeot travelling in the opposite direction came into view. The Land Rover deliberately struck the Mini and the men in it jumped out of the vehicle and those in the Peugeot then got out of the car and fired one or two shotguns at close range at the group in the Mini. Kai was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other passengers in the car suffered minor injuries as they jumped from the car to get away from the attackers.

Through a detailed CCTV investigation, detectives were able to trace the men's steps and seven people were charged between March and September last year and were later convicted and sentenced as follows:

Bradlee Reeve, 34, of Chapman Road, Erith was convicted of murder and section 18 GBH and was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 33 years; Enriko Spahiu, 21, of Elmhurst, Belvedere was convicted of murder and section 18 GBH, he was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 29 years.

Kai Osibodu, 25, of Riverdale Road, Erith was convicted of murder and section 18 GBH and was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 30 years; Jalees Selby-Gangera, 19, of Woodfield Close, Erith was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years.

Connor Brooks, 22, of Horsa Road, Erith was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years; Charlie Brabon, 19, of Byron Drive, Erith was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to nine years and Anthony Wallder, 21, was convicted of murder and section 18 GBH and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 29 years.

James Kang

A man who pretended to be a teenager so he could groom young children online to obtain indecent images and videos was jailed.

James Kang, from Northfleet, befriended multiple girls, as young as 13, with a fake persona in chat rooms between 2018 and 2021.

Having gained the trust of vulnerable victims, the 30-year-old coaxed and often bullied them into doing indecent acts while he watched and he came to the attention of police when officers received information that he had uploaded indecent images of children via his email account.

Officers from Kent Police’s paedophile online investigation team executed a search warrant at his home address on 26 May, 2020, and all his computer devices were seized and he was arrested.

Kang, of Rural Vale, denied committing any offences in an interview and was bailed while the content of his devices underwent digital forensic examination, but investigators found he possessed 12,475 still and moving indecent images of children, many under 10 years of age, of which 2,141 were of the most serious category.

Detectives also discovered evidence of Kang’s grooming activities and painstaking inquiries were completed in an attempt to identify the victims. He was later charged with numerous sex offences against children.

These included causing or inciting a girl aged between 13 and 15 to commit a sexual act, making or attempting to possess an indecent image of a child and intentionally encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007.

He pleaded guilty to 50 charges at Woolwich Crown Court and was sentenced to 10 years in jail and was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Alex Moore

A knife-wielding abuser who put his ex-partner in fear of her life “purposefully rammed” a police car and caused it to be written off when he was confronted.

Alex Moore, of Timberbank, Vigo, was jailed for eight years after admitting to offences including possession of a bladed article in a public place, threats to kill and intentional strangulation.

Police were called on the evening of February 8 to a report that the 47-year-old had threatened and attacked his former partner and a child and officers who arrived at the house followed Moore in his vehicle, but as they tried to pull him over, he sped away from officers, clipping their car.

He then drove to Lower Rainham Road in Gillingham, where he deliberately reversed and rammed into the police car causing the airbags to deploy and smoke to fill the cabin injuring one of the officers who suffered minor injuries.

Moore was arrested in connection with the incidents and he was later charged with several offences including possession of a bladed article in a public place, threats to kill and intentional strangulation as well as assault of an emergency worker, drink driving, dangerous driving, failing to stop and destroying property with intent to endanger life.

He admitted the charges and was jailed earlier this month for eight years at Woolwich Crown Court.

Moore was also handed an indefinite restraining order and a three-year driving ban which will come into force upon his release.

In a victim impact statement, Moore’s former partner revealed his emotional and physical abuse had been happening for 11 years.

Nicholas Fryers

A convicted murderer who stabbed a woman 71 times with a screwdriver in a frenzied attack was jailed for attempted murder.

Dangerous Nicholas Fryers, who was described by one officer as a “genuine threat to all women”, was sentenced to life in prison after viciously stabbing his victim, who found he had pictures of her saved on his phone.

The 57-year-old was working at a Sainsbury’s distribution centre in Dartford on day release when the 140-second assault took place and Fryers had previously served more than 30 years for killing his partner in Wales back in 1993 after he stabbed her with a dagger 23 times.

The attack happened after Fryers’s victim told him she was planning to report him to the authorities and he faced losing his privileges and being sent back to a higher-category jail after the pair had a fallout, but after several days of a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, Fryers changed his plea to guilty for wounding with intent but still denied attempted murder.

However, he was later convicted by the jury and his frenzied attack was caught on camera after meeting his fellow worker in April last year. Two men, who also worked at the site tried to intervene to stop it, but Fryers then got into his vehicle and fled the car park.

The jury heard the victim's thick outer clothing "may have saved her life" as the blows were delivered and that she worked as a "trainer and buddy" for new employees at the depot and met Fryers who was working there under a scheme from HMP Standford Hill on the Isle of Sheppey.

Fryers attacked her head, side, neck, and stomach with a screwdriver and the court heard how her vision went blurry, and she remembered scrabbling on the floor and then getting up.

Sentencing Fryers to life imprisonment earlier this month, Judge Philip St John-Stevens said: “This was a brutal and sustained attack.”

Gary Bentley

A thief was jailed after his DNA was found on tools including shears, a handsaw and a garden fork found at the site of a number of burglaries.

Gary Bentley, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to three break-ins near Tunbridge Wells and to handling stolen property.

On August 7, Bentley went to a house in Lower Green Road, Pembury, and stole food items along with a knife, after damaging a door and window and a garden fork was recovered by officers in the back garden. Bentley’s DNA was found on the handle.

At about the same time, he also broke into a residence in Maidstone Road using some garden shears and stole some jewellery and he was also forensically linked to this burglary.

He was then later found to have taken a necklace to a business in Tonbridge which had been stolen during a break-in earlier in the year in Tunbridge Wells.

On December 18, Bentley used a handsaw to damage a door and stole cash from a building in Stone Court Lane, when on this occasion, his DNA was found on the handsaw.

He also admitted committing criminal damage at a property in Oast Gardens, Pembury, during November 2023.

The 46-year-old appeared before Maidstone Crown Court on July 15 and was sentenced to three years and three months’ imprisonment with two further burglaries and two attempted burglaries ordered to lie on file.

Marius Mazurek

A man who left his girlfriend with “horrific injuries” after pouring boiling water over her face claimed her burns resulted from tripping over a kettle cable.

Marius Mazurek was alleged to have deliberately scalded his victim at her home in Westgate-on-Sea.

Jurors heard a doctor who later asked who had inflicted the injuries was told by the 41-year-old Polish national "I did it", before adding "she was drunk".

But giving evidence at his trial, Mazurek, of Surrey Road, Cliftonville, said he had denied being responsible when asked.

He also told the jury that despite his then-partner's face being red and blistering, he had to "plead" with her to seek medical help because all she wanted to do was "carry on drinking".

Mazurek was found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but was convicted of the less serious, alternative offence of causing grievous bodily harm.

A judge concluded the jury, in reaching its verdicts, must have considered Mazurek to have acted "recklessly" in that he deliberately poured the water over the victim but was "perhaps not quite so aware" of how hot the water was.

Mazurek’s girlfriend to co-operate with police and left the country. She had no part in the trial.

He was convicted of the lesser offence and jailed for 18 months.

Chad Goodall

A prolific burglar and car thief who crashed into and seriously injured a motorcyclist and their passenger while trying to flee police was jailed.

Chad Goodall had been trying to evade capture after raiding several properties of goods including designer handbags, watches, and jewellery.

The 44-year-old targeted homes in Crayford, near Dartford, Sevenoaks, and Surrey between December and February this year when police were first called to an address in Brasted on December 22 where Goodall, of no fixed address, had broken in while the owners were out.

He had stolen several designer handbags, watches, items of jewellery, and an Audi E-Tron, which he left the scene in prior to the arrival of officers and the vehicle used was later tracked to Wilmington where the offender then drove away in a second vehicle he had stolen during another burglary in Crayford, just 10 days earlier.

Police ended up tracking Goodall down and began a car chase with him on February 25 where, in Crockenhill, near Swanley, he veered onto the wrong side of the road, hitting the motorcyclist and passenger before running away on foot, both victims suffered multiple injuries.

Goodall got away but his vehicle was searched and a ‘burglary kit’ of tools such as number plates, gloves, face coverings, a screwdriver, window punches, and a blank car key were seized and he was later arrested in Peckham High Street, London on March 5 where he was found to be driving a stolen Toyota CHR.

A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of a knife, number plates, a toothed hacksaw blade, crowbar, gloves, a face covering, and cannabis and he was later charged and admitted several offences including burglary and causing injury by dangerous driving.

He appeared at Maidstone Crown Court for sentencing where he was jailed for 11 years and six months.

A prolific people smuggler was jailed for almost 10 years for arranging Channel crossings to the UK in small boats.

Albanian national Eglantin Doksani, 24, is likely to have been responsible for transporting hundreds of people across the Channel during 2022.

National Crime Agency (NCA) investigators identified Doksani as associate of Hewa Rahimpur, one of the leaders of a gang involved in moving around 10,000 people to the UK.

Iranian national Rahimpur was arrested by the NCA in east London in 2022 and extradited to Belgium to face trial. He was jailed for 11 years last October.

Doksani acted as an agent for migrants, brokering spaces on boats operated by Rahimpur's network and others and WhatsApp conversations found on Rahimpur's phone showed discussions around people Doksani wanted to move to the UK.

When NCA officers initially arrested Doksani in July 2022 he was living in a flat in the Isle of Dogs and as they arrived, a bag was seen to be thrown from a window which was later found to contain cocaine.

Electronic scales and cutting agents were also found and Doksani was bailed pending further enquiries, but when investigators found more evidence of his people smuggling activities, he was arrested for a second time in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, and it was found he’d used a fraudulent passport to open bank accounts, before using it to deposit his criminal profits.

Following his second arrest, he was charged with facilitating illegal immigration, fraud, money laundering and drug supply offences and later pleaded guilty to seven offences and was jailed for nine years and nine months by a judge at St Albans Crown Court and faces deportation after serving his sentence.

Lewis and Matthew Guess

A court escapee was jailed along with his father who helped him while he was “on the run”.

Lewis Guess was at Canterbury Crown Court on April 4 when, as a judge was about to hand down a sentence for burglary, he vaulted the dock gate and sprinted from the building.

The same court heard earlier this month the 26-year-old, of Chandos Square, Broadstairs, had requested water, but made a dash while the dock officer’s back was turned and he was chased by court security and police officers, but he got away and then boarded a train from Canterbury West Railway Station to his hometown, where he was met by his father, Matthew Guess, 45.

The court heard Matthew Guess topped up Lewis’ phone, did some shopping for him, made some takeaway orders on his behalf, and called Billy Barfoot (a family friend) to tell him Lewis was in need of assistance.

Barfoot, 38, was, like Matthew Guess, charged and sentenced for assisting an offender, while Lewis was sentenced for escape and all three men had entered guilty pleas at an early opportunity and the court heard that despite Barfoot, of Reculver Road, Herne Bay, seeing Lewis Guess “all over the media”, he still housed the escaped convict at his home.

Police arrested the pair at Barfoot’s home on April 10 and Matthew Guess, also of Chandos Square, Broadstairs, was taken into custody the same day.

In an “act of mercy for [his] wife and children” Judge Mark Weekes handed Barfoot a suspended custodial sentence of four months, suspended for 12 months and has to complete 80 hours of unpaid work, attend 20 rehabilitation sessions and complete a one-month, electronically monitored curfew from 8pm to 6am.

Matthew Guess was given an immediate custodial sentence of four months, while his son, Lewis, was handed down a five-month jail term to run consecutively to the sentence he is currently serving for burglary.

Rashaan White

A man was jailed for six years after stabbing his victim outside a railway station in the early hours of the morning.

Rashaan White was sentenced following his involvement in the serious assault outside Canterbury East railway station, which left the male victim requiring hospital treatment.

The incident took place on September 29 last year at about 1am, with White stabbing his victim twice with a knife, but he and fellow perpetrator Joseph Agbata were arrested within a day of the attack, with both then being charged.

The 22-year-old, of Wincheap, later admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for six years at Maidstone Crown Court/

Agbata, also 22, was handed a two-year suspended sentence for unlawful wounding for his involvement.

Using footage filmed by witnesses and local CCTV, officers tracked White to a nearby accommodation building where he was staying and he was arrested at around 3.30pm that afternoon.

Clothing matching the garments he was seen wearing during the attack was found in the room where he was staying, linking him to the offence.

Police in Canterbury were given extra stop and search powers following the attack and one of the officers brought in as part of the response saw Agbata in the area at around 5pm that afternoon and was stopped and arrested.