There were a lot of people who committed crimes and were jailed for the offences last month.

Here’s just some of the criminals including drug-dealers, thugs, thieves, perverts and rapists who were locked up in September.

Travis Horsford

A knifeman who slashed a man's face in revenge for punching a hole in a door was jailed for almost seven years.

Travis Horsford targeted Saffren Marlowe in two separate attacks after he discovered the damage at a friend's property in Ashford.

A court heard the 32-year-old confronted Mr Marlowe in Torrington Road on May 23 and the pair were caught on CCTV squaring up to each other when Horsford pulled out a flick knife and opened the blade before chasing Mr Marlowe but he did not use it and the fracas came to an end.

The next day however, and with what a judge described as a "residual amount of anger left over", Horsford confronted Mr Marlowe for a second time and on this occasion he did use a flick knife, slashing his victim across his face to leave a gaping wound and now permanent scarring.

Mr Marlowe has also since been diagnosed with PTSD, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

Horsford, of High Street, Ashford, later admitted wounding, assault causing actual bodily harm, common assault and two offences of having a bladed article.

He claimed to have been acting in self-defence when he brandished the flick knife during the first confrontation.

But on jailing him for six years and nine months last month, Recorder Sarah Counsell said there was "an element of revenge" to his second attack on Mr Marlowe.

Russell Tillson

A former councillor and "charismatic" teacher at the prestigious Tonbridge School was sent to prison for five years and eight months.

Russell Tillson, 73, remained impassive as a judge told him he was a "highly manipulative and arrogant man who held a distortive belief in his own self-importance”.

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard the economics teacher had groomed two youngsters for his own sexual pleasure and when confronted by one of his brave victims the pervert "just smiled and laughed and didn't show a scintilla of regret, shame or remorse”.

He was eventually sacked by the school but then appealed the decision and negotiated a pay-off, but Tillson, of Ship Close, Dymchurch, was convicted on four of six indecent assault offences dating back many years.

The court heard allegations against Tillson were first aired in 1984 and during his trial, the jury heard how Tillson offered teenagers alcohol with one victim telling the court the pervert put his hands down the front of his trousers and grabbed his genitals and squeezed it so so hard it hurt.

Tillson later served as a deputy leader of Shepway District Council and chairman of Folkestone and Hythe Conservative Association and also sat on New Romney Town Council and Dymchurch Parish Council.

Prosecutor Dominic Connolly had told the court the case concerned sexual assaults by Tillson when he was employed as a teacher at Tonbridge School and that he sexually assaulted victims between 1980 and 2001, when he taught economics at the school and was also Head of Sixth Form.

In February 2019, officers from Kent Police attended Tonbridge School and were provided paperwork that related to an allegation of sexual assault committed by the ex-teacher years earlier and when he asked about his sexuality in court, Tillson described himself as a closet homosexual and told the jury the last time he had sex was with a woman when he was at university.

Barry Robertson

A jealous man who beat his love rival with a metal bike chain and bit his arm when he caught him in bed with his girlfriend was locked up.

Barry Robertson lashed out with the weapon after smashing his way into the Dover home of Lee Shearer.

Despite the trio only knowing each other for three weeks, Canterbury Crown Court was told "sexual jealousy" on finding his lover with him in the early hours of June 5 triggered his violent outburst when he attacked Mr Shearer, leaving him with multiple cuts and bruises.

The 43-year-old then struck a police officer with the Raleigh-branded chain, clipping his cheek, before he was eventually arrested, but last month, for what was described by his own barrister as a "crime of passion", Robertson was jailed for seven years.

Robertson, of Douglas Road, Dover, pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary, possessing an offensive weapon, criminal damage, assault causing actual bodily harm, threatening to kill and assault on an emergency worker.

His girlfriend, along with Mr Shearer had spent the day socialising before heading back to Robertson's home, but Robertson continued drinking and became aggressive towards the woman calling her names and grabbing her, so she and Mr Shearer then went to his home where they were then intimate.

But at about 3am Mr Shearer heard the window being smashed and Robertson screaming and then he saw the defendant with a metal chain in his hand and he immediately started attacking him.

Robertson will have to serve at least two-thirds of his jail term before he can apply for parole.

Bill Winsbury

A one-man crimewave who terrorised shop staff and attacked police, then posted a video of his arrest on TikTok after his lawless spree was finally ended.

Prolific thief Bill Winsbury carried out a string of offences across Thanet and Canterbury over the course of almost six months.

After police apprehended him in July in Margate, the 40-year-old shared the footage on social media.

When Winsbury appeared in court last month, he claimed he was going to be famous and his rapping skills would be showcased on a TV show airing in November.

But Folkestone magistrates jailed him after hearing how he carried out 17 offences between February and July, many while he was subject to a suspended sentence.

The court was told he had stolen goods from various shops and when police apprehended him on July 24, he refused to cooperate with officers, instead lashing out at them and calling one officer a f****t, he also damaged a police van.

Magistrates heard that his crime spree started in Margate on February 4, but he continued to offend and stole thousands of pounds worth of goods over several months and assaulted police until his arrest which was posted online on July 24.

Jair Klein

A paedophile was locked up for 10 years after committing five sexual offences against two children.

Jair Klein, who lived in Margate at the time of his arrest, was investigated after two men came forward stating they had been assaulted more than a decade ago.

In 2019, the Metropolitan Police were contacted by the victims informing them they had been sexually abused – by Klein – in Britain, the USA and France between 2010 and 2014.

The men detailed how Klein had given them gifts and taken them on days out, including to a swimming pool where he would watch them undress and once alone, he would sexually abuse them.

This prompted an investigation to be launched by the Met along with authorities from the USA, France and Israel and Klein, of Majestic Court, was charged on June 11 last year with five counts of sexual activity with the victims when they were aged between 10 and 15 at the time.

The 55-year-old was found guilty at Harrow Crown Court and was sentenced at the Old Bailey last month.

He was jailed for 10 years with a further six years on licence after his release from prison in recognition of the danger he poses and he will also be the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for an indeterminate period.

He was convicted on three counts of sexual activity with a child aged 10 or 11, one count of sexual activity with a child that was aged 13 or 14 and one count of sexual activity with a child that was aged 14 or 15.

Fabio Paulo

A cowardly bully who seared a woman with hair straighteners after repeatedly beating her in a sustained attack was locked up for 16 months.

Fabio Paulo, of Hawkinge, unleashed the harrowing onslaught, which left her with 13 separate injuries, inside her home after she refused to hand over £500.

The 28-year-old kicked and punched his victim, who was known to him, at her home in Eastbourne in March, while demanding money, however, when she refused he plugged in the straighteners and burnt the skin on her shoulder.

She was treated in hospital for more than a dozen injuries, including an imprint on the back of her shoulder where Paulo stamped on her.

The thug, of Blenheim Drive, would later phone the woman’s family and send pictures of her injuries in an attempt to obtain the money.

Initially, he fled the scene when police arrived, stealing the woman’s mobile phone in the process, but was soon tracked down and arrested and Paulo was subsequently charged with assault, blackmail and theft and remanded in custody.

He was sentenced to a total of 16 months imprisonment at Lewes Crown Court last month after pleading guilty to all three offences at an earlier hearing.

He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £187 and was given a five-year restraining order to stay away from her.

Reda Hamoud Abdurabou

A people smuggler who posed for selfies while piloting an overcrowded boat across the channel was jailed.

Reda Hamoud Abdurabou, 25, was sentenced last month to three years and two months after being caught at the rudder of a small boat packed with 50 asylum seekers attempting to reach the UK illegally.

The Egyptian national took charge of the dangerously overcrowded boat in July 2022, and took a selection of pictures of himself with his hand on the tiller.

However, just moments later the dinghy was intercepted by Border Force officers, who reported seeing people balancing on the edge of the inflatable, with others sat on the floor of the boat where fuel-contaminated water was pooling on top of makeshift flooring.

Abdurabou was arrested on arrival in the UK and his mobile phone was seized and he was quickly interviewed, charged and remanded in custody on the same day of his arrival.

Investigating teams found messages on his phone about his attempt to reach the UK illegally, along with the collection of selfies – all of which formed evidence to support his conviction.

Abdurabou was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court last month, after being found guilty of assisting unlawful immigration to the UK and attempting to enter the country illegally.

Chris Foster from the Home Office, said: “This defendant gloated as he risked dozens of lives by crossing the Channel illegally, anyone willing to take the helm of these small boats can expect to be arrested and prosecuted.”

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 the criminals locked up in August click here.

Reece Baker

A thief who punched a security guard and assaulted a shop worker was jailed.

Reece Baker, 31, also stole goods being delivered to a business in Margate High Street.

In April, Baker, of no fixed address, returned multiple times to steal milk and bread which had just been dropped off outside a shop in the town centre.

A month later, after being refused entry to a shop which had previously banned him, Baker made his way into another store, where he became aggressive towards a member of staff, he left, but punched a security guard, following an exchange with him.

Baker also assaulted another shop worker who had tried to assist the security guard in detaining him and after leaving the scene he was found and arrested by officers a short time later.

At Folkestone Magistrates’ Court, Baker was jailed for 120 days after he admitted theft and two counts of assault then after being sentence, he appeared at the court again, and was given a two-year criminal behaviour order which prohibits him from drinking alcohol in public or having an open container of alcohol in public.

The order also prevents Baker from sitting on the ground in front of retail premises during opening hours or obstructing their entrances and he is also forbidden from entering any communal staircase unless there is a relevant reason as set out by the court order.

Officers from Kent Police’s anti-social behaviour (ASB) team worked with the Thanet community safety unit to build a case against Baker, following reports of nuisance behaviour in the town centre.

Shkelzen Vata, Fabio Maloku and Zylfi Hata

A trio of men attempted to flee a drugs bust as officers uncovered a five-storey cannabis factory with a potential turnover of half a million pounds.

As police burst into the site on School Lane in Ramsgate, Shkelzen Vata, Fabio Maloku and Zylfi Hata, all of no fixed address, tried to escape via the back door.

But the criminals were swiftly apprehended before officers inspected the building which had been converted from offices into a cannabis growing and preparation space, along with living quarters.

Between the basement, three floors and the building’s attic, more than 1,000 plants at different stages of growth were discovered during the raid on June 1.

Officers also found rooms filled with fans, heaters, 291 lights and other equipment used to grow and prepare the contraband for sale and detectives estimate that in total, the illegal haul could have ultimately fetched between £105,000 and £540,000.

Following an investigation the three offenders, Vata, 21, Maloku, 22, and Hata, 35, were charged with being concerned in the production of cannabis.

Hata and Maloku claimed that they had been threatened by masked men and pressurised to work at the cultivation plant, but the judge rejected this explanation.

All three crooks admitted the charges and were sentenced on at Canterbury Crown Court, Vata, received a 22-month custodial sentence, while Hata and Maloku were each jailed for two years and one month.

Jamie Kennedy

A "devious and conniving" child rapist brought to justice by his fiancée after she discovered naked photos of young girls on his phone was jailed for 17 years.

A judge told paedophile Jamie Kennedy, who targeted his victims over a period spanning almost a quarter of a century, that his behaviour was "the definition of a predator" and should serve as a warning to female children and parents.

The 41-year-old showed no emotion as he learned his fate last month and was told he must serve at least two-thirds before he can apply for parole.

Once he is released, he will then have a further three years added to any licence period.

Kennedy, of Herne Bay, was convicted in July of a catalogue of depraved offences including rape, sexual activity with children, and possessing indecent images following a trial at Canterbury Crown Court.

Jurors heard his grooming of a series of girls aged between 11 and 16 involved him plying them with "expensive and extravagant" gifts, making promises of a modelling career, and then blackmailing them with threats of posting images they had sent him on social media.

He posed online as a 13-year-old boy when targeting his youngest victim and as a photographer with another.

Having made the horrific discovery of the indecent images sent to Kennedy via Instagram just a few days after giving birth to their daughter in 2016, his partner had the courage to download all his deviant communications and then alerted police.

Mark Clover

A paedophile litter picker who claimed in sexually explicit online chats with young girls to have been a youth worker was jailed.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that Mark Clover, from Folkestone, communicated with a 12-year-old girl via WhatsApp over a four-and-a-half month period and tried to get her to send him an image of her naked breasts.

Their conversations between March and July 2019 began innocently, with Clover telling her he was a "good and loyal person" and she was "beautiful".

However, they were soon filled with references to puberty, male genitals and a sex toy, but when that chat came to an end after his perverted request for the topless photo was refused, Clover moved onto Kik messenger where he told his 14-year-old victim he was looking for "role play and maybe love".

But he claimed during his trial he was not responsible for any of the deviant conversations, despite admitting to police after his arrest that his phone was with him "24/7, nines times out of 10" but the 36-year-old also told the court he would lend his phone to others to use, and spoke of his email account being hacked.

Clover, of Trinity Gardens, who was a volunteer litter picker in Folkestone between November 2018 and July 2019, also dismissed his "brief" use of a TeenChat app as being for role play and finding people of his age to date.

He claimed that an online search for child pornography related to his coursework for an NVQ in childcare.

He denied inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, and attempted sexual communication with a child, but was convicted on all charges and was jailed for two years and seven months and on his release, will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order and will have to sign on the sex offender register indefinitely.

Ciaran Stewart, Kelvin Amoako, Bartosz Malawski, Nathan Rainforth, Donte Simpson-Palmer, Charles Reilly and Moahammed Miah

Members of a gang were jailed after a man was killed during a robbery invovling a cannabis haul.

Xhovan Pepaj lost his life in December 2021 when the group tried to steal weed plants from a property in Caley Road, Tunbridge Wells.

Ciaran Stewart, 20, from Hornchurch, Essex, was found guilty of murder and had previously admitted conspiracy to commit robbery, he was jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 26 years.

Kevin Amoako, 18, from Ilford, and Bartosz Malawski, 28, from Croydon, were both found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit robbery and were both jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 22 years.

Nathan Rainforth, 22, from Essex, was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years; Donte Simpson-Palmer, 19, from London was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery and was jailed for six years.

Charles Reilly, 28, from Essex, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery and was locked up for 10 years and Mohammed Miah, 26, from Romford, Essex was found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery and was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Five other men were convicted conspiracy to commit robbery and found not gulity of manslaughter at other courts and Ray Renda, 23, of Albany Road, Brentwood, Essex, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery and all of the men will be sentenced on October 30.

Raymond Bareham

A elderly predator who preyed on a grief-stricken teenager while she mourned the loss of a loved-one was locked up.

Raymond Bareham lured the girl – who was more than 50 years younger than him – to a nearby orchard where he carried out the first of a series of sex attacks.

The 76-year-old, of Sheerstone, Iwade, was jailed for 18-and-a-half years for multiple rape and sex assault offences at Maidstone Crown Court and was told he will be in his late 80s before he will be eligible for release.

But as his victim sobbed in the public gallery, Bareham showed no pity for her and Judge Oliver Saxby KC told him he had exploited the vulnerable teenager at a time when she was dealing with grief and then began asking about sex.

Married Bareham then began plying his victim with drink, claiming he was in love with her and saying the person she was grieving would approve of their affair.

After his offences came to the attention of the police, Bareham drove his victim to the station so she could retract her statement.

However, a jury didn’t believe him and convicted him of eight rape and sex assault charges and another of perverting the course of justice.

He had earlier admitted one sex charge and is now subject to a lifetime ban from contacting his victim.

Carl Currey

A convicted killer who once gave a guard the slip as he took a pee during a day-release trip to an aquarium was back behind bars after “escaping” for a second time.

Lifer Carl Currey made headlines in 2004 when he went on the run after his accompanying prison officer nipped off to the toilet while visiting the popular tourist spot in Plymouth.

The then 37-year-old, who had reportedly been allowed out of category C HMP Channings Wood in Newton Abbot, Devon, as a “treat”, fled to Spain where he remained for several years and committed further offences, including murder, before being apprehended.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard last month that Currey was an inmate at Standford Hill open prison on Sheppey when he went AWOL again.

On this occasion he had been trusted to return after being granted a four-day temporary release in January last year.

Currey, however, "could not face going back", it was said, and went on the run.

It was another 10 months before he was eventually discovered by chance at a property in Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex and arrested.

The 57-year-old later pleaded guilty to remaining unlawfully at large and was jailed for 12 months.

Kelly Jones

An ex-soldier who "viciously" beat up a pensioner in his bedsit and then strangled his elderly dog to death was jailed.

Kelly Jones, who served in the Falklands War, punched, kicked and stamped on Martin Marsh and then took his 15-year-old pet into the bathroom and throttled him with a cord.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the horrific act was committed after a cocaine-fuelled Jones had told 66-year-old Mr Marsh he should have the dog, called Jack-Jack, put down.

The two men had only known each other for a week when Jones, 56, turned up shouting outside Mr Marsh's home in Folkestone late one night in April.

A row broke out when he complained about the state of the property and Jones punched Mr Marsh in the face and the attack continued with him being kicked and punched and stamped on his head.

Jones, of Station Road, New Romney, eventually fell asleep on a sofa and, on waking the next morning, apologised, but then then turned his attention to Mr Marsh's dog and took the animal into the bathroom, put a cord around its neck and strangled him to death.

Jones, who has 33 previous convictions for 63 offences, later admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

He was jailed for 27 months for the assault on Mr Marsh, and handed a concurrent prison term of 19 weeks for killing the pet and was also given a three-year restraining order.

Johnathon Marren

A teenage girl was praised for her bravely in speaking out to put a “dangerous” child predator who groomed her behind bars.

Johnathon Marren, of Cecilia Road in Ramsgate, committed multiple online sex offences after contacting the youngster on social media.

He first started talking to the teenager online in December 2020 before beginning a weeks-long grooming campaign.

In January 2021, the victim, who is from Warwickshire, approached the police with the support of her family and detectives were able to build a case against Marren and arrested him.

When he was interviewed, Marren remained silent and only surrendered passwords to his electronic devices when he was warned it was an offence not to do so.

The 26-year-old was subsequently charged with attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, causing a child to view images of sexual activity, possessing indecent photographs and attempting to meet a girl following grooming.

Last month, Marren was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in a hearing at Warwick Crown Court.

Lee Morgan

A Kent member of a gun gang was locked up after a shooting inside a restaurant full of customers at a London venue.

Lee Morgan, of Leybourne near Maidstone, was handed five years for his part in the conspiracy, which saw his accomplice unleash shots into eatery.

The 42-year-old was sentenced alongside Nicholas Grant, 46, of no fixed abode and Elton Charles, 50 of Liddell Gardens, Kensal Rise.

They were found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence following a five-week trial at Kingston Crown Court.

Charles and Grant were both handed five-year prison sentences.

Meanwhile, Nathanial St Aimie, of MacMillan Way, Tooting, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

The 49-year-old was jailed for six years and three months.

This trial came following the incident at the restaurant in Greenford Road, Ealing at around 9.30pm on September 6, 2022, when one of the shots wer fired through the window.

Michael Dunn

A knife-wielding shoplifter crashed during his getaway and held a knife to the neck of a delivery driver as he tried to steal their vehicle.

Michael Dunn had previously brandished the weapon at a security guard and members of the public after stealing alcohol from a supermarket in Maidstone.

During the evening of July 12, the 50-year-old loaded a shopping basket with bottles of spirits and walked through the entry barriers of Morrisons in Sutton Road without making any attempt to pay.

A security guard intervened and Dunn threatened them with a knife, before returning to his car with the stolen items and as Dunn drove from the store he crashed into another car, leaving his vehicle unusable and then he fled on foot brandishing the knife in surrounding streets at several members of the public.

During this time, Dunn tried to steal a vehicle being used by a delivery driver and held the knife to the victim’s throat, but he was unable to drive away, as the keys had snapped in the ignition after the victim tried to remove them, and again ran from the scene.

Officers had by then located Dunn’s car, which still contained the stolen alcohol, security tags and shopping basket and tracked him down to a garden near Bell Road where Dunn had been making threats to the resident, demanding they let him in.

Dunn, of no fixed address, was arrested was charged and later pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to robbery, attempted robbery, making threats to kill, and possession of a knife in a public place.

He also admitted driving while disqualified and driving without insurance and was sentenced to six years and four months in prison.

Bradley Dobson

A heartless conman stole a van knowing that the owner was selling it to raise money for his parents who had been victims of fraud, a court heard.

Bradley Dobson, who had not long been released from prison, even callously offered an extra £500 above the asking price of £4,500 to help out with the fundraising efforts.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard the recidivist thief and fraudster simply drove off in the Ford Transit without handing over any money.

Brazenly, he then sold the vehicle for £500, only to steal it back later that day with a £2,000 quad bike in the rear.

The 49-year-old, who has 22 previous convictions for 53 offences, continued with his audacious week-long crime spree in Medway and Swale by then duping the owner of a breaker's yard into buying the two vehicles for £500.

Undeterred, he went on to trick a couple into handing over £160 for fence repairs he never carried out and the court heard that Dobson also told his victims a number of sob stories, including that he was recovering from chemotherapy and a grieving father.

But he was eventually arrested after an appeal for help on Facebook by van owner Liam Feekings led him to discover it had been sold to an unsuspecting Jack Courtney and then re-stolen.

Dobson, formerly of Dumergue Avenue, Queenborough, was jailed for three years and four months after admitting two offences of theft and three of fraud.

Cameron Jeffery

A drunk thug smashed up high street shops before kicking a police officer following a drinking binge.

Cameron Jeffery targeted a newsagent in Staplehurst High Street, near Tonbridge, where he broke a glass panel on the shop’s front door.

The 20-year-old of Vale Road, Hawkhurst, then walked to a second business where he proceeded to kick the shop’s front door and caused it to smash onto the floor.

When officers attended the area Jeffery was found on Station Road, where he was drunk and while attempting to arrest him he was aggressive and threatened to headbutt, spit at, and assault them.

He was arrested and went on to assault one of the officers by kicking them, during the ordeal in the early hours of Tuesday, March 7.

He also caused further criminal damage while in custody, where he spat several times and also threw his meal across his cell.

Following the investigation Jeffery was charged with three counts of criminal damage, assault by beating of an emergency worker and being drunk and disorderly in a public place.

He appeared at Maidstone Crown Court last month where he pleaded guilty to the charges and he was sentenced to one year and seven months in jail, which included the activation of a one-year suspended sentence for a previous offense.

Sam Hemmingway

A dealer was locked up after being caught with drugs, cash and a knuckleduster.

Sam Hemmingway was arrested after police raided his home in Millfield, Hawkinge last year on Thursday, October 27.

Quantities of cannabis were seized, along with a knuckleduster, more than £40,000 in cash and mobile phones.

Analysis of phone messages by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate showed Hemmingway had been involved in buying and selling significant quantities of drugs worth more than £50,000.

He was charged with supplying Class B drugs, possession of criminal property, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis.

The 34-year-old was jailed for two years and three months at Canterbury Crown Court last month after admitting to all of charges at a previous hearing.

After sentencing, DS Jay Robinson said: “The sale of drugs all too often leads to knock-on crime and anti-social behaviour in our communities and criminals who profit from the trade can expect to be arrested and jailed.

“The weapon Hemmingway kept at his home shows the violence that regularly goes hand-in-hand with drug dealing and I am pleased we have removed him from the streets of Kent.”

Mark Riley

A pensioner conned out of thousands in life-savings by a rogue builder died before seeing justice last month.

Neville Doherty, who was in his 60s, retired, and lived alone, was repeatedly ripped off by Mark Riley, 50, after Riley initially offered to do some gardening at his Ramsgate home in July 2020.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that having agreed a price of £1,000, the fraudster went on to swindle Mr Doherty out of a staggering £50,000 in just seven weeks by convincing him other work was needed.

This was limited to clearing weeds and overgrown plants, erecting new fences, rendering and painting external walls, clearing guttering and painting roof tiles.

As each job finished, another was suggested, prosecutor Bridget Todd told the court, and Mr Doherty would hand over £2,000 in cash at a time.

He later told police he had been left feeling “empty and foolish” by Riley, whose deceit included claims he had 10 employees and had to “pay the boys”.

Riley, who lives in a caravan park in Military Road, Ramsgate, was arrested in October 2021 and, having denied one offence of fraud, faced a trial.

But just four days before the case was due to get underway last month, Riley admitted his guilt and was jailed for jailed for two years and seven months, which was also when the prosecution said Mr Doherty had died eight months previously.

Nrender Biriah

A serial shoplifter was banned from more than 40 shops and all Co-ops in Kent.

Nrender Biriah, 47, stole stole £44 of laundry tablets from a supermarket in Dartford shopping centre on August 14 and was arrested four days later.

Between February 2020 and August 2023, Biriah, of no fixed address, repeatedly stole from businesses in Gravesend.

He appeared before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Monday, August 18, where he pleaded guilty to the Dartford shoplifting offence.

But due to the profilic nature of his offending, police applied for him to be barred from 43 stores in Gravesend as well as every Co-op in the county.

The application for the criminal behaviour order by Kent Police’s Strategic Prevention Command was heard and approved by magistrates last month when Biriah was also sentenced to four weeks in prison.

Under the terms of the order, Biriah must not attend any of the 43 stores that belong to the Gravesham Safe and Free Environment – a business crime reduction partnership between businesses, Gravesham Borough Council and Kent Police - for the next two years.

He is prohibited from entering any Co-op stores in the county without express permission.

Mohammed Maow

A member of a violent gang, who took part in an armed attack on a house in Rochester in 2021 was finally been sentenced.

Mohammed Maow was convicted with three pals after a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

And, while three of them are already serving sentences of seven years or more, the 28-year-old had to wait to hear his fate.

Last month, Maow, of St George's Court, East Ham, London was told that because of the delay, Judge Catherine Moore has cut his sentence by six months.

He received a jail term of six years and nine months after being convicted of the robbery.

The court heard how other gang members including Maow and David Akande travelled in convoy with two other cars to an address in Mercury Close near Shorts Way, Borstal on February 4, 2021.

Maow, Akande, 34, Mahei Ahmad, Thami Ngqobongwana and another unidentified man then forced their way into a house where one of them punched a man after demanding money.

After the victim gave over his wallet, which contained two two credit cards, his mother was also threatened before the gang fled the premises as a terrified teenager locked herself in an upstairs room.

Gareth Lucas

A man who tried to arrange a meeting with underage girls for sex but never showed up received an extended 11-year jail sentence – on his birthday.

Gareth Lucas claimed the meetings with children he believed were younger than 14 years old were just in his imagination.

Lucas, of Hollingworth Road in Maidstone, was in fact talking not to children but to a police officer when he requested sex images from them and later he said he had got "cold feet" but the jury at Maidstone Crown Court believed the proposed rendezvous was made for the purpose of arranging sexual activities with children.

The court heard how between August and November 2019, Lucas used Facebook and WhatsApp to repeatedly ask for sex images from someone he thought was a schoolgirl – telling her he wanted to have sex with her.

Lucas asked her to swap images after urging his victim to strip before requesting sex and the court heard how because of a backlog he wasn't charged with the six sex offences, including attempting to contact a child for sex purposes, for more than a year.

Last month, on the day he turned 31, he received an immediate seven-year jail term and the judge added another four years which will be served on licence when he has been released.

Lucas will be on the sex offenders’ register for life and was made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years.

Jack Ewbank

A professional boxer caught with a stash of cocaine worth up to £35,000 says dealing the drug was the “biggest mistake” of his life.

Welterweight Jack Ewbank was arrested after police stopped his car in Bouverie Place, Folkestone, and found four clipped seal bags containing the Class A substance.

A search of the 33-year-old's home then revealed a further 340g of cocaine divided into 12 packages, Canterbury Crown Court heard last month.

Prosecutor Nasreen Shah said the total amount of drugs was worth between £27,760 and £34,700 and that police had been acting on "intelligence" when they pulled Ewbank over.

A phone was also seized and among its 36,000 messages were those "indicative of drug supply", she added.

A number of pill jars which Ewbank told police related to a new business venture called Level Up were found to be probiotic supplements.

Ewbank, who ran a boxing gym in Ashford, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possessing criminal property in respect of £440 cash he also had when arrested on August 21, 2021.

Judge Simon Taylor KC jailed Ewbank for two years and five months.

Toby Able

A drug dealer who used bulk text messages to sell heroin and crack cocaine was jailed for more than three years.

Toby Able was sentenced to three years and two months’ imprisonment at Maidstone Crown Court last month after pleading guilty to supplying both crack cocaine and heroin.

In March, the 22-year-old was initially identified as a suspect after police seized a phone from a woman arrested for Class A drug supply offences.

Subsequent inquiries, including an examination of the phone, identified Able, of Maidstone Road, Chatham, as the holder of a phone number that had been used to send marketing messages to drug users in Medway.

A search warrant was carried out at Able’s home on July 6 and police found two phones which had been used to send the messages.

He was arrested and later charged.

DS Kelly Leventis, of Kent Police’s County Line and Gangs Team, said: “Able spent four months as a key player in this supply chain of Class A drugs to the Medway Towns.

“He reaped significant financial benefit from taking advantage of addiction and showed little understanding of the corrosive effects his offending will have had on the towns and neighbourhoods he targeted.”

Gezem Shabani and Alexksander Caushi

A police raid on a commercial-scale cannabis factory needed the help of firefighters to break open reinforced doors, a court heard.

Officers were thwarted by the “very securely locked” unit on the Park Farm Industrial Estate in Folkestone where there was a "sophisticated and vast" cultivation operation spread over two floors.

Once the doors had been cut open on July 28, police found 504 mature plants and 1,877 smaller ones, together with the necessary equipment and chemicals and also found hiding inside the building were "gardeners" Gezem Shabani, 46, and Alexksander Caushi, 31.

They were arrested and later pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of a Class B drug and Canterbury Crown Court heard the defendants, both Albanian nationals, played "significant" roles in an ongoing, large operation.

As to the size of the factory, prosecutor Peter Cruickshank said it was capable of producing commercial quantities of cannabis and Shabani, a construction worker who came to the UK illegally in a small boat in September last year, claimed he was homeless and jobless when he was offered £1,500 per month to tend to the plants.

He planned to use the money to pay off the £6,000 he paid to people-smugglers, as well as his daughter's £4,000 medical bills, said his barrister Kerry Waite.

Caushi, who was in the country legally on a Greek passport, claimed he was to be paid £50 a day, but the court heard heard there was no evidence of any payment to either man.

Jailing each of them for 18 months, Recorder Amy Nicholson said although she accepted they had been "down on their luck", the drugs operation would not have been successful without their involvement.

Duncan Friend

A Sittingbourne businessman was jailed for stalking a former contestant from Love Island after the two fell out.

Father of two Duncan Friend, 51, fell for Tyla Carr at a party and then splashed out on designer shoes and a bag after a trip to Selfridges.

He would later claim it was in exchange for tickets to a film Premiere in London - which never materialised, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

The two then fell out after he alleged she claimed to have cancer and they shared messages after he demanded the return of the items, including Jimmy Choo shoes.

Construction company boss Friend, of Woodstock Court, Sittingbourne, made 40 calls and resulted in him driving to a friend of Ms Carr, in Chatham, armed with a machete, which he waved about while uttering threats of violence.

It was caught on CCTV and police became concerned for her welfare and Friend, who pleaded guilty to stalking after the trial was due to start, was jailed for 27 months.

He had earlier admitted to possessing an offensive weapon.

The 26-year-old model from Surrey was a contestant on the third series of Love Island and is described as "an internet personality."

Ryan Nicholl

A drug dealer involved in a "sophisticated and successful" operation trading cocaine and heroin to the tune of at least £1.2m was jailed for 16 years.

Builder and property developer Ryan Nicholl, of Folkestone, played a leading role in the purchase and onward distribution of the drugs between March 28 and June 13 2020.

By communicating through the encrypted phone network known as Encrochat and favoured by organised crime groups, and using the handle 'Lawfulshark', the 38-year-old was linked to deals involving 32kg of cocaine and 1kg of heroin, as well as "similar quantities" of cannabis and ketamine.

Canterbury Crown Court heard these amounts related to actual purchases and sales that went ahead, although it was initially suspected he was involved in as much as 120kg of drugs.

Although it was accepted father-of-four Nicholl was not the only person to use 'Lawfulshark', prosecutor Don Ramble told the court he was the "primary" user.

Nicholl, of Tram Road, was arrested in November 2020 and pleaded guilty a year later to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs cocaine and heroin, and conspiracy to supply Class B drugs ketamine and cannabis.

Nicholl's younger brother Jordan Nicholl was also arrested in November 2020 and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis and money-laundering.

The 33-year-old, then of Atkinson Road, Folkestone, was jailed by the same judge for four-and-a-half years in June last year but has since been released.

Nabil Abozid and Nigel Williams

Two burglars were tackled by a workman and a retired police officer as they attempted to break into houses.

Nabil Abozid and Nigel Williams were caught after attempting to burgle homes in Tunbridge Wells on October 21.

Police believe the pair travelled from London by train with the intention of committing the crimes, but were disturbed each time they tried, when they first gained entry to a house in Church Road but were disturbed by the occupants in the hallway.

The intruders pretended they had been looking for bed and breakfast lodgings, asked the victims not to call the police, and then left but a short while later, the pair managed to open the front door of a property in Meadow Hill but were unable to get into one of the internal flats.

They then rang the doorbell at a house occupied by a retired police officer who, suspecting their motives, followed them as they made their way to Mount Pleasant Avenue and once there, the pair entered another house but were disturbed by a woman who chased them outside.

The victim called to some workmen to stop the burglars and one of them tripped Abozid, who fell to the floor and he was briefly restrained by one of the workmen and the retired police officer but broke free, but was quickly caught by officers who arrived at the scene.

Abozid, of Blackfriars Road, Lambeth later charged with three burglaries, while accomplice made his way back to London but was promptly identified as the second offender and arrested at his home in Druid Street, Bermondsey the following day and also charged with the three burglaries.

Both men pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court last month and Abozid, 47, was sentenced to three years and three months’ imprisonment and Williams, 50, was jailed for three years and 10 months.

Bilal Tozsu

A man was jailed for more than three years after being found to have laundered more than £4 million for organised crime groups.

Bilal Tozsu, from Margate, travelled throughout the UK collecting the money on behalf of gangs which had been obtained through criminal activity.

In March, the 44-year-old was stopped in his car on the M4 at Magor near Newport by officers from Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales, working in partnership with Gwent Police.

During a search of his vehicle officers found bags of large bundles of cash, later confirmed to total more than £285,000.

The subsequent investigation into Tozsu’s activities revealed the full extent of his role in aiding organised crime.

Det Con Sean Meyrick, from Tarian’s Regional Disruption team, said: “Bilal Tozsu played a significant role in helping organised crime groups benefit from the proceeds of crime.

“The money recovered during this investigation has been prevented from reaching the hands of those who would use it to inflict the most harm upon our region.”

Last month he was jailed for 40 months for transferring criminal property contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Paris Campbell-Mitchell

A second person was jailed for distracting a terminally ill pensioner so her accomplice could steal cash he was saving for his own funeral.

Paris Campbell-Mitchell was sent to in prison for her role in the crime, which left Ramsgate man Terry Price “with nothing”.

The 66-year-old died after a lengthy cancer battle in January, just weeks after the crime, but told KentOnline at the time of the burglary he “wanted the scum to be punished”.

The offence took place on the afternoon of November 12 last year, when Campbell-Mitchell visited the victim – who she knew – at his home in Leopold Road and convinced him to go shopping with her.

While she and the victim were out, Mark Queen entered the property and emptied a cash box beside his bed of all of its contents.

Messages recovered by police during the ensuing investigation showed Campbell-Mitchell, of Victoria Road, Ramsgate asking Queen: 'How much you got?'.

He replied: 'Dead on 3', believed to refer to the £3,000 stolen from Mr Price and when she was arrested on Friday, November 25, Campbell-Mitchell was found in possession of £300 in cash, as well as a recently purchased iPad and Nintendo Switch.

The 26-year-old was told given a 34-month prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Court last month after admitting burglary at an earlier hearing and Queen was jailed for three years and four months at the same court for the same offence in February this year.

Leslie Gearing

A paedophile was jailed after he travelled more than 100 miles to meet an underage girl which turned out to be a police decoy.

Leslie Gearing, 78, went from his home in McKenzie Road, Chatham, to Central Park in Peterborough on February 20 after arranging to meet up with a 13-year-old girl.

He began grooming the “girl” online in December, exchanging messages and sending multiple sexually-explicit images and he asked all traces be cleared of their conversations and said any photos he received would be put in an encrypted folder on his computer’s hard drive.

Gearing complimented the girl’s appearance but unbeknown to him he was speaking to an undercover police officer and Gearing said she was a “very pretty girl” and he wanted to take naked photos of her and have sex.

He was arrested upon his arrival in Peterborough in a pre-planned operation carried out by members of the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) and a search of his car found child-size underwear, sex toys and camera equipment.

More than 30,000 indecent images of children were discovered on different devices in his home and a further examination found more sexual communications with children and adults, with some attempts to arrange sexual activities with minors.

Last month at Cambridge Crown Court, Gearing was jailed for three years and 11 months after pleading guilty to three counts of making indecent photographs of a child, three counts of attempted sexual communication with a child and two counts of causing a child aged 13 to 15 to watch or look at an image of sexual activity.

He also admitted two counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child, one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming and was found guilty of a further count of attempting to meet a child under 16 following grooming and this was ordered to lie on file.

Abdul Basset Ahmed

A teenager assisted in a people-smuggling operation after watching TikTok videos on how to enter the UK illegally, a court heard.

Abdul Basset Ahmed, 18, piloted a small inflatable boat crammed with 58 other passengers across the Channel just days after the British government had announced a crackdown on the brazen social media "promotions".

Canterbury Crown Court heard the Ahmed had agreed to take control of the rib two days before it set off from France on August 14.

The Sudanese national later told police he was given a "€600 discount" by those in charge of the illicit enterprise for doing so, and was in control of the boat "from start to finish" before it was intercepted by the Border Force.

The court heard he said he did not know it was illegal to pilot a boat but he knew he was entering the UK illegally and he stated he watched TikTok videos on how to do so.

Ahmed pleaded guilty to assisting in the facilitation of unlawful immigration and attempting to arrive in the UK without valid entry clearance.

Just eight days earlier, the government had announced that tech giants including TikTok had signed up to an initiative to work with the National Crime Agency in finding and removing the criminal adverts.

Sentencing Ahmed for two years last month, Judge Simon James said he believed "the primary reason" he had been charged with the more serious facilitation offence was due to his "full and frank admissions".

Dvontre McCalla

A proactive stop by a Gillingham police officer has resulted in a prison sentence for a county line dealer.

In April, a constable was on patrol in The Great Lines area when they saw two people known to be drug users. One of these shouted that the police were nearby and the officer immediately approached two people they suspected the user had been trying to warn, Dvontre McCalla and Derya Tuzen.

The pair were sitting on a bench and McCalla surreptitiously threw a mobile phone in a bush while Tuzen disposed of a package in the same location.

Both were detained for a drug search and a lock-knife was seized from McCalla’s waistband and he admitted he had drugs hidden in his clothing and a plastic bag with 17 wraps of crack cocaine and 30 deals of heroin was recovered.

The pair were arrested and the package was located in the bush and it was found to contain 88 wraps of crack cocaine and 64 deals of heroin.

The constables also seized a knife from Tuzen’s pocket, two mobile phones and a quantity of cash.

McCalla, of Davenport Road, Hither Green, and Tuzen, of Purchese Street, Camden Town, were both later charged with possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, possession of heroin with intent to supply and possessing a knife in a public place and McCalla was also charged with possession of criminal property (namely the seized cash).

Both pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court last month and 27-year-old McCalla was jailed for a total of four years and six months and Tuzen, 25, received a prison sentence of one year and ten months, suspended for two years.