It was another busy month for the court system with murderers, rapists and fraudsters all locked up for their crimes.

We take a look at all the people taken off our streets in July.

Reece Mathurin and Aaron Bafi

Two county line dealers were jailed for selling Class A drugs in Medway.

Officers searched the London home of Reece Mathurin, 24, as part of their investigation into the supply of cocaine in Chatham.

As they entered the property the suspect ran upstairs but was detained with six wraps of cocaine in his pocket.

A further search found 50 crack cocaine deals in the premises along with around £2,000 in cash, and a phone that co-ordinated the drug supply network and some cannabis.

At around the same time, another search was carried out at an address used by the criminal network in Ordnance Street, Chatham.

Aaron Bafi ran from the second address as the officers entered, discarding a large knife as he fled. He was arrested nearby in possession of two mobile phones and more than £900 in cash.

Mathurin, of Maysoule Road, Battersea was later charged with possessing cocaine with intent to supply, possessing crack cocaine with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, possessing heroin with intent to supply, being concerned in the supply of heroin, possessing criminal property (namely the seized cash) and possessing cannabis.

Bafi, of The Chase, Clapham was charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine, being concerned in the supply of heroin, possessing a knife in a public place and possessing criminal property.

Both men pleaded guilty and, at Maidstone Crown Court, Mathurin was sentenced to four years and three months in prison. Bafi, 20, was jailed for three years and four months.

Luke Stewart-Day

A burglar was locked up after raiding the property which once housed a knight killer of martyr Thomas Becket.

Barham Court at Teston was broken into by thief Luke Stewart-Day and a judge heard how a building in the grounds of the Georgian Grade II listed property was targeted by him.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how he was in one of two cars spotted on CCTV when raiders smashed their way inside the brick building.

Barham Court is where Reginald Fitz Urze resided more than 900 years ago before he fled to Ireland after the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The raid caused more than £9,000 damage before and saw the raiders fleeing with nearly £3,000 of gardening equipment.

Stewart-Day was caught after his DNA was discovered inside the building and when police raided his home they found parts of a stolen hedgetrimmer.

The 32-year-old of Coombe Road, Maidstone, pleaded guilty to the burglary and was jailed for 12 months.

Michael Williams

A burglar who stole computer tablets, phones and a bank card from a home while the occupants were sleeping was locked up.

Michael Williams targeted an address near Watling Street in Gillingham.

The 44-year-old also stole wallets, bank cards and a handbag before leaving the scene in the early hours of May 31.

Officers examined CCTV footage and recovered images of Williams in the area after the break-in.

He was seen to place the stolen handbag in a bin and also returning home in possession of the victims’ phone and a laptop computer.

He also unsuccessfully tried to withdraw £250 from a cash machine using one of the stolen bank cards.

Williams, of Napier Road, Gillingham was identified by local officers who viewed the footage, and was arrested on 1 June.

A camcorder that had been stolen in the break-in was recovered at the rear of his home and he was charged with burglary and fraud.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was jailed for four years and seven months.

Michael Stainer

A crooked businessman who cheated the taxman out of almost £500,000 by pocketing deductions from employee wages was jailed for three years.

Michael Stainer committed the massive fraud over a four-year period while running The Grand on Folkestone seafront and a number of other companies.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court found the 74-year-old guilty of two counts of cheating the public revenue and one of fraud by false representation.

During the trial the court heard how money taken from staff pay packets and meant for HMRC was scooped up by Mr Stainer.

The swindle was said to total £473,097.07.

His wife, 60-year-old Doris Stainer, had appeared charged with the same crimes but was found not guilty.

Speaking following the jury's verdict in May, Richard Wilkinson, assistant director of the HMRC fraud investigation service, said: "We welcome the conviction of Michael Stainer, an employer who was stealing from his own staff.

"Instead of lining his pockets with their stolen tax contributions, this money should have been funding our vital public services, such as hospitals and schools."

Ethan Broderick-Porter

A teenager who violently attacked passers-by in a series of unprovoked and senseless assaults was jailed.

Ethan Broderick-Porter set upon several people "simply going about their business" in Margate in the evening of violence - repeatedly kicking one man in the head with the help of another yob.

On Friday, January 14, the 19-year-old had been in the town centre with a group of young people, including accomplice Charlie Parker, 18.

Broderick-Porter ran up behind the first victim, a man in his 60s, in Queen Street and dragged him to the ground before both he and Parker then kicked him in the head and back.

The pair then left but Broderick-Porter, of Northdown Road in Cliftonville, later returned to Queen Street and punched another man who was walking along, cutting the man’s face.

He then punched a third man at least three times, again causing cuts to the victim's face.

When police arrested Broderick-Porter he kicked one of the officers in the face, causing facial injuries.

He was jailed for 23 months at Canterbury Crown Court, after admitting attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault and assaulting an emergency worker.

Parker, of Victoria Road, Margate, who took part in the first attack, was sent to a Young Offenders' Institution for 10 months.

Dedawan Kakel

A violent robber who attacked a shopkeeper with a cricket bat was jailed for four years.

Dedawan Kakel, 25, and three others travelled from the West Midlands to raid a shop in Medway.

On March 8 last year at around 7.30pm, Kakel and his group approached a business in Darnley Road, Strood, where a staff member was working alone.

They hit him on the head, causing him to fall to the floor. One of the attackers had a knife and, as the victim protected himself, he suffered a cut to his hand.

The robbers, who had their BMW parked in nearby Dart Close, left with cash from the till.

Kakel, of Middlesbrough, was arrested on July 21 and then charged with robbery. He was found guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.

Reece Armstrong

Another thug now residing at Her Majesty's pleasure is Reece Armstrong, who lunged at a police dog with a zombie knife before fleeing.

The 26-year-old told an officer "I'm going to kill your dog" when they responded to reports of a fight between two men in Folkestone on March 23.

After initially interacting well, his mood changed and he brandished a large zombie knife from his hoodie.

He became very aggressive and moved towards the officer and police dog Blue, threatening to kill the animal.

Fearing for his safety and for Blue's, the officer shouted at Armstrong to stop and step back. He ignored the commands and swung the knife at Blue, with the blade catching his collar.

He fled but was found by armed police in the town centre five days later.

He again tried to flee but was caught with the help of a police drone.

He is now serving a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, assaulting an emergency worker and causing fear of violence.

Nicholas Bergin

A jealous stalker broke into his ex's home and subjected her to a barrage of threats in a terrifying campaign of harassment.

"Jekyll and Hyde" Nicholas Bergin, 46, was jailed for more than two years after months spent terrorising his former partner.

The taxi driver, of Eversleigh Rise, Whitstable, began "relentlessly and persistently" stalking his ex after their relationship ended last July.

The couple began seeing each other in 2015 and have two children together, now aged three and five.

But Bergin's behaviour soon grew "controlling and coercive", prosecutor Joey Kwong told Canterbury Crown Court.

Bergin, who has three children from a previous relationship, was "jealous and did not like (his partner) talking to men".

Mr Kwong told how he would go through her phone and check her Facebook when she was asleep, wait outside her work and follow her in her car.

He also physically abused her by punching and slapping her.

The victim described Bergin as "literally like Jekyll and Hyde", saying: "He can be the nicest person or he can be the nastiest."

Bergin, who had recently been made the subject of a Stalking Protection Order, was sentenced to 32 months in prison.

Callum Wheeler

A “sick and twisted” killer who murdered a PCSO in cold blood was told he would serve at least 37 years behind bars before being considered for release.

Callum Wheeler, 22, was jailed for life and given the lengthy minimum term for bludgeoning Julia James to death as she walked her dog in Snowdown, near Canterbury, last year.

Following a six-day trial, a jury took little more than an hour to convict him of murdering the mum-of-two on a footpath on April 27.

The sentencing at Canterbury Crown Court was overseen by Judge Mr Justice Mark Wall.

He told Wheeler: “Your victim was only 53 when she died. Your actions have also devastated the lives of the whole of her family. "It was apparent how loved Julia was.

"You knew how quiet the area was and how easy it would be to attack someone there.

"You launched a brutal and vicious attack on her on the ground, hitting her numerous times to the back of the head with a heavy bar.

"The injuries were so widespread that the pathologist, when asked how many times you hit her, could only say 'not one or two but whether it was eight, nine or 16, I cannot say'.

"This attack was not a spur of the moment aberration by you; rather, it was an attack which was planned and thought through in advance."

The judge told Wheeler that although he was an inpatient at HMP Broadmoor, "there is no clear evidence of a direct link to your disorder and the offence".

The court also heard heartbreaking statements from Julia’s family, including husband Paul, who says her death has left his life “empty”.

Edison Kaculi

A thug involved in drug-related beatings which saw a man stabbed five times in his legs was jailed for the part he played after initially evading police.

Edison Kaculi, 28, was seen on CCTV arriving in Peacock Street, Gravesend, in a black Audi with two other men.

He pushed the victim from his bicycle before repeatedly punching and kicking him.

The gang eventually fled in the same car, leaving the injured man beaten and bloodied.

Within minutes a second car pulled up and three different men continued the attack.

The victim told officers afterwards that two mobile phones and £300 cash were stolen from him.

Four men were arrested and charged in relation to the attacks and jailed for a total of nine years between them following a trial in December 2021.

Kaculi was identified as also being responsible but could not be found by police.

He was eventually arrested on December 7, 2021, after abandoning a car that failed to stop for patrols in Gravesend.

He denied being responsible for the stabbing, but pleaded guilty to attempting to wound with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

He was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court and jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Ben Wilders and Aston Quatre-Smith

A county lines drug dealer who sold heroin and crack cocaine while on bail was caught on police camera being arrested.

Ben Wilders, 23, was later jailed after distributing drugs in Herne Bay, Whitstable and Folkestone - including while he was on police bail.

Specialist officers were working in Folkestone on August 26 last year when they stopped a suspicious Toyota they had seen in the area.

Wilders was inside, and he was arrested with a large amount of heroin and crack cocaine as well as two phones, he was charged the following day.

While on bail, Wilders was again stopped by police - this time in Whitstable and was found in possession of around £5,000 in cash, along with an expensive watch and clothing, and two mobile phones, one of which had been used to operate the 'Oly' drug line.

Investigating officers then visited an address in Sydney Street and as they approached, Aston Quatre-Smith, 33, ran from the property.

He was chased and arrested in possession of multiple wraps of class A drugs and about £500 in cash.

At Canterbury Crown Court Wilders, formerly of Halcot Avenue, Bexleyheath, was jailed for a total of four years for being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply and possession of criminal property.

Quatre-Smith, of Cranleigh Gardens, Whitstable, received a two-year term for possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply in relation to the Whitstable offences.

Kieron Harris

A father claimed he began growing cannabis in the loft of his home to pay for medical treatment for his son.

But a judge heard none of the money was ever used to pay for a scan.

Supermarket delivery driver Kieron Harris, 31, was jailed for 18 months after he was caught growing 36 plants which could have netted him up to £45,000.

In the dock with him at Maidstone Crown Court was ex-partner Charlotte Harris, 28, who has now changed her last name to Brown.

She had admitted allowing her home to be used for the production of the illegal drug and the court heard the power bills were 10 times the normal for the three months.

The judge, Recorder Clive Broe told Harris: "Drug offences are not victimless crimes. They cause harm to those who abuse drugs and lead to other criminality and to society."

He said that other families face difficulties in raising money for medical treatment without resorting to crime.

The judge said the marriage has broken down since the arrests.

Harris of North Trench Road, Tonbridge, was jailed for 18 months after admitting producing cannabis and possessing criminal property.

Brown, 28, of Bricks Close, Tonbridge, received a 12-month community order and was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Donna Grant

A speeding Subway boss smoked cannabis before killing a Covid test courier in a hit-and-run outside a care home days before Christmas, a court heard last month.

Donna Grant, of Folkestone, was handed four years after “callously” leaving the cherished father-of-four to “die on a dark winter night all alone.”

Anthony Akpeki’s family paid homage to their “solid rock foundation, best friend and advisor,” during the sentencing hearing at Canterbury Crown Court.

Previously, Grant pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at the same court but denied having smoked cannabis before the crash.

The mother-of-one also argued she was unaware she hit a person, believing she struck an object or animal.

Grant struck Covid test delivery driver Mr Akpeki, 59, in the dark, leaving a passer-by to discover his body which had been hurled into a skip.

She fled the scene in Dover to her Folkestone home in her wrecked Ford Focus, with a smashed windscreen, dented roof and broken lamp. The tragedy unfolded at about 9.15pm on the evening of December 17, 2020.

Mr Akpeki had just picked up Covid test kits from Hillbrow care home in Crabble Hill, when Grant struck him at 45mph.

Following the crash Grant immediately drove her damaged grey hatchback to her home in Fairway Avenue.

Gemma Sparks

A mum who knifed her friend at a birthday party and then appeared too inebriated to understand her own court proceedings was jailed last month.

Gemma Sparks, 38, slashed Kimberly King numerous times in the frenzied attack at a house in Herne Bay.

During a trial at Canterbury Crown Court earlier this year the mother-of-one argued Miss King set upon her with the weapon.

She tried claiming the injuries she sustained were so severe she resembled "something out of Freddy Krueger".

But jurors saw through her lies and convicted her by majority after deliberating for five hours at the same court in May.

While attending her own sentencing hearing, an incapacitated Sparks was carried into the dock by her family.

Appearing to continuously fall asleep and failing to respond to Judge Mark Weekes, he ordered for her to be held in custody and adjourned sentencing.

When he asked the family "is she OK?" they replied "yes".

But he ordered for the matter to be adjourned so the sentencing hearing would remain "dignified".

The rearranged hearing took place later, when Sparks was jailed for six-and-a-half-years and given a 15-year restraining order.

Stephen Parfitt

A jealous thug sliced a man's face open with a Stanley knife after finding him asleep on the sofa next to his ex-girlfriend.

Stephen Parfitt also attacked Ben Stafford with a hammer after bursting into his former partner's home in Ramsgate in the middle of the night.

Mr Stafford said it felt like his "face was on fire" after the frenzied assault, which has left him with an eight-inch scar that has changed his appearance forever.

Parfitt, 45, who was high on drugs at the time of the violence, was jailed for seven years.

Prosecutor Kieran Brand told Canterbury Crown Court how Mr Stafford had been asleep on the sofa with Tammy Smith when he was woken by Parfitt attacking him.

“He was struck on the head with what is believed to be a hammer, then sliced on the face with a Stanley knife," he explained.

Parfitt, known locally as ‘Wurzal’, dropped the blade and fled the property following the violence.

Meanwhile, Miss Smith rushed Mr Stafford to the QEQM hospital, where the eight-inch wound was closed with 13 stitches.

He and Miss Smith had fallen asleep on the sofa following a day renovating her property, shortly before Parfitt loomed over them, the court heard.

The attack has left Mr Stafford wrought with anxiety and scarred for life.

Chloe Glew

A woman was jailed after admitting she stabbed a man repeatedly and left him to suffer.

Chloe Glew, 23, of no fixed address, visited a flat with the victim in Brokes Way, Tunbridge Wells, on November 9.

The man, who is in his 30s, was found by three teenagers at around 9.45pm and he told them he had been stabbed.

Neighbours gave him first aid before ambulance crews arrived and he was airlifted to a London hospital suffering three puncture wounds to his torso.

Police entered the flat where they found several knives with blood on.

Glew told officers someone else was responsible and she had simply tried to help the injured man.

She was arrested and an investigation revealed Glew had confessed to several witnesses she carried out the assault.

Glew appeared at Maidstone Crown Court, initially denying any wrongdoing, but later pleaded guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm.

She was jailed for 21 months.

Loui Allman

A dangerous thug was jailed for stabbing a stranger in the chest, narrowly missing his heart.

Loui Allman, of Folkestone, plunged the kitchen knife into Nathan Hardwick in Folkestone after running into his group by chance.

The 35-year-old was handed a 10-year extended sentence at Canterbury Crown Court.

As Mr Hardwick bled profusely, Allman fled down an alley but Mr Hardwick’s friends Joseph Whyte and Danny Frost gave chase and brought Allman to the floor.

During the struggle one suffered a stab wound to the head and another was cut on the torso, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Allman pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.

He was originally charged with three counts of attempted murder.

But after reviewing CCTV evidence it “could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt he wasn’t acting in self defence,” when Mr Whyte and Mr Frost became injured, prosecutors said.

Mr Hardwick’s group and Allman, who were unknown to each other, crossed paths following a night out in the early hours of August 21 last year, prosecutors said.

Mr Hardwick was rushed to Ashford’s William Harvey Hospital and treated for two stab wounds and a punctured lung.

The court heard the knife missed Mr Hardwick’s heart by inches.

At the time of the attack, Allman had recently been released on licence following an eight year sentence for robbery and attempted robbery.

Handing down the extended sentence, Judge Simon James said Allman, of St Eanswythe Way, must serve at least two thirds of his sentence before being considered for parole.

Jason Holloway and Davey Chambers

Two men from Maidstone were jailed for their roles in burglaries which targeted a charity, school and popular park.

Police pulled over a Transit van in Heath Road, Maidstone in March, and found 27 power tools and a generator, later discovered to have been stolen earlier the same day from a conservation group based in Ruskin Park.

The men had broken into a secure shipping container, before leaving in one of the charity’s transit vans.

Subsequent investigations linked the van to the theft of 23 mountain bikes from a cycle hire business at Bedgebury Park, near Goudhurst.

Jason Holloway, of James Whatman Way, Maidstone and Davey Chambers, of Oriel Grove, Maidstone, and Charlie Hilden, of Hampstead Lane, Nettlestead, were later charged with the burglary at Ruskin Park and theft of the charity's transit van.

Holloway was also charged with the break-in at Bedgebury and Chambers with a burglary at Wrotham Secondary School on January 28, 2020.

The three pleaded guilty to all the counts at Maidstone Crown Court.

Holloway, 32, was jailed for three years and four months; Chambers, 32, was jailed for two years and six months, and Hilden, 41, was given a two-year sentence suspended for two years.

Kirsty Wallis and Angela Lawrence

Two “despicable” carers preyed on the elderly and vulnerable to steal sentimental jewellery.

Kirsty Wallis, 34, and Angela Lawrence, 47, scammed an infirm 91-year-old inside her Ashford home at night after infiltrating her key safe.

After escaping with the widow’s jewels - beloved gifts worth £10,000 from her late husband - they fraudulently used her bank card to waste on chocolate and wine.

The pair committed their “heartless” crime after Wallis had targeted a Canterbury client with dementia, swiping his father’s rare keepsake First World War medals, then selling them as scrap metal.

Wallis, of Herne Bay, and Lawrence, of Ashford, were handed prison sentences at Canterbury Crown Court last month.

Dressed in her Care at Home-logoed uniform, Wallis crept into Gladys Spratt’s home at 2am in October 2019, prosecutors said.

Ms Spratt was woken up and became confused by Wallis’ and Lawrence’s presence, as she only receives day visits from the care company.

But mother-of-three Wallis lied, claiming police requested her attendance following a disturbance in the area.

The next morning, Ms Spratt discovered her bank cards, bus pass and precious jewels had disappeared.

A police investigation revealed that moments afterwards, Lawrence used Ms Spratts’ bank card to buy fuel, wine and chocolate at a Wincheap petrol station.

And the same afternoon Wallis would receive £150 for scrap gold and silver from a jewellers in Folkestone High Street, the court heard.

During the subsequent probe, officers discovered an antique dealer’s receipt in Wallis’ car for medals, coins and cutlery sold for £45.

The medals were originally awarded to S A Benson for his heroics during the First World War and later passed down to son Eric as heirlooms.

But after Eric contracted dementia, Wallis became his carer and then swiped them from his Canterbury home.

He has since died and will never see the thief brought to justice due to three years of delays in bringing his case to the crown court.

Wallis, of Canterbury Road, was handed two years and six months after previously pleading guilty to burglary and theft.

Lawrence, of Bybrook Road in Kennington, was handed a year and nine months after previously admitting burglary and fraud.

Stephen Luckie

A driver who repeatedly rammed a police vehicle before setting light to his car and reporting it as stolen was also locked up.

Steven Luckie was arrested after torching his car following a violent chase across Romney Marsh.

Luckie was spotted driving erratically by officers in a marked police car on the A259 in New Romney on Friday, November 5 2021.

After he failed to stop, the 50-year-old made numerous attempts to stop the officers from chasing him, including switching off his headlights.

When he eventually stopped in Sussex Road, he reversed repeatedly into the pursuing vehicle, driving away again when the officers got out to approach his car.

He repeated this several times through country lanes around Ashford Road, before the officers were forced to abandon the pursuit for their own safety.

The car was later found abandoned and burnt in Westwell Lane, Ashford.

Three days later, Luckie called police to report his car had been stolen on the day of the pursuit, after he had left his car and gone away for the weekend.

The Cradlebridge Drive, Willesborough resident was arrested and charged with dangerous driving, criminal damage and perverting the course of justice.

He was found guilty by a jury at Canterbury Crown Court and sentenced to 20 months in prison, followed by a three-year disqualification from driving.

Daniel Noelken

A calculating rapist who stalked social media to blackmail children for vulnerable images of themselves was also locked up.

Daniel Noelken, of Sandwich preyed upon school-aged children online, and secretly filmed other young boys naked in a changing room, between 2017 and 2019.

The 23-year-old was convicted unanimously at Canterbury Crown Court following a trial in September last year.

Noelken was jailed for 12 years at the same court last month and handed an extended four year licence period.

Posing as a child on social media, Noelken tricked his victims into sending him illicit images of themselves.

He threatened to send the material to their Instagram friends if they refused to hand over more.

Noelken would also use Facebook to infiltrate a family and rape a boy with learning difficulties after offering to mow their lawn and babysit.

Another potential victim's mum told jurors during the trial how he pestered her for months on the social networking site, repeatedly asking to baby-sit her son.

But Noelken’s string of chilling private messages prompted her to become suspicious and cut contact.

The offending surfaced after the boy he raped disclosed to adults the extent of abuse he suffered at Noelken's hands.

After police arrested Noelken, forensic testing showed the victim's clothes contained his DNA.

And computer hard drives were discovered containing folders named after different children, each containing indecent images.

To see who was locked up in June, click here.

Benjamin Cullen

A "greedy" father-of-two tricked his employer out of £200,000 to squander on luxuries - including a hot tub from Amazon - in an elaborate hoax.

Benjamin Cullen, of Herne Bay, drained his boss’s credit cards to make more than 500 purchases from the online retailer as part of the scam.

Rattan furniture, a gazebo, video games, gin and a nose wax kit were some of the items the 43-year-old frittered his ill-gotten gains on.

The fraudster was jailed for four years and nine months at Canterbury Crown Court.

Blaze Signs in Broadstairs hired Cullen in 2016 to oversee the running of its IT department, the court heard.

Entrusted with the firm’s finances by 2018, including his CEO’s American Express card, Cullen longed for the high-life his £37,000 salary could ill-afford.

By 2020, he would leave one of the UK’s largest sign-makers counting the significant cost of his fraud, after doctoring dozens of invoices payable to fake firms which he assembled.

Peter Forbes, prosecuting, told how Cullen paid 10 invoices worth £24,000 from Peartree Computing, where he was the director, between 2018-2020.

Meanwhile, the IT specialist created domain host firm GFI Mailer, then authorised £90,000 worth of payments from Blaze’s budget to the company.

He then used Clive Knight’s company card to make some 527 payments from Amazon worth £56,000, including a “black rattan hot tub surround”, Mr Forbes said.

Kasey Knowles

A violent bully who tormented a woman, including punching and kicking her, for more than year has been jailed.

Thug Kasey Knowles subjected his victim to physical and verbal abuse in Maidstone from January 2021 to February this year.

He punched, kicked, and threatened to kill the victim on numerous occasions.

The 28-year-old was arrested on February 21 after the woman rang 999 having suffered verbal abuse from Knowles throughout the day, which left her in fear of another assault.

When officers arrived at her address, Knowles fled into the back garden where he was detained, despite a struggle with officers to evade capture.

An investigation revealed evidence of relentless abuse to the victim, who had kept photographs of her injuries.

Knowles, of no fixed address, was charged with coercive and controlling behaviour, as well as being charged with resisting an officer in the execution of his duty.

Last month he pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.

This included five months’ imprisonment for the activation of a suspended sentence.

William Reader

A Gravesend man who fled court after he was arrested for harassment and stalking offences, was jailed for more than three years.

William Reader fled Medway Magistrates’ Court after assaulting a member of court staff, during a remand hearing on Saturday February 12.

Reader had initially been arrested on February 10 and was at court facing multiple charges, following allegations of repeated violence and threats towards a woman and her family.

These offences took place between December 2021 and January 2022, during which time he threw bricks through windows, slashed car tyres and made repeated threats to harm and kill them.

In one incident he punched two of the female victims, as well as a witness who tried to intervene.

During the court hearing Reader was refused bail and was about to be taken back to his cell, when he pushed over a court detention officer and stole keys to the security doors.

The 26-year-old then escaped the building and managed to evade police for two days, before he was located at an address in Stockton-on-Tees and arrested for escaping lawful custody.

Reader appeared before Maidstone Crown Court last month where he pleaded guilty to charges of stalking involving fear of violence and escaping from lawful custody.

He also admitted three counts of criminal damage, three counts of assault, and a charge of assault by beating of an emergency worker.

Reader, previously of Nursey Grove, Gravesend, was sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment and also made subject of restraining orders against two women.

Richard Scaife

A weapon obsessed prison guard who armed himself with “a rapist’s toolkit” before attacking a prostitute at gunpoint was jailed.

Richard Scaife was carrying an imitation handgun, bayonet, pierced condom, expired HMP identification badge and gaffa tape, at the time of his arrest.

And officers would uncover strips of duct tape stuck to the inside of the 46-year-old’s jacket, after he twice raped the sex worker in Folkestone, on November 5 last year.

Judge Catherine Brown sentenced Scaife to 15 years at Canterbury Crown Court after he was convicted following a trial earlier this year.

A huge arsenal of weapons was discovered stockpiled at Scaife’s Dover home shortly after his arrest; six machetes, 14 lock-knives, a samurai sword, eight ball-bearing pistols and air rifles among the haul.

Scaife denied any wrongdoing but jurors unanimously convicted him of two counts of rape.

Scaife’s victim told jurors he locked the door and grabbed her by the throat after arriving at her property in the afternoon smelling of alcohol.

“He pulled out the gun, I was terrified, but I didn’t show him.

“Inside, I thought ‘I’m going to die, this is my last day.’

She told how she managed to diffuse Scaife’s rage by speaking with him calmly while plotting her escape.

Scaife, of Camden Crescent, was unanimously convicted of two counts of rape, posessing an imitation firearm to cause fear of violence and carrying a bladed article.

He was ordered to serve an extended five years on licence following his release.