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More on KentOnline
From county lines to shoplifting gangs, organised crime is a constant battle for Kent Police to get a grip of. But the people filling our prisons are not all criminal masterminds. Some make it a little too easy for our detective.
We’ve had a look at some of the most hapless criminals who ended up in the dock this year…
Shaquille Campbell – burglar
An ill-fated burglar was jailed for more than seven years and told by a judge: "Give up your life of crime…You aren't very good at it."
Shaquille Campbell committed his first offence aged 12 and has spent half of his life locked up, Maidstone Crown Court was told.
Within months of his last prison sentence for burglary, the 26-year-old dad-of-three was raiding properties and stealing expensive cars, including a £38,000 BMW and a £26,000 Porsche Macan.
The offences were carried out with an unknown accomplice, but it was Campbell who was later caught at the wheel of the BMW and because he has previous convictions for burglary, he was liable for an extended sentence as a "three-striker", and in November 2020 had received a three-year sentence.
Judge, Recorder Michael Turner, told him: "From the age of 12 you started on a life of crime, you have been a criminal for more than half of your life.
"It has been said that you felt bad for what you did...but it didn't stop you, you need to turn your face away from a life of crime because you are not very good at it."
Campbell, who admitted charges of robbery, burglary and dangerous driving, was also banned from driving for 18 months after he is released from jail.
George Jones – ram raider
A hapless thief tried to steal a cash machine by ripping it out of a supermarket, but only succeeded in tearing off a chunk of his van and fled the scene empty-handed.
George Jones, 31, was part of the group of three men who tried to drag the cash machine out of a Co-op in Longfield, in the early hours of one morning, was given a sentence of more than four years at Maidstone Crown Court in March, after admitting conspiracy to burgle and dangerous driving.
In April 2022, three men including Jones, attempted to drag a cash machine out of the store in Station Road. Two vans arrived at the scene at about 4am and one was used to break through the front window.
A strap was tied around the ATM inside the shop and attached to the chassis bar of the other van. Two attempts were made to pull the machine out of the shop but the second attempt broke the van's chassis.
CCTV footage actually caught the moment the chassis broke off the van and the scene left behind as the trio drove away and switched into a third van in Sandbanks Hill.
Police quickly identified the third van as being involved and it was spotted on the M25. A chase followed and the van was driven through red traffic lights, the wrong way down a dual carriageway and reached speeds of more than 100mph. It ended in Surrey.
The vehicle was abandoned and a police dog found Jones, of no fixed address, hiding under a bush.
He was arrested and a shirt linking him to the scene and to the vehicle was found nearby.
Earlier this year, was jailed for a total of four years and nine months.
John Fletcher – thief
The moment a brazen thief waved at a supermarket security camera as he used a bank card stolen from someone’s gym locker, was caught on CCTV.
Footage also showed John Fletcher slipping through turnstiles in order to enter changing rooms at facilities in Ashford.
The 50-year-old doomed criminal was later jailed after spending more than £2,000 on the stolen cards after police launched an investigation following a series of similar thefts from gyms in Ashford in January and February.
A further offence was then found to have taken place at a facility in Eastbourne on Friday, February 10.
Officers studied CCTV from the gyms and saw Fletcher was squeezing through turnstiles to get in and on some occasions, accomplice Laura McGannan would distract staff while he did so.
More than £1,000 was stolen during the thefts and more than £2,000 was spent using bank cards which were taken and further CCTV showed Fletcher in shops when the cards were used – where at one point he even waved at the camera.
A car which officers linked to the offences was stopped near Tunbridge Wells on February 24 and both Fletcher and McGannan were arrested.
Fletcher, from Bexhill-on-Sea, was charged with six counts of burglary and 10 counts of fraud following the investigation.
He admitted all 16 counts and was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court in June and McGannan, 35, of Main Road, Winchelsea, was given a six-month suspended sentence after admitting five counts of burglary, following her role assisting Fletcher.
Calvin Smith – mugger
A teenager who mugged a man of his designer jacket which was later found hanging in his wardrobe was spared jail and ordered to pay his victim £250 compensation so he can buy a new one.
Scaffolder Calvin Smith, 19, confronted the victim and menacingly demanded "Give me your coat and you'll live" before punching him in the face, Canterbury Crown Court was told.
He then "ripped" the Trapstar puffer jacket from the man, who he knew, before fleeing on the back of a motorbike in Ashford. When arrested two weeks later, police found the black coat in the wardrobe at his home.
But despite being told that he "could not complain" if he was locked up, Smith, of Oxford Road, Canterbury, was handed a suspended sentence in October when Judge Simon James also allowed him four months in which to compensate his victim.
The court heard the man was walking along Beaver Road on October 16 last year when the motorcycle pulled onto the pavement and across his path and Smith, who was riding pillion, got off and demanded his jacket.
He said “give me your coat and you'll live” and the complainant walked down an alleyway to get away but was followed by the defendant and punched in the jaw, and Smith was arrested at his home on October 29.
The victim, who also suffered a bruised jaw, was however unable to identify the second biker and Smith later pleaded guilty to robbery.
Imposing a sentence of 18 months custody suspended for 18 months, Judge James said he was taking what might be viewed as an "exceptional" course and gave Smith a chance as he believed he could be rehabilitated and make something of his life.
Smith was also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and complete 12 rehabilitation activity sessions.
Dale Pearson – burglar
A prolific burglar who targeted a snooker club and bowls club was locked up after police said his recognisable neck tattoo gave him away.
Doomed Dale Pearson, of Tudeley Lane, Tonbridge, stole £120 of coins from a snooker club cash register in Buckland Hill, Maidstone, on Tuesday, May 24.
Moments later he walked to a nearby bowls club and broke a window to enter the building, but left empty handed.
He was also spotted on CCTV breaking into a porch in the same location.
The burglaries were reported the following morning and investigators examined footage in the area.
They found images of him outside the snooker club and entering the porch in Buckland Hill.
Local officers identified Pearson from a distinctive tattoo on his neck, and forensic examination at the first break-in recovered his fingerprint from inside the cash register.
Pearson was arrested on June 21 and later charged with three burglaries. Tthe 28-year-old pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court in August and was sentenced to two years and 146 days’ imprisonment.
Joseph Scott – thief
An incompetent thief who unveiled his identity on numerous occasions during a one-man crime spree was jailed after falling asleep at a victim's home.
Joseph Scott, who has more than 100 previous convictions, also infuriated a pub landlord by swiping his prized hanging basket displays in Wincheap, Canterbury.
The 34-year-old then crept through a woman’s window at night and snatched her purse, while committing the string of offences between June and July this year.
Scott, of Canterbury, was jailed for three years and seven months at Canterbury Crown Court in September.
The beginning of his persistent criminality was signalled following a bid to feed a “long term drug addiction” in “a depressing story all too familiar,” his lawyer argued.
The court heard Scott snatched £265 worth of razors and alcohol from Waitrose in St George’s Place on June 26, with staff identifying him to police.
He had been handed a six month prison sentence suspended for two years just a fortnight beforehand.
Phillip Yelding – shoplifter
A crack-cocaine addict appeared in court again after being charged with a string of shoplifting offences – just weeks after admitting several others.
Hapless thief Phillip Yelding wept uncontrollably in the dock as he was brought from the cells after being charged with another six shoplifting crimes.
The dad-of-two from Sittingbourne previously featured on KentOnline after failing to turn up to court because he had gone on holiday 11 miles away and asked Medway Magistrates’ for an adjournment so he could enjoy his stay at Allhallows Holiday Park on the Isle of Grain, but his request was denied as it was felt he could easily travel to the court in Chatham from there.
But after not showing up, he was picked up and hauled before the court in July, when magistrates heard he had stolen meat from supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, Lidl and Iceland in Sittingbourne.
On each occasion, Yelding of Cavell Way, was spotted taking the items and the goods were recovered. He was serving a community order for driving offences when he committed the thefts in March and at the time, the 32-year-old was placed on a 12-month community order and told to complete 25 rehabilitation days, a six-month drug rehabilitation programme and pay compensation to each business for the value of the items.
However, just weeks later in September, he appeared again at the same court after carrying out two more offences in June when the court heard he walked into Wilko in Sittingbourne and took four cans of eggshell paint, valued at £46, and just a few days later, went into Sainsbury’s, taking Captain Morgan’s rum and Smirnoff vodka.
At the time magistrates heard Yelding – who admitted the crimes – had not attended all of his probation appointments he had been ordered to attend in July.
He had yet to start his drug rehabilitation treatment because he had not been offered an appointment. He had been clean for at least four weeks, but would still like more help and as a result, magistrates decided to keep him on the 12-month community order and pay compensation to both shops.
However, in October, Yelding was back again after being picked up by police and charged with six new shoplifting offences. District Judge William Nelson heard he went to the Welcome store [Co-op] in Milton Regis and stole coffee, Kinder bars and chicken, worth £45 and then a couple of days later, visited the Morrisons in Sittingbourne and took a tin of Roses chocolates, coffee and other items worth £30 and just two days later he stole from the Shell garage in the town when he swiped £50.79 worth of confectionery.
He also went back to Morrisons in September and took £100 of chocolate before returning in October and stealing £56.65 of chocolate. Then a few days later he popped back to grab more treats worth £20.40, but Judge Nelson spared him jail as he said any short-term sentence he could give would only result in respite to his offending and revoked the order he was on and gave him a new 12-month one to try and help him beat his addictions. He also order Yelding to complete 25 rehabilitation days and a six-month drug rehabilitation programme.
Josh Bruton – thief
A woman turned detective after her jacket was stolen from a pub during a night out – and found the thief wearing it.
Laura Stehling tracked her iPhone to locate her coat – which also contained her AirPods, wallet, passport and house keys – after it was taken from The Dolphin in Albion Street, Broadstairs.
A court heard the language student and a friend were led to Northdown Road in Cliftonville, where her pal called her number and they heard the device ringing and soon realised a man in the street was wearing the stolen rain jacket, so they approached him and called the police.
Officers arrived and arrested 24-year-old forlorn Josh Bruton – who later said he had been drinking all evening and the theft had been a silly mistake.
Bruton, of Sturry Road, Cliftonville, was charged with theft from a person and admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Margate on November 6 when the court heard the incident happened at about 1.30am on Sunday, October 1.
Dylan Bradshaw, prosecuting, told the court Bruton had limited convictions, but during interview told police he had been stupid and drunk at the time and he’d made a silly mistake and he was “not that guy”. He’d been drinking since 5pm.
Magistrates also heard it had been a big wake-up call when Bruton woke up in the police cell the next morning and realised what he had done and they were told he had been in prison before. He had not drunk for about three years, only smoked cannabis usually and that he knew he shouldn’t have done it.
Magistrates placed Bruton on a 12-month community order which will see him complete 140 hours of unpaid work and ordered he pay Miss Stehling £100 for the inconvenience of stealing her belongings as well as a victim surcharge of £114 and £85 court costs.
Stephen Keen – shoplifter
A “stupid” thief told a court his wife had called him an “absolute idiot” after he returned from a shopping trip with stolen items.
Stephen Keen from Ashford swiped various food and plastic storage containers from The Range in Cheriton, Folkestone.
The 60-year-old, who had not been in trouble with the law since 2015, walked into the store, grabbed a trolley and filled it with the items he wanted – but didn’t pay for them and left the shop.
He was later identified via the store’s CCTV footage and interviewed but initially denied he was the one who had stolen the goods and was bailed. When he returned for a second interview and was shown the CCTV, he accepted it was him in the footage.
Keen, of Essetford Road, Ashford, was charged with shoplifting and admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Folkestone on November 9 and the court heard the store had estimated the goods taken on July 9 were worth about £100, but Keen disputed this and said what he took that day came to £26.30.
Neil Sweeney, prosecuting, said Keen told officers he’d been stupid and ‘not done nothing’ for years, but said he had no excuse and the goods were not recovered.
Scott Neilson, defending, told the court his client lived with his wife and was a production line worker earning about £1,700 a month and that he’s been stupid and foolish and that his wife had said he was an absolute idiot.
Magistrates told Keen how stupid he had been and placed him on a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £26 as well as £85 court costs.
