A specialist Kent policing team, set up to go after dangerous offenders, has put criminals away for more than 1,300 years in its first three years.

The Chief Constable’s Crime Squad has helped take armed robbers, ram-raiders, burglary conspirators and car thieves, to name a few, off the streets.

Since it launched in 2019, the team with more than 30 officers across different bases, have carried out intelligence-led patrols disrupting criminals.

Here's some of those it has helped put behind bars.

Detling caravan burglaries

Three men were jailed over violent burglaries at a caravan site in Detling.

Police were called in July 22, 2021, to reports armed men had entered a location off Scragged Oak Road and broken into three caravans, demanding money from those inside.

The men were armed with an axe and machete during the violent attack, which led to one man being stabbed in the arm with a knife.

Eli Smith, 25, of Five Kilns, Stockbury Valley, Sittingbourne was jailed for eight years, while James Lee Lee, 22, of the same address, was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

Prince Adeshokan, aged 21, from Thornton Heath, received 10 years, which included two for breaching a suspended sentence.

Gillingham burglary trio

Burglars who threatened to stab occupants after forcing their way inside a Gillingham property were sentenced to a combined total of 27 years.

The men made away with money and a designer watch following the ordeal which took place on April 14, 2020.

Hussanain Raja, 26, of Railway Street, Chatham, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years, John Bley, 24, of, White Road, Chatham, was jailed for 11-and-a-half years and Azroy Dawes Clarke, 28, of Romford Road, London, was sentenced to seven years.

Gravesend police impersonators

Gravesend robbers ,Charlie Spenceley, of James Street, Rochester, and Alfie Riggs, from Limetree Close, Chatham, deceived their way into the victim’s home on January 21, 2021.

The pair would go on to commit a similar offence within 10 minutes of leaving the scene.

Spenceley and Riggs used an intercom to request access to a block of flats in Snelling Avenue at around 2.45am, telling a resident they were the police.

Riggs searched the property before Spenceley punched the woman in the face when she said she had no money to hand over.

Both men received a six-year prison sentence.

Ramsgate robber held shop worker at knifepoint

On November, 8, 2020, Dean Hoskins of Grange Road, Ramsgate walked into a shop in Newington Road and demanded a member of staff hand over money from the till before grabbing her throat and threatening her with a blade.

He made off with £250 in cash and two packets of cigarettes and tobacco on his way out of the shop.

Hoskins, 35, later pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and possession of a knife.

Armed robbery in Folkestone

Stuart Girt and Melissa Goldstone both of no fixed address, admitted they had carried out a robbery of a shop in Cheriton High Street near Folkestone.

Girt and Goldstone were both wearing masks when they entered the store on September 4, 2020.

The two robbers stole more than £300 in cash and took packets of cigarettes before leaving the store.

Girt, 42, was jailed for five years yesterday and Goldstone, 37, received a four-year, nine-month sentence.

Chatham armed raid on amusement arcade

On February, 2, 2020, brothers, Neil and Nathan Sutton of Shipwrights Avenue, Chatham, took part in a robbery in the town's 'City Slots' amusement arcade.

Elder brother, Nathan, armed himself with a knife before the attack.

The brothers then fled with £10,800 from the armed raid.

The pair were jailed for a combined total of 14 years.

Gravesend and Dartford ram-raid robbers

Gravesend and Dartford serial burglars, Joseph Hoadley, 26, and Grant Searle, 29, smashed their way through the front of a newsagent's to steal a cash machine.

The pair used a Ford Transit van to smash through the off licence in Northfleet on November 28, 2019.

The pair also broke into multiple homes across Gravesend, Dartford and Meopham.

Hoadley of no fixed address, was jailed for 10 years and six months, whilst Searle of no fixed address, was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years.

Knife-point robberies across Dover and Aylesham

Canterbury robbers, who attacked victims from behind and threatened to stab a teenage boy during a crime spree were jailed.

In March, 2020, one victim, aged 14 at the time, was told his face would be “sliced open” during a knife-point robbery in Canterbury, during the nine-month crime spree.

Shaun Chalmers, 23, of no fixed address, also a sex offender, was sentenced in absence while on the run from police.

Ringleader Harry Lugg, previously of Stembrook, Dover, was sentenced for two further robberies, was jailed for nine years.

Ben Atthis, 34, previously from Basildon, has been jailed for three years and nine months.

Det Supt Shaun White, who leads the Crime Squad, said: "The remit we have is clear, provide victims of crime with an outstanding service and go after the individuals who are causing the highest levels of harm.

"You only need to look at the results we are achieving to see we are doing just that, more than 1,300 years in prison sentences, and close to 2,500 charges is a testament to the outstanding expertise of my officers,they have undoubtedly made the county safer."

The team is backed by its own analyst, whose real time monitoring of crime trends allows the team to gather information on issues affecting a particular area.

Det Supt White added: "My officers are a fantastic team, who use every power available to them to target criminals, this includes regularly obtaining warrants and targeting them in their homes during the early hours.

"More important than that, however, is the care we provide to victims, the people we help have often experienced the trauma of having someone threaten them with extreme violence, or had to endure the discomfort of having someone burgle their home as they sleep.

"They are our number one concern and we provide a lot of support behind the scenes which goes beyond simply investigating a crime and locking away an offender.

"The likelihood of falling victim to a crime we deal with is exceptionally low, and we want to ensure it stays that way.

"We’re not going away, our work is going to continue and anyone with ambitions to commit similar types of crime can expect to be targeted by us."