Lots of people who committed crimes were jailed this month and are now spending time behind bars.
Here are just some of the criminals, including burglars, brutes, fraudsters, murderers, rapists and thieves who were locked up in July.
Ricky Diggins
A mother was terrified for her family’s safety as a knifeman who “didn’t seem human” tried to break into her home.
Ricky Diggins had come armed with an eight-inch blade to the house in Ramsgate, just around the corner from his own address in Auckland Avenue.
Canterbury Crown Court heard Jessica Fright had just put her young daughter to sleep when aggressive banging was heard at the front door. Her partner Luke Humphreys looked through the peephole but did not see anything, but when he opened the door, he found Diggins, who sprang from his hiding place and said: “Give me £20.”
He was holding a large red kitchen knife about eight inches long, but as he tried to bring the knife down on the homeowner, he managed to quickly slam the door shut. Diggins managed to get the blade between the door and the frame, and the court heard Mr Humphreys struggled to keep the door shut as Diggins, whom he had known as a childhood friend, kicked from the other side.
Diggins, 30, then ran around the property, broke through a garden gate and tried to enter through the back door, pounding on the kitchen window with his fist. Fortunately, Mr Humphreys had got there first and locked the door. The incident, which happened in May, ended with Diggins running off.
He was arrested three days later and the court heard how just weeks before the attempted home-invasion, Diggins had approached the man while he was riding his bicycle and asked him for drugs.
When he was told he wasn’t going to get any, Diggins pulled a claw hammer out and raised it into the air, lunging at him.
The man managed to escape unscathed, but Diggins then used the hammer to damage the bike, and he pleaded guilty to attempted burglary, attempted robbery, threatening a person with an offensive weapon, possession of a bladed article and two counts of criminal damage.
The former construction worker, who committed the offences while serving a community order,, was jailed for six years and nine months for the offences.
Adam Green
A man who hid a loaded sawn-off shotgun in a garage was jailed.
Police investigating motorbike thefts searched a garage block in Tangmere Close in Gillingham on March 7, last year.
Inside one of the unrented properties, officers located a sawn-off shotgun loaded with a cartridge, which was wrapped inside a towel and hidden in a set of drawers and a stolen black KTM motorcycle was also seized.
Officers also found a grille to a vehicle parked nearby that was connected to Gillingham man Adam Green and a forensic examination of the firearm and cartridge recovered his DNA.
A week later, on March 14, he was stopped on a motorcycle in Chatham and arrested and charged.
Green, of Tangmere Close, later appeared before Maidstone Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to the transfer of a prohibited weapon, namely the sawn-off shotgun.
Indictments of handling stolen property and possessing a firearm and ammunition, whilst prohibited due to a previous conviction, were ordered to lie on file.
Green has served long prison sentences previously for violence and burglary, and having disguised handguns in his possession. He was jailed for six-and-a-half years in 2005 for grievous bodily harm, assault causing actual bodily harm, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving, and six years in 2012 for conspiracy to burgle.
He also pleaded guilty to two offences of possessing a disguised firearm, two of possessing a firearm when prohibited, and two of possessing expanding ammunition in 2017.
Earlier this month, the 37-year-old was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for the latest offences.
Denis Swift
A sex offender was put back behind bars after breaching a court order.
Denis Swift, from Chatham, was convicted for child sex offences in 2012 and handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The order stopped him from owning or using an internet-enabled device without police approval and on June 24, police visited Swift’s home to check he was following the rules.
But they found he had bought a mobile phone which had not been declared to officers, which was in breach of the order. He was arrested later that day and was charged with breaching the SHPO and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements.
The 71-year-old, formerly of Seymour Road, pleaded guilty at Medway Magistrates’ Court and was jailed for 12 months.
Police regularly check offenders to make sure they follow the rules, and those who don’t face consequences.
PC Areolito Gashi said: “Court orders for convicted sex offenders such as Swift are put in place to safeguard against future crimes being committed – protecting vulnerable people and preventing them from becoming victims.
“Swift was clearly in breach of his court order and it’s right that he’s back behind bars.”
Aaron Carr
A man who claimed he had been “silly” and was dealing drugs to try and save money for his wedding was jailed.
At around 7.30pm on January 21, Aaron Carr was stopped and searched by police on Tonbridge Road in Maidstone.
Officers had recognised his black BMW, which was suspected of being involved in the supply of class A drugs and a roadside search led to the confiscation of 3.5 grams of cocaine, around £2,800 in cash, and a phone.
Carr was arrested at the scene and admitted two kilos of cocaine was in a wardrobe at his home address in Ewell Avenue, West Malling. This was seized during a later search, alongside another half a kilo of cocaine, nearly £33,000 in cash, two phones and a laptop.
Police also found a machete hidden in one of Carr’s other vehicles and during his arrest, he told police: “I’ve been stupid. I’ve been doing something silly.
“I’ve been dealing drugs. I was only doing it to try and save some money for my wedding.”
The 44-year-old was charged the same day with possession with intent to supply cocaine, possession of an offensive weapon, and possession of criminal property.
He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years and four months’ imprisonment at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month.
Thomas Holford
A cannabis-smoking father who murdered his baby daughter by shaking her like a rag doll was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 16 years.
Thomas Holford claimed to have no memory of his “excessive and severe” assault on little Everleigh Stroud which left her with a catastrophic brain injury, leg and rib fractures and bruising when she was just five weeks old.
He also denied inflicting anal injuries during that same violent incident – described by a pathologist as one episode “escalating in severity” – while the tot was in his sole care at the family home in Wallwood Road, Ramsgate, four years ago.
But earlier this month, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court found the 25-year-old unanimously guilty of murder at the end of a three-week trial with deliberations lasting more than 20 hours.
He was also convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm in relation to three “forceful and deliberate” penetrative anal tears.
Although Holford accepted he was responsible for his newborn’s injuries, and that he was under the influence of cannabis at the time, he gave no explanation as to how or why he inflicted them, referring to his lack of recall as “a sort of blank spot”.
But although he was also accused of faking his memory loss, it was accepted by the prosecution that Everleigh’s murder was not premeditated and, referring to a letter he had written to the judge before the verdicts were announced, that he had shown remorse and regret.
Holford, who has no previous convictions or cautions, cannot apply for parole until he has served his minimum term less 351 days already spent in custody – and will only be released when considered safe to do so. He will probably be 40 when he is freed.
Gregory Manson
A disgraced GP who “betrayed and exploited” male patients by repeatedly molesting them for his sexual gratification was jailed for seven years.
Gregory Manson was convicted on July 3 of performing unnecessary and unjustified genital examinations over two decades while practising at Cossington House surgery in Canterbury.
The 56-year-old’s deviant conduct involved him touching groins, testicles and penises while unchaperoned, without offering an explanation and when not wearing gloves.
Jurors heard he also failed to document in patients’ records the fact that such intimate examinations had taken place or what the findings were in his efforts to cover his tracks.
Some of the victims, including teenage boys, were attending his surgery for ailments such as knee sprains, back pain, coughs or colds and others had concerns, including a rash, indigestion, fatigue and depression.
Manson, of Tower Way, Canterbury, denied 24 offences relating to his abuse and was found guilty at Canterbury Crown Court of 12 charges of sexual assault and four of indecent assault at the end of a three-week trial.
Manson will have to serve half his jail term before being released and he will then be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements and may be barred from working with children and vulnerable adults.
Manson, who had not worked as a GP since a GMC interim suspension order was imposed in 2017, but received suspension payments until July last year, was also ordered to pay £2,190 towards prosecution costs.
Callum Packman
A violent thug who went on a rampage smashing up businesses with a fire extinguisher in a town centre was jailed.
Topless Callum Packman caused more than £30,000 of damage in King Street, Maidstone, including to Page and Wells estate agents, PureGym, Coral, Knight Edwards and Kokkoro on May 11.
Officers were first called to a break-in at Sainsbury’s supermarket in Romney Place around 7.45pm where “extensive damage” was caused to the store’s windows, but not stopping there, he caused further damage to the other businesses.
Packman was arrested and later charged with 11 counts of criminal damage, as well as two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, a public order offence and burglary, which he admitted.
He appeared at Maidstone Crown Court earlier this month, and a judge heard how the defendant had later thrown a fire extinguisher at officers, which damaged their vehicle. He also damaged a police van and cell and spat at officers.
During his sentencing hearing, Packman, 24, who attended via video link, told Mr Recorder Alistair Webster KC, he wanted to represent himself and had not given “permission” for someone to defend him, adding that it was a “breach of human rights”.
The damage he caused had been totalled to £30,321 and the court heard he had 18 previous convictions, which included assault of an emergency worker.
He was handed a 28-month custodial sentence and Packman was ordered to pay £7,000 in compensation.
Aaron Stevens
A “manipulative” sexual predator who abused his young victim on multiple occasions was locked up.
Aaron Stevens, formerly of Newbridge Avenue, Sittingbourne, was convicted of 15 offences following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
Investigators became aware of Stevens’ crimes in May 2018 after it was reported to police that he had boasted of them online. The 27-year-old was then arrested at his home and, following a complex investigation by detectives from Kent Police, was later charged.
He denied all the charges against him, but a jury unanimously found him guilty of sexual assault of a child, causing a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to communicate sexually with a child, possession and distribution of indecent images of a child and indecent exposure.
Stevens was sentenced earlier this month to 13 years’ imprisonment and will spend an extra four years on licence.
He has also been placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and was ordered to comply with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
DS Fleur Hardie said: “The depravity of Stevens’ actions is appalling, and it is right that this manipulative sexual predator is now behind bars.
“I am also pleased that the SHPO he has been issued will protect against future crimes being committed, restricting the offender’s behaviour to prevent vulnerable people from becoming victims.”
Benjamin Edgell
A psychotherapist who claimed to have had sex with more than 900 people was jailed for 14 years for child abuse offences which “destroyed” his victim.
Paedophile Benjamin Edgell was told by a judge that such a sentence was demanded as his uncontrollable sex drive meant he posed a significant risk of serious harm to women and young girls.
The 43-year-old was also accused of having “masqueraded” as a therapist, despite his qualifications, in order to groom his victim and her family.
Edgell, from Radstock in Somerset, had denied two offences of assault by penetration, one of sexual assault, one of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two of making indecent images of a child during a trial at Maidstone Crown Court in December last year.
But having been found guilty by a jury, he returned on Friday, July 11, for sentencing when the court heard the victim described how Edgell touched her “privacy bits” and rubbed himself against her while encouraging her to touch his exposed genitals. Photos of her naked from the waist down were also found on a laptop linked to his phone following his arrest.
As well as pleading not guilty to the charges, the court heard Edgell, who was living in Kent at the time, continues to maintain his innocence, but he was handed an 18-year extended sentence, comprising 14 years’ custody and four years additional licence period.
Judge Robert Lazarus highlighted elements of the defendant’s behaviour that were not in dispute and which contributed to him being considered a dangerous offender and these included not only his high number of sexual partners but also the fact that he has twice been removed from a professional body for having relationships with clients.
Edgell will spend just over nine years – two-thirds of the custodial term – behind bars before he can apply for parole and will only be released once it is considered safe to do so or when the full 14 years have been served and once freed, four years will be added to any licence period. He will be required to sign on the sex offender register indefinitely.
Taylor Kirkpatrick
A cowardly thug who kicked in a breastfeeding mother’s door and punched her so hard she suffered internal bleeding was placed behind bars.
Taylor Kirkpatrick used such force when he struck the mother of his child, she fell to the floor with organ damage and required emergency intensive care.
On realising the catastrophic damage she had suffered at his hands, the abuser, 26, then phoned 999 and told a call handler a pack of lies – that she had “slipped and fallen out of the bath”.
But the brave young woman soon found the courage to overcome her abuser’s deceit and helped secure a prosecution against him. Kirkpatrick, of Ashford, was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court earlier this month for three years, for what a judge described as a “despicable” and “absolutely appalling” assault.
Outlining the facts of the case, Recorder Nicholas Worsley KC explained the woman was at home in the same town, with her two young children, when Kirkpatrick forced his way inside. He then hit her with his right hand to her left side and she was left crying in pain and she could see from his face that he was starting to see she was badly injured.
The court also heard the pair had been in a fraught, on-off relationship, with Kirkpatrick previously receiving a 12-month prison sentence for strangling her in 2023, but the most recent beating on March 13 left the woman with lacerations to her spleen, which will require annual check-ups for life to monitor the serious harm done to her kidney.
At a pre-trial preparation hearing, Kirkpatrick, of Adisham Gardens, had pleaded guilty to sending a threatening communication in January and inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent on the woman in March.
Recorder Worsley also imposed an indefinite restraining order forbidding Kirkpatrick from contacting his former partner, her mother or her two children.
Troy Frith
A thug left a man with serious head injuries from a single punch after a row over a parking space outside a supermarket.
Troy Frith was jailed following the unprovoked attack in the car park of Sainsbury’s Local in St John’s Road, Tunbridge Wells.
The 32-year-old, of Ellenborough Road, Sidcup, had become impatient while waiting for a family to remove a child seat.
But despite there being other parking spaces available, he assaulted the victim.
The force of the single punch delivered was so strong that the man suffered serious head injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
The police were called to the scene at 7.22pm, on Sunday, April 27, but Frith had left the scene before the patrol’s arrived, but he was located and arrested the same evening.
He was later charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent and he pleaded guilty to the offence at Woolwich Crown Court.
Firth was sentenced at the same court earlier this month to one year and two weeks’ imprisonment.
Aaron Charlery and Darren Porter
Two men who robbed sex workers while armed with an imitation gun after bragging it was “easy as f***” were jailed for more than 11 years between them.
Aaron Charlery, from Maidstone, and Darren Porter, from Gravesend, targeted their victims in what a judge described as “nasty, well-planned” offences committed in the belief the women would not go to police.
Maidstone Crown Court heard that in the days leading up to the robberies on October 3 last year, the pair exchanged a series of WhatsApp messages in which Porter invited his younger, less criminally-minded accomplice to join him “robbing w****houses”.
Having agreed, Charlery, 26, then identified the website for Porter to use in order to pose as a customer and arrange appointments with the two women, one at her home in Maidstone and the other at the Holiday Inn in Sittingbourne.
A BB gun was brandished during both robberies, with one of the terrified sex workers having it held towards her forehead and the other being warned to comply or she would “be in trouble”.
Among the items stolen were three mobile phones, cash and jewellery and the men were arrested after the Ford Fiesta they had used that day was linked to Porter, 46, as the registered owner and insured party and. They later pleaded guilty to two offences of robbery, with Porter also admitting dangerous driving.
The court heard that although Charlery, of Gatland Lane, was of previous good character, Porter, of Wrotham Road, had as many as 80 offences to his name, including ones for serious violence and dishonesty.
Judge Gareth Branston jailed Charlery for four years and concluded Porter was a dangerous offender and handed him a 10-and-a-half year extended sentence for the robberies. He was also given an eight-and-a-half-year driving ban.
Jamie Groves and Alan Cane
Two men who used drones to smuggle contraband into Kent prisons have themselves been put behind bars.
Maidstone Crown Court heard how Jamie Groves and Alan Cane orchestrated the delivery of drugs, tobacco and blades on 136 occasions.
HMP Maidstone and HMP Swaleside were just two of 19 secure facilities across England where the pair operated between May and September last year. The court heard they targeted windows and designated yard locations to drop off class A and B drugs, Stanley blades, tobacco, mobile phones, USB sticks, and clothing.
Groves, of Lindisfarne Road, Dagenham, and Cane, of Pelly Avenue, Essex, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey list-A articles into prison and at a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, July 15, Groves, 38, was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Head of South East Organised Crime Unit, Det Ch Supt Steve Boniface, said: “This case highlights a serious and sustained threat to prison safety and order, with a staggering 136 suspected drone drops across 19 HMP establishments.
“These sentences send a clear message: anyone attempting to organise the supply of contraband into prison will be identified and prosecuted.
“I hope Cane’s SCPO will act as a strong deterrent, restricting his ability to reoffend, and making clear that breaching the order could lead to further time in prison.”
To see who was locked up in June, click here.
Patrick Howlett
A depraved paedophile who paid impoverished parents in the Philippines for live-stream sexual child abuse was locked up for 26 years.
Patrick Howlett, of Ash between Canterbury and Sandwich, sent more than £55,000 to individuals in return for photos, videos and live streams of boys and girls as young as 18 months, a court had heard.
At a sentencing hearing earlier this month, Judge Simon Taylor KC said the 58-year-old had arranged and facilitated child sexual abuse on “an industrial scale”. Canterbury Crown Court was told how Howlett paid for children to be horrifically assaulted on at least 43 occasions between 2015 and 2021.
The judge said the offences revealed a breathtaking lack of regard for the sanctity of childhood and a dehumanised and all-consuming approach to satisfying his sexual desires. National Crime Agency (NCA) officers launched a probe into Howlett when intelligence indicated he made multiple payments to known facilitators of child sexual abuse in the country.
He was also found to have been in regular contact with a woman who sexually abused her children at his request and direction and she would take photographs or record videos to send to Howlett in exchange for thousands of pounds in payments and a single victim was continually assaulted for years, generating 1,277 images depicting the horrors taking place and all these images were found on Howlett’s devices and he also shared them in a conversation with another offender.
Howlett paid £11,777.48 to the single facilitator, who abused her child together with two siblings and admitted nine counts of making indecent images of children and one of possessing prohibited images of children, arranging the distribution of indecent images of children, encouraging the causing of a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, and six counts of arranging the sexual exploitation of a child as well as two counts of encouraging the distribution of indecent images of children.
Howlett was dealt an extended sentence of 30 years, consisting of a custodial term of 26 years and an extension period of four years. The NCA and Filipino authorities identified 19 children during the investigation who were subjected to sexual abuse as a result of Howlett’s offending, which have since been safeguarded.
Sian Jacobs
A heartbroken sister said a woman who pretended to be a solicitor to deceive her dad and brother was a “charlatan”.
Sian Jacobs was sentenced to time in prison after she fraudulently posed as a solicitor and used “intimidation” to pursue money from trusting “clients”.
The sister and daughter of two of Jacobs’ victims described the 51-year-old as a “calculating” person with “criminal intent.”
At her sentencing hearing at Maidstone Crown Court on July 17, almost eight years on from when her first offence was committed, Judge Julian Smith questioned how Jacobs had believed she had the qualifications to be a solicitor, even though she didn’t.
The court heard from her defence solicitor, John McNally, who explained that this belief could be partly motivated by her mental health, but that to some degree she must have some legal knowledge as she “knows too much about family cases”.
He also explained how the offence was aggravated by her persistence in obtaining money and chasing her victims for funds with “heavy-handed” tactics. The court heard how Jacobs had first approached Craig Capeling at Maidstone’s Family Court in 2017 as he sat at the back of a courtroom when he was persuaded to hand over £500 for her professional services the same day.
His retired father, Rodney Capeling, was then duped into forking out more than £5,000 for her supposed skills and was left feeling “uneasy, suspicious and used”, but sadly, both men died without seeing the bogus lawyer being finally brought to justice.
On July 17, Jacobs was jailed for two years and eight months and was told she would serve 40% of the sentence but due to spending 946 days on a tag, with 473 of these qualifying as curfew days, she walked free from court. She was given a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order, which imposes restrictions on an individual’s activities, was also imposed.
Thomas Pym-Nixon
A thug who attacked three security guards at a hospital claimed he was an “ex-paratrooper” who was “trained to kill”.
Tom Pym-Nixon not only threatened the trio, which included a female guard, but also punched one in the back and kicked out at the others while they were trying to get him out of the A&E area of the QEQM Hospital in Ramsgate Road, Margate, on July 8.
The guards had been called by medical staff after Pym-Nixon turned up in the emergency department, lay on the floor and would not move, but the 33-year-old became aggressive and attacked them. After removing him, they managed to flag down a passing police car, and he was arrested and later charged with three counts of assault on an emergency worker.
He was kept in custody and hauled before magistrates in Margate on July 10, when the court heard Pym-Nixon, of no fixed address but from Thanet, had received a suspended sentence just weeks earlier for other offences which meant he’d committed the three assaults at the hospital while still subject to the order.
Julie Farbrace, prosecuting, told the court Pym-Nixon turned up at the QEQM and after getting on the floor a nurse tried to rouse him, but couldn’t, so security were called and as they tried to wake him he started screaming and shouting, “You are all *****,” as well as saying, “I’m an ex-paratrooper trained to kill.”
Magistrates then heard he walked around one guard and put his fist in his back, also punched another in the chest and then spat at him. He also slapped a female guard around the cheek and Pym-Nixon continued to threaten her and then punched one of the two male officers in the face and kicked the other on the side of the head.
They also heard that on July 3, he was given a 12-week suspended sentence for possession of an offensive weapon, assault by beating and criminal damage so they decided to activate it. He was also jailed for 12 weeks for each of the new offences, to run concurrently, but the 12-week sentence would run consecutively to the suspended sentence, so in total he was jailed for 24 weeks.
Daniel Broadwell
A thief broke into a police employee’s home hours after being released from prison – then denied his actions arguing: “I’m a distraction burglar”.
Daniel Broadwell snuck into the Canterbury flat while Ian Irwin slept, making off with the man’s work-issued laptop, the city’s crown court has heard.
Prosecuting, Harriet Lewis said it was only when Mr Irwin woke on the morning of January 15, 2025, that he realised he had been burgled after he noticed that his work laptop had been removed from its holder, he then contacted the police.
The court heard on Friday, July 11 that DNA evidence collected from the property at Artillery Gardens placed Broadwell at the scene of the crime and when challenged during police interview, the now 43-year-old denied having attended the address, insisting: “It doesn’t sound like me, I’m not a creeper, I’m more of a distraction burglar.”
The court heard how, weeks earlier on November 2, Broadwell, of Forstal Road, Herne Bay, had stolen cans of beer from a Londis convenience store in Margate and four days later, he also attempted to swipe a bottle of Jack Daniel’s from the town’s Morrisons supermarket before being apprehended by police.
Then, during what the judge described as a “mental health crisis” on November 25, Broadwell arrived at QEQM Hospital carrying a kitchen knife in a plastic bag.
However, having pleaded guilty to all four charges – burglary, possession of a knife and two counts of theft – he received a jail term of two years, 11 months and 14 days.
Deborah Mason, Demi Kendall, Reggie Bright, Lillie Bright, Tina Goulding and Anita Slaughter
Six people were jailed for their role in a family-run crime group which was headed up by a 65-year-old ‘gangster granny’ who lived a lavish lifestyle, including splashing out £400 on a designer Gucci collar for her cat.
The gang of six women, one man and ringleader Deborah Mason – known as ‘Queen Bee’ – were sentenced this month at Woolwich Crown Court for supplying nearly a tonne of cocaine – with a street value of more than £80 million – over a seven-month period.
Combined, they received prison time of 106 years and six months and an additional woman will be sentenced at a later date after police discovered that the group of couriers collected packages of imported cocaine and drove them all over London and the UK to locations as far as Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff in 2023.
It is estimated each individual earned more than £1,000 a day and Deborah Mason, 65, of Crayford Road, Tufnell Park, north London, was described as “playing the leading role in the prolific criminal enterprise”. She was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 20 years.
Following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court, Roseanne Mason, from London, Chloe Hodgkin, 23, of Abbots Walk, Wye; Lillie Bright, 26, of Evergreen Way, Ashford; Demi Bright, 30, of Samuel Peto Way, Ashford; and Anita Slaughter, 44, of Pearmain Way, Ashford, were all found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
Prior to her trial, Lillie Bright pleaded guilty to a separate offence of offering to supply Class A drugs, identified following a review of her mobile device.
Tina Golding, 66, of Beecholme Drive, Ashford; Reggie Bright, 24, of Frittenden Road, Staplehurst and Demi Kendall, 31, also of Frittenden Road, all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs with Kendall and Reggie Bright also pleading guilty to a separate offence of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property following seizures of cocaine and more than £15,000 during a search of their home.
Roseanne Mason, 29, of Canonbury in London, was jailed for 11 years, as was Demi Bright, while Lillie Bright received 13 years; Reggie Bright received 15 years and Kendall 13 years and six months. Golding was jailed for 10 years, while Slaughter got 13 years, and Hodgkin will be sentenced at a later date.
Gary Pallin
A child rape victim whose abuser was jailed for three-and-a-half years told a court that after decades of feeling shame and guilt, she was able to “find my voice and fight for the truth”.
In a moving statement read at the sentencing hearing of paedophile Gary Pallin, the woman described how his deviant conduct had not only robbed her of her innocence and dignity but also her life.
She said the effect of the sexual abuse she suffered was “so overwhelming” that it impacted her education, relationships and health, both physically and mentally, but having given evidence at Pallin’s trial at Maidstone Crown Court earlier this year, the woman said she felt pride at finally speaking out and achieving justice.
Pallin, of Caesar Avenue, Kingsnorth in Ashford, had denied a number of sexual offence charges – including rape – but was found guilty by a jury of them all and prosecutor Amy Nicholson detailed how the defendant was a teenager at the time he committed the crimes.
Although the victim confided in several people over the years, it was not until 2021 that police became involved and Pallin was arrested. As well as giving a ‘no comment’ interview and denying the offences once charged, he also accused the victim through his legal team at trial of making up the allegations.
Furthermore, the packed courtroom at his sentencing hearing was told that he has continued to “vehemently” maintain his innocence since his conviction in May.
But on jailing the now 58-year-old, Judge Gareth Branston said that despite his age at the time, Pallin must have realised he was causing harm and yet “carried on regardless” for his own sexual gratification.
Pallin, who mouthed “I love you” to those sitting in the public gallery in support, will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements on his release.
Paul Perry
A repeat sex offender who abused a young victim more than three decades ago while underage himself was jailed.
Paul Perry, from Dartford, was found guilty of three counts of gross indecency with a child and one count of indecent assault.
The now 58-year-old abused his young victim in the 1980s, including while he was himself a juvenile and police launched an investigation after the offences were reported to them in 2019.
Perry, of Hilltop Gardens, who was the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order due to previous convictions, was arrested in December that year and was later charged, but he denied the offences and was jailed earlier this month after a jury at Canterbury Crown Court found him guilty on all counts following a trial.
In acknowledgement of Perry’s age when some of the offences were carried out, and the law at the time, he was given the maximum sentence of one year in prison and a year to be served on licence when he is released.
He has also been placed on the sex offender register for seven years.
DS Frank Bloomfield said: “No matter how long ago a crime took place, we will always listen to victims and strive to bring offenders before the courts to answer for their actions.
“It is never too late to report an offence and we have specially trained officers to deal with such cases.”
Abiola Adenmosun
A paedophile who sexually assaulted a young girl after plying her with alcohol and drugs more than a decade ago was locked up.
Back in 2012, Abiola Adenmosun stopped his car while driving through Rochester to speak to a child he didn’t know.
After befriending her and agreeing to meet the following day, the 35-year-old gave his victim alcohol and a cigarette containing cannabis, which left her feeling disoriented as it was the first time she had tried drugs, but then Adenmosun proceeded to sexually assault her in his car.
For the next few months, the sex offender continued to meet the girl and commit further sexual offences and during this period, he also damaged the victim’s phone and assaulted one of her relatives.
The victim tried to end any contact with Adenmosun, but he persisted and relentlessly texted and called her and this led her to report his offending to the police in 2017.
He pleaded not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court but was convicted of all the indictments in February this year and on Friday, July 18, he was sentenced to four years and three months’ imprisonment.
He was given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will be required to sign the Sex Offenders Register and he was also made subject to a restraining order for life.
Andrew Hemphill, Shellbie Johnson, Malcom Glancey, Ryan Gooderson, Robert Deards and Kastriot Dani
Members of an organised criminal gang that fuelled “violence, misery and exploitation” were jailed for a total of more than 45 years.
On January 16 last year, police stopped Andrew Hemphill and Shellbie Johnson who were travelling in a Vauxhall Astra in Old Church Road, Burham, near Blue Bell Hill.
Police body-worn footage caught the moment officers discovered a bag containing two separate kilogram blocks of cocaine in the car and soon after, officers stopped a Jaguar nearby, which was being driven by Kastriot Dani and they found an electronically operated hide constructed between the rear seats and boot.
This had another kilogram of cocaine in it as well as a bag with the word ‘deposit’ written on it, which contained £10,000 and all three were arrested, and further police activity continued throughout the day to identify and detain other suspects which included a search warrant at two locations in Rochester Road, Burham, owned by Gary Greening.
Searches at these properties led to the recovery of a gun concealed in a drawstring bag, as well as bullets found inside a sock and further drugs were also seized and some of the suspects entered guilty pleas were sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court last Wednesday, July 2.
They were Robert Deards, 28, of no fixed address, who admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and was jailed for eight and a half years and Kastriot Dani, 43, of Rushden, Northamptonshire, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was jailed for four years and 10 months.
Ryan Gooderson, 23, of Bell Lane, Ditton, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and received 10 years and three months and Malcom Glancey, 66, of Rycault Close, Maidstone, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and was jailed for seven years and 10 months and a trial was held for the other defendants.
Andrew Hemphill, 26, of Upper Grosvenor Road, Tunbridge Wells, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and to possessing a firearm and ammunition and he was jailed for 10 years while Shellbie Johnson, 26, of the same address, was convicted of conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis and jailed for four years and three months.
Ollie Holman
A university student who created and sold phishing kits used by criminals across the globe to steal millions of pounds was jailed.
Ollie Holman, 21, was studying in Canterbury when he developed and distributed malicious software packages that mimic real websites to trick victims into handing over sensitive personal and financial information.
The University of Kent student was linked to 1,052 phishing kits, which targeted 69 financial institutions and large organisations – including charities – in 24 countries.
Investigators estimate the scam caused losses of at least £100 million globally and the kits included fake web pages designed to look like genuine banking and login sites, which harvested details such as account credentials and bank card numbers from unsuspecting victims.
A court heard Holman ran his illicit operation via encrypted Telegram channels, where he sold the kits, provided technical support, and advised other criminals on how to use them and he was first arrested in October 2023, when police searched his university accommodation in the city and seized digital devices.
However, he continued to run his fraud operation remotely until a second arrest at his home address in London in May this year, which led to the seizure of further evidence.
But an investigation led by City of London Police, with support from authorities in Switzerland and Finland, uncovered a significant volume of digital material linking Holman to the scam.
Holman, of Eastcote in west London, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court earlier this month to seven years after previously pleading guilty to seven offences, including making and supplying articles for use in fraud and possessing criminal property and he was also handed a Serious Crime Prevention Order in a bid to restrict his future online activity.
