CRIMINALS jailed in February include a violent offender who kidnapped his girlfriend, a rapist who carried out horrific attacks against children and lorry drivers found with £3 million of heroin.
The list below includes some of the offenders that were put behind bars by judges during February.
The offenders' names and a summary of what led to them appearing in the dock are as follows:
Man jailed for dangerous driving after woman was left to die in the road
A MAN who left a woman to die in the road after a crash has been jailed for more than four years.
Linda Franklin, who was 39, died in the crash in Avon Way, Colchester, in August last year.
She was a passenger in a silver Audi A3 being driven by David Jankovic.
As the car approached the junction of Charles Pell Road and Avon Way at speed, it failed to give way, causing it to drive into the path of another vehicle.
At the point of impact, the front passenger door of the Audi opened and Linda fell from the vehicle into the path of the other car.
Instead of stopping, Jankovic drove off, with dash cam footage from the other vehicle showing the passenger door still open.
Read more: Man who caused death of 'wonderful' Greenstead woman is 'danger to other road users'
A short time later police received a call reporting a damaged silver Audi stopped in Davey Close, in Colchester, before the driver got out and walked away from the area.
Checks on the Police National Computer identified Jankovic as the registered keeper of the vehicle.
Officers were also able to place Jankovic’s phone at both the scene of the collision and the location where the car was left.
The 23-year-old, of Hakewill Way, Colchester, was arrested in the early hours of the morning the following day in Sudbury.
He initially denied causing death by dangerous driving.
But this week he was jailed for four years and two months and banned from driving for seven years after admitting the charge.
Drug runner jailed after acting as 'man on the ground' for county lines operation
A DRUG dealer who acted as part of a “sophisticated” conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine to users was snared after an undercover sting.
Kwama Banahene, 24, was arrested during a police operation to take out a county line drug supply ring.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Banahene, motivated by greed, acted as part of wider conspiracy by being “the man on the ground”.
After a call was made to the drug line, he would be instructed to go out and supply heroin and crack cocaine, often keeping wraps stashed in his mouth.
As well as his role as a runner, Banahene also topped up mobile phones used for the operation at shops in Clacton and Jaywick.
The court heard he was snared after he repeatedly sold class A drugs to an undercover officer known as Baz in Clacton.
Sasha Bailey, prosecuting, described how he met with Baz on many occasions between October 2019 and January 2020.
Banahene was arrested at London Victoria coach station as police swooped on suspects in Clacton, London, Colchester and Braintree in February last year.
He admitted two charges of conspiracy to supply a controlled drug.
Michael Gomulka, mitigating, said his client had fully accepted his role within the operation.
He said: “He makes no bones about the circumstances in which he got involved.
“It was greed. It wasn’t pressure, it wasn’t a drug habit and it certainly was naivety as to the damage that drugs cause throughout society and in individual lives.”
Banahene, of John Ruskin Street, London, had already spent six months behind bars prior to the sentencing hearing.
Recorder Simon Mayo QC jailed Banahene for three years and two months, with 99 days counting towards the sentence for being on a curfew.
He said he had performed a number of roles within the supply chain of a county lines operation.
Lorry drivers found with £3 million worth of heroin
TWO lorry drivers have been jailed for a total of 27 years after £3.2million of heroin was discovered during a sting at Harwich Port.
A total of 32 kilos of the Class A drug were seized following a National Crime Agency investigation at the port.
Polish nationals Stanislaw Walczak, 43 and Robert Wyzuj, 55, were stopped in their HGV at Harwich docks.
They had arrived at Harwich from the Netherlands on February 18.
Searches of the vehicle by Border Force officers found that, in addition to a legitimate load of plastics destined for Leicester, the trailer also contained 64 blocks of heroin.
The drugs were concealed in a bag within a cardboard box.
Both men were arrested at the port.
Officers also recovered a canister containing pepper spray and a mobile phone.
The phone was later found to connect the lorry drivers to criminal associates in the Netherlands.
Both Walczak and Wyzuj denied knowing that they were transporting heroin.
Read more: Lorry drivers jailed after £3.2m of heroin found at port
But National Crime Agency investigators were able to obtain DNA evidence linking both men to the handles of the bag in which the drugs were concealed.
The agency said the drugs would have had an estimated street value of £3.2million if cut and sold in the United Kingdom.
Following a seven-day trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, both men were found guilty of the importation of Class A drugs.
They were both also found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Walczak was sentenced to 14 years in prison and Wyzuj received a sentence of 13 years.
Child rapist carried out series of sex attacks in Clacton
A RAPIST who carried out a series of “appalling” sexual offences against a woman and multiple child victims was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment.
Scott Wigg, 32, admitted ten counts relating to sexual offences carried out over a four-year period.
He sexually abused one victim while she slept and filmed the act so he could watch it back later for his own gratification.
At a previous hearing, Wiggs, from Clacton, admitted three counts of raping a child under the age of 13.
He admitted one count of sexual assault of a child under the age of 13 and causing or inciting a child under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.
He also admitted two counts of sexual assault, two counts of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent and a single count of assault by penetration.
Jerry Hayes, mitigating at Chelmsford Crown Court, said: “This is an appalling and distressing case for everybody involved.”
Considering relevant previous convictions, the court heard Wigg had sexually abused a boy in 2005.
Judge Christopher Morgan described Wigg’s behaviour as “depraved” and said he had caused “serious and long term emotional harm”.
He deemed Wigg a dangerous offender and ruled he should receive an extended sentence.
“There is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm, both physical and psychological, that could be occasioned by the commission by you of further specified offences of a sexual nature,” he said.
He sentenced Wigg to 21 years imprisonment with 15 to be served behind bars and six to be served on licence.
Domestic abuser jailed after stealing shotguns from shop
A DOMESTIC abuser who kidnapped his girlfriend has been locked up for five years after a botched burglary at a gun shop.
Violent Dean Pitts, 27, stole seven shotguns during a raid at a firearms dealership in Colchester.
But he was snared after he left his mobile phone at the scene of the crime.
Pitts stormed out of a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, where he was to be sentenced for the burglary and a campaign of domestic abuse carried out against a former partner.
CCTV showed Pitts at gun shop KD Radcliffe, in Berechurch Hall Road, Colchester, on July 2, 2019.
He broke in overnight, forcing entry using a hammer and screwdriver before taking seven Beretta hunting shotguns worth £1,000 each.
But the burglar left his phone inside after making off from the scene, having been using it as a torch.
The firearms were found hidden in bushes near to the store by a member of the public two months later.
Pitts, of no fixed address, admitted kidnapping, burglary, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, engaging in coercive or controlling behaviour, two charges of assault and two of criminal damage during an earlier hearing.
He initially refused to attend his sentencing, but was then ordered to be brought before the court via video link to HMP Altcourse by Judge David Swinnerton.
However, the defendant stormed out of the booth shortly after the prosecution began detailing his catalogue of abuse.
The court heard the couple’s relationship began in May last year, but Pitts increasingly became verbally and physically abusive.
He sought to isolate his partner from her loved ones and deleted the male friends on her social media profiles.
On one occasion in July last year, the court was told he punched her in the side at a Travelodge – causing her to collapse and leaving her struggling to breathe, after which she required hospital treatment.
On another, he dragged her out of an off-licence by her hair before bundling her into a car.
Sentencing him to five years and ten months in prison, Judge David Swinnerton said: “I’ve asked the rhetorical question, what do you do when you have stolen shotguns? An obvious answer is, make money.”
Burglar carried out a series of raids across Essex
A REMORSEFUL burglar was jailed after admitting his role in more than 50 offences across four counties.
Aaron Crinnion, of no fixed abode, was handed 876 days behind bars for the offences in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and London.
Crinnion, 29, had admitted to burglaries in Lowestoft and Norwich and to two incidents of theft.
While on remand in prison for the Lowestoft burglary, Crinnion was visited by Suffolk Police’s Operation Converter Team, who put more than 40 further offences to him, including 11 in Essex.
Crinnion admitted to the 46 additional offences and agreed to have them taken into consideration by the court.
Of the 11 Essex offences, seven were in Clacton, comprising burglaries at six businesses and one attempted house burglary.
The other four offences were either thefts or burglaries in Frinton, Jaywick, Weeley and Witham.
All 11 offences took place between October and November last year, with the exception of the attempted dwelling burglary in Clacton, which dated back to December 2017 and the theft of a van in Jaywick from August 2018.
Det Con Barry Simpson, of the Operation Converter Team, said: “Following excellent work by Lowestoft CID in securing the initial burglary charge and remand, the door was then opened to us to visit Crinnion in prison and put all the other offences to him.
“Through liaison with our colleagues in Norfolk, Essex and the Metropolitan Police, we were able to link and compile this significant number of offences together, which demonstrates a borderless approach to dealing with prolific criminality."
Abuser locked up after chasing his ex-partner with a knife
A VIOLENT thug throttled and headbutted his ex-partner before chasing her while wielding a knife.
John McGuire, 30, was locked up for two years after launching an attack at his former partner’s address in Colchester.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard McGuire showed up at her home to ask if she could do his washing.
After his ex washed his clothes, she asked him to leave.
Jerry Hayes, prosecuting, described the horrific attack which followed.
“She grabbed her bag and attempted to leave the property,” he said.
“The defendant grabbed her and swung her around, and then pushed her into the corner of the communal hallway of the block of flats.
“He then grabbed her around the neck with both hands and strangled her for about 15 seconds.
“He headbutted her on the nose and punched her in the face.”
“She was bleeding.”
After a friend of the victim persuaded McGuire to stop, the victim was able to flee.
But McGuire grabbed a kitchen knife from her flat and gave chase.
He was later arrested in the front garden of a nearby property and was found to be “very drunk.
He admitted charges of assault and possession of a knife.
Mr Hayes said McGuire has an “appalling” record, including a history of domestic violence against partners and assault on police officers.
In mitigation, Gareth Hughes said his client had “the good sense” to admit his guilt at the earliest opportunity.
He said McGuire, who had worked as a chef, had been “at his lowest ebb” and was effectively homeless.
He added: “The time he has spent in custody has formed the basis for quite a considerable rethink as to his attitude towards life, and indeed a recognition on his part that alcohol and his failure to stop drinking has been very much at the root of these offences.”
During his time in custody after the attack, which was carried out in September last year, McGuire has completed one-to-one counselling.
Recorder Johnson sentenced McGuire, of no fixed address, to a total of two years imprisonment and imposed a restraining order spanning six years, which prohibits contact of any kind with the victim.
Father jailed after making 'terrifying' threats to kill
A FATHER was jailed for making threats to kill during a “frightening” ordeal after being told he could no longer see his daughter due to his escalating criminal behaviour.
Justin Noble, 31, of Thomas Road, Clacton, admitted charges of making threats to kill, affray and criminal damage following an incident at the home of his expartner’s parents on August 30.
Edmund Blackman, prosecuting, told Chelmsford Crown Court the incident happened after a text message was sent to Noble’s mother stating he was no longer allowed to have contact with his nine-year-old daughter on account of his escalating criminality.
The next day Noble went to the property , where there were children present, and pulled a CCTV camera from the wall and began repeatedly kicking the door with force.
“While doing that he made repeated graphic threats to harm and kill people inside the property,” added Mr Blackman.
“He also threatened to burn down the house down.
“The occupants were extremely frightened and called the police.
"In the background on that 999 call, the defendant can be heard shouting.
“His behaviour disturbed and worried neighbours, a number of them also dialled 999.
“One neighbour came outside to see what was going on and the defendant verbally threatened him as well.”
Mr Blackman said Noble was detained by police near by and was found to have a claw hammer in his pocket and a second claw hammer was found close to the spot where he was arrested.
It was estimated that he caused £1,155 of damage.
William Glover, mitigating, said: “He is someone who until recently was suffering with paranoid schizophrenia and receiving no medication.
“He has since received better medical carefor thatand hasalso been diagnosed with ADHD.
“Since I last saw him in September his presentation has markedly improved.”
Recorder Simon Mayo QC sentenced Noble to 20 months in prison for making threats to kill and 12 months for affray, to run concurrently.
Speaking to Noble, who had 18 previous convictions, he said: “You behaved in a highly aggressive and threatening manner, attempting effectively to break through the door while uttering threats to kill.”
A restraining order was also put in place.
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