Jailed in February: The Essex criminals who faced justice this month

From a £2 million cananbis factory to a man found in possession of 20,000 indecent images, the crown courts at Ipswich and Chelmsford have dealt with all manner of crimes this month. 

Addict threatened and assaulted cancer patient

Dean Rodman

A DRUG addict who assaulted and threatened a terminally-ill relative as part of a bid to get cash to fuel his habit has been jailed.

Dean Rodman, 42, flew into a rage after his demands for the 78-year-old woman’s phone were refused.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard he proceeded to rifle through her pockets as she tried to fight him off.

The victim, described as a close family member, found Rodman in the living room of her Clacton home on November 1 last year.

She was left bruised and terrified in the resultant attack, which the court heard lasted between 20 and 30 minutes.

FULL STORY: Drug addict attacked cancer-suffering relative

Judge Timothy Walker said: “This was a victim aged 78 years, terminally ill with lung cancer and suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

“But all you were concerned with was getting hold of her phone."

He added: “You threatened to ‘beat her black and blue’ and made further threats to her whilst in the house, pinning her down or at least towering over her demanding again she unlock the phone.”

He admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was sentenced to 20 months imprisonment.

Man used his vehicle as a weapon to ram ex's car

Perry Race

A MAN whose abusive behaviour towards former partners included using his car as a weapon has been jailed after treating women in an “aggressive, possessive and controlling manner”.

Perry Race, 31, pursued one former partner while she was on the morning school run with her children.

He rammed his car into the back of her vehicle during the chase.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard this piece of dangerous driving was just one example of the abusive behaviour visited against a former partner after their relationship ended in September 2018.

The victim would spot Race sitting in his car across the road from her house. She would receive constant phone calls and texts from him.

The court was told he would send her photographs of her front door and on one occasion smashed her car windscreen.

This behaviour came to a head when Race forced his way into her home one evening, immediately after a friend had left her house.

Charlotte Oliver, prosecuting, said: “She presumed Mr Race was hiding in the back garden whilst her friend was over.

“Because within 30 seconds of this gentleman driving away, Mr Race came flying through the door and pushed her into the stair gate across the lounge door. She fell to the floor and the stair gate came off the wall.

“He took her phone out of her hand, she tried to get it back and Mr Race punched her with a right fist to the left side of her face.”

FULL STORY: Domestic abuser rammed victim's car while she was on the school run

Race, of Porter Way, Clacton, admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, dangerous driving, theft, three counts of criminal damage and assault by beating.

Judge Mary Loram QC described Race as a domestic abuser who had abused or assaulted four different partners.

She said: “The argument that it is in the public interest to try and address your offending behaviour would have held some force, were you not already subject to a community order at the time you committed one of these offences.”

Judge Loram said he had treated woman in an “aggressive, possessive and controlling manner”.

Race was jailed for 27 months and hit with a restraining order prohibiting contact with both women for ten years.

'Lookout' jailed after assisting more than 20 burglaries

Steven Patmore

A LOOKOUT who kept careful watch while an accomplice raided more than 20 houses across Essex and Suffolk acted as part of a “professional” family team.

Steven Patmore, 28, conspired with members of his family and violent burglar James Preston to raid 26 homes in Colchester and Ipswich.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Preston, who was jailed for 12 years after admitting his part in the conspiracy, would act as the burglar, typically breaking glass to gain entry to the homes.

The court was told during one burglary there was an “unpleasant confrontation” with the police, during which Preston wielded an imitation firearm.

Patmore’s role in the conspiracy spanned from December 19, 2016, to January 9, 2017.

He admitted conspiracy to commit burglary and one count of handling stolen goods, on the basis he had never entered any of the homes.

He also admitted breaching his bail conditions, after failing to appear in court in 2019.

Appearing before Judge Patricia Lynch QC, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment.

FULL STORY: Man conspired with his family to burgle more than 20 homes across county

Mr Rose said: “Typically they were detached houses.

“The sophistication of the conspiracy was principally reflected in the cell site evidence and the way in which the various conspirators were in lengthy communication and moving around the area.

“On his basis of plea, he asserts he was never a burglar inside the premises, but always performed the role of lookout.”

Sex offender groped woman's foot on train

Samuel Creed

A SEX offender who was caught touching a woman’s feet on a train told his victim: “I bet you wish you had a boyfriend like me.”

Samuel Creed, 21, was jailed for more than two years after sexually assaulting two women.

The predator was hit with a criminal behaviour order after he was convicted of a sexual assault carried out at Stowmarket railway station in February 2020.

The order banned him from travelling on the railway network or speaking to any passengers.

But he breached the order under a year later when he approached another woman on a train between Manningtree and Colchester.

In May last year, Creed approached the victim and started speaking to her about her shoes.

The woman ignored him, but he touched her shoes and squeezed her ankle, telling her: “I bet you wish you had a boyfriend like me to do this to you at night.”

After the victim reported the assault to British Transport Police, officers scoured CCTV footage and identified Creed.

He was arrested, charged with sexual assault and sentenced to 26 months imprisonment at Ipswich Crown Court.

Pervert had sick haul of 20,000 child images

Clive Mars

A PERVERT who scoured the dark web for sick child abuse images “catalogued and stored” a collection of more than 20,000 pictures.

Clive Mars, 67, also used a hidden camera to capture images of a child.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the Gulf war veteran took his own images of two victims on the hidden camera before storing them for later viewing.

When police raided his home, they seized a number of storage devices including 24 USB drives and a 125gb hard drive.

Officers found more than 20,000 indecent images of children, including more than 16,000 at Category C, 3,000 at Category B and 2,200 at the most serious Category A.

More than 2,000 movies at Category A were also uncovered.

FULL STORY: Veteran had child images and set up hidden camera

Mars, of Waterside Marina, Brightlingsea, admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children, one count of taking an indecent image of a child, five counts of voyeurism, one count of possessing a prohibited image of a child and one count of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Jailing Mars, of Waterside Marina, Brightlingsea, for 27 months, Judge Christopher Morgan said: “You deliberately searched, you used the dark web.

“The result of your searching was the collection of these images."

He added: “There are a significant number of images from the schedule which demonstrate you were viewing on a regular basis, and searching for on a regular basis, abuse of children as young as one years of age."

Clacton and Tilbury brothers scalped biker in attack

Ferrell Falzon and Maison Falzon

BROTHERS were jailed for 20 years after a biker was scalped and beaten in a “vicious” attack in the street.

The victim was attacked in Dock Road, Tilbury, by Ferrell Falzon, 19, of Diana Way, Clacton and Maison Falzon, 26, of Leicester Road, Tilbury, last August.

The man was driven at with a car and then attacked in front of horrified families in the street.

Jerry Hayes, prosecuting, told Southend Crown Court: “It was a vicious and prolonged attack that left the victim with life threatening injuries.

“He was scalped and it happened in broad day light and had a profound affect on the men, women and children who saw it.

“He was hit by the car which propelled him forward, they stamped on him and kept hitting him and slashing at him with a machete.

“He tried to escape but they kept attacking him and when they eventually left witnesses came over to help him.

“He suffered a severed arm, broken rib, broken neck bone and was scalped.”

He said one witness had to be sectioned with mental health problems after the attack and a family is leaving the area.

The pair admitted grievous bodily harm with intent and a charge of attempted murder was left on file.

Keep up to date with all the latest crime and court news with our dedicated Facebook page Paul Lazarus, mitigating for Ferrell Falzon, told the court his client expresses remorse.

He said: “These are grave injuries and I do not try to trivialise this. He wants to apologise but knows it has limited powers.

“He says it was not a long-running feud and only happened on the day and he does not try to justify his actions.”

Sunil Mehta, mitigating for Maison Falzon, told the hearing he had reaction badly to reports the victim stabbed his brother.

He said: “He went into panic and desperation mode and lost it, he perhaps went overboard on what he planned to do.”

Sentencing the pair Judge Samantha Leigh said: “The statements from the witnesses are truly devastating and there was more than one victim in this case.

“Those who helped the man talk of the horror of the injuries they saw. He suffered irreversible injuries in this sustained attack.

“He was vulnerable and it was planned revenge.”

Ferrell Falzon was jailed for nine years and Maison Falzon was jailed for 11 years and disqualified from driving for ten and a half years.

'Gardener' jailed for part in growing £2 million of cannabis

Rition Mone

AN illegal immigrant who entered the UK “to find a better life” was instead caught amid an industrial operation to grow around £2 million worth of cannabis.

Rition Mone, 26, was arrested after he was found hiding behind plastic sheeting within a disused factory in Hythe Station Road, Colchester.

The building had been converted into an industrial-sized cannabis growing operation, comprising 6,500 plants at the time police carried out a raid in April last year.

Officers were called to the area in relation to another matter when they noticed the smell of cannabis.

Ipswich Crown Court heard when they investigated what they thought was a disused factory, they noticed the windows had been covered and CCTV cameras installed.

As they waited for a warrant to be granted, officers spotted a number of people fleeing across the roof of the building.

FULL STORY: A look inside the £2 million cannabis farm dismantled by police

A ventilation system was in place extracting air from each of the rooms, while gardening equipment was found.

Police also found makeshift living quarters had been set up for approximately six people.

Mone was the only individual found inside the factory and he appeared to be talking to someone on a mobile phone.

The court heard the plants seized would have yielded more than 11kg of cannabis, worth between £1.2m and £2.4m on the streets.

Mone admitted a single charge of producing a Class B drug and was sentenced to three years and two months imprisonment.

Dangerous driver was 'lucky to escape with his life'

Matthew Saunders

A DANGEROUS driver who was “lucky to escape with his life” after crashing his car during a high-speed police chase on the A12 has been jailed.

Matthew Saunders, 33, took his ex-partner’s car from outside her Colchester home on August 31 last year.

Ipswich Crown Court heard an argument had broken out after Saunders returned to her home from the pub late in the evening.

A jury was told Saunders “rained down blows” to his former partner’s face after the row turned violent.

Hugh Vass, prosecuting, said the woman fled to a neighbour’s home, where she called the police.

FULL STORY: Dangerous driver jailed after crashing ex's car in high speed chase

Mr Vass said: “While she was calling the police, she heard an engine being revved.

“Soon after, she discovered her car had been taken by the defendant.

“He had no right to take it, no permission to take it and no driving licence to drive it.

“There was in due course a high-speed chase along the A12, which ended in a serious collision.

“The car was a write-of and he was lucky to be alive.”

Saunders claimed he “did not lay a finger” on the complainant.

A jury of six men and women cleared Saunders of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

He admitted dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking.

Saunders, of Saxon Gardens, Shoeburyness, was sentenced to 14 months imprisonment and banned from driving for 25 months.

He was also hit with an indefinite restraining order, banning Saunders from contacting his ex-partner.