IT has been another busy week in the world of the county's criminal courts.
Judges have been rattling full throttle through a hefty backlog of cases, with defendants being hauled into the dock to face justice.
This week there have been several people who have left the courtroom in a prison van.
You can read about some of the cases below:
Dangerous driver jailed for three years
A dangerous driver who took his girlfriend’s car after a beer festival before crashing has been jailed for three years.
Liam O’Brien, 33, had been at Coggeshall Beer Festival with girlfriend Hannah Humphrey, 37, on September 3 last year.
Having walked back to Humphrey’s home in Bobbin Close, Coggeshall, O’Brien, who has never had a driving licence, took her car and drove off shortly after 9.30pm.
The landscaper was then seen speeding at between 60mph and 67mph in residential London Road, Kelvedon, before he crashed into motorist Gary Lord, who was attempting to turn into his driveway.
CCTV footage played to Chelmsford Crown Court showed the Range Rover roll several times before coming to a stop on its side following impact.
O'Brien then walked off and called Humphrey, who then phoned the police and told officers her car had been stolen.
The duo then conspired to cover up what had happened but soon admitted what they had done.
You can read the full story here.
Paedophile locked up for two years
A man who downloaded more than 500 indecent images of children and breached a sexual harm prevention order has been jailed for 24 months.
When police officers carried out an early morning raid at Dominic Robinson’s home in January, there was a delay before he came to the door.
Police later found two mobile phones which he had thrown out of a window, Ipswich Crown Court heard.
When his phones were examined they were found to contain one indecent image and one video of a child in the most serious level A category, 11 category B images and 542 still indecent images of children and one video in the lowest level C category.
You can read the full story here.
Serial shoplifter gets 51 weeks
A serial shoplifter has been banned from every Co-op in Essex after police linked him to 24 offences targeting the supermarket brand.
Scott Butcher, 36, has been jailed for almost a year after he was caught out following his campaign of thefts from Co-ops in and around Colchester.
He was arrested on Friday after officers were alerted to a theft which had taken place at a Co-op in Wivenhoe.
An investigation saw Butcher linked to 22 other thefts from Co-ops in Wimpole Road, The Avenue, Iceni Way and The Commons.
You can read the full story here.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here