ESSEX defendants who have appeared before the justice system over the past few weeks are now serving their time – well, some sort of time, anyway.
The prison system has become so overwhelmed that offenders who a few years ago may have been put behind bars are now allowed to walk free and go about their daily lives pretty much as normal.
Judges are not necessarily to blame – indeed, it is quite common for them to tell defendants they would jail them if they could.
Suspended sentences and community orders may not seem like much of a punishment, but at least offenders have had their cards marked – another offence, and their chances of escaping a prison term are slim.
Here are some of the defendants who appeared before the courts in the past few weeks who avoided going to jail this time round.
Ian Mulford – kept and distributed indecent images of children
Engineer Ian Mulford used his X account to send category B and category C images of children.
He was also found to have 898 of the illegal photographs in his possession, some of which were category A, the most serious kind.
His Honour Recorder Jeremy Benson KC told Mulford, 46, he would not be sending him to prison.
The judge also decided against giving him a suspended prison sentence.
He said: “You have been waiting two and a half years for the matter to come to this court.
“That is not your fault – you admitted the offences in interview and you pleaded guilty at the first opportunity in the magistrates’ court.
“I also take into account the fact that you have clearly shown remorse.
“Because of all the mitigating features, I am just about swayed.”
Mulford, of Mill Hill, Mistley, was given a two-year community order and had to pay £1,000 in costs.
Ashley Bottley – drove with no licence and has £10,884 of court fines
Despite not having a driving licence, Ashley Bottley was unaware he wasn’t allowed to drive on the roads, his defence barrister told Colchester Magistrates’ Court.
The 27-year-old was in Northamptonshire last month when the number plate of the car he was driving was flagged by police.
The uninsured vehicle was stopped by officers, and Bottley – who has eight previous driving offences and owes more than £10,000 in court fines – later admitted driving whilst disqualified and using a car without third party insurance.
Magistrates were unimpressed when they were told by defence barrister Paul Baker that Bottley was unaware he was serving a ban.
Mr Baker said: “Bottley was unaware he had been disqualified from driving by your colleagues in Suffolk earlier this year.
“He was unaware of the proceedings and disqualification until he was spoken to by police in Northampton in July.”
Bottley, of Swan Close, Colchester was given another driving ban and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Adam Davidson – assaulted partner when she asked him to help her install a ring doorbell
Bricklayer Adam Davidson was in a relationship with a woman who let him stay at her address last year because she felt sorry for him, but when she asked him to help her install a ring doorbell at her home in Clacton, he “kicked off”.
The two continued to argue and when the victim tried to leave, Davidson, 42, “grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back into the house.”
When she locked herself in the bathroom, Davidson then smashed up the property by damaging a mirror, a plug socket, crockery, a washing up bowl, a mop bucket, and a bedroom wall.
He was bailed on the condition he didn’t contact his victim, but the two then met in a pub only weeks later, again returning to her address where they had another argument.
Davidson, of Lake Walk, Clacton, then assaulted her and split her head open.
He fled the scene but was later found by police five weeks later when he was driving whilst twice over the alcohol limit.
Davidson was given a 14-week prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 20 rehabilitation requirement days and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement.
Thomas Smith – 79-year-old who downloaded software to clear internet history… then blamed it on pop-up adverts
Pensioner Thomas Smith was sentenced to a sexual harm prevention order in 2022 after he admitted possessing indecent images of children, but when he breached that order earlier this month, he tried to blame it on pop-adverts from an online sudoku site.
Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard how Smith, of Gravel Hill Way in Dovercourt, had installed an Opera browser which allows users to instantly delete their cache and browsing history.
His laptop was also found to have a programme called Ccleaner, which hides user’s digital identities.
It was argued in Smith’s defence the Opera browser was downloaded by another resident in his retirement complex who said it would make his computer run faster.
Sarah Moulange, mitigating, said: “One of the other people in the complex suggested this software to make his computer run quicker and make it safer to use.
“He says ‘OK, I will give that a go’ and he doesn’t realise what it actually does.”
She continued: “As for the Ccleaner, he says he uses the computer to play online games like sudoku – he says he clicked on a pop-up advert.”
That defence was not accepted by magistrates, who told him: “You did knowingly add [the programmes] to your computer and knew what they would do.”
Smith was given a four-month jail sentence suspended for one year and ordered to pay £259 in costs.
Phaedrus Finch – ‘academic genius’ who ignored police road block on A12, crashed motorbike, and fled the scene
Phaedrus Finch, 21, was riding a motorbike with false numberplates when he approached a police roadblock on the A12 in April.
He is then said to have panicked at the site of officers, and sped past the police cars which were attempting to slow traffic down because of reports of someone in danger near a bridge.
Finch lost control of his motorbike and collided with the central reservation.
The defendant, who did not have a driving licence, fled the scene and officers found the motorbike in the middle of the road, Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard.
Without knowing whether Finch, 21, had survived the crash, emergency services deployed a police helicopter to search for him in case he was found.
The A12 was closed for three and a half hours, and police were unable to trace the motorbike back to Finch because of the false numberplates.
It fell to Finch’s mother, Christina Fox, to phone 999 shortly before midnight on Wednesday, April 24 when she discovered emergency services were searching for her son.
She later picked him up outside the Wheatsheaf Pub in Maldon Road, Witham, and he confessed to the offences in a police interview.
Anthony McKen, mitigating, said: “He appears to be going somewhere with his life – his mum describes him being a gifted person, a genius from his academic ability.”
Finch, of Flavius Way in Colchester, was not banned from driving and instead received nine points on his licence.
He was also ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and pay £219 in costs.
Anthony Crayden – racially abused parking warden for giving him a ticket… then blamed it on his medication
When Anthony Crayden was hit with a parking ticket in Pier Avenue in Clacton, he told the warden to “get back on the boats and go back to where you came from”.
He later blamed the outburst on medication prescribed for his mental health, telling Colchester Magistrates’ Court he also felt “antagonised” by the officer.
The offence was captured on video by bodycam by the traffic warden, who reported it to the police.
Crayden, who was not represented in court, told magistrates he would shake the officer’s hand and apologise to him if he saw him again.
He said: “I felt a bit antagonised because the traffic warden had a smirk on his face – I said, ‘why are you waiting for me?’
“If I saw him now, I would shake his hand and apologise.
“I have got a lot of friends from different countries and different backgrounds and they would say I have never been racist to them in any way.”
Crayden, of St John’s Road, Clacton, was ordered to pay £217 which included an £80 fine.
Chris Allen – stalker who showed up at victim’s workplace and later followed her to a hotel
After encountering a woman in Halstead, “obsessive” stalker Chris Allen targeted her over a six-month period last year.
The defendant, 70, approached the woman’s colleagues “trying to extract information about her”, claiming he had dated her in the past and also gave her a Valentine’s card last February.
Police attended Allen’s address to arrest him one month later, and his wife of 45 years went on to hand to investigators a diary which the defendant had used to record where he had met various women.
The diary also contained notes detailing Allen’s various trips to Halstead to see his victim, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Allen later admitted one charge of stalking, but after the father-of-three was bailed he continued pursuing the woman and turned up at a hotel in Ipswich where he found out she was staying.
Addressing Allen, of The Walk in Eight Ash Green, His Honour Judge Christopher Morgan said: “Police arrested you and it was your wife who attributed a diary to you as part of their investigation.
“It shows in my judgement a man who, when he believes a female is interested in him, becomes obsessed and starts pursuing them.”
He continued: “It is you putting your obsession before your marriage.”
Allen was banned from Halstead for a year and given a restraining order for five years.
He was also given an 18-month jail term suspended for two years and is subject to GPS trail monitoring for six months.
Matthew Mannion – businessman and ‘pillar’ of local community who crashed Tesla head-on into another driver
Business development manager Matthew Mannion was driving a company car in Stansted last month when he veered onto the wrong side of the road turning a corner.
He crashed the Tesla into an oncoming BMW, the driver of which suffered a broken collarbone, Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard.
Mannion, who was described by his defence solicitor as a “pillar” of his community in Saffron Walden, has since lost his job at a construction firm.
It was said in Mannion’s defence that the 44-year-old, of Rowntree Way in Saffron Walden, was under severe stress after he was told his father had six months to live.
He was also caring for his mother who has Alzheimer’s.
The court heard Mannion had no previous convictions and had sought counselling since the incident.
He held back tears as he read a statement from the dock, saying: “The impact of this has been devastating for myself personally and my family.
“This is heartbreaking for me and has significantly affected my mental health.
“I am seeking counselling and I am committed to ensuring this behaviour is never repeated.”
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