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, dangerous drivers, attempted murderers, thieves, violent abusers, former police officers and sex offenders who committed crimes and were locked up in February.

Jack Cracknell

A “show-off” driver clocked a speed of 117mph just seconds before he crashed into a pub, killing a “beautiful, bubbly” teenage girl and seriously injuring another passenger.

A court heard Jack Cracknell was at the wheel of a high-powered Ford Fiesta ST when he ignored pleas to slow down and stop, lost control at a roundabout in New Dover Road, Canterbury, and ploughed into the Old Gate Inn.

The horror crash in the early hours of December 3, 2022, left rear-seat passenger Lucy Billingham dead and Colby Ainger, who was also in the back of the vehicle, with a fractured arm, and neither, it appeared, had been wearing seatbelts.

Cracknell, who was 20 at the time and had held a full, clean driving licence for about a year, was giving 18-year-old Lucy and her best friend Louis Kennett a lift from the city’s Club Chemistry to the nearby Ebury Hotel when the tragedy occurred at about 4.20am.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that Mr Kennett, who was the front-seat passenger, was scared by the car’s “grossly excessive” and dangerous speed, and had repeatedly urged the young driver to stop and Cracknell’s sentencing hearing, he branded the now 22-year-old’s actions that night as “murderous.”

The judge who jailed him also said how his “desire for danger and speed” had led to a fatal crash from which it was “a miracle” anyone survived and Cracknell, of Brogdale Road, Ospringe, had admitted causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Jailing Cracknell for six years, Judge Simon James said Lucy was “a ball of energy, vibrant and popular” and that no sentence imposed could “possibly come anywhere close to bringing peace and solace” to those who knew her.

Cracknell was also given an eight-year driving ban.

Wayne Burford

An abuser with a long history of violent and controlling behaviour told his partner to "drown in the bath" before charging at her with a knife.

Wayne Burford erupted in rage at the woman's home, just hours after he had relentlessly messaged her to "prove" to him she was at the hospital with a friend, and then to express his anger she had later gone to the cinema without him.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that her efforts to calm him down on her return included texting him from her car, suggesting a dog walk and then later that day they shared a bath, but instead of being appeased, the 44-year-old subjected his victim to what a judge described as a "frightening, angry and aggressive" assault.

Faced with him running at her with a kitchen knife, the woman sought refuge in her bathroom and shut the door, using her body weight to try and keep it closed, but Burford forced it open, ramming it against her face and body and into a boiler cupboard, leaving her with bruising and swelling.

It was not the first time she had suffered at his hands either, the court heard the couple's on-off relationship was one "marred by violence", said prosecutor Eleanor Scott-Davies, and led to Burford notching up several convictions over the years for crimes committed against his lover.

These included three common assaults, threatening to damage property, sending a malicious communication and engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour and he also breached a restraining order six times but two years after it was issued, the victim had it lifted due to the fact she wanted to resume their relationship, but it turned sour again, culminating with the attack and threats on October 9 last year.

Burford, of Foord Road South, Folkestone, was arrested and later admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and threatening with an offensive weapon in a private place and charges of threatening to destroy property and making a threat to kill, which he denied, were left on the court file.

Burford was jailed for a total of two years and three months and given a 10-year restraining order.

Luke Seffens

A police pursuit down a river led to the arrest of a violent bully who beat and tormented his partner.

Luke Seffens was tracked down with the help of a police dog during a foot chase which led officers through woodland and water near Tunbridge Wells.

The 34-year-old was responsible for a period of sustained abuse and threats against a woman, between September and December 2023 and these included random acts of violence, making his victim take photos on her phone to prove where she was and following her to her workplace.

On December 4, 2023, he beat the woman repeatedly during an unprovoked attack in a flat and broke a coffee mug on her head and wouldn’t let her leave and also made threats to stab and strangle her.

She managed to flee to safety the following day and Seffens was arrested and charged and was later granted conditional bail by the courts pending the outcome of a trial, however, despite the strict measures imposed, he continued to contact his victim.

On July 31, 2024, he was about to be arrested again in the centre of Tunbridge Wells when he ran away from officers and the lengthy pursuit was captured on bodyworn footage which showed the patrols and a police dog chasing Seffens into woodland, near Vauxhall Lane, and down a river, where he was successfully detained.

Seffens, of Powder Mill Lane, Tunbridge Wells, went on to plead guilty to charges of false imprisonment, engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, escape from lawful custody, criminal damage, and threats to damage property.

Charges of intentional strangulation, as well as a further period of controlling and coercive behaviour, were ordered by the court to lie on file and Steffens was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court for four years and nine months and was also made subject to an indefinite restraining order.

Jack Larkin

A dim-witted drug dealer who tried to evade pursuing police by mounting a pavement in a stolen car to drive between garden walls and parked vehicles declared on arrest: "I thought it would fit."

Dad-of-eight Jack Larkin's desperate bid to escape came to an abrupt halt when his "very foolish decision" ended with him crashing into a car in Strover Street, Gillingham.

The 32-year-old had no licence or insurance at the time and the 'getaway' Ford Focus in which his girlfriend Mary-Jayne Couchman was the front seat passenger was bearing false plates and a court heard police had been chasing them for as long as eight miles, having initially spotted the speeding vehicle in Delce Road, Rochester, on July 30 last year.

Larkin failed to stop and, heading towards Gillingham via Chatham bus station, he hit speeds of 70mph in 30mph streets, jumped red lights and swerved onto the wrong side of the carriageway into the paths of oncoming traffic and prosecutor Ben Irwin told Maidstone Crown Court that the car’s speed caused the rear to "kick out" and the vehicle to appear "unstable".

But describing the moment Larkin was stopped in his tracks in the residential road, Mr Irwin said: "It (the pursuit) finally came to an end when the Ford Focus mounted a pavement trying to pass between parked cars and garden walls, leading to a collision with a parked vehicle.”

The court heard Larkin admitted that a bag in one of the footwells was his and that drugs - a quantity of cocaine and 30 deal bags of cannabis - were stashed inside it along with cash.

Couchman, 22, also confessed to having "cocaine and weed" on her and the couple, of Spade Lane, Hartlip, were arrested and released on bail.

However, they were later spotted in another stolen car on false plates and an officer who went to speak to them said he was hit by the smell of cannabis when the car door was opened.

Larkin, who has 11 previous convictions for 15 offences, again owned up to having cocaine and cannabis in the vehicle and the court heard the couple also tested positive for cocaine after their arrests and they each later pleaded guilty to four offences of possessing class A and class B drugs with intent to supply.

Larkin also admitted dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance.

Couchman was handed a two-year jail term suspended for two years, with 35 rehabilitation activity requirements.

Larkin was jailed for three years and three months and he was also banned from driving for three years and two months and ordered to take an extended test to gain a licence.

Robert Jenner

A notorious serial flasher convicted of trying to murder a police officer by repeatedly stabbing him in the head, face and neck with a large pair of scissors was jailed for 30 years.

Robert Jenner, once famously dubbed the Naked Carpenter for his nude DIY exploits, launched what the prosecution described as a "brutal, frenzied and wholly gratuitous" attack on PC Sean Quinn as he tried to resist arrest.

He and colleagues had gone to the 50-year-old's flat in Maidstone to investigate a report of a man streaking in the town's Mote Park, but having greeted them in an "abusive and agitated" mood and obstructed their attempts to speak to him for almost an hour, the self-proclaimed naturist and ex-soldier charged at the constable.

Jurors heard how, with the scissor handles clenched across his knuckles, Jenner deliberately targeted the exposed areas of the policeman's upper body with the blades and a total of 19 wounds were inflicted above PC Quinn's neckline plus a further three to his bare arm and one that went through his wrist.

The most severe of his injuries was a large gash across the width of his forehead which exposed his skull and the onslaught by a naked Jenner only came to an end thanks to the desperate efforts of the constable's fellow officers.

Under arrest and covered in blood, he told them that he "didn't mean to do it" and "didn't want it to come to this" and he later denied attempted murder, as well as the alternative, less serious offence of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but refused to attend court for his trial in December.

It was therefore left to his barrister Chris Jeyes to argue that his actions that night amounted to reasonable self-defence in response to what was believed to be unlawful entry of his home or unlawful arrest and that he had no intent to either kill or cause serious injury, but this was rejected by the jury who, after five hours' deliberation and by a majority of 10 to 2, found him guilty of attempted murder.

Judge Philip St. John-Stevens adjourned proceedings to give Jenner an opportunity to engage with his legal team, but he still refused to leave his cell at London's high-security Belmarsh Prison for his sentencing hearing where he was deemed a dangerous offender and jailed for the lengthy term, of which he will have to serve at least two-thirds before he can apply for parole and will have a further five years added to any licence period.

Daniel Bryan

A man was caught with a pistol hidden in his sock during a stop and search by police in the street.

Daniel Bryan was travelling from Brixton to Maidstone in what had been flagged as a “suspicious car” when the vehicle was tracked down by police just outside the town centre on Ashford Road.

When the vehicle came to a stop, Bryan was detained and searched and officers found a suspected firearm, which tests later revealed to be a modified starter pistol capable of firing live ammunition, tucked into the suspect’s sock under his jogging bottoms.

The weapon was seized and Bryan, 30, was later charged with possession of a prohibited firearm and he denied the offence but was convicted by a jury following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.

Bryan, of Stofield Gardens in Eltham, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.

DC Stuart Drakeley said: “The starter pistol Bryan had in his possession had been deliberately adapted to become a dangerous weapon and could have caused a fatal injury if used during a violent crime.

“Bryan had no lawful reason to have it with him when he was stopped by officers, and it is right that he now is behind bars.

“There is no place for unlicensed firearms on the streets of Kent and our patrols will continue to target those who fail to abide by the law, those we detain can expect a lengthy prison sentence.”

David Connolly

A former Kent police officer was jailed for rape and other serious sexual offences against a young girl.

David Connolly abused his victim who was under the age of 15 between 1998 and 2000 while serving as a Kent Police officer.

The allegations were reported to Sussex Police in August 2020 and an investigation was launched, at which point Connolly had retired from policing and his offending was not linked to his role in the force, police said.

The 61-year-old was arrested and charged in January 2024 with three counts of rape of a girl under 16, two counts of gross indecency with a girl under 14 and six counts of indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 16.

He was found guilty of rape of a girl under 16; two counts of indecently assaulting a girl under 16 and two counts of gross indecency with a girl under 14 at Brighton Crown Court the following October.

Connolly, of Norwood Hill Road in Charlwood, Surrey, was sentenced at the same court to 11 years in prison with DC Katrina Davies, of Sussex Police, saying: “David Connolly subjected a young girl to repeated, appalling sexual abuse.

“The victim has had to grow up with the trauma of that abuse, which makes her bravery in reporting Connolly to the police all the more remarkable.

“I would like to thank her for her courage and strength throughout this process and thanks to her, an extremely disturbing individual is now safely behind bars.”

Richard Faulkner

A convicted sex offender was locked up after hundreds of thousands of indecent images of children were found on his devices.

Richard Faulkner, 70, was found with the child abuse images in January last year despite being the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).

Some of the content found on the pensioner’s devices included the most serious category and Faulkner, who lives near Wouldham High Street, was banned from using any device capable of accessing the internet unless it had been installed with a web-monitoring programme.

Just seven months after the order was put in place, the police’s software flagged an alert in August for a computer Faulkner had registered which showed he had been accessing the illegal material and officers arrested the paedophile days later and carried out a search at his home.

Computers and other devices, which were not registered with the force, were seized from the property and during an initial police interview Faulkner denied any wrongdoing, claiming he no longer had any sexual interest in children.

He insisted he had no knowledge of how illegal images would be on his computer, but his lies were exposed when the device was later forensically examined, along with another hard drive, and hundreds of thousands of illegal images were detected.

More than 160 photos and videos uncovered were of the most serious category and Faulkner pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to multiple counts relating to making indecent images of children, breaching the SHPO and failing to comply with sex offender notification requirements, having not registered bank and credit cards with police.

Faulkner was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment and this included the activation of a previous suspended sentence.

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

To see who was locked up in January, click here.

Phillip Bailey, Daniel Newton, Kevin Ratcliffe, Sean Dean and Lee Hudson

A gang of people involved in a construction industry fraud that cheated the tax office out of £22m were jailed.

The offenders were given sentences ranging from 27 months imprisonment up to nine years and four months, when they appeared at Southwark Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was able to show that the defendants were involved in the setting up of a building construction firm and invoiced customers for the supply of labour which included VAT on the bills and the customer companies would pay the invoices, but the construction company would not pay the VAT or the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) contributions to HMRC.

It was estimated there was a loss to the taxpayer of £22m and the unpaid VAT and scheme contributions were diverted to the bank accounts of the defendants and the offences came to light when Kent Police arrested Phillip Bailey, from Beechwood Gardens, Meopham, for firearms, theft and money laundering in April 2020.

Officers began looking into his finances and established he was a criminal accountant who set up front companies and bank accounts to divert tax payments away from HMRC and they were set up in the names of front directors, not his own and he would pay pay off complicit company directors with a portion of the cash he made.

One of those was Kevin Ratcliffe, 43, from Longhill Road, Ovingdean, in Brighton, who owned a construction company in Sussex, but following Bailey’s arrest, Daniel Newton, 37, from Whitefriars Wharf, Tonbridge, became the group’s criminal accountant and carried on its activities in Bailey’s absence.

Bailey, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and conspiracy to disguise, transfer, convert or conceal criminal property (money laundering) and he was sentenced to six years and three months while Newton pleaded guilty to conspiring to cheat the public revenue and money laundering and he was jailed for nine years and four months and Dean, 41, from London Road, Teynham, was found guilty of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and sentenced to seven years.

Hudson, 56, from Ordinance Way, Ashford, was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue and he was sentenced to five years and Ratcliffe, 43, pleaded guilty to cheating the public revenue and one count of acquiring criminal property and was sentenced to 27 months with Bailey, Newton, Dean and Ratcliffe also disqualified from being company directors for 10 years.

Jahrad Alderton-Ford

A paedophile who sexually assaulted two young girls was locked up.

Jahrad Alderton-Ford, of Cop Street, Ash, near Sandwich, abused his victims in 2022.

The 43-year-old was arrested on the same day the incident was reported and later charged with two counts of sexual assault but after denying the offences, he was convicted during a trial at Canterbury Crown Court in October last year.

The predator was sentenced at the same court earlier this month where he was jailed for seven years and ordered to serve an extra year on licence.

Alderton-Ford will also be the subject of a sexual harm prevention order until further notice to reduce the risk of him reoffending following his release.

DC Emma Garcia said: “These were awful offences against young victims and I am pleased Alderton-Ford has been brought to justice for his actions.

“By refusing to admit what he had done, he forced his victims and their family to go through a trial and I am pleased the jury saw through his denials.

“I would like to praise the bravery of the victims in this case and I urge anyone who has been the victim of sexual offences to report it to police so we can ensure offenders are held responsible for their crimes.”

Cyrus Moses

A barber shop owner spoke of the “terrifying” moment he fought for his life as he and his teenage nephew came under attack from a machete-wielding thug.

Haval Wehab, who runs Havel Surchi in Rochester High Street, was at work with Dealdi Ramadan Sadiq when they were inexplicably targeted by a balaclava-clad Cyrus Moses on the morning of May 12, 2023.

Armed with the fearsome-looking blade - described as a machete but in fact resembling a zombie knife - he went into the shop threatening to “kill everyone” before lashing out initially at Mr Wehab and then 19-year-old Mr Ramadan Sadiq as he bravely came to his uncle's aid.

But Maidstone Crown Court heard that while the business owner came off relatively lightly with bruising and scratches, his nephew suffered a stab wound which punctured his lung and lacerated his liver and having been airlifted to London’s King’s College, he had to undergo surgery to the 8cm deep injury which a pathologist later concluded could have proved fatal without medical intervention.

Moses, then aged just 20, was however arrested at the scene after being restrained by members of the public and just five weeks earlier he had been caught with a 30cm knife at Sutton train station in Surrey where a man had been repeatedly stabbed in the back and leg during a robbery.

Moses, of Westway in Caterham, Surrey, later claimed those in the barber shop had "spoken badly" to him while he had been in the area to collect a drug debt.

Moses originally stood trial in November that year accused of attempting to murder Mr Ramadan Sadiq and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Wehab, but then entered guilty pleas to alternative, less serious offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and assault causing actual bodily harm respectively which were accepted by the prosecution.

Moses, now 22, also admitted two offences of possessing a bladed article in relation to the barber shop attack and the train station knifing in April 2023.

Ruling that Moses still continued to pose a danger of serious harm, Judge Philip St. John-Stevens said it was necessary to impose an extended sentence totalling nine years and three months in order to protect the public.

Under his extended sentence, Moses was jailed for five years and three months, of which at least two-thirds must be served before parole can be applied for and he will only be released once it is deemed safe to do so, with a further four years added to any licence period.

Louis Carter

A violent attacker who bit off part of a father’s ear in an unprovoked assault was jailed.

The victim was leaving Strood Railway Station via an underpass to Station Road when the attack happened.

He was talking to his children on the phone when he became aware of Louis Carter, who was walking behind him and being verbally abusive, although he didn’t know Carter, the abuse escalated into threats as they continued towards Commercial Road.

Carter aggressively approached the man who, fearing an assault, punched him out of self-defence and his attacker fell to the floor but got up and a struggle ensued during which he bit the victim’s ear and tore off a large piece.

He fled the scene but not before two children had filmed the incident on February 28, 2022, and the footage, along with CCTV from the railway station, allowed officers to identify Carter as the assailant.

Members of the public had recovered a piece of his ear in some ice and the victim was sent to hospital and Carter, of Woolwich Road, Belvedere, London was arrested in May and later charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The 32-year-old pleaded not guilty and was convicted following a trial at Woolwich Crown Court and earlier this month, he was given an extended 12-year sentence of which seven-and-a-half-years will be served in prison.

When he becomes eligible for parole, Carter will spend four-and-a-half-years on licence.

Owen Payne

A sex offender found with nine bladed weapons and who failed to tell police about his 16 online usernames and seven internet-enabled devices was jailed.

Owen Payne, of Cornwallis Avenue in Linton, near Maidstone, had previously received a suspended prison sentence for attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) which required him to notify police of internet-enabled devices he had access to, but he’s now been jailed for multiple breaches of the order after a routine check of his home in September led to the seizure of three mobile phones, a tablet, a gaming device and a computer.

None of the devices or the 16 online aliases had been reported to the police under his SHPO conditions and a further search of the property uncovered nine bladed weapons, including knives and swords, which were seized.

The 24-year-old was charged with breaching a SHPO, failing to comply with notification requirements and multiple counts of possessing an illegal weapon in a private place which he admitted and was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison at Maidstone Crown Court.

Investigating officer Mark Deacon said: “Owen Payne had already been convicted of sexual offences and rather than change his ways he chose to continue offending by breaching the conditions of his court order.

“Not only did Payne think he could evade capture by failing to notify police of seven internet-enabled devices and 16 online usernames, but he also thought himself above the law when it came to owning numerous illegal weapons.

“Payne has proven himself to be a calculating and dangerous sexual offender, who has been rightly handed a custodial sentence for his crimes.”

Christopher Christou

A Cyprus resident who sent a secretly-recorded sex tape of a woman to one of her male relatives via WhatsApp has been jailed under UK 'revenge porn' laws.

Christopher Christou left his victim feeling “disgusted, embarrassed and humiliated” by what a judge described as “pernicious” offending.

Not only had the 49-year-old filmed the explicit footage without the victim's knowledge, but he also threatened to share it with more family members.

Maidstone Crown Court was told and he was living in Cyprus when he sent the video but was arrested last year while sleeping at an address in Shepherds Way in Lower Stoke, Rochester.

Having later admitted offences of disclosing a private sexual film and threatening to disclose the same material, he was sentenced earlier this month, when prosecutor Trevor Wright told the court although the victim did not know about the recording when it was made, she was "crying within seconds" of being shown what had been shared with her relative.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, then reported him to police after he sent a number of text messages threatening to distribute it to others.

Imposing a 10-month jail term, Recorder Daniel Stevenson told Christou, who appeared via video link from London's Wandsworth Prison, that he had intended to "inflict the maximum amount of distress" on his victim.

Due to time already served on remand, Christou would have been eligible for immediate release at the end of the hearing.

However, the court heard he is currently subject to a European arrest warrant in respect of a police investigation in Cyprus and therefore likely to remain in custody while awaiting extradition.

Joshua Ingram

The son of a convicted bigamist was jailed for sexually abusing two children.

Joshua Ingram stood in the dock at Maidstone Crown Crown just four weeks after his father John Ingram had appeared to learn his fate in relation to illegally marrying his teenage stepdaughter while still wed to her mother.

But while John Ingram walked free, he had to watch from the public gallery this month as his 24-year-old son was told a prison sentence was demanded.

The court heard the Sheerness resident was a teenager when he subjected his victims to abuse and threats of violence if they revealed their ordeals and his warped and criminal conduct included showing one victim a pornographic video on his phone and then ordering them to perform the sex act they had seen.

He also crudely told the child he wanted to ”f***” them and demanded they had “better keep their mouth shut” about his depravity and on another occasion, he even went so far as to threaten his second victim that he would kill them if they did not comply, and used force by dragging them by their leg and putting his hand over their mouth.

Ingram later admitted a total of 13 offences - 12 of sexual activity with a child and one of causing a child to watch pornography - dating back to 2015 and at his sentencing hearing, Judge Philip St John-Stevens told Ingram, who at times could be seen wiping his eyes with a tissue, that the abuse had had a “devastating and distorting” impact on his victims.

But he told Ingram, of Jefferson Road, that although he acknowledged he would be vulnerable in prison, an immediate spell behind bars was inevitable and jailed him for three years.

On release he will be subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements, as well as barring provisions in respect of working with children and vulnerable adults.

Jake Booth

A sex offender who was found by police in a child’s bed after gaining the trust of the victim’s family was locked up.

Jake Booth of Pembury Grove in Tonbridge was already banned from communicating with children when he met the teenage girl online and started living in her home.

The 22-year-old created an internet chat group for motorbike enthusiasts and used the forum to contact the child and from there, their conversations moved to Snapchat and Booth made arrangements to meet the girl and her parents.

After gaining the confidence of the family, he convinced them they were simply close friends so he was allowed to stay in their home, but, unbeknown to the family, Booth was the subject of a sexual harm prevention order following previous convictions for making indecent images of children in 2022.

The 10-year order included strict measures to protect children which meant he was prohibited from having any unsupervised contact or communication with anyone under 16 and on April 11, 2024, Booth was arrested and found in the child’s bed by officers.

He was charged with 14 offences relating to breaches of a sexual harm prevention order and sex offender notification requirements and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was sentenced to three years in prison.

PC Lorny Booth, who led the investigation, said: “Booth effectively groomed this child and then exploited her family’s trust, whilst he sought to evade the many strict measures designed to prevent him from reoffending.

“Whilst there is no evidence in this case to directly connect Booth to any sexual abuse offences, the prison sentence passed by the courts demonstrates that he is a manipulative and predatory offender who poses a clear threat to children.”

Danny Butt

A drug driver who ran a red light and hit and seriously injured a 10-year-old boy was jailed.

Danny Butt was driving his Seat Leon along Woodlands Road, Gillingham, over the 30mph speed limit.

He went through a red light at the junction with Cornwallis Avenue and struck a child who had started to cross the carriageway and the boy suffered serious head injuries and was taken to hospital by air ambulance.

Butt was arrested at the scene on the evening of June 24, 2022, and provided a specimen of blood for analysis once in custody which later proved he had been driving while over the prescribed limit for cannabis and his blood also showed the presence of cocaine.

Butt, of Talma Road, Brixton, London, was charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving and pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court.

Earlier this month, the 42-year-old was sentenced to three years and 10 months and on his release from prison, he will be disqualified from driving for three years and have to take an extended retest.

Serious collision investigator, DC Lee Berridge, said: “Butt got behind the wheel of a car knowing he was unfit to drive due to his misuse of controlled drugs.

“He would have realised he posed a risk to other road users and pedestrians but proceeded, nonetheless, to drive in a very dangerous manner.”

Andrew Mullen

A bike-riding would-be robber was jailed after he fell off while trying to snatch money from a woman using a cash machine.

The victim became aware of bungling Andrew Mullen perched behind her as she used the ATM in Canterbury High Street.

The 49-year-old grabbed her hand as she went to put the cash in her pocket, but the woman tried to crouch down to keep the money in her grasp before a struggle ensued in which Mullen elbowed the woman and then fell from his bike.

He rode off, while the victim went into the bank and the police were called following the attempted robbery on November 2 last year.

Detectives managed to identify Mullen from CCTV images and he was arrested later that month and when officers detained him, he was found to have a knife.

Mullen, of no fixed abode, was charged in December before admitting them in court in January and was handed a four-year sentence at the city's crown court on Thursday for attempted robbery and possession of a knife.

Investigating officer DC Daniel Moles said: “Kent Police is absolutely determined people should be able to enjoy the county's town and city centres without interference from people like Mullen.

“When offences of this kind are reported to us, we will move swiftly to identify those involved and bring them before the courts and I am pleased this sentence will take Mullen off the city's streets and protect others from his offending.”

Bakay Behdjet

A barber who reached a hair-raising speed of 140mph during a police chase on the M2 was jailed.

Bakay Behdjet was said to be in a “heightened state” when he accelerated away from officers on the coastbound A2 at Cobham just after midnight on August 8 last year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that as well as reaching “significantly excessive” speeds while at the wheel of his girlfriend’s Audi TT as he continued onto the M2, he undertook other vehicles, veered “suddenly” onto slip roads and jumped a red light.

The 33-year-old, who only held a provisional licence and was therefore uninsured, drove so fast that the pursuing police lost sight of him and it was not until almost four hours later that the Audi was found abandoned in Sandborne Drive, Maidstone.

The court heard that at the time of the offence Behdjet was “in a state of heightened emotions and not thinking correctly” after rowing with his partner and taking her car without her permission.

He also admitted to police following his arrest that although he had failed to pull over because he was “scared” and then sped up on seeing their blue lights, he had not realised how fast he was going.

Behdjet, of The Chimes, Bearsted, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without a licence and without insurance and a judge told him at his sentencing hearing that it was simply by “pure luck” his actions had not led to more serious charges.

But on jailing Behdjet for 12 months, Recorder David Jeremy KC said the pursuit had “obviously lasted some significant time” and included not only highly dangerous manoeuvres but also a “deliberate disregard” for the rules of the road and safety of others and he also banned Behdjet from driving for 18 months.

Daniel Bruford

Bodyworn footage showed the moment a topless drug dealer was arrested and his weapons seized as police raided his home.

Daniel Bruford had been operating multiple cocaine supply lines across west Kent, known as the Scarface network.

For almost a year, the 27-year-old used several phones to make more than 32,000 calls and messages advertising cocaine and then used runners to deliver the drugs through a system of texts and postcodes.

He was arrested during the early hours of September 27, when officers raided his home in Mount Pleasant Court, Hildenborough and bodyworn footage showed the moment the force broke through the yellow front door and detained Bruford, who was topless and pushed against a wall.

During the search, officers found several weapons, including Samurai swords, nunchucks, a spear, knuckle dusters, machetes and an extendable baton.

Cocaine deals and more than £1,100 in cash were also seized and within 24 hours of his arrest, Bruford pleaded guilty at Medway Magistrates’ Court to being concerned in the supply of cocaine between October 2023 and September 2024.

He also admitted possessing criminal property, namely the seized cash, as well as charges of possessing offensive weapons and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court earlier this month to five years and six months’ imprisonment.

He will also be the subject of a financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act, to claw back any criminal gains resulting from his offending.

Callum Knox and Damian Smith

The terrifying moment a masked burglar charged at an officer with a crowbar during a break-in at a village store was captured on bodyworn camera.

Callum Knox violently resisted attempts to arrest him and even tried to snatch a Taser during the incident at the Morrisons Daily in The Row in New Ash Green.

Officers were called after an intruder alert was triggered at the shop at 1.40am on November 22, 2024, where they found two men, both carrying weapons and wearing balaclavas, had forced their way into the store.

A member of shop staff was challenging the pair when officers rushed inside and in the clip, Knox can be seen trying to escape as he heads for one of the officers with the crowbar raised above his head, as the officer calls on his radio for urgent assistance.

Knox was wrestled to the ground but carried on with a violent and lengthy struggle to try to stop officers handcuffing him while his 44-year-old accomplice Damian Smith could be seen complying with police demands to surrender and he dropped his crowbar and lay on the floor.

After the pair were detained, a key was found on the floor which led to the discovery of their getaway car nearby and both later admitted burglary.

Knox, of Avon Road, Southampton, also admitted two counts of assaulting an emergency worker and at Canterbury Crown Court, he was sentenced to two years and one month in prison.

Smith, of Bullar Road, Southampton, had breached a previous suspended sentence and was jailed for two years and 10 months.

Michael Richardson

A burglar who left a trail of blood throughout an elderly woman’s flat while stealing sentimental jewellery was jailed.

In August 2021 Michael Richardson, from Bromley, forced entry to the victim’s home in Oxted, Surrey, by breaking a glass panel in the front door.

He was unaware that he cut himself while doing so, which created trails of blood throughout the flat and into the victim’s bedroom.

Richardson stole engagement rings, a wedding ring, an eternity ring, and a necklace – all of which were given to the 92-year-old victim by her late husband and forensic teams were able to obtain a full DNA match using the blood and he was later arrested for burglary.

Richardson pleaded guilty to burglary at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, February 12 and was sentenced to two years and three months in prison and ordered to pay £190 in costs.

Investigating officer PC Joseph Brown said “Michael Richardson is a dangerous individual driven by greed.

“Richardson not only took sentimental and irreplaceable items of jewellery belonging to the victim’s late husband, but he also robbed her of her sense of safety and security in her own home.

“The sentence given to Richardson is a reminder that burglary will not go unpunished in Surrey, and no matter how long you think you can stay undetected, we will relentlessly pursue you.”

Bader Mohamed and Lewis Rowley

Two violent robbers were jailed after subjecting their victim to almost an hour of “utterly barbaric” torture which left him with a fractured skull.

Bader Mohamed and Lewis Rowley, who repeatedly hit the man with a bottle and stamped on him so hard he lost two teeth, were given a combined sentence of 22 years in prison.

The victim's ordeal started after the men broke into the victim’s Maidstone town centre flat during the evening of June 9 after Rowley knocked on the door asking to borrow some milk and once inside they demanded cash as one searched the property while the other subjected the victim to the violence.

The man was dragged around the flat, beaten around the head with at least one bottle, punched repeatedly and stamped on while on the floor and Mohamed, 37, made attempts to choke the victim using a piece of string.

The torture lasted at least 45 minutes before both men fled and the victim raised the alarm by running outside before he returned home and found Mohamed, of Blake Avenue, Barking, in a bedroom trying to start a fire and he again ran from the scene but after police attended, he was arrested nearby.

Rowley, 25, of no fixed address, was detained the following day and such was the ferocity of the assault that the victim needed surgery for some of his injuries and he later picked his attackers out during an identification process.

The investigation also recovered CCTV from a supermarket which showed Mohamed purchasing a bottle of vodka and images matched one of the bottles recovered from the scene and after being charged, both men denied any wrongdoing and a trial was held at Maidstone Crown Court.

Mohamed was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was earlier this month jailed for 12 years and will be subject to an extended licence period of four years.

Rowley, 25, was convicted of a lesser offence, of grievous bodily harm and was jailed for 10 years and will be on licence after he’s release for three years.

Leesean Francis

A drug dealer tried to swallow crack cocaine and heroin that was stuffed in his underwear when arrested, a court heard.

Leesean Francis was part of an organised crime group supplying class A drugs in Medway.

In November 2024, Kent Police investigators established that two phone numbers belonging to an organised crime group were being used to supply users in Medway with crack cocaine and heroin.

The dealers were based near Hastings and inquiries by the officers found that Francis was responsible for contacting those wanting to buy the drugs and on Thursday, January 23, officers headed to an address in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, where they saw him leaving a property.

As he was arrested, the 25-year-old took a packet of crack cocaine and heroin from his underwear and tried to swallow it but officers managed to stop him and a mobile was also recovered.

Francis, of Moorland Road, Brixton, London, was later charged and admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin as well as possession of heroin with intent to supply and earlier this month at Maidstone Crown Court, he was sentenced to four years and 10 months’ imprisonment.

Investigating officer DC Hannah Hills said: “These dealers need to understand that as soon as they try to supply class A drugs in Kent, we will find out about their criminal enterprise and take steps to identify them.

“It is then only a matter of time before they get a visit from one of our enforcement teams and they are swiftly charged and brought to justice.”