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, child rapists, drug dealers, dangerous drivers, thugs and thieves who were locked up in May.

Brian Bissell

A child rapist was jailed for a series of historic offences committed more than 50 years ago.

Brian Bissell from Tunbridge Wells was locked up for repeatedly abusing a girl when she was young.

The 82-year-old of Sandhurst Road was sentenced to 16 years and was made the subject of an extended licence period of a year, and Maidstone Crown Court heard how Bissell sometimes targeted his victim in her own home by entering and leaving through her bedroom window.

Further abuse was carried out at a flat where he lived in Ravenswood Avenue and his car, and he also once raped the girl after taking her to an isolated location in Brokes Wood.

The series of offences took place during the late 1960s and early 70s. An investigation began in 2018, but Bissell denied any wrongdoing at an initial trial held at the same court in 2023.

But after a jury was unable to agree on a verdict, he was found not guilty of offences against a further four alleged victims of abuse and a retrial was ordered for the unresolved allegations. That took place at the same court in March this year where Bissell was convicted of five counts of rape and he was sentenced earlier this month.

DC Hannah Crittenden said: ”Bissell abused the trust of both his young victim and her parents in the worst possible way.

“His actions have had a lasting and profound impact upon many aspects of the victim’s life, who continued to live in fear of his presence until he was remanded in custody.”

Shaun Mitchell

A “violent and cowardly” robber dragged a delivery driver out of her van and threw her on the floor as he tried to steal her vehicle.

The victim had got into the driver’s seat after taking a parcel to a home in Ingoldsby Road, Gravesend, when she was approached by Shaun Mitchell.

He then grabbed her clothing and dragged her out of the van before throwing her to the floor. The 48-year-old then jumped into the vehicle and attempted to turn on the ignition, but when it didn’t start, the victim reached in and pulled out the key before fleeing to a nearby house.

The thief then stole some parcels from the passenger seat and left on foot. The police were called and CCTV footage was seized, which clearly showed Mitchell’s face.

Mitchell, of Thistle Road, Gravesend, was tracked down and arrested on January 8 and was later selected in an identification procedure and charged with robbery. Officers also seized the white hooded top he wore when he committed the offence on November 30, last year.

He pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court and was jailed for three years and two months.

DC Andrew Saunders, of the north Kent CID, said: “Mitchell is a violent and cowardly bully who thought he could steal a van full of parcels by assaulting the woman driver.

“He was foiled by the tenacious victim who saw her chance to grab the vehicle keys when the engine did not initially start up, and once we had recovered CCTV footage that allowed us to identify him, it was only a matter of time before he was arrested and brought to justice.”

Ozioma Egbujor

A dealer who was discovered with a bundle of drugs wrapped in cling film concealed on his body was placed behind bars.

Ozioma Egbujor was jailed for more than five years following a police investigation into the supply of class A substances in the Medway Towns between February and March this year.

Patrols were alerted to suspicious behaviour on March 3 after attending an address in Magpie Hall Road, Chatham as part of their duties.

Egbujor, 27, was found inside the property and detained before being searched, and officers found 40 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine tucked inside his trouser pocket alongside cash and two mobile phones.

An additional strip search led to the recovery of a further 100 wraps, which were concealed on his person. He was charged later the same day.

After pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine, Egbujor was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court to five years and eight months in prison.

DC Hannah Hills said: “Drug dealers may go to great lengths in their attempts to hide evidence from us, but we will always carry out robust investigations to ensure that their illegal activity is exposed and they are made to face the consequences of their actions.

“I’m pleased that Egbujor has received a custodial sentence and that the substances found on him will not end up on the streets of Kent.”

Andy Gilchrist

A speeding motorcyclist who knocked down and killed a “larger-than-life” pensioner as he crossed the road was jailed.

Dad-of-one Andy Gilchrist was travelling at between 59 and 66mph along the A262 from Biddenden towards Tenterden - a road with a 50mph limit - when he struck 72-year-old Chris Smith.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Judge Oliver Saxby KC recounted the tragic events that led to the death of the much-loved dad and grandad and told how in September 2022, Gilchrist, then aged 23, was riding his motorbike with his partner Erin Adams as pillion passenger, accompanied by a friend, Chris Atkin, on a separate bike.

At the same time, driver Lewis Bertram was travelling along the A262 with another Skoda behind him when Gilchrist overtook both vehicles and footage shown at trial revealed he did so as a bend approached, the judge noted.

Mr Smith, who was described in court as “paranoid” about the safety of the road where he died, had written to Kent County Council just three weeks earlier to express his concerns, according to those who knew him. On the day of the crash, he had disembarked from a bus at the Woodlands stop and waited for the vehicle to pull away, before taking a “quick look” and starting to cross the road, believing it was safe.

The court heard that Mr Smith walked at a “constant rate” and “did not stop” in the three seconds before he was struck by Gilchrist’s Honda CBR Super Blackbird 1100. During a trial in March, Gilchrist claimed Mr Smith had paused or frozen mid-crossing, but the judge dismissed this as a fabrication, describing the statement as “lies designed to try and improve your position”.

Despite not being charged until 20 months after the crash, Gilchrist, now 26, of Merleburgh Drive in Kemsley, denied causing death by careless driving and causing serious injury by careless driving, but during his trial, and following cross-examination by the prosecution, Gilchrist changed his pleas to guilty on both counts.

Earlier this month, he was jailed for 18 months for causing death by careless driving and three months, to run concurrently, for causing serious injury by careless driving to his partner, Miss Adams, who was also injured in the crash and spent 10 days in hospital.

Gilchrist was also disqualified from driving for 27 months.

Leo Walby

A troubled teen who became “sucked into extremism” and shared TikTok videos in support of Jihad and ISIS ideologies was jailed.

Leo Walby, 19, from Swanley, had two social media platforms, which he used to encourage terrorism from his bedroom.

But when arrested, the Muslim convert, who police found with a black hat with an Arabic logo which translates as ‘There is no God but Allah’, claimed he was doing it because he “wanted to join the trend”.

He pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey last month to six counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2006 and Walby, who left school aged 13 due to bad behaviour which led to a "rash of offending", appeared before the same court earlier this month for sentencing.

Judge Anthony Leonard KC told the teen, the material showed the “clearest intention” to encourage others to support ISIS financially and militarily. This came after police discovered he was operating a Telegram channel under an Arabic display name, which translated to ‘Strangers/Brother of those who obey Allah’ in August 2024.

His channel was initially public and had 256 subscribers, but was later set to private and many of the videos and recordings demonstrated support for extreme Islamic views and included videos of ISIS fighters fighting, and of killed American soldiers. He also sought donations to support Jihad.

The 19-year-old had previous convictions for offences of dishonesty, assault, arson, possession of a bladed article, causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress which was racially aggravated and he pleaded guilty to six counts of disseminating a terrorist publication and one count of failing to comply with a notice and he was jailed for four-and-a-half-years in prison.

This included 12 months in prison for the failure to provide the username and password for an online storage account on his iPhone and a further three-and-a-half years’ custody with an extended licence of 12 months for the six other counts related to sharing terrorism materials.

Matthew Downing

A sex offender was tracked down 100 miles from his home with indecent images of children from the dark web.

Matthew Downing was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) three years ago after being convicted of multiple sexual offences.

It meant the 25-year-old was unable to use any phone or computer without first notifying Kent Police and allowing monitoring software to be installed. Officers became aware Downing had been using such devices without permission in February, but were unable to locate him at his home address in Salisbury Road, Dover.

He was therefore treated as a missing sex offender and within days, was found sleeping in a newly-purchased car by officers in Gomshall, near Guildford in Surrey. He was taken into custody, where he refused to answer any questions during his interview.

However, he was later charged with 13 separate offences, including 10 breaches of his SHPO-imposed in January 2022, related to his use of an anonymous web browser, an online storage device and a social media app with disappearing messages.

This was alongside his failure to notify police he had access to a smartphone, a laptop and two virtual computers, and he also used the dark web to make indecent images of children and breached the terms of his notification requirements by failing to register dating app usernames.

Downing pleaded guilty to all offences and was sentenced to five years and three months’ imprisonment when he appeared at Canterbury Crown Court earlier this month.

This includes two years and three months for unrelated offences committed outside of Kent.

James Dunn

A “brazen” fuel thief was jailed after reversing his car into a lamppost and another car while having a young child in his vehicle.

James Dunn was caught after trying to evade officers who had spotted him in his Vauxhall Astra in Old Tovil Road, in Maidstone.

The 47-year-old, who lives in Quarry Road in the town, was wanted for at least nine fuel thefts from petrol forecourts in areas including Paddock Wood, Staplehurst, Maidstone, Aylesford and East Peckham.

During his spate of stealing from July last year, he would also fill large containers stored in his boot.

On October 4, after officers recognised Dunn, they activated their blue lights and sirens, and he initially fled on foot.

Despite a constable shouting demands to get to the ground, Dunn quickly backtracked and jumped back into his car, which had a woman and child inside, and reversed at reckless speeds, causing the Astra to collide with a lamppost.

He then continued to make his escape and backed into a Ford Fiesta, which saw it lifted into the air. He then tried to run away before a pursuing officer eventually arrested him, and a search of the Astra led to the recovery of two knives, petrol containers and a black balaclava.

At Maidstone Crown Court, Dunn admitted to nine counts of making off without payment and also admitted charges of dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and going equipped for theft.

He was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment and disqualified from driving for two years.

Sensenal Amaglo

A Mercedes driver who killed a flight attendant in a horror smash after driving nearly 120mph on the M2 was locked up for more than a decade.

Heidie Lee Locke, from Broadstairs, was on her way to Heathrow Airport when Sensenal Amalgo’s Mercedes-Benz C200 AMG collided with her Nissan Qashqai between junction 6 for Faversham and junction 5 for Sittingbourne.

The fatal crash was caught on Amalgo’s dashcam and referred to during a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court back in February after the 43-year-old care worker had previously denied causing death by dangerous driving at proceedings held at the same court in November last year.

However, in February, he changed his plea and returned to court on Monday, May 12, for sentencing.

The court heard that on November 27, 2022, Miss Locke was heading to the airport where she worked for United Airlines.

The crash happened at around 6am and led to the London-bound carriageway being closed for 10 hours as police carried out an investigation. Miss Locke, 58, who hailed from Cleveland, Ohio, died at the scene, and Amaglo, a care worker of Finn VC Estate in Bodmin, Cornwall, was arrested.

At his court hearing last year, it was said, as well as being over the drink-drive limit at the time, he had also been speeding, and it is understood his blood alcohol level was just under twice the legal limit when tested.

Judge Catherine Moore sentenced him to 12 years and two months in prison.

He was also disqualified from driving for 18 years and two months and must take a required extended retest if he wants to drive again.

Roger Crabtree

Footage of the moment a sex offender was arrested was released by police as he was locked up.

Roger Crabtree was found with 33 explicit images and videos of children, some of which showed sexual abuse, in his home in Rectory Close, Snodland.

They were found when officers made an unannounced visit to the 59-year-old on November 2, 2023, when Crabtree was already subject to strict internet restrictions under a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The order was taken out after other convictions for making and possessing indecent images and meant the paedophile had to make any internet-enabled devices immediately available for inspection.

During the officer’s review, they found concerning search terms linked to his web history, which led them to seize his laptop and hard drives. After the evidence was recovered, Crabtree was arrested and charged with three counts of making indecent images of children.

He pleaded guilty to those charges and also admitted breaching the SHPO in a further charge, relating to when he was found to have unlawfully deleted the internet history of a Kindle device in January last year.

Crabtree was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court earlier this month and was jailed for two years and six months, the sentence included a penalty for also breaching a previous suspended sentence.

PC Rob Allen, who led the investigation, said: “Crabtree appears to have no understanding of the gravity of his actions, but as this case hopefully shows, we will do everything within our powers to ensure offenders like him face the consequences.”

Eddie Ives

A violent bully was placed behind bars after he slammed a vulnerable woman’s head against a vehicle and threw a glass at her in two “appalling” attacks.

Eddie Ives attacked the woman in Gravesend after his release from prison, where he had been serving a manslaughter conviction since 2013.

On October 16, the 41-year-old, who lives in Harden Road, Northfleet, was at a hotel in Watling Street where he started to argue with a woman he knew.

He grabbed her hair, and as she tried to walk away, he did it again, but the victim managed to get to a car park where Ives slammed her head into a parked vehicle, causing a cut to her eyebrow.

The same woman was assaulted again by Ives a week later on October 24 when she had been out shopping and, on returning to her home address, found him on the doorstep where he immediately became abusive and threw a glass which struck her face, causing cuts to her cheek, lip and jaw.

The incidents were reported to the police, and on November 10, he was arrested. Ives was later charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of breaching his violent offender order.

He admitted the charges at Woolwich Crown Court and was handed a two-year and three-month sentence.

Ives was also made subject to a restraining order for five years.

Kiane Trotman

A former cage fighter left a stranger so badly injured after a brutal street attack that he was unable to eat solid food for six months.

Kiane Trotman – who has fought in mixed martial arts events – punched Tony Straw to the ground and repeatedly kicked him in the head during the unprovoked assault in Folkestone.

The 38-year-old has now been locked up in a secure hospital indefinitely after a judge was told he was likely suffering an episode of paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack. Canterbury Crown Court heard the sustained beating left Mr Straw with a broken jaw, missing teeth and needing an operation to insert a metal plate into his head.

He and his partner, Corinne Veryard, had been walking towards Canterbury Road recreation ground when they crossed paths with Trotman in the early hours of June 17, 2023. He asked the couple if there were any shops open nearby where he could buy alcohol, but as they were about to leave, the defendant punched Mr Straw to the side of the head.

The court heard how Trotman, of Foord Road South, then tried to make light of the incident, saying they should just “hug it out”, but Ms Veryard told Trotman to get away, calling him a “psycho”. He then hit Mr Straw in the head again, and once on the floor, he kicked him at least five times.

Mr Straw spent a night in hospital and subsequently underwent an operation to insert wire, bolts and a metal plate into his head and he was not able to eat solid food for six months. After Trotman was arrested, he answered no comment to all questions put to him and later denied causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

But he changed his plea on the first day of his trial, and at his sentencing hearing earlier this month, he appeared over video-link from Broadmoor Hospital - a high-security psychiatric facility - and remained silent throughout proceedings.

Judge Simon Taylor KC imposed a section 37 hospital order, with a section 41 restriction, which means Trotman will be held indefinitely at Broadmoor until he is deemed medically fit, with the Secretary of State for Justice or a tribunal still having to sanction his release. He was also given a 10-year restraining order forbidding him from contacting Mr Straw or Ms Veryard, and a charge of assault by beating against Ms Veryard was ordered to lie on file.

Jack Davey

A child groomer who convinced young girls to send him indecent images and videos was jailed.

Jack Davey, 21, was arrested at his home in Harvel Road in Meopham in May 2022 after police were informed he had groomed a 13-year-old girl he met online.

He was 17 at the time but pretended he was younger to exchange sexual communications with the girl and to arrange to meet her, but following his arrest, by which point he had turned 18, police were made aware of similar indecent contact between Davey and two other girls from other parts of Kent.

A review of his internet devices revealed he had been messaging several girls across various platforms in Kent and elsewhere in the country, and he had been saving images and videos of them of a sexual nature, which he had recorded without their knowledge.

Davey appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Friday, May 9, having pleaded guilty to more than 30 separate offences.

These included inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, meeting a child following sexual grooming, possessing indecent images of children and making threats to disclose private sexual images with intent to cause distress.

Davey was sentenced to three years and four months’ imprisonment and must serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before being eligible for parole, and will spend an additional two years on licence under the terms of an extended sentence. He was also made subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) and will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Davey’s sentencing also includes further crimes committed between November 2023 and January 2024, including grooming a 14-year-old girl and multiple breaches of a previous SHPO.

Michael Hanmore

A burglar who broke into the home of a bed-bound, disabled pensioner before raping her was jailed for life.

Michael Hanmore was linked to the attack at a property in Queenborough Road, Halfway, Sheppey, after police discovered a used condom on the floor of the 73-year-old victim’s bedroom.

In May 2022, the drug addict, who was living at a hostel just 160m down the road, broke into the house where he spent just over an hour stealing items and attacking the elderly woman. Maidstone Crown Court heard how the convicted sex offender went into her room and told her to “shut up” as she screamed for help, before jumping on her and raping her.

Hanmore, who was 43 at the time, then stamped on her, resulting in several injuries, before rummaging through her room looking for cash and asking if she had a car. The victim, who had grown up with polio and was diagnosed with cancer a year before the life-changing incident, and has since died, required four visits a day from nursing staff. At about 9am the next morning, her carer arrived at her home and noticed her mobility car, which she hadn’t used for some time, was missing.

Upon entering the victim’s room, the pensioner told her she was glad to see her and that a balaclava-clad man had “broke into her bungalow and jumped on her”. In a victim impact statement read to the court, she detailed how she had been a “strong and independent woman” her whole life, despite living with her disability, and retired to Kent in 2004, but that she was, after the ordeal, “terrified by night and day.”

Hanmore, who was arrested after being linked by his semen in the condom, was charged with rape, burglary and theft a month after the incident.

He pleaded guilty and a sentencing hearing was scheduled to take place in September 2022, but a long delay ensued after he made an application to change his plea to rape as he maintained it was only an attempted rape, but this was rejected and he was sentenced earlier this month.

He was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of eight years and 355 days, which was reduced by three years because he’s already spent that time in prison, and he was already on the sexual offenders’ register. He was also given a lifetime Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

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 April, click here.

Jamie Burnett

A son who fatally stabbed his “loving” mum in the neck before daubing his name in blood on the road as he fled was handed an indefinite hospital order.

Jamie Burnett killed his mother, Lesley Spearing, at her home in Oast View Terrace, Rainham, in October 2019.

Burnett, who was 27 at the time of the attack and suffers from schizophrenia and psychosis, attacked his mum with a serrated knife before stamping on her and fleeing the scene. In March, the now 32-year-old was cleared of murder by a jury after 10 hours of deliberation but was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

He reappeared before Maidstone Crown Court for sentencing earlier this month when Judge Philip St John-Stevens explained how psychiatric reports claimed Ms Spearing’s son had been suffering a psychotic episode at the time of the attack and thought the person he stabbed was “an impostor.”

The court also heard that Ms Spearing’s younger son, Stephen Burnett, and niece, Kiri Burnett, were at the property when she was stabbed by the defendant.

The judge cited the fact that he wrote his name in blood on the road as he ran away from the scene as an example of his ill mental health, and at his sentencing hearing, the judge ordered Burnett be sentenced to a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act.

It means he will remain at the Trevor Gibbens Unit in Maidstone, where he will be treated, and if he is released in the future, it will be under strict conditions.

Judge St John-Stevens thanked everyone involved in the “tragic” case.

Jamie Stacey-Evans

Astonishing footage of a high-tech drugs lab in action, which saw an ecstasy-dealing kingpin placed behind bars, was released by police.

When officers probed Jamie Stacey-Evans’ phone, a video showed machinery grinding crystalised MDMA into powder and repressing it back into pills.

A further electronic gadget was filmed rumbling, rapidly counting thousands of pills containing the class A drug, in preparation for wholesale supply and not only did the 35-year-old store his laboratory exploits on his phone, but he could be heard in voice notes discussing orders to potentially produce as many as 100,000 ecstasy pills.

On January 23, police executed a search warrant at his Coxheath home in Tree Court, as part of an investigation into the supply of drugs across the county. The ‘Jay line’ network had been operating since May 2024, and several phones used by Stacey-Evans were seized from the property.

This led to the retrieval of multiple videos and voice recordings connecting him to the wholesale supply of cocaine, MDMA, ecstasy, ketamine and cannabis, and another audio clip indicated his involvement in the supply of 20 kilograms of cocaine.

He was charged with three counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs and with being concerned in the production of drugs. He was further charged with possessing criminal property, in relation to more than £3,000 cash seized from his home.

The investigation did not lead officers to where the lab and machinery were located.

However, Stacey-Evans pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court and on May 20, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Cameron Skilton, Daniel Meehan and Matthew Skinner

Detectives tracked down a trio of burglars after one of them was caught on CCTV filling up his getaway car at a petrol station.

Residents had contacted police about two similar break-ins in the Sandwich area when Cameron Skilton was seen refuelling a Ford Focus linked to the raids.

The car was found to have been used in the first of the burglaries, which happened in September and October last year. Police reviewed CCTV footage from a petrol station it visited, and Skilton was identified as the man seen filling it up with fuel.

Further probing led to detectives identifying Daniel Meehan and Matthew Skinner as two men involved in the second offence, and Skilton was arrested in Brighton in November and later admitted to burglary concerning one of the offences.

Meehan and Skinner were arrested four days later, and Meehan admitted two counts of burglary and Skinner one count.

At Canterbury Crown Court earlier this month, Skilton, 27, formerly of Bexhill-on-Sea, was jailed for 17 years.

His sentence included a term for the importation of prohibited weapons in a separate case.

Meehan, 32, of Albion Hill, Brighton, received a six-and-a-half-year sentence, and Skinner, 33, of Rose Walk Close, Newhaven, was jailed for two years and two months.

Phillip Ebanks

A mother and her two children were left terrified when a burglar armed with a large knife kicked down the door to their home.

Phillip Ebanks was the ringleader in a brazen four-man attack on the Margate property in broad daylight, a court heard.

The 29-year-old was arrested and later charged after being picked out of a police line-up.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how the mum had been home with her two sons when the gang struck on March 9 last year, when the defendant entered the dwelling on Victoria Road with the intent to steal.

He was seen kicking the door with all three of the men wearing hoods, but it was only the defendant who had his face uncovered.

The woman saw a man with a large kitchen knife with a silver handle and shouted at them to get out of her house.

The raiders fled the scene empty-handed, but Ebanks, of Upper Dane Street, Margate, was arrested four days later after being picked out of a police line-up, and he later pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary at a hearing in April.

At his sentencing hearing earlier this month, the court heard how a blood sample taken from the front door matched Ebanks’ DNA, and in committing the crime, the burglar breached a 58-week suspended sentence order he’d been given less than a month before for assaulting a police officer.

Ebanks, who also has previous convictions for robbery, carrying weapons, and intent to supply heroin and cocaine, was locked up for seven years and six months.

He will serve two-thirds of that sentence before being eligible to be released on licence.

Cameron Joseph

A “despicable” armed robber who threatened school children with a knife was jailed.

Cameron Joseph was travelling on a bus through Gillingham town centre on February 10 when he saw two boys walking towards Brompton Road.

He got off, approached the teenagers, asked them personal questions and then offered to buy the Canada Goose jacket that one of them was wearing. As the boys tried to walk away, they noticed he had a knife in his waistband.

Joseph then took one of them into an alleyway where he became aggressive and stole the victim’s jacket as well as other items, including some AirPods.

On February 16, he followed another teenage boy in the Brompton area and, when the victim refused to hand over his bag, he threatened to stab him and showed a knife in his jacket pocket. When he became more aggressive, the victim handed over his bag before leaving the scene.

One of the victims described a distinctive rose tattoo on Joseph’s hand, which enabled detectives to identify him and following a chase on foot in Gravesend on February 20, officers arrested him. He was wearing the stolen jacket and bag at the time he was detained.

Joseph, of Balmoral Road, Gillingham, was later charged with two robberies and two counts of possessing a bladed weapon in public. He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and was given an extended sentence of seven years and three months, of which four years and three months will be spent in prison.

When he becomes eligible for parole, he will have to serve a further three years on licence.

Freddie Webb

A prolific burglar responsible for a series of break-ins was jailed after his DNA was matched to bloodstains left at crime scenes.

Freddie Webb targeted empty properties in Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks while the residents were on holiday – stealing jewellery, watches and cash.

The 49-year-old carried out four burglaries between January 17 and April 5, 2025, when he gained entry by breaking the glass on the patio doors.

A CID investigation recovered bloodstains from bed sheets and a wardrobe, which were found to match his DNA.

These were found at addresses in Frant Road and Broadwater Down in Tunbridge Wells, and from a victim’s home near Sevenoaks High Street. On April 10, officers tracked Webb to a hotel in Hitchen Hatch Lane in Sevenoaks.

Items of clothing which matched CCTV images of a hat and jacket worn by the offender in some of the burglaries were seized.

Searches of Webb’s phone revealed he had used the internet to check if there had been news coverage around his name and any recent Sevenoaks burglaries.

Webb, of no fixed address, was later charged with four counts of burglary.

He pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court and on Friday, May 23, he was jailed for three years and nine months.

Gary King

The moment a serial burglar was caught trying to flee the country after a most-wanted appeal was launched was caught on camera.

Police were searching for Gary King, of no fixed address, after he was linked to two burglaries and an attempted burglary in Canterbury earlier this year.

On the evening of March 18, CCTV footage captured him walking up a driveway on Beaconsfield Road, where he was seen trying the handles of two cars and attempting to enter a house, but he failed and moved on to Shaftesbury Avenue, where a woman reported seeing King bent over her desk. He fled the scene with her Apple Watch.

In another incident, on the same night, a victim returned to their home on Beaconsfield Road to find King inside the bedroom, and when confronted, he left empty-handed.

After inquiries, a most-wanted media appeal for his whereabouts was launched by police and on April 15, he was detained by security at Holyhead Port in Wales while attempting to board a ferry to Ireland.

King was arrested and later charged with two counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary.

He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to three years in prison on May 19 at Canterbury Crown Court.

DC Rosalynd Friend said: “King committed multiple offences in a short period, showing no regard for the distress caused to his victims.”