CRIMINALS jailed in April included a man who ran over a teenage girl deliberately, an arsonist who watched as a property burned with the sleeping residents still inside and fraudsters who disguised themselves in uniform as part of a fake delivery con.

The list below includes some of the offenders that were put behind bars by judges during April.

The offenders' names and a summary of what led to them appearing in the dock are as follows:

Fraudsters donned delivery firm uniform as part of doorstep con

Halstead Gazette: Adekoya Adefowora and Deborah OyeniyiAdekoya Adefowora and Deborah Oyeniyi

TRICKSTERS carried out a sophisticated con by donning a delivery firm’s uniform to collect laptops fraudulently ordered to their victims’ homes.

The scam would start with fraudsters taking out credit online using their victim’s details, before orders for high value goods including laptops and phones were placed.

The goods were delivered to the unsuspecting victim’s address.

Adekoya Adefowora, 38, and Deborah Oyeniyi, 23, would then arrive on their doorstep a short time later, disguised in a delivery company’s uniform and sporting false paperwork.

The pair would explain the items had been mistakenly delivered and claim the goods for themselves.

Some victims willingly handed over the goods while others grew suspicious and refused.

The con was carried out in Colchester and Felixstowe in May last year.

Adefowora and Oyeniyi were later pulled over in Brentwood.

Police found the DPD uniforms in the vehicle, alongside four mobile phones, two laptops, a red iPhone, ripped up labels and paperwork. Some of the labels provided the details of three victims.

The total value of the fraud was £8,313, of which £7,299 was unrecovered.

The amount of credit fraudulently applied for in order to place the orders totalled £17,550.

The court heard Adefowora had previously worked for DPD, but was sacked in June 2014 following reports of fraudulent activities in the area where he delivered in relation to 49 mobile phones.

The pair each admitted seven counts of fraud.

Vanessa Mistry, mitigating for Adefowora, said her client admitted his guilt, but insisted another had placed the orders for the items.

She said the fraudster now worked as a carer with his employer describing him as “dedicated and hardworking”.

She described him as “an integral part” of his family’s life.

David Kwasi Owusu-Yianoma, mitigating for Oyeniyi, said his client, who has no previous convictions, understood her conduct had “sullied her good name”.

“In the pre-sentence report she talks about feeling as though her life had ended because of this, that is something she really means,” he said.

“Your honour may feel it is an example of bad company sullying good morals.”

Judge Rupert Overbury said no evidence had been found linking the fraud to any other party.

He said: “This was a sophisticated confidence fraud committed over a period of time against a number of individuals, with both of you I have absolutely no doubt expecting to make a considerable amount of money.

“You were the ones who attended the addresses disguised in DPD uniforms, with DPD identification, with DPD books that contained addresses you were able to produce as further evidence of your genuine status.”

Adefowora, of Colyers Lane, Erith, Greater London, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, while Oyeniyi, of Russell Road, London, was jailed for 12 months.

Drug dealers ran cannabis supply business from Colchester flat

 

Halstead Gazette: Keenan ScottKeenan Scott

A DEALER who was caught with two others running a cannabis supply business from a flat in Colchester has been sentenced to three years behind bars.

Keenan Scott, 24, who was caught after a police raid on a flat in December 2018, was also found in possession of 5.64g of cocaine when he was stopped by officers in Colchester in January 2020.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard the cocaine was split into 30 separate portions, indicating it was to be supplied to others.

Scott admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine on the basis that it was “a misguided attempt” to pay off a debt.

Recorder Simon Mayo QC said: “At that time, as you well understood, you had been released under investigation although not yet charged in respect of the cannabis supply business being run from that flat in Colchester.”

He also admitted possession with intent to supply cannabis in relation to the 2018 raid.

Also caught in the raid on the flat in Colchester were Ricardo Alves, 24, and 23-year-old Emilio Plummer.

Alves, of Venture Chase, Colchester, admitted two counts of possession with intent to supply cannabis, the second relating to the seizure of his phone at a festival in August 2019.

Examination revealed he had been “sporadically” been supplying cannabis between March and June that year.

Plummer, of Quayside Drive, Colchester, denied a single count of possession with intent to supply cannabis, but was convicted after a trial.

Scott was sentenced to three years behind bars, with the 15 months he has already spent in custody to count towards his sentence.

Alves received a prison term of 21 months, suspended for two years, He will remain subject to a curfew for three months, keeping him indoors between 10pm and 7am, and must complete 250 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Mayo said: “I want you to be abundantly clear about this – you are today being given a chance, a chance to prove the progress you’ve made recently will continue and that you’ll keep out of trouble.”

Plummer was handed a community order with the same curfew, 100 hours of unpaid work and an order to complete a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Thug broke man's ankle in vicious town centre attack

Halstead Gazette: Linas MarcinkeviciusLinas Marcinkevicius

A THUG who skulked around Colchester town centre with his “loutish” friends looking for people to attack left one victim with a broken ankle.

Linas Marcinkevicius, 19, was part of a group captured on CCTV in Colchester launching an attack on innocent passer-by Steven Brooks-Dowsett.

Ipswich Crown Court heard footage showed the group of youths had been on the prowl around the town, accosting members of the public in January last year.

After some words were exchanged, Mr Brooks-Dowsett walked away.

The group launched its attack, pushing him to the ground and launching kicks while he lay on the floor.

Mr Brooks-Dowsett suffered a broken ankle, multiple contusions and a concussion.

In a victim impact statement read aloud in court, Mr Brooks-Dowsett said the attack had permanently changed his life.

Read more: Colchester town assault: Victim said attack was 'just a game' to thug

He told the court he had undergone a course of physiotherapy to recover from his physical injuries, which had impacted upon his work on large construction sites.

On a psychological level, he said he had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after the attack, which had left “a feeling of helplessness.”

He said: “It is not lost on me that I’m probably as much a faceless entity to those who assaulted me as they are to me.

“They are the unseen persons who come at me as I try to rest.

“The panic attacks come when my guard is down.”

He added: “I know they have shown no remorse, no care for what they did.

“They assaulted me for nothing more than their own amusement.

“This was all a game to them.”

The court heard on a separate occasion, in March last year, Marcinkevicius was again acting as part of a group accosting passers-by in Colchester town centre.

He participated in a “random, drunken, group attack,” which saw a man struck with a bottle and punched in the face.

He was chased through the town, with the attack reaching an end when door staff intervened.

Marcinkevicius, of Winnock Road, Colchester, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and affray.

Judge Rupert Overbury called the defendant and his friends “loutish, drunken and thuggish”.

Marcinkevicius was sentenced to three years and three months in a young offenders’ institution.

Predator with a history of abusing children locked up

Halstead Gazette: David RecordDavid Record

A DANGEROUS sexual predator with an “appalling” record of offences against children spanning three decades has been locked up after he took a picture of a young boy who was naked from the waist down.

David Record, 63, tried to conceal the picture from police officers who visited his home in September 2019 by hiding it behind another picture.

The boy had ventured to the defendant’s flat, Chelmsford Crown Court was told.

When his mother arrived to get him five minutes later, the boy said Record had told him to take off his clothes.

Record told police he had taken photographs of the boy to give to his grandmother.

But an indecent image of the child was found at his home, concealed behind a picture of an elderly woman.

Record, of Marine Parade, Dovercourt, was released from prison in 2018 after serving part of an 11 year sentence for offences including attempted rape, indecent assault, gross indecency with a child and taking indecent images of children.

Following his conviction in 2011, he was placed in the sex offenders register for life.

Recorder Simon Mayo QC said Record’s offending was aggravated by his “appalling”

record of offences against children extending over three decades.

“You were on licence when this offence was committed,”

he said.

The court heard Record had already served a prison sentence imposed in August 2019 for breaching a sexual harm prevention order.

He admitted taking an indecent photograph of a child.

Judge Mayo said: “Your previous convictions reveal you’ve been a threat to children for nearly three decades.

“The offences for which you were convicted in 2011 dated back as early as 1990.

“In light of your recent offending and everything else I’ve read about you, I come to the sure and certain conclusion you will continue to be a threat to children for many years to come.”

Record received an extended sentence of seven years, with two years to be served in custody and five years on license.

Man deliberately drove car at teenage girl

Halstead Gazette: Brett HartBrett Hart

A FATHER who “used his car as a weapon” to run over a teenage girl three times has been found guilty of attempted murder - and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Brett Hart, 35, smashed a Volkswagen Golf into a 17-year-old girl and two of her friends, in Elmden Court, Clacton, in August 25 last year.

Hart had struck the unarmed youths following a brawl which broke out when a group of young men confronted his son Brett Hart junior, 17, over allegations of bullying.

Hart senior joined in the row, which took place outside his home, and was seen on CCTV to be wielding a metal baseball bat alongside his son.

During the confrontation, 17-year-old Lucia D’or moved towards the group and attempted to “calm” her friends.

At this moment Hart senior got into a Volkswagen Golf before driving at the group of youngsters.

Having hit Lucia D’or, he then drove backwards and forwards over her body resulting in her legs being “bent in different directions”. She suffered lifechanging injuries.

Read more: Clacton attempted murder trial: Teenager 'hit three times' by car

Hart had denied attempted murder and denied being the driver of the vehicle, at one point claiming it was actually his partner Rebecca Grant who was driving.

Last week, however, at Chelmsford Crown Court, Hart accepted he was one driving the vehicle when it struck the youngsters.

Yesterday, a jury unanimously found Hart guilty of attempted murder and two counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm.

Hart, who has 11 previous convictions for 26 offences, was subsequently given a 20-year sentence.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC said: “Mr Hart you have shown little or no remorse and the jury has found in driving that car you had an intent to kill.

“The serious aspects of this case are the fact you did use your car as a weapon, you did drive it towards a group of unarmed youths and you not only struck Lucia once, but you drove over her three times.

“You have seen not only the pain and suffering she has had to go through but the physical affect upon her.

“Goodness knows it could have been much worse.”

Arsonist 'watched a property burn' with sleeping residents inside

Halstead Gazette: Peter GunnerPeter Gunner

A CONVICTED arsonist “chillingly” watched a property burn before walking away knowing he had put the lives of sleeping residents in danger.

Peter Gunner, 32, started a fire near a communal stairway at a block of flats in Pier Avenue, Clacton, in the early hours of April 28 last year.

The stairway led to two flats and was the only way in and out of the building for the occupants, who were asleep at the time of the incident.

Two men in one of the flats had tried to put the fire out before the fire service arrived, and one had to be taken to hospital after suffering from smoke inhalation.

Firefighters had to help all four people in the flats escape from the building.

Around 20 minutes after the fire had been started, the alarm at a vaping shop further along Pier Avenue was activated.

Police found a rock had been used to smash the front door and stock worth roughly £800 had been stolen.

Officers eventually found Gunner in Marine Parade East around an hour and 20 minutes after the fire was first reported.

A plastic bag containing stock stolen from the shop was found, as well as a butane torch and gas container, which is thought to have been used to start the fire.

Gunner was identified from CCTV as being responsible for both the arson and burglary.

Gunner, of Marine Parade East, Clacton, also spat a number of times at one officer and attempted to bite and headbutt another while being taken to a police station.

In July, he admitted arson with intent to endanger life, burglary, and two counts of assaulting an emergency worker when he appeared Chelmsford Crown Court.

Yesterday, he was given to a ten-year extended sentence for which he must serve six years in prison and four years on an extended licence.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Luke Howard said: “It is extremely fortunate one of the occupants of the flats had woken up and alerted the two friends with her to the fire.

“If they had not woken up, the story may have been different, and they could have died.”

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