CRIMINALS jailed in September include sex offenders who groomed children, a drug dealer, 'career criminals' and drink drivers.
The list below includes some of the offenders that were put behind bars by judges during October for offences in Dorset.
Some custody images of the people featured have been released by police forces, while others did not have a custody image or the police force was unable to issue an image.
The offenders' names and a summary of what led to them appearing in the dock are as follows:
Aggressive man groomed vulnerable children
A 65-year-old man was jailed for 23 years for raping and indecently assaulting four children between 1988 and 1994.
Mark Slater, who was in his thirties at the time, was convicted of multiple instances of rape, multiple instances of indecent assault, and one instance of indecency with a child following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Slater groomed and manipulated the vulnerable children, aged between 11 and 16, and then kept them quiet to his abuse by telling them it was ‘our secret’ or threatening to tell their parents should they say anything.
He demonstrated controlling, aggressive and jealous behaviour, telling one victim that he had someone watching her at a school club when he became jealous.
When questioned by police, Slater denied that anything had happened, claiming that the victims were lying and that they must have colluded with each other.
Anthony Johns, CPS Wessex Senior Crown Prosecutor, said: “Mark Slater is a predatory paedophile who has refused to accept any guilt for his devastating crimes.
“Through early engagement with the police, the CPS was able to build a strong case against him.
- READ MORE - Brave victims praised after Weymouth paedophile jailed for "horrific" rape and sexual abuse
"We used the evidence of victims and witnesses, including evidence provided at the trial using live TV links to overseas countries, to prove that he was responsible for these utterly appalling crimes.
“We commend the bravery of the victims for coming forward and supporting the prosecution of this case. It is clear that Slater’s abuse has had a lasting and painful impact on them, and I hope they will feel that justice has been delivered.
“We have worked in partnership with Dorset police and other Forces in the Wessex region (Hampshire and Wiltshire) to develop a local improvement plan focused on ensuring better joint working and earlier engagement to build strong cases for prosecution.
“We have already seen improvements as a result of this collaborative approach, and we are committed to restoring the confidence of victims in the criminal justice process.”
‘High risk’ paedophile ate lunch with boy, 14, in park
A ‘high risk’ sex offender was jailed for three years after he continued to meet children following his release from prison – including eating lunch with a 14-year-old boy at a Weymouth park.
Charlie Patterson, aged 31, currently at HMP Dartmoor, was released from prison in 2021 after serving time for a previous sexual offence against underage children.
Patterson was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, October 22, after he pleaded guilty to two charges of breaching a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
Patterson has been under an indefinite SHPO since a previous conviction of inciting a male child to take part in sexual activity in 2014.
The order means a person is prohibited from contacting or speaking to children under the age of 16 unless they have consent from their parents or guardian, and can't be in public places where children are likely to be.
At a previous hearing in Weymouth Magistrates' Court on September 15 this year, Richard Oakley, prosecuting, described Patterson as a ‘high risk registered sex offender’ and noted that his previous offences included making indecent images of children and sexual contact with underage children.
Patterson was placed under surveillance by police officers and was spotted around Weymouth on Tuesday, May 11.
Mr Oakley said: “Within weeks of his release, he was a growing cause of concern.
“He had been released from prison. Intelligence was received that he was riding his bike to where children would be present.
“Due to this, he was placed under surveillance by police. On the first day, he was seen behaving suspiciously.
“He was hiding cannabis in bushes and meeting three boys with their ages being between 13 and 15.
“He was seen eating lunch with a 14-year-old boy in a park.”
He was sentenced by Judge Robert Pawson to serve three years imprisonment for both offences, which are to be served concurrently. He was also ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge.
Sex offender incited child to engage in sexual activity
Donald Ian Campbell, 71 and of Poole, was jailed after inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, assaulting a child by touching and engaging sexual activity in the presence of a child.
He pleaded guilty at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Friday, June 25 to three counts of inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, three counts of assaulting a girl under 13 by touching and one count of engaging sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13.
He was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Wednesday, October 20 to six years in prison and made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 15 years, as well as being placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.
Following an investigation, Campbell was arrested on Friday, February 26 and admitted in interview to inciting his victim to engage in sexual activity.
Prison sentence extended for man who stole items from Tesco
A shoplifter who stole six bottles of Smirnoff vodka, kettle chips, cornflake bites and a cucumber from a Weymouth supermarket has been jailed.
Steven Thomas Neal, aged 41, appeared before Weymouth Magistrates Court via live link from HMP Winchester and admitted the theft of items belonging to Tesco Metro, St Thomas Street, to the total value of £102.76.
The list of items he stole from the town centre store includes six bottles of Smirnoff vodka, one bottle of cider, two packets of cornflake bites, sliced rolls, kettle chips, tomatoes, and a cucumber.
Neal was committed to prison for seven days concurrent to a prison term he is currently serving and was ordered to pay compensation of £102.
Drink driver ‘fiddling with his phone’ hit motorcyclist in fatal crash
He pulled out into West Cliff Road and crashed into motorcyclist Colin Lazenbury.
Mr Lazenbury then collided with a car travelling in the opposite direction to him after the initial impact.
The 54-year-old was rushed to hospital but died from the injuries he sustained around seven weeks later.
Radu, of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court having previously pleaded guilty to a charge of causing death by driving dangerously.
Prosecuting, Francisca Da Costa said Mr Lazenbury and his son had set off on two motorbikes on the morning of May 26, 2019, with plans to have breakfast in Weymouth.
They were travelling along West Cliff Road at less than 20mph at around 8.30am, when a Volkswagen Sharan being driven by Radu pulled out from a side road.
“At the time of the incident, Colin Lazenbury had the right of way. As his son Aidan Lazenbury approached the junction on the nearside he saw a car bonnet coming out from the junction ahead of him,” said Ms Da Costa.
She added: “The Volkswagen Sharan came out of the junction and struck his father’s bike square on the nearside.“
Colin Lazenbury was thrown up into the air and the Volkswagen Sharen continued across the junction to Clarendon Road on the other side.”
The court heard the driver of the third vehicle involved, a Peugeot 307, was wholly blameless for colliding with Mr Lazenbury after the initial impact.
The defendant left the scene on two occasions but returned both times.When Radu came back he was in tears and asked about the condition of Mr Lazenbury.
On coming back a second time, he walked towards police and held his arms out to be arrested.
Ms Da Costa said a 100-millilitre sample of Radu’s breath contained 61 micrograms of alcohol – the drink drive limit is 35 micrograms.
The court heard the defendant arrived in Bournemouth in the early hours with friends, having travelled from London to the seaside, before drinking alcohol.
The fatal crash took place on May 26, 2019, but the court heard bringing Radu to justice was delayed as he fled the country following an initial arrest.
The Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges for Radu in December 2019, but information was received that it was believed the defendant, a Moldovan national with a Polish passport, had left the country.
Following enquiries and assistance from the National Crime Agency and International Crime Coordination Centre, a European Arrest Warrant was secured.
Radu was arrested in Germany on June 1 of this year and subsequently extradited to the United Kingdom to appear before the courts.
Radu was jailed for five-and-a-half years, disqualified from driving for three years, with a two-year-and-nine-month extension period to coincide with his time behind bars.
He will automatically be deported from the United Kingdom upon reaching the appropriate point in his prison sentence.
Drug gang trio who helped flood cocaine into Dorset jailed
A man has been jailed for more than seven years for his part in a major drug operation which flooded Dorset with illegal drugs.
Ben Lewis, 29, was one of three members of a major drug gang to have been jailed after leaving a 'trail of misery' behind them.
Lewis pleaded guilty at a court hearing on Thursday, October 7, and was jailed for seven years and two months.
The trio, who were involved in the network's operation in Dorset, were sentenced at St Albans Crown Court for their part in a conspiracy to supply Class A drugs across the UK.
They are the latest members of the operation to be sentenced following an investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).
Wasim Afzal, 44, from St Margaret’s Avenue, Luton, was a courier for the organised crime group (OCG).
He travelled the length and breadth of the UK to deliver kilo quantities of cocaine to customers as far north as Middlesborough, and as far south as Christchurch. He was found guilty following a trial and was jailed for 11 years and nine months.
Ashan Mahmood, 49, of Southlands Avenue, Peterborough, and Ben Lewis, 29, of St Swithins Road, Bridport, Dorset, were customers of the OCG, buying kilo quantities of Class A drugs which they would then sell on, Mahmood in Peterborough and Lewis in Dorset.
Mahmood was found guilty following a trial and received an 11-and-a-half-year sentence.
During the sentencing, Judge Philip Grey said that the trio received long sentences because of their “trail of misery”. He also added: “Drugs wreck lives at every level. You all know that.”
In total, nine men have now been jailed for more than 84 years as part of the investigation.
Using specialist surveillance officers over a six-month period in 2019, ERSOU investigators were able to establish that the OCG, by utilising a network of couriers, sold multiple kilograms of cocaine at a time to other gangs across the country.
Meetings were arranged by the group using covert encrypted devices intended to be hidden from the police, with couriers often travelling vast distances to drop off the drugs before returning immediately afterwards, all the while taking steps to disguise their activity.
Thug knocked another man to the ground in violent attack
Michal Szajca “waded in unnecessarily”, knocked another man to the ground and punched him while he was unconscious in a vicious attack.
Szajca, 30, of Richmond Park Crescent, Bournemouth, was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on Christopher McCauley on October 26, 2019.
He was sentenced to two years imprisonment at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday, October 5, 2021.
The court heard how Mr McCauley had had a dispute with his wife and “wanted some alone time”.
Szajca and another man then attacked Mr McCauley outside the Alt nightclub in Holdenhurst Road, with the defendant punching him while he was unconscious.
The victim was left with a broken eye socket, broken nose, facial swelling and bruising to the frontal lobe of his brain.
Reading a victim impact statement, prosecutor Peter Pride told the court Mr McCauley had “vivid nightmares” of the attack and suffered from flashbacks.
The statement said: “I didn’t feel as if it was my body. I have a negative self-perception and high vigilance.
“Dealing with mental health issues led to a diagnosis of PTSD. Dealing with these issues led to a huge decline in my mental health which in turn led to issues with my marriage.
“When I take my children out, I would take a step outside and immediately be hit by my high vigilance, it’s made me feel as if my children were unsafe in my care.”
Mr McCauley also struggled with a loss of his memory and being unable to function if he forgot to take his medication.
Brazen thief stole alcohol from popular restaurant to compensate for flat leak
Daryl Peter Francis Flynn stole bottles of alcohol from a popular restaurant for compensation for a leak in his flat – and even bribed staff to turn a blind eye.
The 37-year-old, who lives in a flat above Sambô Bar & Grill restaurant in Abbotsbury Road, Weymouth, was already on licence and was given a 16-week custodial sentence, and ordered to pay a £128 surcharge and £85 in prosecution fees.
Staff at the restaurant said Flynn entered the cellar, which is accessed via a separate door at the entrance to the building, and took spirits including vodka, gin, Hennessey brandy, whiskey, wine, champagne, and cachaça a Brazilian liquor on Saturday, October 2.
Poole Magistrates’ Court heard that he was found filling a bag with alcohol worth between £700-£1,000.
Flynn, who was intoxicated at the time, had told a staff member: “I need to compensate myself as I have a leak and I am taking your alcohol.” He then offered £50 for them not to call police.
Workers were able to intervene during the incident thanks to a table of customers who discreetly raised the alarm about a man acting suspiciously outside the building.
Astonishingly, aside from those who alerted staff, diners at the Brazilian restaurant are said to have been unaware of the drama as staff did their best to apprehend the intruder whilst continuing to serve food as if nothing was happening.
Man attempted to steal police car
Kyle Darren Eglington was jailed after he attempted to steal a police car and taking another vehicle without the owner’s consent.
Eglington, 32, took a Citroen DS3 without the owner’s consent for use by himself or another person in Bournemouth on March 4. At the time, he was disqualified from driving and using the vehicle without insurance.
On the same day, he attempted to steal a marked Dorset Police BMW car following a vehicle stop.
Appearing in the dock at Poole Magistrates’ Court on October 1, Eglington, 32 and of Southcote Road, Bournemouth, pleaded guilty to four offences – attempting to steal a motor vehicle, using a vehicle without insurance, driving while disqualified and taking a conveyance without the owner’s consent.
District Judge Stephen Nicholls committed the defendant to prison for eight weeks and ordered him to pay a £128 surcharge.
Eglington was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 12 months.
Drug dealer spat out package containing heroin and crack cocaine when searched
Simon Byamakuma spat a package out of his mouth containing heroin and crack cocaine when he was confronted by police officers.
This was after he pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a class A drug with intent to supply at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Dorset Police said that at around 11.30am on Thursday, July 15, the defendant, of Parchmore Road in Thornton Heath, London, was seen by officers sitting on a wall in Weston Drive while known drug users were congregating nearby.
Byamakuma was subsequently stopped by officers in Cotlands Road and a search was carried out. During the search, he spat a package out of his mouth that was found to contain 22 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine.
Byamakuma, aged 30, was jailed for 27 months at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, October 8.
Man who sold gun to drug dealer jailed for weapons collection
Philip Thornton, aged 55, came to the attention of police when they searched the property of another man who had been arrested on suspicion of drug supply offences.
It came to light Thornton had sold him a blank firing pistol.
This led officers to search Thornton’s address in Etches Close, Bournemouth, on December 17, 2018, where they found various guns and ammunition on the walls, floor and in holdall bags.
Judge Stephen Climie sentenced the defendant to five years and eight months in prison at Bournemouth Crown Court on October 8.
Thornton previously pleaded guilty to 11 counts of possessing a weapon, one count of selling a firearm to a person who was not a registered firearms dealer, one count of acquiring ammunition for a firearm without a certificate, one count of possessing a prohibited weapon, one count of possession of a knife in a public place and one count of possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.
Prosecuting, Tom Wright said police seized 11 weapons, which were all forward-venting blank firearms, from Thornton’s home.
Mr Wright said none of the weapons were capable of delivering lethal force in the state they were recovered. However, the prosecutor added that they were “easily convertible” to do so. The various rounds of ammunition found were “operationally live and viable”, the court heard.
Officers also found a steel gas plug from a SA80 assault rifle, which was described as “an integral part of the weapon mechanism”.
As a functioning component of a prohibited automatic weapon, possession of the gas plug carried a minimum five-year prison term.
The court heard Thornton told officers he did not know what the component was.
In police interview, the defendant admitted selling the weapon to the man arrested for drug offences.
“He described himself as a hobbyist and believed everything he held to be legal,” said Mr Wright.
The defendant was also in court in relation to an incident at Meyrick Park on February 26.
Dog walkers noticed Thornton appearing to be in distress. He had suffered a medical episode.
When they came to assist him, they saw he had a shoulder holster containing an air pistol, as well as a lock knife, before he was taken to hospital.
Voyeur who filmed naked children in changing room is jailed
A man who filmed naked children drying themselves with towels in a changing room has been jailed for voyeurism and offences relating to indecent images and extreme pornography.
The footage recorded at an unknown location by Tony Lee Downes came to light when police were examining his phone.
This was after he had been arrested by Dorset Police in relation to a report of voyeurism at an address in east Dorset.
Downes, 43 and of Hinchliffe Road, Poole, appeared for sentencing at Bournemouth Crown Court on October 1 having previously pleaded guilty to two counts of voyeurism, possessing extreme pornography and taking an indecent photograph of a child.
Prosecuting, Christopher Wing said the defendant was arrested after the initial report and had his phone taken off him for examination.
Police found three moving images of children, which appeared to be films of them undressed, and he was rearrested.
The ages of the children in the videos were believed to be between nine and 14, Mr Wing said.
Admissions from the defendant were made in relation to further video files of a voyeuristic nature, with references made to upskirting and wanting to take videos of women in various states of undress.
The extreme pornography found on the phone included footage of female genital mutilation, the court heard.
Judge Fuller QC jailed the defendant for 15 months and ordered forfeiture and destruction of the mobile phone.
Downes was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and sex offenders register requirement.
'Career criminals' jailed after being caught red-handed burgling motorhome hire unit
Three “career criminals” with “appalling records” have been jailed for a combined total of eight years and four months after attempting to burgle a motorhome hire unit in Poole.
Simon Paul Sewell, 49, of Turlin Road, Poole, Danny John Kent, 33, of Rockley Road, Hamworthy, and Philip Martin Bright, 45, of Fitzworth Avenue, Poole, all pleaded guilty to committing a non-dwelling burglary.
Bright also pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods in a separate offence, when he was found with a safe containing more than £1,000 stolen from Pizza Hut in Poole.
Prosecuting, James Wing told the court on August 21, a little after midnight, police had been called by a member of the public who had been sleeping in one of the motorhomes at the Holton Heath Trading Park and heard suspicious rustling coming from the warehouse.
Mr Wing said: “Police turned up and caught them red-handed. The defendants had kicked their way in through a door to gain access.
“A messy search had taken place. The safe had been ripped from the wall. That safe contained a large number of mobile home keys, potentially if they had not been caught in the act they would have got away with substantial financial reward.”
Judge Robert Pawson sentenced all three defendants to two years and eight months imprisonment. Bright was given an extra four months for handling stolen goods.
Judge Pawson said: “All three of you are career criminals. There was potentially a very high value loss.
“The search was untidy, a safe was ripped away from the wall, there was significant damage.
“[A member of the public] was on the premises. He was asleep in a motor home within the compound when he heard you climbing over the fence.
“You were a group, there was an element of targeting, you knew what you were after, and an element of planning, it was mid-August yet you were wearing snoods and gloves.
“Nothing was taken, that was a matter of luck, not judgement.”
Prisoner bit off inmate's ear following fight over drugs at prison
Thomas O’Reilly, aged 26, approached the victim’s cell door at HMP Portland demanding to speak to him about Spice on October 25, 2019.
Prosecutor Puneet Grewal told Bournemouth Crown Court: "Mr O’Reilly demanded something from him and the victim remembers telling him, 'no'. He reacted by shouting and kicking the door.”
The pair later saw each other in the wing, both armed with socks with a tin can inside, intending to harm each other in a fight.
A scuffle started which forced prison guards to intervene, but O’Reilly latched onto the victim’s left ear for approximately 17 seconds.
Ms Grewal said: “Mr O’Reilly sees him and he had what appears to be a tin in a sock and as the victim passed him, it appears that he fails to stop and there was a coming together.
“The defendant bites onto his ear and in doing so, ripped a part off.
“He said, ‘how’s your ear’ when he was separated from the victim. The part of the ear was recovered and put in ice, but they were not able to reattach it.”
The victim was left angry and distraught following the assault, the court heard.
A victim impact statement heard how he ‘never wanted this fight to start’ and how he became self-conscious about his ear and general appearance.
O’Reilly, now of HMP Liverpool who had been due to leave prison on Monday, had pleaded guilty to wounding with intent at a previous court hearing.
O’Reilly was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and will serve two-thirds of the sentence in prison, with the remaining third on licence.
He was also ordered to pay a £180 victim surcharge.
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