Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the first third of the year.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
21. Locked up in Sussex 2022: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
Two County Lines drug dealers have been jailed for cocaine and heroin offences in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton. Hazret Avdyli (left), 26, of Eltham Green Road, London SE9, was arrested in Littlehampton last October, on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of both crack cocaine and heroin. According to Sussex Police, he tried to evade officers on the balcony of a flat he had been visiting, with the 'deal line' phone of what was known as the 'Joey' line, empty of a Sim card, found at his feet. Avdyli pleaded guilty in February and, on March 23, he was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court to four years imprisonment, police said. Police said Abdullah Omar (right), 33, of Mountfield Road, London E15, was found guilty at Portsmouth Crown Court on March 24, of being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in the Bognor area. Omar was sentenced to eight years. Police said he had played a 'significant role' in the running of the 'Henry' drugs line into the area from London. Omar had only been released from prison on licence in May 2019, half way through an 11 year sentence for the same offending. Photo: Sussex Police
22. Locked up in Sussex 2022: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A drug dealer who was caught in possession of more than 100 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine in Hastings has been jailed. Alex Simon, 25, pleaded guilty to a number of offences that occurred in Hastings when he appeared at Lewes Crown Court on March 18 and was sentenced to eight years and nine months’ imprisonment. Police said in January 2019, officers on plain-clothed patrols in Hastings town centre witnessed a man and two women acting suspiciously in Cornwallis Gardens. Believing a drug deal had taken place, officers observed the man as he returned to his car. There, he altered his appearance, turning his white jacket inside out so it was now black, before driving away. Police said he was detained after parking up elsewhere in the town, and taken to Hastings police station. The key to the car was found discarded nearby alongside a package containing 69 wraps of crack cocaine and 44 wraps of heroin. Police said DNA found on the discarded drugs wraps matched that of the man arrested, later known to be Alex Simon, 25, of Brynhyfryd, Swansea. He was charged with possession with intent to supply a Class A drug (heroin) and possession with intent to supply a Class A drug (crack cocaine). Photo: Sussex Police
23. Locked up in Sussex 2022: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
Albert Frani, 27, of Rushlake Road in Brighton, was arrested and charged with being concerned in the production of a Class B drug (cannabis). At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on March 14, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison. Officers from Brighton and Hove’s Neighbourhood Policing Team investigated the Rushlake Road area following concerns of suspected drug dealing raised by members of the public. Information gathered was passed on to Brighton and Hove’s Tactical Enforcement Unit, who conducted house to house enquiries on March 13. As one resident came to his front door, officers could hear the sound of fans whirring in the background and a significant smell of cannabis coming from the property. A thermal imaging camera used by a PCSO also detected an unusual amount of heat coming from inside. The occupant was detained while a search was carried out, which found four rooms filled with cannabis cultivation equipment and signs that dozens of plants had recently been harvested. Photo: Sussex Police
24. Locked up in Sussex 2022: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A man who sexually assaulted a girl in East Grinstead is now starting a nine-year prison sentence following a Sussex Police investigation. Sussex Police has reported that James Doyle, 36, of Bear Lane, Hare Hatch, Reading, was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on March 3, having was previously convicted of two counts of sexual activity with the girl, then aged under 13, in East Grinstead some years ago. He will be a registered sex offender for life and was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to run for ten years on his release, severely restricting his access to girls under 16 and to digital communications devices. Detective Constable Rees Hopcraft of the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit said Doyle 'systematically exploited her for his own gratification'. Photo: Sussex Police