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.
49. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A fraudster from East Sussex who deceived clients and took payment for legal services has been jailed, police said. Officers said Christopher Bilmes, 45, stole more than £1.7 million over a three-year period from those who had trusted him as their solicitor. A Sussex Police spokesperson added: “He provided conveyancing, general litigate, family and matrimonial services and was the head partner of his own legal firm, based at Groombridge in East Sussex. But after taking money, customers found they were not able to have their mortgages redeemed.” Bilmes was first investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and then by Sussex Police’s Economic Crime Unit, police explained. The spokesperson said: “In January he admitted seven charges before Hove Crown Court, which included five counts of fraud by abuse of position, and two counts of fraud by false representation. On April 6, Bilmes, of Mayfield Road, Five Ashes, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for the offences. The court heard how the crimes were committed between October 2014-November 2017, when the Solicitors Regulation Authority scrutinised his dealings in connection with a £400,000 mortgage. A number of victims then came forward to support the police investigation. The authority has paid out more than £2.7 million in compensation.” Officers said they also found that Bilmes had put pressure on people to take high interest loans which left clients in serious financial difficulty when his legal firm was investigated and closed down. Photo: Sussex Police
50. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A Sussex motorcycle rider who was involved in an incident in which another motorcyclist died has been jailed for dangerous driving, police said. Police said Aaron Barrett reached ‘dangerously high speeds’ during the incident, which happened in April last year. Witnesses saw the 32-year-old riding alongside another motorcycle rider, and the two men appeared to be ‘racing’ each other through Fox Way, Portslade, police said. One witness said: “It was crazy how fast they were going.” A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “Tragically, the other rider, a 33-year-old man of Southwick, Brighton, collided with an oncoming vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Barrett was himself seriously injured, and was arrested in hospital. He was disqualified at the time of the incident and told officers while under caution that he may have reached 80mph in the 30mph zone.” Police said at Lewes Crown Court on April 17 this year, he admitted a charge of dangerous driving. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison, and was further disqualified for four years and eight months, police added. The court was told about how the incident unfolded on April 16 at about 4.30pm. Witnesses described hearing the loud noise of motorcycles revving, and then a loud bang. The two motorcycle riders were seen ‘down low, in a racing position’. One witness said Barrett’s riding ‘showed no consideration for anyone else, and no consideration that other people could be using the road’. Police said Barrett, formerly of North Road, Brighton, was still disqualified after offences committed on October 20, 2020. A blood test showed he was also over the limit for cannabis in his system, Sussex Police added. Police said he tested positive for 3 microgrammes (mcg) of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (the chemical breakdown of the class B drug) per litre of his blood. The legal limit is 2mcg per litre of blood. Photo: Sussex Police
51. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A 69-year-old man who attempted to rob three banks in Bexhill and St Leonards has been jailed. Police said that Alan Slattery, of Hoad’s Wood Road, Hastings, passed a note over to staff at the National Building Society in St Leonards and in Bexhill and at Natwest in Bexhill demanding they give him money from the till. The note read: “'I'M NOT F****** ABOUT, JUST PASS ME THE 10'S AND 20'S NOW AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT." Police said that Slattery’s request was refused by staff and he left on foot without obtaining any money and leaving the note at all three branches. Following CCTV enquiries, Slattery was swiftly arrested and charged with three counts of attempted robbery following the incidents on Friday, February 10. Sussex Police said that he appeared before Lewes Crown Court on Wednesday, April 25 and was sentenced to 32 months imprisonment. Photo: Sussex Police
52. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A drug-driver who killed his passenger after losing control of his vehicle has been jailed, Sussex Police have confirmed. Sussex Police said that Terry Lee Majors reached high speeds as he drove on the A27 at Pevensey when his Ford Fiesta veered off the road into trees. The impact caused the death of his passenger, Cheryl Brookes, aged 35, from Bexhill, police said. Majors appeared before Lewes Crown Court and has been jailed for causing death by dangerous driving over the incident in July 2021. Police reported that the court was told how Majors and Cheryl, a mother-of-two and a grandmother, had gone for a night away in Brighton. He lost his temper after he saw another man look at her Instagram, police said. Police said that Majors, 40, from St Leonards, drove them back to East Sussex, and was heard abusing her as she made a mobile phone call to relatives. She said: “He’s driving like a lunatic. He is doing 100mph and is scaring me.” In text messages to a friend she described how Majors had become 'jealous' and 'paranoid' before he left Brighton in a rage. Sussex Police said that Majors, 40, appeared to try and attempt to overtake a vehicle, lost control, and crashed into trees on the A27 Pevensey bypass near the Hankham Hall Road bridge over the carriageway. Cheryl was declared deceased at the scene. In statements at the time her family said Cheryl was a “kind-hearted, caring and loving person, always there for people and always putting others before herself.” Witnesses described Majors erratic and dangerous driving between leaving the hotel and the collision. It included overtaking and undertaking other vehicles at high speed. He was injured and taken to hospital, where a blood test showed he was over the limit for cannabis. At Lewes Crown Court on April 19 he admitted causing death by dangerous driving. Majors, of Marina, St Leonards, was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison and was disqualified from driving for five-and-a-half years. Photo: Sussex Police