Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the summer of 2023.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
29. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
A man has been found guilty of rape and sent to prison for his crimes in East Sussex. Mathew Taylor, 50, stood trial at Lewes Crown Court accused of rape of a woman, coercive control, and two counts of sexual assault by touching on a girl under the age of 13. He was found guilty of all the charges, which were reported to Sussex Police in 2021. The victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, were a woman and a girl in Sussex. They received support from specially trained officers, and were grateful for the support they received through the trial process. In particular, they were grateful for the help they received from the Young Witness Caseworker who is also an Independent Sexual Violence Advisor. Taylor, a tradesman of Priory Road, Hastings, was sentenced to a total of six years and nine months in prison. He must serve two-thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for release. The court also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to restrict his access to children in future. Photo: Sussex Police
30. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
A doctor who sexually assaulted a patient who he visited at her home after she had been discharged from hospital has been jailed. Simon Abraham, who worked at Eastbourne District General Hospital, contacted the woman in October 2020 after she had been treated for severe headaches. He claimed that he had had a call from a colleague who was concerned about her condition and that he had been trained in specialist massage in India for two years. She agreed to his visit, but during the massage he sexually assaulted her. He left when a visitor came to the house, but continued to phone her. She contacted the hospital who advised her that they would investigate, but she should also contact police. Abraham, 34, of Penrith Way, Eastbourne, appeared at Chichester Crown Court on May 26 and was found guilty of sexual assault on a female after a trial lasting four days. He reappeared on Friday, July 14, when he was sentenced to 18 months in prison - nine months custodial and nine months on licence. He will be placed on the sex offenders' register for ten years and is subject to a five year restraining order to protect the victim from contact by him. Photo: Sussex Police
31. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
A West Sussex man who raped a girl on more than one occasion decades ago has been jailed for 18 years. Brian Hoad, 66, of Kings Road, Lancing, first raped his victim, who was under the age of 16, after he ‘plied her with wine’, a police spokesperson said. Hoad’s victim reported multiple sexual assaults to Sussex Police on June 3, 2021, and received support from specialist officers while an investigation was launched. A police spokesperson said: “Hoad was arrested the next day and, following a thorough investigation, was charged with four counts of rape of a girl under 16 and two counts of sexual assault on a girl under 16. He was found guilty of all charges at Lewes Crown Court on Friday, July 14.” At Lewes Crown Court on Monday, July 17, Hoad was sentenced to 18 years in jail and told he must serve a minimum of two thirds of that sentence before being eligible for parole, police said. Police said Hoad was also given an indefinite restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim, indirectly or directly. Photo: Sussex Police
32. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
Pevensey man Graham Head has been given a 23-year sentence for attempting to rape and sexually assault two women while posing as a taxi driver in Brighton. Head, 66, of Coast Road in Pevensey, prowled the streets of Sussex in his silver Mercedes estate searching for vulnerable women. At Hove Crown Court on Monday, July 24, he was jailed for 18 years, with an additional five years to be spent on extended licence. He was told he must serve at least two thirds of that sentence before being eligible for parole. Head was arrested on 18 November, 2022, after a woman reported waking up in a vehicle, which she believed to be a taxi, to find a man sexually assaulting her. She had earlier got into what she thought was a taxi taking her from Brighton to Hove. She managed to escape, called police at around 3.10am and was able to remember three digits of the car’s registration plate. Within minutes, officers located the vehicle – a silver Mercedes estate - and stopped it in Preston Circus following a short pursuit. Head was arrested at the scene. He was linked to an ongoing investigation from 19 August, 2022, when a woman reported a man dragging her into bushes in Hove Park. She had earlier received a lift from him from Brighton to Hove Park. He attempted to rape her, but fled the scene when the victim’s mobile phone rang. CCTV footage from that investigation showed the victim approaching a silver Mercedes estate, which was then tracked through city centre CCTV and doorbell footage driving slowly along the road near Hove Park. After he was arrested in November, 2022, his internet search history was found to include phrases such as ‘if a mobile phone is switched off can it still be traced’ and multiple searches around nightclub opening times in Brighton, East Sussex and Surrey, as well as information on Brighton student nights. Inside his car were latex gloves, condoms, Viagra tablets and a balaclava. His mobile phone had been placed on flight mode. Photo: Sussex Police