Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the final four months of the year.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
25. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A county lines drug dealer responsible for supplying heroin and crack cocaine in Eastbourne has been jailed. Junior Grah, 23, admitted being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, possession of crack cocaine, and possession of a bladed article, said police. At Lewes Crown Court on October 12, he was sentenced to a total of five years and seven months in prison. Grah was arrested in Mitcham in September 2022 following a joint investigation by Sussex Police and Metropolitan Police into the ‘Avon’ county drugs line. A county line is a single mobile phone number used to sell and distribute drugs from large urban areas to smaller towns. In this case, the ‘Avon’ line was found to be supplying crack cocaine and heroin to vulnerable people in the Eastbourne area. When Grah was arrested, he was found in possession of two phones and two SIM cards – one of which held the number of the ‘Avon’ drugs line, police said. Messages downloaded from the devices were consistent with the supply of Class A drugs, police added. Grah, of Fernlea Road, Mitcham, pleaded guilty to the four offences on December 15, 2022 and was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing. Photo: Sussex Police
26. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A scouts leader in Sussex, who abused a young girl in his care, has been jailed for five years – with an additional year on licence. Sussex Police said former maintenance engineer Daniel Williams, 51, ‘preyed on a young girl in his care’ as a scouts leader in Sussex. “At Lewes Crown Court on October 9, he appeared for sentencing after admitting assaulting the child by penetration at an earlier hearing,” a police spokesperson added. Williams – formerly of an address in Hassocks – was a scout leader for more than ten years and ‘committed the offence while acting in this role’, police said. The spokesperson added: “He also admitted three counts of possessing indecent images of children. The court sentenced Williams to a term of five years in prison and an additional year on licence to make a six year sentence in total. It means Williams will not be automatically released half way through his sentence.” Williams was made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order to restrict his access to children, and will be a registered sex offender for life. Photo: Sussex Police
27. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A man has been jailed for shoplifting and threatening a member of staff with a knife in Chichester. Robert Sheppard, 41, of no fixed address, has been sentenced to a total of 20 months in prison following an incident at Sports Direct in the city-centre on Monday, September 4, police said. Sussex Police said he stole two pairs of joggers worth £159 each and proceeded to threaten staff with a knife. Police acted swiftly and, with thanks to a member of the public, arrested him just a few minutes later, despite Sheppard trying to get away. A spokesperson for Sussex Police said: “Sheppard pleaded guilty to possession of a knife, threatening with a knife, and theft from a shop, and appeared at Lewes Crown Court on Tuesday, October 4 for sentencing. He was also ordered to pay a £187 fine and a given a 24-month Serious Violence Reduction Order (SVRO), the first of its kind in West Sussex. Police now have the right to search Sheppard in a public place to check he isn’t carrying an offensive weapon, under the order that runs for two years.” Photo: Sussex Police
28. Locked up in Sussex 2023: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
An Eastbourne man described by police as a ‘persistent’ sexual predator has been jailed after officers discovered hundreds of sexually explicit images of children on his mobile phone. Police said, Kevin Wyeth, 37, of no fixed address, was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) relating to a range of sex offences relating to children dating back to 2006. In July, 2022, Wyeth was released on licence after serving part of a jail sentence for breaching an existing SHPO by sending sexual communications to four children, police have said. On Monday, March 13, Sussex Police officers conducted an unannounced visit at a hotel where Wyeth was staying in Eastbourne. Officers found a mobile phone hidden under a loaf of bread next to his bed, once again placing him in breach of his SHPO. Police said that on the phone were hundreds of explicit images of children aged as young as five, as well as text exchanges with a child understood to be under the age of 15. Wyeth was arrested and subsequently charged with three counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, making Category C indecent images of children and failing to disclose the key to protected information by not providing the pin number to his mobile phone. At Chichester Crown Court on Thursday, October 12, Wyeth was sentenced to 30 months in prison, given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely. Photo: Sussex Police