Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the first four months of the year.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
33. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A man has been jailed for more than seven years following a burglary near Haywards Heath. On November 2, 2021 at around 2.50pm, police were called to reports of a burglary on Brook Street, Cuckfield. A man broke in and was caught rummaging through a wardrobe by the owner. Following an altercation, where the victim – a 44-year-old man – suffered minor injuries, the suspect fled the property with jewellery worth thousands of pounds. On January 18, 2022, he was arrested in connection with the incident and identified as Justin Collins, 46, of no fixed address. He was charged with burglary with violence and appeared before Lewes Crown Court on December 14, 2023, where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years and six months’ imprisonment. Photo: Sussex Police
34. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A Peacehaven delivery driver who raped a young girl and sexually assaulted another has been jailed, Sussex Police have said. Police said they received a report in December 2021 of a girl under the age of five having been sexually assaulted. Police said Matthew Barca, 31, of South Coast Road in Peacehaven, was arrested. Police added that officers visited the girl and her family to gather evidence and offer specialist support. Sussex Police said that during the course of the investigation a second victim reported being raped and sexually assaulted by Barca when she was a child in the 2000s. A Sussex Police spokesperson said: “(Barca) was subsequently charged with eight counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of rape of a child under 13, two counts of assault of a child by penetration and two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was also charged with possession of indecent images of children. At Lewes Crown Court on 4 August, he pleaded guilty to all counts. At the same court on Wednesday, 3 January, Barca was jailed for a total of nine years and eight months, with an additional four years and four months to be spent on extended licence after the court found him to be a danger to the public. He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order significantly reducing his access to children and digital devices, placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register and given restraining orders against his victims.” Photo: Sussex Police
35. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A Barnham man who stabbed his friend and subjected a woman to a vicious assault has been given a 13-and-a-half year sentence at court. Callum Walsh, 29, formerly of Warren Road in Barnham, was the subject of two separate investigations – one linked to a stabbing in 2021 and a second around abuse and controlling behaviour reported in January, 2023. On the afternoon of May 23, 2021, Walsh assaulted a man at a property in Littlehampton after drinking with him all night and throughout the morning. The pair began arguing and Walsh struck the man across the head with a bottle and stabbed him, causing significant injuries. He was arrested the following day on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, charged with the same offence and released on court bail pending a hearing. While awaiting trial for the GBH, Walsh first met his victim – a woman in her 20s – in December 2022. Over the next few weeks Walsh subjected her to paranoid, coercive and threatening behaviour, attempting to control where she went and who she saw. Where he perceived her to have fallen out of his control, he would violently assault her. In the early hours of January 14, 2023, Walsh carried out a final, prolonged assault on his victim, who was able to escape her property and call the emergency services. Police attended, put safeguarding measures in place to protect her and urgently sought Walsh’s arrest. He was subsequently arrested in Cornwall in June and charged with non-fatal strangulation, causing actual bodily harm and engaging in coercive/controlling behaviour and remanded in custody. While in custody he pleaded guilty to the charge of GBH with intent relating to the separate investigation. At Lewes Crown Court on November 8, Walsh pleaded guilty to non-fatal strangulation. Charges of actual bodily harm and coercive/controlling behaviour will remain on file. He was sentenced in relation to both matters at the same court on December 22and given an extended sentence of 13-and-a-half years. Photo: Sussex Police
36. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A Rye man has been sentenced to more than four years in jail for serious violence and drug offences. In September 2022, a search warrant was conducted at a property in Pottingfield Road following concerns and reports of drug-related crime. Officers uncovered drug paraphernalia, approximately £360 cash, and several mobile phones. A lengthy investigation ensued, involving interviews with Leon Dodson, who was located at the address, and enquiries into messages found on the phones relating to the supply of drugs and criminal activity. In May 2023, the 25-year-old was arrested after police received reports that two men had been stabbed at Queens Head Hotel in Rye. He was charged the following day with grievous bodily harm with intent, attempt grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, affray, and criminal damage and remanded into custody. In October 2023, he was also charged with being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug (cocaine) and in the supply of a Class B drug (cannabis) in relation to the warrant conducted the year before. At Lewes Crown Court on November 4, Dodson was sentenced to 58 months’ imprisonment having pleaded guilty to the GBH offences. On January 29, Dodson was sentenced to a further 28 months’ imprisonment, having pleaded guilty to the drug offences, to run concurrently (58 months’ total). Photo: Sussex Police