Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the summer of 2024.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
21. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
A teenager has been jailed for life for the murder of 17-year-old Charlie Cosser at a party in Sussex. Yura Varybrus, now aged 17, attended a party in Marches Lane, Warnham, and at about midnight on July 22, 2023 into the early hours of July 23, 2023, he stabbed Charlie. Tragically, Charlie, from Milford in Surrey, died in hospital from his injuries on July 25, 2023, leaving his family devastated. Her Honour Judge Christine Henson KC granted an application made by the media to lift his anonymity at the sentencing hearing on June 19. Varybrus was sentenced to life in prison and was told he must serve a minimum of 16 years before he can be considered for parole. Charlie had attended the party in Warnham with two friends, and was hoping to travel on holiday to Greece with friends in the summer last year. But after being stabbed at the party by Varybrus, Charlie was instead taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in a critical condition. Photo: Sussex Police
22. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
Following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE), a 19-year-old man has been sentenced for offences including possessing plans for carrying out an attack on a synagogue near Brighton. On June 14, at Winchester Crown Court, Mason Reynolds, of Moulsecoomb Way, Brighton, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment with five years on extended licence. He will also be subject to a notification order for a period of 15 years. At a trial in April, he was found guilty of one count of possessing an article for the purpose of terrorism, contrary to Section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000. He also previously pleaded guilty to five counts of collecting information which could be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and five counts of dissemination of terrorist publication, contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006. Reynolds was arrested by CTPSE officers on June 27 last year. An examination of his mobile phone revealed a note detailing a plan to attack a synagogue near Brighton. The note included information about the entrances and exits of the synagogue, security cameras, a video of the location taken from Google Maps as well as key Jewish holidays. On Reynold’s devices, officers also found material that was neo-Nazi and anti-semitic in nature alongside manuals, one of which detailed how to make a bomb. Additionally, Reynolds was part of an online group who shared neo-Nazi material and posted extreme right-wing content that encouraged terrorism. He was charged on July 3 last year. Photo: Sussex Police
23. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
A drug dealer who blackmailed and assaulted a man in Bognor Regis over a £3,000 debt has been jailed for 11 years. On July 19, 2023, police received a 999 call from a concerned father, who had received desperate messages from his son saying he had been kidnapped. Officers visited his property as the victim – a 22-year-old local man – returned home shortly after 9pm. He reported having been taken in a van from a cemetery in Hawthorn Road at around midday, threatened with extreme violence and driven to a property in Bognor. From there he was able to send messages to this father, before being bundled back into the van and stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver. He managed to escape when the van stopped at traffic lights, before making his way home. Two days later, on July 21, 2023, 29-year-old Lashaun ‘Jay’ Kwatia was arrested in Bognor. A separate investigation by the West Sussex Community Investigation Team found Kwatia had been running the JAY county drugs line, supplying crack cocaine and heroin. A search of an address in Bognor found Class A drugs, cash and multiple mobile phones linked to Kwatia. Kwatia, of Linden Grove in Southwark, was later charged and convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, blackmail and causing actual bodily harm. He was found not guilty of kidnap. At Lewes Crown Court on June 6, Kwatia was jailed for 11 years and given a restraining order of 20 years against the victim and another man. Photo: Sussex Police
24. Locked up in Sussex 2024: These are some of the criminals jailed between May and August
A County Lines drug-dealer was arrested just three weeks after he started distributing illegal substances in Brighton. Ermir Murataj frequently travelled from his home in Goldbeaters Grove, London, to the Sussex coast throughout June and July 2023, where he would offer heroin for sale. He was arrested after a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant was executed at his address on October 13, 2023. A number of mobile devices were seized, and expert analysis revealed the Jimmy drug line phones he operated were completely inactive while he was in London; they became heavily active whenever he travelled to Brighton, when he would send out bulk messages to vulnerable users. The 35-year-old was charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin. He denied the offence and the case went to trial, where a jury returned a guilty verdict. At Lewes Crown Court on May 17, Murataj was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment. Photo: Sussex Police