Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the first four months of 2025.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
13. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A dangerous driver caused a fatal head-on collision while over the limit for drugs. Max Anderson lost control of his BMW after overtaking a bus in Kennel Road near Goodwood. He caused a head-on collision with another vehicle. The victim, Donald Sutherland, 68, from Bognor, was taken to hospital, and tragically died five days later. Anderson tested positive for the chemical breakdown of cocaine in his system. Anderson, 30, of Priors Acre, Boxgrove, near Chichester, appeared before Portsmouth Crown Court on January 24. He admitted causing death by dangerous driving. The court was told how Anderson’s vehicle had gone past a bus in the single lane traffic, but then lost control. He skidded to the wrong side of the road and struck a road sign and embankment, before causing the head-on collision. Records showed he had been advised not to drive because of his previous drug taking. At interview, Anderson claimed he was a patient driver and was not showing off. He tested positive for 79 microgrammes (uhg) of benzoylecgonine (a chemical breakdown of cocaine) per litre of blood in his body. The legal limit is 50uhg of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. Anderson could not account for why the drugs were in his body. He was sentenced to six years in prison, and was disqualified from driving for nine years, with a requirement to apply for and to take an extended retest before he would be allowed to drive. Photo: Sussex Police
14. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
A Bexhill man who subjected a woman to domestic abuse and controlling behaviour has been jailed. Jimmy Wright, 24, previously of Cantelupe Road, Bexhill, was in a relationship with his victim for three years. In that time, he isolated her from her friends and family and took control over significant parts of her life. He also assaulted her on multiple occasions, including strangling her until she stopped breathing. At Hastings Magistrates’ Court on November 5, 2024, Wright pleaded not guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour, non-fatal strangulation and two charges of assault on the woman. He was found guilty of all four offences and was sent to Lewes Crown Court for sentencing. On January 27, he was sentenced to two years in prison and given a 10-year restraining order. Photo: Sussex Police
15. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
An Eastbourne man who controlled and violently assaulted a woman over a number of years has been jailed. Joshua Crompton, 27, of Bedfordwell Road in Eastbourne, sought to control his victim’s behaviour through manipulation and repeated assaults between 2022 and December 2024. The victim reported the pattern of abuse to police on December 20, 2024. She set out multiple instances of Crompton attempting to control her relationships with her friends and family, and fixated, paranoid behaviour that often led to violence. In March, 2023, Crompton held a knife to her throat and strangled her until she lost consciousness. The incident was one in a catalogue of assaults in private and in public. After reporting the abuse to police, the victim was on the phone to a police officer the next day when Crompton arrived at her home and attacked her. She fled to a business nearby and police attended, but Crompton had fled the scene. He was arrested shortly after and subsequently charged with four counts of intentional strangulation, three counts of assault and one count each of engaging in coercive/controlling behaviour, stalking, threatening a person with an offensive weapon and criminal damage. He was remanded in custody to await trial. At Lewes Crown Court on January 25, he pleaded guilty to two counts of intentional strangulation, two counts of assault and criminal damage. Following consultation with the victim, the pleas were accepted and the remaining charges were ordered to lay on file. At the same court on February 7, Crompton was jailed for three years and given an indefinite restraining order. Photo: Sussex Police
16. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between January and April
Former Scout leader Ian Silvester has been jailed for committing dozens of child sex offences. Silvester, 60, of Locks Hill in Portslade, held a number of positions and owned businesses that gave him unsupervised access to children over several decades. He worked as a Scout leader, children’s nurse, St John’s Ambulance worker, diving instructor, first aid trainer, babysitter, and a registered nurse and registered children’s nurse. Silvester was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2015. Over a period of 25 years – between 1986 and 2011 – Silvester sexually assaulted 19 boys linked to several of his roles of trust, including the Scouts and his various businesses. Many of the assaults took place under the guise of ‘first aid training’, during which Silvester would sexually touch his victims. Following Silvester’s arrest, digital devices were found containing more than two million media articles suggesting a sexual interest in young boys, including 68 indecent images of children. He was subsequently charged and found guilty of 44 counts of indecent assault, 25 counts of non-penetrative sexual activity with a child, two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, two counts of sexual activity with a child under 13 and two counts of making an indecent image of a child. At Lewes Crown Court on November 20, 2024 he was found guilty of all charges. At the same court on February 7, Silvester was given a 22-year sentence, with 16 years to be spent in custody and an additional six years on extended license. Photo: Sussex Police