Here we take a look at some of the criminals locked up during the final four months of 2025.
All of the information below comes from either Sussex Police or our reporters attending court in person.
45. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A man has been sentenced after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in Brighton. James Scott, 45, approached a woman who was not known to him in the St James’s Street area. Witnesses then saw him sexually assault the vulnerable victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. She received support from specially-trained officers after she was taken to hospital following the incident. Scott, of no fixed address, stood trial at Lewes Crown Court in December and was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault. On December 5 he was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the offences. The court was told how the incident happened at about 11am on June 7. Witnesses said the victim, a woman in her 20s, was in a vulnerable position. Scott was seen grabbing the woman and trying to stand her up before giving her alcohol. He sexually assaulted her while she was not fully conscious and without her consent, and when confronted by witnesses he claimed the victim was his girlfriend. But the two had not previously met. He was acquitted of one count of attempted rape. Photo: Sussex Police
46. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A Newhaven man who posed as a teenage girl on social media to groom several young girls has been jailed. Mikey Winchester, 25, of Gibbon Road in Newhaven, targeted three girls on Snapchat and Instagram in 2022 and 2023. Sussex Police first became aware of Winchester’s offending from another police force in May 2023. The force had received reports from two girls who had been approached by a Snapchat user using the name ‘avadunn2.0’. The account known as ‘Ava’ was in fact Winchester pretending to be a 13-year-old girl. Winchester sent both victims explicit images, before asking them to send explicit images of themselves in return. Both victims had clearly stated they were young children in the chat with Winchester. The messages were discovered on both children’s phones and the Snapchat account was traced to Winchester’s home address in Newhaven. Officers visited his home on May 18, 2023, arrested him and seized a number of digital devices. In August 2023, another police force transferred an investigation to Sussex Police of a girl having been groomed on Instagram by an account named ‘dumbphoebelol’. This was again Winchester posing as a teenage girl to send explicit images and manipulate the victim into sending him explicit images. Both social media accounts were linked to Winchester’s devices, as well as 69 child sex abuse images and four images of extreme animal pornography. He was subsequently charged with three counts of sexual communication with a child, inciting sexual activity with a child (with and without penetration), three counts of making indecent images of a child (Cat A, B and C), and four counts of possession of extreme pornography. At Lewes Crown Court on December 17, he pleaded guilty to all charges and was jailed for four years, given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register. Photo: Sussex Police
47. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A prolific shoplifter has been sentenced after admitting his latest series of offences in court. James Menghe, 38, targeted retail stores across Worthing between October and December. His latest spree put him in breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) to prevent his offending. Menghe was identified and arrested by officers from the Worthing Neighbourhood Policing team. At Crawley Magistrates’ Court on December 23 he admitted 11 shop theft offences and eight breaches of a CBO. Menghe, of Ivy Arch Road, Worthing, was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison. The court was told how the first offence was identified at Sainsbury’s at Lyons Farm on October 10 where he stole gin bottles. On October 15 he entered the Co-op in Goring Road and stole laundry detergent, then on October 17 entered the Co-op in Rowlands Road where he stole wine bottles. He targeted the Co-op store in Rowlands Road with further thefts, twice on November 5 where he took meats, on November 9 he stole biscuits and salmon, and then stole again on December 3 where he stole chocolate pretzels and later stole meats. Menghe stole meat, salmon and gammon from the Rowlands Road Co-op on December 6, then targeted the Co-op in South Street, Tarring, by stealing meats on December 7 and December 16. Photo: Sussex Police
48. Locked up in Sussex 2025: These are some of the criminals jailed between September and December
A dangerous driver who killed another man in a head-on collision has been jailed for eight years. Tony Daniels had been driving with his wife Jade northbound on the A29 Shripney Road, Bognor Regis, on the evening of June 26, 2024, when they were struck by a black Audi A3 travelling in the opposite direction. Despite the best efforts of passers-by and paramedics, Tony, from Felpham, was tragically declared deceased at the scene. He was 46-years-old. Jade was taken to hospital with serious injuries, as was the Audi driver, identified as 25-year-old Louie Everitt, of The Croft, in Bersted.Several witnesses reported him speeding, tailgating and overtaking other vehicles shortly before the collision. One witness reported him driving “like a lunatic” and grossly in excess of the 40mph speed limit. Police responded to the scene, where Everitt was reported to smell strongly of alcohol. However, he refused to provide a sample of saliva or blood for analysis to test if he was over the legal limit. Everitt was subsequently arrested and charged with causing death by dangerous driving, causing death while driving uninsured and failing to give permission for a test on a laboratory sample, having caused a death. At Portsmouth Crown Court on December 23, he was sentenced to a total of eight years’ imprisonment, reduced from 12 years for his early guilty pleas. He must serve at least two thirds of his sentence before being released on licence, and is also disqualified from driving for five years from his release date. Photo: Sussex Police