These are some of the most serious, high profile and prolific offenders who were jailed in the fifth month of 2025.
All information comes directly from Sussex Police.
5. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in May 2025
A disqualified driver was stopped on the A23 and found to be in possession of cocaine and cannabis. Bilal Abdullah, 27, was stopped by officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit. Inside a Citroen Berlingo van they found the drugs, a bladed article, a false document, and £935 in cash was seized. He was stopped during the County Lines Intensification Week, which aims to target and disrupt drugs supply and catch offenders involved in organised crime groups. Abdullah, of no fixed address, appeared for sentence at Lewes Crown Court on May 19 and admitted possessing both class A and B drugs with intent to supply, possession of a bladed article, driving while disqualified, acquiring, using or possessing criminal property, and possessing or controlling a false or improperly obtained identity document. He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. The court was told how SEU officers stopped the vehicle travelling southbound at Hickstead on November 26 last year. They had information to suggest the vehicle was linked to drug dealing.Abdullah was stopped and arrested in a layby. Following an investigation by the West Sussex Community Investigations (CIT) team he was charged and appeared in court. Photo: Sussex Police
6. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in May 2025
A 17-year-old boy who fatally stabbed a man in Hailsham can now be named after a judge lifted reporting restrictions following his sentencing for manslaughter. Rhys Hedges, 17, from Hellingly, was charged with the murder of 20-year-old Billy Ripley, who died after an altercation in August 2024. A jury at Lewes Crown Court found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter following a trial which concluded on March 28. The court heard that police were called to Vicarage Field in Hailsham at around 6.20pm on August 29, 2024, following reports of a man being stabbed. Billy was found lying in an alleyway near The Hailsham Club with a single stab wound to the chest. Despite the best efforts of paramedics and officers, he was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Witnesses reported seeing the victim sitting on a bench in the town centre when Hedges approached. After a verbal exchange, the pair - who were known to each other – moved into the alleyway where the incident took place. CCTV footage showed an altercation between the two near the entrance to Hailsham Parish Church. Billy then staggered away, calling out he had been stabbed, before collapsing. The suspect fled the scene but was quickly identified and arrested at an address in Hailsham later that evening. He was subsequently charged and remanded in custody. On May 23, at Lewes Crown Court, Hedges was sentenced to eight years in prison minus time served. Photo: Sussex Police
7. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in May 2025
Brighton man Zaine Reid has been jailed for raping, abusing and controlling a woman over several months in 2024. In September last year, a woman in her late teens reported being subjected to repeated violence and controlling behaviour from Reid, since February of that year. Reid, 20, of no fixed address, would control when she could see her friends and family, monitor her on cameras when he wasn’t at home, and threaten to harm himself if she tried to end contact with him. The victim disclosed being raped by Reid, and strangled to the point of fearing that he was going to kill her. When the victim cut contact with Reid, he logged into, and deleted, all of her social media accounts. Officers supported the victim and put safeguarding measures in place while Reid was arrested and charged with rape, intentional strangulation, coercive and controlling behaviour and causing actual bodily harm. While remanded in custody awaiting trial, he contacted the victim again from prison and attempted to threaten her into dropping her support for the investigation. He was further charged with intimidating a witness. At Brighton Crown Court on March 18, Reid was convicted of all charges and remanded in custody. At the same court on May 16, Reid was jailed for seven years. Photo: Sussex Police
8. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in May 2025
A quick-thinking police officer hitched a ride in a street cleaner to catch a violent offender. Peter Lock has been jailed after he assaulted a woman in Bognor Regis High Street on February 26, 2023. He made off from the scene on his bike but was spotted by council workers who pointed him out to responding officers. The officer initially pursued on foot, but then used his initiative to flag down a street cleaning vehicle to catch up with the defendant. He was swiftly detained and arrested. In the meantime, the 48-year-old victim was taken to hospital, where she was treated for multiple hand and facial injuries. Peter Lock, 51, of Linden Road, Bognor Regis, appeared at Lewes Crown Court on May 7. He pleaded guilty to actual bodily harm and was sentenced to 18 months in custody. Photo: Sussex Police