These are some of the most serious, high-profile and prolific offenders who were jailed in the tenth month of 2023.
All information comes directly from Sussex Police.
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Three people have been sentenced after they were caught attempting to steal £20,000 worth of mobile phones from a supermarket. The trio entered Tesco in Jane Murray Way, Burgess Hill, on the afternoon of May 17 and started to rip the devices from display. Their actions caught the attention of staff, customers and three off-duty police officers, who quickly responded to detain the suspects and recover the phones. A number of people were assaulted in the process. The three defendants were subsequently arrested and charged with attempted robbery, and all pleaded guilty. Valetin Bocan (pictured), 24, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody and appeared before Lewes Crown Court on September 8, where he was sentenced to 23 months’ imprisonment. Mario Ilie, 18, of Saint Awdrys Road, Barking, was sentenced to 22 months – suspended for 24 months – at an earlier hearing and a 16-year-old boy from Ilford, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was referred to a youth offender panel. Photo: Sussex Police
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A dangerous driver who led police on a high-speed pursuit has been jailed. Stefan Bradley drove off from officers at speeds of more than 100mph near Kingston on the A27 towards Brighton. He was seen driving the wrong way around a roundabout and then back towards Lewes and Polegate during the incident. After decamping from the vehicle, specialist officers from the Roads Policing Unit (RPU) pursued him on foot and arrested him. The 27-year-old appeared before Lewes Crown Court on September 12 where he admitted dangerous driving, and failing to provide a specimen of blood for analysis when suspected of being over the legal limit for alcohol or a prescribed drug. Stefan Bradley, unemployed of Eastbourne Road, Polegate, was sentenced to 14 months in prison. He was disqualified from driving for three years. The court was told how the incident happened at about 7.45pm on July 24 this year. RPU officers identified a Kia Ceed heading westbound from the Beddingham roundabout on the A27 near Lewes. The vehicle stopped shortly after the Kingston roundabout, but when an officer approached the vehicle on foot, Bradley drove away at high speed. After turning at Falmer, he drove back towards Polegate, where RPU officers followed the vehicle from Eastbourne Road to The Thatching, and then to Park Croft where the vehicle was abandoned. RPU officer PC Devlin pursued Bradley on foot to an address in Farmlands Close, where he identified him inside the property. Bradley was then arrested, and following an investigation by Eastbourne CID, he was charged. Photo: Sussex Police
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An offender used a false identity to enter the UK after previously being jailed and deported for similar offences. Ion Rudacan, also known as Ion Paun, was convicted as part of Operation Elba, an operation by Greater Manchester Police to the trafficking of women for sex work in the north west. Despite being jailed and deported, the 36-year-old made repeated efforts to re-enter the UK. He managed to enter the UK illegally under a false name, and documents showed he had hired a car in Brighton in July. But he was arrested by officers from Sussex Police’s Tactical Firearms Unit who carried out a proactive check on his vehicle while on patrol in Marine Parade, Brighton, on September 4. Rudacan was charged with multiple offences, and was remanded in custody. At Lewes Crown Court on October 10, he admitted three counts of breaching a Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order, breaching a Deportation Order, three further attempted breaches of the Deportation Order, and seeking and obtaining leave to enter or remain in the UK via deceptive means. Rudacan, of no fixed address, was sentenced to six years in prison. The court was told how Rudacan, a Romanian national, was convicted as part of Operation Elba for controlling prostitution for gain and for human trafficking offences in the Manchester area. He was sentenced to two years and three months in prison in November 2021, along with a Deportation Order. Rudacan was deported on January 27, 2022. He was also made the subject of a Slavery and Trafficking Prevention Order for ten years, which restricts his ability to own, lease or possess a vehicle in the UK without informing the police, and restricts his access to using devices such as a mobile phone. It was revealed how he had attempted to enter the UK under a false EU Settlement application. He was removed from the UK at Stansted Airport on October 5, 2022 and June 26 this year, and was removed from Liverpool John Lennon Airport on October 14, 2022. Officers stopped him in a vehicle in Marine Parade, Brighton, Photo: Sussex Police
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Craig Richards, 38 – unemployed of Mount Idol View, Bexhill – came to the attention of the police after being concerned in the supply of cocaine. He was ‘linked to high level buying and selling’ of the class A drug in East Sussex, police said. A spokesperson added: “Officers carried out a warrant at a lockup and found evidence that he was selling the drugs by the kilogram in bulk orders. Meanwhile police also seized thousands of pounds in cash notes from his home in Bexhill. During the warrant executed at the lockup in the Rother area police also seized a firearm which had been converted to fire live ammunition, but this was not linked to Richards.” Officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit stopped a van driven by Richards on the A27 near Offington Lane, Worthing, on February 25 this year. At Lewes Crown Court on September 18, Richards admitted being concerned in the supply of a class A drug and possession of criminal property, police said. He was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. Photo: Sussex Police