Sussex’s judges, juries and magistrates were busy in October.
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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Two drug dealers involved in an hour-long pursuit have been sentenced for dangerous driving, Sussex Police have confirmed. Patrick McCabe, 28, was the driver of a Volkswagen Golf with passenger Ronnie Beckett, 19. Sussex Police said he was at a car wash at Copthorne when he saw police officers and drove away at high speed. Officers from the Specialist Enforcement Unit were on patrol in the area as part of an operation to disrupt criminals using the road network. During the course of the pursuit, police said McCabe, who was already a disqualified driver, was seen reaching high speeds. Sussex Police said the vehicle he drove was using cloned plates, which he had tried to remove to avoid detection by police. Police said he completed dangerous overtaking, went through red lights and went the wrong way around a roundabout. But he was tracked by the National Police Air Service helicopter as well as officers from the Tactical Firearms Unit and Crawley Response who had come to assist colleagues. Sussex Police said they were located and arrested in a housing estate in Horley, and following an investigation by Crawley CID, were charged. At Lewes Crown Court on October 6, McCabe admitted dangerous driving, possession of class B drugs with intent to supply, driving while disqualified and driving without valid insurance. Beckett admitted possession of class B drugs with intent to supply, breach of a suspended sentence order, and failing to provide a specimen for analysis. The court was told how the incident happened on July 12 this year. Police said McCabe’s driving was so dangerous that he only narrowly avoided head-on collisions with other vehicles. Other motorists had to take evasive action including an emergency stop to prevent a collision, Sussex Police added. Police said McCabe, of no fixed address, and Beckett, of Stoneycroft Walk, Ifield, then tried to run from the vehicle. Footage showed them trying to hide from the police before then trying to evade capture through people’s gardens, but they were both Photo: Sussex Police
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An Eastbourne man described by police as a ‘persistent’ sexual predator has been jailed after officers discovered hundreds of sexually explicit images of children on his mobile phone. Police said, Kevin Wyeth, 37, of no fixed address, was already subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) relating to a range of sex offences relating to children dating back to 2006. In July, 2022, Wyeth was released on licence after serving part of a jail sentence for breaching an existing SHPO by sending sexual communications to four children, police have said. On Monday, March 13, Sussex Police officers conducted an unannounced visit at a hotel where Wyeth was staying in Eastbourne. Officers found a mobile phone hidden under a loaf of bread next to his bed, once again placing him in breach of his SHPO. Police said that on the phone were hundreds of explicit images of children aged as young as five, as well as text exchanges with a child understood to be under the age of 15. Wyeth was arrested and subsequently charged with three counts of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, making Category C indecent images of children and failing to disclose the key to protected information by not providing the pin number to his mobile phone. At Chichester Crown Court on Thursday, October 12, Wyeth was sentenced to 30 months in prison, given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely. Photo: Sussex Police
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An East Sussex man who touched two women without their consent in a nightclub has been jailed for sexual assault, Sussex Police have confirmed. Police said they were called to a club in Pool Valley in Brighton in the early hours of Tuesday, May 2, after security staff detained a man who was touching women on the dancefloor. Both women reported being grabbed and sexually assaulted, before identifying the man to security, who detained him. He was identified as 46-year-old Yonas Mebrehatom, of Elm Grove in Brighton, and arrested. Sussex Police said Mebrehatom was subsequently charged with sexual assault by penetration, assault causing actual bodily harm and sexual assault by touching. At Chichester Crown Court on Friday, October 27, he was found guilty of causing actual bodily harm and sexual assault, and not guilty of sexual assault by penetration. Sussex Police said he was sentenced to a total of eight months, with half to be spent on licence. Having already served five months and 25 days remanded in custody, he was released on licence, police added. Mebrehatom was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register requiring him to notify police of certain personal details and information aimed at reducing his ability to cause harm. Photo: Jon Rigby