These are some of the most serious, high profile and prolific offenders who were jailed in the tenth month of 2025.
All information comes directly from Sussex Police.
5. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in October 2025
A man who killed a young couple at their home in Newhaven has been found guilty of their murders. Derek Martin walked into Brighton Police Station on the evening of June 9, 2023 and told officers: “I’ve killed two people.” He admitted causing the deaths of Chloe and Josh Bashford, but denied murder due to diminished responsibility resulting from a depressive disorder. A jury found him guilty of two counts of murder on October 24 following a three-week trial at Lewes Crown Court, sitting at Brighton. He has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on November 6. The court was shown CCTV clips of Martin going about his normal routine before the incident occurred. This included ordering a drink at Costa in Newhaven and going for breakfast with Chloe, 30, at The Stonehouse restaurant in Peacehaven. Later they returned together to the Bashford family home in Lewes Road, Newhaven, where Chloe and Josh lived with their four children. In a police interview, Martin confessed he had been cleaning a window at the property when he “just flipped” over a row about money with Chloe. He struck her over the head with a hammer then stabbed her to death. Martin said that Josh, 33, arrived home a short while later and saw him with a knife in his hand. Josh ran upstairs but was chased by Martin, who repeatedly stabbed him then strangled him to death. The 67-year-old, of Moulsecoomb Way, Brighton, then changed his clothes, picked up the couple’s four children from school, and took them to both Costa and McDonald’s in Newhaven. During this time, he discarded Chloe’s mobile phone in bushes of the nearby Sainsbury’s. He returned the children to their grandmother’s house in Brighton, then bought some beers from a shop in Whitehawk which he drank on the seafront. Shortly afterwards, he handed himself in at the police station. Officers attended the Bashford family home where they discovered the bodies of Chloe and Josh, and Martin was arrested. The court heard Martin and Chloe became close a couple of Photo: Sussex Police
6. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in October 2025
A man involved in a robbery at knifepoint and in a separate violent disorder at a petrol station has been jailed. Bailey Crowhurst, 21, entered a shop in London Road, East Grinstead and threatened a shop worker with a large knife. He stole alcohol and tobacco during the robbery, which left the victim shaken. Then in a separate incident, he was involved in an altercation at a petrol station. Inside the shop, he was seen throwing wine bottles toward another man in side. A shop worker said as many as 15 bottles were thrown during the affray, and fridge doors were smashed inside. Crowhurst, of no fixed address, was identified and arrested in connection with both incidents. He was charged with robbery, possession of a knife in a public place, and with affray. Crowhurst admitted the charges in court, and at Lewes Crown Court on October 3 he was sentenced to five years in prison, with a further three years added in an extended sentence for dangerousness. This means he will not be automatically released on probation half way through his sentence, but must serve at least two thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for parole, and he remains subject to being recalled to prison on licence for the extended three year period after the sentence is served. The court was told how the first incident happened at 8.45am on July 27 last year in London Road, East Grinstead. Witnesses saw Crowhurst entering the store to buy a ginger beer, then loitering outside for a few minutes before returning inside. He threatened the shop worker with a knife and demanded tobacco and alcohol worth up to £400. The victim was left distressed and shaken. Crowhurst was arrested on September 12 that year and was charged with robbery and possession of a knife and was remanded to Crawley Magistrates’ Court on September 16, where he was released on bail by the court. The second incident occurred in Station Road, East Grinstead, at a petrol station at 11.30pm on September 30 last year. A shop worker reported how Crowhurst acted Photo: Sussex Police
7. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in October 2025
A 'despicable' former East Sussex school housemaster has been jailed for string of serious sexual offences against children. Sussex Police said Raymond Langley, 76, was the housemaster/bursar at a school – in the Wealden district of East Sussex – during the 1970s. In 2021, an investigation was launched after a man reported being sexually abused at the school, police said. Police said enquiries identified two victims, who were ‘subjected to abuse’. "One victim reported how Langley would shower with the students and invite some to sleep in his room to ‘avoid bullies’,” a police spokesperson said. “Langley would sexually abuse the victim, then a teenager, repeatedly during these interactions. The second victim reported being sexually abused in a similar way by Langley, including being shown pornographic material by Langley in his room before being abused.” Police said both victims were given specialist support when the offences were disclosed, and a ‘thorough investigation was launched’. In June 2024, Langley – of Clarendon Road in Hove – was charged with four counts of buggery of a boy under 16, four counts of indecent sexual assault and eight counts of indecency with a child, police said. The spokesperson added: “A jury took just two hours of deliberation to find him guilty of all charges at Lewes Crown Court on September 22. At the same court on Friday (October 10), Langley was sentenced to 20 years in prison.” Photo: Sussex Police
8. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in October 2025
On November 5, 2022, just before 4pm, calls to police reported that a man was seen being assaulted and dragged into a car in Chiddingly Close, Whitehawk. Two burglaries were then reported, one in Sheridan Terrace in Hove, and one in Bedford Square, Brighton. It was quickly established that the addresses were linked to the 46-year-old kidnapped man, and police responded to the scenes. An untidy search had taken place at both properties, and forensic officers attended to carry out initial enquiries. Around an hour-and-a-half after the initial kidnap report, a further call was made to police when an injured man was located in North Drive, Brighton. A member of the public had found the man in the street, his clothes ripped and chemically discoloured, with a clear strong smell of bleach. Officers rushed to the usually quiet area and found the man with his hands tied behind his back. He stated he had been kidnapped. The victim received medical treatment, and it was found that he had been doused in bleach. He also had been physically assaulted. As details emerged through useful witness and CCTV enquiries, a rental van was seen nearby during initial reports of the victim being kidnapped. It was established the van had been involved, and the driver was formally identified as Stephen Marsh, 42, of Firle Road, Brighton. Police arrested him in the early hours of November 6, 2022. Through enquiries that followed over the next few months, four further men were linked to the events of November 5, and attempts to locate and arrest them begun. On November 22, 2022, William Westein, 29, of Shanklin Road, Brighton, was arrested. Frankie Whittington, 25, was later arrested on January 13, 2023. Less than a month later on February 4, two further men, Harry Avis, 27, of Swanborough Drive, Whitehawk, and Regan White, 22, of Firle Road, Brighton, were also arrested. An additional 29-year-old man was interviewed in connection with the kidnap, however he was released without charge. Following their arrests, Whittington, Avis and Photo: Sussex Police