These are some of the most serious, high profile and prolific offenders who were jailed in the ninth month of 2024.
All information comes directly from Sussex Police.
9. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in September 2024
A woman who stabbed a man and poured bleach over him has been sentenced. Marlena Meczynska-Shiibashi, 38, grievously assaulted the victim, who was known to her, at her home in Hastings. She was angry with him and went to the kitchen and then the bathroom to fetch a knife and bleach. Then she stabbed him while he tried to sleep. She told officers arriving at the scene: “I didn’t just stab him in the leg you know, I poured bleach in his eyes.” The victim said he continues to have flashbacks of the incident, which has left him with anxiety and depression. At Lewes Crown Court on September 13, Meczynska-Shiibashi was sentenced after she admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The court rejected her basis of plea in which she had made claims about the behaviour of the victim. Following a thorough investigation by the Safeguarding Investigation Unit, no evidence was found. The court was told about how the incident happened on March 4, 2023, at an address in Hastings. The victim was attempting to sleep when Meczynska-Shiibashi assaulted him with the knife. Meczynska-Shiibashi, formerly of Mount Pleasant Road, Hastings, was jailed for seven years. She was judged to be a dangerous offender who poses a risk of causing further serious offences, so the court imposed an extended sentence. This means she must serve a minimum of two-thirds of her sentence before she can be considered for parole, and she will remain on licence for an additional four years after her sentence finishes. Photo: Sussex Police
10. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in September 2024
A Hastings man has been jailed for setting two properties on fire in East Sussex. Alex Reynolds was sentenced to a total of nine years and three months’ imprisonment when he appeared before Lewes Crown Court on September 13 for his involvement in two fires. Police were called to a report of a property which had been set on fire in St Marks Close, Bexhill shortly before 10pm on November 13, 2023. This caused significant damage to the property. Reynolds was arrested and released under investigation. On March 19, officers received a call that a property in Theaklen Drive, St Leonards was on fire. It was deemed suspicious, and Reynolds was located near the property and was arrested. After an investigation which proved Reynolds was at the address in Bexhill at the time of the arson, he was charged with arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered. He pleaded guilty on May 17 at Lewes Crown Court. DNA was found at the property in St Leonards and he was then charged with arson. He pleaded guilty on July 17 at Brighton Magistrates’ Court. The judge sentenced Reynolds, 27, of Edmund Road, Hastings to six years and three months’ imprisonment. At sentencing, the judge determined that Reynolds should be subject to a three-year extended sentence. This is used when an offender is deemed to be dangerous that an extended licence period is required to protect the public from risk of serious harm. It was extended to nine years and three months. Photo: Sussex Police
11. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in September 2024
A Bedford man who groomed a teenage boy on Snapchat and drove to Worthing to rape him has been jailed. Thomas Crabtree, 35, of Sundew Close in Bedford, was sentenced to serve ten years in prison, followed by six years on licence, when he appeared at Lewes Crown Court on September 12. He will also be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life. Crabtree contacted the boy on Snapchat, using the name Will, and repeatedly sent him sexually explicit images. He arranged to meet his victim in Worthing on April 3. He picked him up in his car, drove him to a remote area near Goring Gap in Worthing and raped him. Crabtree then drove the boy around in his car in silence, before dropping him off in Worthing and returning to Bedford. The victim was subjected to an ordeal lasting several hours. Snapchat data showed Crabtree blocked the victim and deleted all the messages between them, before attempting to make contact again the following month. The victim reported to police and he and his family were given specialist support that continued throughout the court process. Crabtree was identified through the Snapchat account and arrested. He was subsequently charged with two charges of rape; assault by penetration; causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity; sexual communication with a child; causing a child to watch a sexual act; meeting a child following sexual grooming; and abducting a child. He pleaded guilty to all counts and was remanded in custody when he appeared at Hove Crown Court on July 10. Photo: Sussex Police
12. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in September 2024
A man who sexually abused two young girls has been sentenced. Jack Nepean sexually assaulted a young girl in Crawley. An investigation in Devon also revealed how he had also abused a young girl there. Nepean, aged 30, was jailed for a total of 12 years when he appeared for sentencing at Hove Crown Court on September 11. He was told he would have to serve a minimum of two thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for parole. The court also imposed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order to restrict his future access to children and devices. Sussex Police investigated Nepean, who admitted sexual assault be penetration of a girl under 13 In Crawley, sexual assault by touching of a girl under the age of 13 in Crawley, making indecent images of a child in Sussex. The offences were disclosed to police in early January 2023. Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police identified further offences linked on Nepean’s mobile phone and investigated further sexual offences committed by Nepean. He admitted sexual assault committed on a five-year-old girl, making indecent images of the child, three counts of voyeurism, and three counts of possessing indecent images of children in category A, B and C. Nepean, formerly of an address in Devon, has now started his prison sentence. Photo: Sussex Police