Ringleader of the destructive Houghton rave sentenced

Thomas Locke, 25 from Grayshott in Surrey pleaded guilty at Chichester Crown Court on Tuesday (Dcember 4) to causing a public nuisance and has been sentenced a 12 month community order and is required to complete 180 hours unpaid work.

The judge ordered Locke to pay £200 compensation to the farmer, £100 to the owner of Whiteways Lodge café and £200 to The Forestry Commission.

He was also ordered to pay £200 in court costs.

Devastation

The illegal rave took place across the Easter bank holiday weekend, in April.

At the time police officers arrived the rave was already in full swing and due to the huge scale – with an estimated crowd of around 3,000 people taking part – and the remote location, police were unable to effectively close it down.

However, the force’s helicopter was able to capture images which would later provide key evidence to the investigation.

The rave caused significance disruption for the local community with excessive and intrusive noise throughout the night and the following day.

Cars and gas canisters were set alight during the rave. Fences, paths, bushes and trees were also damaged.

Witnesses surveying the aftermath of the rave also claimed to identify paraphernalia connected with drug use.

Investigation

PC Bernadette Lawrie of Littlehampton’s neighbourhood policing team took charge of the criminal investigation which led to identifying Locke as the person responsible for the hire of a lorry used to house the sound equipment played at the rave.

In July a search warrant was executed at his home address where police recovered sound equipment and paperwork relating to the hire of the lorry.

While at the address detectives also discovered a cannabis factory which Locke admitted to setting up. He was subsequently convicted for the production of cannabis.

Further evidence was obtained from more than 15 witnesses who had been directly affected by the rave in some way and an effective case was prepared against Locke for causing a public nuisance.

Verdict ‘delight’

Following Tuesday’s verdict, PC Lawrie said: “I was delighted to see that both the Crown Prosecution Service and the court recognised the impact an event like this has on the local community and this was reflected in the sentence Locke received.

“This was an unusual case as despite being unable to make any arrests at the time of the event, a successful prosecution was as a result of a thorough investigation.

“I am hopeful that this sends a clear message to anyone thinking of organising an illegal rave in Sussex, that it won’t be tolerated and they can expect to be prosecuted. I was also pleased to see the Judge award significant compensation to those who suffered the most financially.”