Cambs criminals jailed this week including a man who bit a police officer’s hand
Criminals jailed in Cambridgeshire this week included several drug dealers, one of whom stuffed a stash worth £7k in a tissue box and another who was caught by police through the use of stingers on his car. There were also several shoplifters jailed this week including a man who breached an order not to enter an area of Cambridge.
One criminal imprisoned this week threw a washing machine and other contents of a flat at police officers outside and locked himself inside the flat for four hours. Another man was a disqualified driver who killed a motorcyclist in a crash – before fleeing the scene.
All criminals imprisoned this week received sentences from 28 weeks to eight years and three months in prison. CambridgeshireLive[1] has put together a list of all the cases we’ve reported on this week that have seen defendants locked up from Saturday, September 10 to Friday, September 15.
Robber shouted ‘it’s knife time’ before being punched
Robber Luke Rox (Image: Cambridgeshire Police)
“Would-be robber Luke Rox sprayed a couple with an unknown substance and told them ‘it’s knife time’ – before being punched in the face by one of his victims. The 30-year-old targeted the pair on High Street, St Neots, while they were returning from a night out at around 2am.
After spraying them with the substance, the hapless crook demanded their property before reaching into his waistband. At that point the male victim hit him, causing his nose to bleed over his coat.
Rox, of Florida Avenue, Hartford, was arrested and pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, assault causing actually bodily harm, criminal damage and theft. On Thursday, September 14, he was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court to four years and seven months in prison.
Drug dealer was stopped with stingers
Police raided the home of Ethan De Pasquale (Image: Cambs Constabulary)
Police raided a Ramsey drug dealer’s home and used a stinger to slow his vehicle. Huntingdonshire Neighbourhood Team officers carried out a warrant at the home of Ethan De Pasquale in Old Station Road, on May 23 last year.
They had suspected he was dealing drugs. In his bedroom and vehicle they found cannabis worth more than £1,000, a knife and mobile phones with messages linking him to dealing class A and B drugs. The 19-year-old was arrested again on October 24 last year after the vehicle he was in failed to stop between Huntingdon[3] and Warboys. Officers used a stinger to slow the vehicle down and then caught up with him with another mobile phone containing messages concerning drug dealing.
At Peterborough[4] Crown Court on Wednesday (September 13), De Pasquale was sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for two years. He must also carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
Cambs man banned from several McDonalds
Samuel Green (Image: Cambridgeshire Police)
A shoplifter who breached an order not to enter an area of Cambridge has been jailed. Samuel Green, 27, of Victoria Road, Cambridge, was handed a Criminal Behaviour Order in November 2021.
The order states he must not be on or within the boundaries of Queens Road, Chesterton Road, Gonville Place and Fen Causeway. He is also banned from entering any Marks and Spencer, John Lewis or McDonalds near the M11, A14[6] and A11. It also prevents him from acting in an anti-social or disorderly manner that causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people. This applies to within the boundaries of the M11, A14 and A11.
On August 21, he breached the order by going into Sainsbury’s in Sydney Street and stealing a bottle of whiskey. He was then found and arrested in Market Street which also falls within his banned area. Green pleaded guilty to shoplifting and two counts of breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on September 7. He was sentenced to 28 weeks in prison.
Thief stole from 89-year-old woman
Darrel Gowler (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)
A thief has been locked up for stealing from an 89-year-old after he offered to clean the gutters around her home. Darrel Gowler stole more than £100 from his elderly victim. Gowler knocked on the woman’s door out of the blue and offered to clean her gutters. She initially refused but he persuaded her to let him carry out the work for £40.
Whilst he was working on the gutters, Gowler repeatedly entered the house to use the toilet and at one point asked for a cup of tea. But the next day the victim called the police having realised that Gowler had stolen £120 from her purse.
He appeared at Peterborough[8] Crown Court today (Thursday, September 14) where he was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He had previously pleaded guilty to theft.
Thief banned from going into shops with rucksack
Sonny Matthews has been jailed (Image: Cambs Constabulary)
A Cambridge thief who was previously banned from going into shops with his rucksack has been jailed. Bike and shop thief Sonny Matthews, 33, of no fixed address, was arrested in Cambridge on Thursday, September 7, for a string of offences including shop theft, bike theft and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO).
The offences saw him steal goods including wine, whiskey, vodka and scratch cards between August 29 and 7 from September shops including the Co-op and Tesco[10]. At Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday, September 8, Matthews, pleaded guilty to five counts of shoplifting, six breaches of a CBO and a bike theft which took place on 9 February. He was sentenced to a year in prison.
Cambs man bit police officer’s hand
A man who racially abused and assaulted four police officers and a paramedic has been jailed. On Tuesday (September 5), officers from Peterborough’s city centre Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) were on patrol in the Cathedral Square area, when they came across Charlie Spurrier who was causing a nuisance.
He was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. While transporting him to custody, officers had to pull the van over in Bourges Boulevard due to Spurrier falling unconscious and requiring immediate medical assistance. First aid was promptly administered and he came around. While receiving first aid from the officers, Spurrier kicked out at an officer, caught him in the chest, and spat in the face of another.
An ambulance was called, in which Spurrier, 22, continued his abuse of the officers. He shouted racial abuse at one before he bit the officer’s hand and later spat at him. Spurrier, of no fixed address, appeared at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday (September 8) and was sentenced to a total of 33 weeks in prison.
Man threw a sofa out of a window at police
Safin Mustafa threw furniture out of a window at police (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)
A man who threw a washing machine and other contents of a flat at police officers has been jailed. On June 8 this year, Safin Mustafa entered Boroughbury Medical Centre in Craig Street, Peterborough[13] city centre, demanding to be seen by a specific doctor.
After being turned away and advised no appointments were available, the 30-year-old ripped a fire extinguisher from the wall and used it to bang against the door of an appointment room whilst shouting abuse at the doctor inside. He left the location but returned a short while later and repeatedly kicked an electric door, derailing it.
Police were called and located Mustafa at an address in Lincoln Road, Millfield, where they tried to engage with him. He stated he had a knife and threatened to harm himself if anyone entered the property. Mustafa barricaded himself inside for four hours. He set small fires and threw the contents of the flat – including a sofa, washing machine, fridge, freezer and food – out of the window at officers and other emergency services staff below.
He proceeded to destroy all the fixtures, fittings, and furniture inside the flat while threatening to harm officers. A decision was made to force entry, resulting in Mustafa’s arrest. Mustafa, of Outfield, Bretton, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday (September 7), where he was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Shoplifter stole from three different co-ops
Sujen Ali (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)
A shoplifter who brought “misery” to staff at Co-op stores in Cambridge has been jailed. Sujen Ali stole more than £800 worth of goods including prawns and coffee from the shops.
Ali, 41, carried out eight thefts between July 1 and September 1 at Co-ops in Adkins Corner, Hills Road and Perne Road. Among the stolen items were £250 in sweets, chicken, prawns, salmon and coffee. On August 30 he also broke into a vehicle in High Street, Cherry Hinton, and stole a pair of sunglasses worth £200.
At Peterborough[15] Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, September 6, he was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison after pleading guilty to eight counts of theft, theft from a motor vehicle and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order.
Disqualified driver killed motorcyclist
Luke Davidson (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)
Disqualified driver Luke Davidson killed a motorcyclist in a crash – before fleeing the scene. The 20-year-old was turning right out of the Esso petrol station on the A1421 at Witcham Toll, near Ely[17].
He drove his black Chrysler 300 in front of a red Suzuki GSX 1400 motorcycle which was being driven towards Sutton by Ian Parnell before the crash. Mr Parnell, of Isle Bridge Road, Outwell, Norfolk, was pronounced dead at the scene following the crash, which took place at around 5.15pm on May 20.
Davidson got out of his car and saw the 57-year-old motorcyclist on the ground before fleeing from the scene. However, he was identified on the petrol station’s CCTV and called police just over an hour later to say he was responsible for the crash. He was sentenced to four years in prison. He was also banned from driving for eight years.
Drug dealer hid £7k stash in tissue box
Olusegun Babalola (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)
A county lines drug dealer who hid a stash worth more than £7,000 in a box of tissues has been jailed for more than eight years. Olusegun Babalola, 26, was arrested on 19 May after police raided his home in Whitsed Street, Eastfield, as part of an operation into drug dealing and exploitation in Peterborough.
Following months of intelligence gathering, police evidenced Babalola had been involved in supplying crack cocaine and heroin in the city as part of a ‘county lines’ operation. The morning police raided his home, officers found more than £7,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine wraps hidden within a tissue box on the kitchen worktop.
He appeared at Peterborough Crown Court Friday (September 15) where he was sentenced to eight years and three months in prison.
Man banned from hospital and businesses
Ricky Homer (Image: Cambridgeshire Constabulary)
A man has been banned from entering a hospital and businesses across Huntingdonshire. Ricky Homer, 36, of Ermine Street, Huntingdon, was handed the five-year Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court today (14 September).
The CBO follows his last visit to Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on 23 August where he was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison for a string of offences including assaulting emergency workers, theft, fraud by false representation and vehicle interference.
Man stole wallet from construction site
A man who stole a wallet from a construction site in Godmanchester has been sent to prison. Luke McAllister of Crouch Gardens, Buntingford, was working on a separate building site, on the A1198, on 10 November last year, when he trespassed on to the plot, went into a drying room and took a wallet containing a bank card and a black charging unit.
The 35-year-old then walked over to the nearby petrol station on Cardinal Way and attempted to purchase a packet of cigarettes but the card was declined twice. Meanwhile, the victim received a notification on his mobile phone of the failed transactions and went to the garage to investigate.
McAllister ran away when police arrived, climbed a fence and then attempted to hide in some brambles. He was found in possession of the charging unit and arrested. At Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday (6 September), McAllister was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to burglary, fraud by false representation and obstruct a constable.
References
- ^ CambridgeshireLive (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Huntingdon (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Peterborough (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ A14 (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Peterborough (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Tesco (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Peterborough (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Peterborough (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ Ely (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambs.police.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambs.police.uk)
- ^ here (www.cambs.police.uk)