Jailed in 2023: Dorset criminals put behind bars this year
Here are some of the criminals put through the courts and jailed for offences committed in Dorset. Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai, 21 and of Hill Street, Poole (Image: Dorset Police)
Lawangeen Abdulrahimzai received a life sentence for the murder of 21-year-old Tom Roberts in Bournemouth. Abdulrahimzai fatally stabbed Mr Roberts outside Subway in Old Christchurch Road. An altercation had broke out between Mr Roberts friend and the defendant over an e-scooter, and Mr Roberts had stepped between the two men as a “peacemaker”.
Mr Roberts “open-palm” slapped the defendant, which the judge said could not be viewed by the defendant as a significant threat. Abdulrahimzai responded by pulling a knife from his waistband before stabbing Mr Roberts and fleeing the scene. The defendant, 21 and of Hill Street, Poole[1], was found guilty of murder following an 11-day trial at Salisbury Crown Court.
He was given a life sentence in January, and was told he would spend at least 29 years behind bars. Dale Clarke Dale Clark, 38 and of York Avenue, New Milton. (Image: Dorset Police)
Dale Clarke left a mother with life-changing injuries after a hit and run crash in Bournemouth. Clarke was behind the wheel when he hit a woman pushing a pram at a pelican crossing near Redhill park. The 36-year-old mum of three spent two months in a coma after the crash as a result of her near fatal head injuries.
She had ‘miraculously’ managed to push her 11-month-old daughter out of the path of the car. The defendant ‘panicked’ and fled the scene. He was arrested later that afternoon.
Dale, 38 and of York Avenue, New Milton, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court in October, having pleaded guilty to causing serious injuries, failing to stop, and drink[2] driving. He was jailed for three years and eight months, and was banned from driving for six years after release. Ravi Canhye
Pc Ravi Canhye of Dorset Police (Image: Ben Birchall/PA Wire) Serving Dorset Police officer Ravi Canhye was found guilty of raping a friend and sexually assaulting another. Canhye was convicted of two charges of rape, one count of attempted rape, three charges of assault of penetration and sexual assault against her and against the second woman.
It followed an eight day trial at Winchester Crown Court[3]. The court heard how Canhye had a drinking problem, a had become a ‘completely different person’ at the time of the attack. The defendant, 47 and of Poole, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court in October.
He was jailed for 16-and-a-half years. Stanimir Stefanov Stanimir Stefanov, 24 and of Churchill Road, Poole (Image: Dorset Police)
Stanimir Stefanov’s driving in Bournemouth left a pedestrian in hospital with life-threatening injuries. Stefanov drove up the wrong side of Exeter Crescent before crashing into two pedestrians who were crossing at the junction with Exeter Road. One of the pedestrians was knocked in front of the vehicle before being dragged along the ground.
The 23-year-old was rushed to hospital and required a ventilator after suffering five separate spinal fractures as well as fractured ribs and other injuries. Stefanov, who was described as being ‘impaired by laughing gas’, then left the scene. The defendant, 24 and of Churchill Road, Poole, was sentenced by Bournemouth Crown Court in July having pleaded guilty to causing serious injuries by dangerous driving.
He was jailed for two years and eight months and disqualified from driving for four years and four months. Craig White and Kelly Smith Craig White, 41, and Kelly Smith, 42, both of Birch Drive in Bournemouth. (Image: Dorset Police)
Kelly Sue Smith and Craig White kidnapped a vulnerable homeless woman by attacking and bundling her into a car. They then kept her at their home in Bournemouth for four days, and would not let her use her mobile phone without supervision. A court heard how the victim owed the couple money from a previous stay at their home.
It was said Smith and White told the victim she could not leave until a debt of around GBP200 was paid. After four days, White took the victim with him to “score drugs” at Castlepoint and she was able to escape shortly after arriving. White, 41, and Smith, 42, both of Birch Drive in Bournemouth, were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in July.
They were jailed for five years each. Kyle Fidler Kyle Fidler, 28 and of Bournemouth (Image: Dorset Police)
Kyle Fidler bit a man’s nose off during a fight outside a Bournemouth bar. Fidler and the victim met at a bar in Holdenhurst Road, before getting involved in a fight outside. During the incident, the victim was punched in the face multiple times and had his nose bitten off.
He had to be taken to hospital for treatment to severe facial injuries. Fidler, 28 and of Bournemouth, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing in December having pleaded guilty to wounding with intent. He was jailed for nine years.
Holly Davies Holly Ann Davies, 36 and of Milton Road in Blandford Forum (Image: Dorset Police) Holly Ann Davies crashed into a cyclist before driving off and ‘leaving him for dead’.
Davies then refused to admit she had knowingly crashed into Dr Jonathan Bickford on the A354 at Blandford, giving a “cock and bull story” to police about damage to her Mercedes. She was also over the legal drink drive limit during the crash – which doctors say would have killed the GP had he not been wearing a helmet. The defendant then pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving, and was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in August.
Davies, 36 and of Milton Road in Blandford Forum, was jailed for 14 months and disqualified from driving for 37 months. Suleyman Azami, Michael Connors, Zakaria Warsame and Cheryl Watts Suleyman Azami, 23, Michael Connors, 34, Zakaria Warsame, 29, and Cheryl Watts, 38 (Image: Dorset Police)
Suleyman Azami, Michael Connors, Zakaria Warsame and Cheryl Watts were involved in a drugs supply chain of heroin and crack cocaine running between Bournemouth and London. Police had raided homes in the Harrow area of London seizing cash and mobile phones. Officers were then able to link them to a drug network in the Bournemouth area.
The four were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in September having pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. Azai and Warsame also pleaded guilty to possessing criminal property. Warsame was jailed for six years and two months, Azami for five years and six months, meanwhile, Connors and Watts were both jailed for three years.
Lukasz Dawidkiewicz Lukasz Dawidkiewicz, 41 and of St Swithun’s Road in Bournemouth. (Image: Newsquest/ Dorset Police) Lukasz Dawidkiewicz killed four pets after torching his ex-wife’s home out of “resentment”.
Dawidkiewicz left his former wife and their children homeless after he got drunk and set fire to her first-floor flat in Poole leaving “a scene of absolute devastation”. The fire ripped through the flat, above a bookies in Alder Road, resulting in GBP100,000 worth of damage. Two cats and two guinea pigs perished in the fire – while one cat was able to escape.
Dawidkiewicz, 41 and of St Swithun’s Road in Bournemouth, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing in April, having pleaded guilty to reckless arson and causing unnecessary suffering to the animals. The defendant was sentenced to six years and six months in prison. Noah Eckett-Graves
Noah Eckett-Graves, 26 and of Bournemouth (Image: Dorset Police) Noah Eckett-Graves was caught arranging to meet up with young children to engage in sexual activity. Dorset Police received information that the defendant had been engaged in online conversations with an undercover police operative who was pretending to be the mother of two young children.
Following a series of conversations, Eckett-Graves made arrangements to travel by train to Pontypridd in Wales on August 22 with the intention of meeting up with the children to engage in sexual activity. Officers arrested the defendant after he boarded the train in Bournemouth. Eckett-Graves, 26 and of Bournemouth, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in December after admitting two charges of arranging or facilitating a child sexual offence.
He was jailed for eight years. Morgan Smith Morgan Smith, 21 and of Northampton. (Image: CPS)
A boat skipper was jailed after a man was killed in a boat crash in Poole Harbour. The rigid hull inflatable boat (RIB), named Fargo, was travelling at up to three times the speed limit when it struck a large metal navigation buoy. Passenger David Haw, 24, was thrown overboard and could not be located.
His body was eventually recovered in the water at Poole Harbour 12 days later. Boat skipper Morgan Smith, who was 19 at the time, had been drinking alcohol prior to the collision. He was also using his mobile phone to assist with the boat’s navigation, and was not qualified or trained to conduct such a navigation at night.
The defendant, 21 and of Northampton, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court in November, having pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter. He was jailed for three years. Adam Matthew Weeks
Adam Matthew Weeks, 25 and of Christchurch. (Image: Dorset Police) Adam Weeks was jailed after admitting to sexually abusing children under the age of 13. Weeks was first sentenced at Manchester Crown Court in May 2022 for indecent image offences and was given a 16-month jail term, suspended for two years, and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).
Two months later, Weeks attended an appointment with his probation officer and offender manager in Bournemouth and handed his phone over for examination – part of the requirement of his SHPO. On his phone, they found a significant number of indecent images of young children as well as photographs and videos of the defendant sexually abusing a young child. Weeks was arrested and officers from Dorset Police carried out searches of his home, seizing a number of digital devices.
Examination of these devices uncovered further indecent images as well as evidence of online communication with a child aged around nine from America. The chat history showed the defendant encouraging the child to engage in sexual activity on camera in exchange for money. The defendant, 25 and of Christchurch[4], was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court in February.
He had pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault of a child under 13, four offences of taking indecent images of a child, six charges of making indecent photographs of a child and two counts of causing of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison and will also serve an extended licence period of a further four years.