Jailed in Essex: 13 criminals put behind bars in September
From perverted sexual offences to stealing more than GBP18,000 from two short-term girlfriends, these people will serve prison sentences. A teenager who sexually assaulted a young girl then messaged a child on social media to say he was going to rape them has been sentenced to time in a young offenders' institution.[1] The defendant, who is 17 and cannot be named because of his age, molested his victim in April 2023 when he was at their address in the Colchester area.
After he admitted inciting a girl under 13 to engage in sexual activity, he was ordered to serve an interim sexual risk order ahead of his sentencing at Ipswich Crown Court on Wednesday. In the two years before he is sentenced, the teenager absconded from his accommodation on several occasions and breached his risk order by messaging a young girl on social media and turning up at her address. The teenager, who was assessed as having a cognitive functioning age of a four-year-old, was jailed for three years.
Nicola May, prosecuting, said the teenager told his victim she would get in trouble if she had been sexually assaulted. The girl later told her mother what had happened and the defendant admitted what he had done to a family member. 
A perverted grandfather, known as "good old Ken" has been jailed, after abusing his victims' trust by placing cameras on his shoes to take hundreds of intimate pictures of women.[2] Kenneth Bischoff, 66, also secretly filmed couples as part of a fetish which involved him keeping a collection of more than 700 images and videos across a period of six years. Ipswich Crown Court heard he was arrested in 2022 when a couple noticed him filming them through their hotel window and reported him to the police, who searched his address and found a device with 37 covert sex videos.
He later admitted one charge of voyeurism and was given a suspended sentence last year, but Bischoff's address was later searched for a second time when officers found more hard drives which laid bare the scale and duration of his offending. A judge sitting at Ipswich Crown Court said an immediate prison term was the only appropriate punishment, and jailed Bischoff for eight months. He added Bischoff, who is a husband, father, and grandfather, received a caution for voyeurism in the early 2000s but began filming people with their permission in 2016 as part of the swingers scene.
As well as an eight-month sentence, Bischoff will serve an indefinite restraining order preventing him from contacting his victims. Bischoff will be a registered sex offender for 10 years. 
A man who stole several high-value items from an elderly woman has been jailed for two years. Kreshnik Aliu, 40, appeared via a video link from HMP Norwich before Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this month, wearing a dark blue jumper. [3] He admitted burglary following an incident on April 29 in Jaywick, when he stole several high-value items from an 86-year-old woman suffering dementia and limited mobility.
The court heard he attended the property on previous occasions and was set to do gardening work, which the victim's daughter was unhappy with, after commenting on the number of items which could be sold. In September 2023, Aliu was sentenced to a 10-month prison sentence for a burglary, the court heard, which had been suspended for two years. Recorder Alun Eynon-Evans sentenced Aliu, of Straight Road, Colchester, to 24 months imprisonment for the burglary, and three months running consecutively for the breach of the suspended sentence order.
He will also have to pay a victim surcharge of GBP228. The Gazette understands a co-defendant in connection with the incident is due to stand trial before Chelmsford Crown Court in July 2026. 
A couple, who fled through Essex, have been jailed for the killing of their new born baby while on the run.[4] Constance Marten and her convicted rapist partner Mark Gordon were hiding when their baby daughter Victoria died in a tent on the South Downs in January 2023. The defendants had fled the authorities to prevent Victoria from being taken into care, as four other siblings had been before, the Old Bailey had heard.
During a lengthy trial, Marten, 38, and Gordon, 51, were found guilty of her manslaughter, child cruelty, concealing the birth of a child and perverting the course of justice. They travelled to Colchester and Harwich, sparking police searches across the county. After seven weeks on the run, the defendants were arrested in Brighton, East Sussex.
While on the run, Victoria was only briefly glimpsed on CCTV footage in London wearing the same teddy bear motif babygrow later recovered with her body inside the Lidl bag. The baby's remains were too badly decomposed to establish the cause of death. Judge Mark Lucraft KC jailed both for 14 years and handed Gordon a further four years on extended licence.
The force of the impact sent their car careering off the road between junctions 16 and 17, leaving Anne and Wendy Tillett trapped inside. Anne Tillett suffered serious injuries and died at Addenbrooke's Hospital three weeks later. He initially denied two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one charge of causing death by dangerous driving, but later changed his plea.
Crowe, of Straight Road, Boxted, was jailed for 11 years for causing death by dangerous driving and will serve two three-year sentences concurrently for causing serious injury by dangerous driving. He will serve a four-year driving ban upon his release from prison. A motorcyclist who was caught undertaking traffic on the A12 led police on a 50-mile chase and hit speeds of 120mph as he desperately tried to evade arrest.[6]
Alan Sangster, 41, was pursued for more than hour by police who called in a helicopter while he made his way onto the M25. He later zoomed through 30mph zones and residential areas before he was finally arrested in Kent, Colchester Magistrates' Court heard on Tuesday. Sangster, who is a father to two children, was sentenced to 24 weeks in jail.
Rebecca Debenham, prosecuting, said officers first tried to stop Sangster on the A12 near Kelvedon because he was driving dangerously and undertaking vehicles at high speeds. Sangster, of Robin Drive, Ipswich, admitted one charge each of dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, and failing to stop when required by police. A member of the probation service said Sangster was told his son was seriously ill and had run out of mental health medication which caused him to think irrationally.
His first offence was an attempted burglary in February this year at a house in Lexden Road, Colchester, where he had tried to enter a house. He had earlier been seen trying the handles of garages in the area and the owner of the house in Lexden Road had been left traumatised after finding Strayton in her garden, the court was told. The second offence was a burglary several days later at a house in Errington Road, Colchester, where Strayton stole cufflinks and sunglasses after forcing his way into the property.
When he was arrested he was found in possession of a hammer and a screwdriver. Strayton, of no fixed address, admitted burglary, attempted burglary and going equipped for theft. 
A 32-year-old man from Colchester has been jailed for three years after defrauding two women he was in short-term relationships with, stealing a total of GBP18,347.65.[8] Kyle Relf-Stables, of no fixed abode, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court where he admitted fraud by false representation during a relationship with a woman between June and August 2024. He fraudulently transferred a total of GBP13,786.65 from her bank account, including while she was asleep, and took out three mobile phone contracts in her name.
The theft included withdrawing money while she was visiting her dying grandmother. Relf-Stables also pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation, theft and harassment in relation to a second victim whom he dated for around six weeks from September to October 2024. During this time, he stole GBP4,561, including unauthorised bank transfers, an iPad, and her engagement ring, which he later pawned.
After the relationship ended, he harassed the woman with over 100 calls in a 24-hour period, used fake social media accounts, and sent sexual messages. A restraining order has been imposed to prevent contact with both victims. Relf-Stables was sentenced to three years in prison.
They were stopped by border force officers on March 20 this year, at North Weald airfield in Epping, Essex, after landing from Belgium via Calais. Officers searched the small plane and discovered a concealment had been built into the rear seats. Inside it were 30 kilogram blocks of cocaine with a street value of about GBP2.4million.
Weir and Balian have been jailed for seven years and nine years respectively. A man who kept revolting computer-generated images of child abuse later said he wanted to be caught so he could get arrested.[10] Kai Schadek, 27, was convicted in 2021 for possessing indecent images of children[11] and was arrested again last year after the National Crime Agency found he had uploaded 121 illegal images to his Google Drive account.
One of the files was an AI-generated video which showed a child being sexually abused, Ipswich Crown Court heard on Wednesday. Schadek, who said he relapsed because of depression caused by his mother's terminal illness, was given a suspended sentence. Olivia Rawlings, prosecuting, said Essex Police attended Schadek's address in October 2024 when they seized a number of devices including a computer, virtual reality headset, and an iPhone.
A search found there were 482 images and videos, some of which depicted victims as young as six months old. Schadek, of Villa Road, Stanway, admitted two charges of making an indecent photo of a child and one charge of breaching a sexual harm prevention order. Schadek was jailed for one year, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of a rehabilitation programme.
He will also be subject to notification requirements for sex offenders for another ten years. 
Daniel Sands, 23, was out in Colchester city centre last year when his friend got involved in a fight with another man on a night out. The two then spotted the man on the high street later that evening and attacked him, with Sands using a glass bottle to hit the man over the head, Colchester Magistrates' Court heard. The man suffered serious injuries which required treatment from professionals in an SOS bus, a facility which provides medical support to people in the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights.
Sands, of Maple Leaf, Tiptree, admitted one charge of actual bodily harm.
He was jailed for 24 weeks, suspended for 18 months, and ordered him to pay GBP500 in compensation to his victim.
He was also ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work in the next 18 months and complete 26 sessions as part of an accredited programme.
References
- ^ A teenager who sexually assaulted a young girl then messaged a child on social media to say he was going to rape them has been sentenced to time in a young offenders' institution. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A perverted grandfather, known as "good old Ken" has been jailed, after abusing his victims' trust by placing cameras on his shoes to take hundreds of intimate pictures of women. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ Kreshnik Aliu, 40, appeared via a video link from HMP Norwich before Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this month, wearing a dark blue jumper. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A couple, who fled through Essex, have been jailed for the killing of their new born baby while on the run. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A van driver who caused fatal injuries to a woman on her 83rd birthday had been watching YouTube music videos on his phone in the minutes before causing the crash. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A motorcyclist who was caught undertaking traffic on the A12 led police on a 50-mile chase and hit speeds of 120mph as he desperately tried to evade arrest. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A homeless man who broke into a house in Colchester and attempted to enter another one has been jailed for 25 months. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A 32-year-old man from Colchester has been jailed for three years after defrauding two women he was in short-term relationships with, stealing a total of GBP18,347.65. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A qualified pilot who used his light aircraft in a bid to smuggle cocaine into the UK has been jailed for nine years. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A man who kept revolting computer-generated images of child abuse later said he wanted to be caught so he could get arrested. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ was convicted in 2021 for possessing indecent images of children (www.gazette-news.co.uk)
- ^ A father-to-be who smashed his victim over the head with a glass bottle and then punched him repeatedly as he lay writhing on the pavement left the man fearing he would lose his sight in one eye. (www.gazette-news.co.uk)