As we are now at the end of May, here at SussexLive we are taking a look back at some of the Sussex criminals that have been sentenced this month. Over the course of May, a number of dangerous criminals have been issued sentences, including a Lancing grandson who killed his grandma in the bath.
Other notable cases this month include a rapist who targeted a woman in Brighton and a drink-driver who crashed into a tree, resulting in the death of his passenger. The passenger was just 24-years-old.
The jail terms given this month come as a result of the hard work of Sussex Police investigators and the Crown Prosecution Service in securing convictions. Many cases also heavily relied on the bravery of victims and their evidence.
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Man who broke into pharmacies and stole ‘large quantities of prescription drugs’
A 30-year-old man has been sentenced to 23 months in prison after breaking into a number of pharmacies and stealing “large quantities of prescription drugs” in Crawley. David Pritchard, 30, of no fixed address, had burgled these pharmacies over a number of different dates.
Pritchard was identified as the suspect for each incident, and arrested and charged with multiple counts of burglary, as well as breaching a suspended sentence order. He pleaded guilty to all offences and appeared before Lewes Crown Court (May 12) where he was sentenced.
A vicar found with more than 20,000 indecent images of children on his computer
A Worthing vicar was sentenced this month (May 25) to four years in prison and had to pay £4,200 in fines after being found guilty of eight offences, including three counts of possessing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images of children, possessing prohibited images of children and possessing extreme pornographic images portraying acts of intercourse with animals, namely dogs and horses.
David Renshaw, 63, of Wallace Avenue in Worthing, came to the attention of authorities in June 2019 after an illegal image was identified on a file sharing website in New Zealand. The account was attributed to Renshaw via his email address and IP address, so officials alerted the National Crime Agency, who in turn alerted Sussex Police.
Police seized a number of devices after obtaining and executing a search warrant at his address in August 2020. A total of 22,504 illegal images were discovered. The RSPCA also seized a number of dogs, cats and chickens that were found in a severely malnourished state, with a dead rotting kitten also found inside the property.
A drink-driver who crashed into a tree which resulted in the death of his passenger
A 22-year-old drink driver has been sentenced to five years and one month in prison after crashing his car into a tree on the A2037 between Henfield and Small Dole in early hours of May 29, 2021. Marcus Phillips, a landscape gardener of Mannings Heath near Horsham, was found to have been driving over the alcohol limit, with the crash resulting in the death of his 24-year-old passenger.
Phillips was also uninsured at the time and had left the scene after the crash. He has been ordered to serve half of this sentence in custody and the remainder will be spent on licence subject to conditions.
A Chichester man who raped two vulnerable woman
A man from Chichester has been sentenced to 21 years after raping two women. Ion Gheorghe Tanasie, 40, of Pound Farm Road, Chichester, was convicted of 10 offences in the town after a jury reached its verdict at Portsmouth Crown Court earlier this year.
It was found that Tanasie had raped one woman within the grounds of a church last year, and had raped another woman a few months later in The Hornet. After enquiries and CCTV checks, Tanasie was identified as the suspect.
Within days he was located and arrested, and charged with the following offences for the first incident: rape, sexual assault, and two counts of assault by penetration. He was also charged with the following offences for the second incident: rape, attempted rape, assault by penetration, causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and two counts of sexual assault.
He denied the offences and the case went for trial, where he was found guilty by jury of all 10 charges against him. He was remanded in custody and appeared before Salisbury Crown Court on Wednesday May 17, where he was sentenced to 21 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by six years on licence.
A prolific Horsham shoplifter who repeatedly breached his Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO)
A Horsham shoplifted was jailed for four months are having breached his CBO and committing numerous other offences. Samuel Bartlett, 43, of Bishopric, Horsham, was arrested by police on May 1, and charged with three counts of breach of his CBO and four counts of shoplifting, which he pleaded guilty to the next day at Crawley Magistrates’ Court.
A man who raped a woman on Brighton beach
Przemyslaw Pogorzzelec, 43, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 12 years in jail and an extended licence period of three years after he forced himself upon a woman and raped her. The incident happened in the early hours on Brighton Beach, but was seen by witnesses.
Beach Patrol and security came to the aid of the victim and she told them she had not consented. Pogorzzelec was then detained and arrested by officers. It was heard in court that Pogorzzelec had also taken intimate photographs of the victim on his mobile phone.
He denied the offence but he was convicted by the jury after a trial in January.
Lancing man who stabbed his grandma to death
A Lancing man who admitted manslaughter was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after killing his grandma in her Brighton home. Pietro Addis, 20, of Ring Road, was convicted of manslaughter following the death of Sue Addis, 69, who was found dead at her home in Cedars Gardens, Brighton, on Thursday, January 7 2021.
He was acquitted of murder by a jury at Lewes Crown Court on Friday, March 3, on the grounds of diminished responsibility. At Lewes Crown Court on May 5, Addis was sentenced to 15 years, with ten to be spent in custody and a further five on extended licence.
It was heard in court that Addis had stabbed his grandma to death in the bath. He then called the police to tell them of the incident.
East Grinstead man who engaged in sexual activity with a teenage girl
William Hobden, 29, was sentenced to seven years in prison after engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl. It was heard in court how he forced himself upon the girl and later sent her warning messages on her mobile phone.
Hobden, a road worker formerly of Queens Road, East Grinstead, denied the charges and stood trial at Lewes Crown Court in February this year where he was found guilty of one count of engaging in sexual activity contrary to the Sexual Offences Act in August 2020. He was sentenced to a total of seven years in prison and the court also imposed a restraining order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Four men involved in a reported shooting in St Leonards have been sentenced
Jackson-Lee Scriven, 23, Cornel Florea, 21, Hayden Inglis, 29, and Robert Murphy, 34, have all been sentenced after having approached a vehicle outside a gym in Theaklen Drive, St Leonards. During the incident, witnesses saw and heard shots being fired at the vehicle, and saw a knife in the hand of one of the men surrounding the vehicle which belonged to a victim who is not known to the men.
The shots had been fired from an imitation firearm. Police responded rapidly to the incident at 7.10pm on January 24, with armed response officers attending the area. They made four arrests, and those men – who were not all from Sussex – were charged and admitted the charges in court.
Scriven, a sales director of Windmill Road, Gillingham, was charged with affray and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and was sentenced to five years and two months in custody. Florea, 21, unemployed of Cambria Crescent, Gravesend, was charged with affray and possession of a bladed article and was sentenced to 20 months in custody.
Inglis, unemployed of Wood Mews, Tunbridge Wells, was charged with affray and possession of a bladed article and sentenced to 22 months in custody. Murphy, unemployed of Bristol Road, St Leonards, was charged with affray and given a 20-month suspended sentence, as well as being required to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
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