Canterbury Crown Court Sentencing Results

On the evening of Friday 3 April 2026, Hogr Saeed became aggressive on a Southeastern train bound for Dover Priory, shouting threats at passengers and railway staff. He produced a cut-throat razor and threatened to kill people on board. Staff moved passengers to another carriage. Police were waiting at Dover Priory and arrested him; officers recovered a cut-throat razor and a pair of scissors. He also threatened officers while being detained. He later pleaded guilty to charges including threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon, affray and criminal damage.

Md Ali Hossain, 43, worked as a taxi driver for a criminal network that moved people, mostly in the UK illegally, from London into Kent to meet HGVs for illegal transport to France. He denied the charges but was convicted of facilitating illegal immigration after a three-week trial.

Suhel Ahmed, 26, was involved in a people-smuggling network that charged migrants around £1,400 each to be moved from London into Kent by minicab and then illegally transported to France in lorries to avoid border and immigration checks. He collected money from those travelling and arranged payments to taxi drivers. He denied the charge but was convicted of facilitating illegal immigration after a trial.

Syed Ahmed, 40, was a taxi driver involved in transporting migrants from London to Kent as part of a network attempting to smuggle them into France in lorries to evade border controls. He denied the charge but was convicted of facilitating illegal immigration after a trial.

Abdul Gunes travelled to an address near Cheriton High Street in Folkestone on 4 April 2025 to confront a man with whom he had an ongoing dispute. He and his son approached the property and knocked on the front door. When the victim answered and stepped outside, Gunes verbally abused him and stabbed him in the chest with a knife. The victim was later taken to a London hospital for treatment for the stab wound and other serious upper-body injuries.

Necdet Gunes drove separately to an address near Cheriton High Street in Folkestone on 4 April 2025 and later drove a silver BMW onto the pavement, pinning the victim against a wall after the victim had been stabbed. He then drove away, leaving the injured man on the ground. A passing delivery driver witnessed the incident and provided police with the BMW's registration number.

Baltazar was one of two masked men who arrived on a moped at a football match on Littlebourne Road, Canterbury on Sunday, April 5. He and the other defendant confronted people attending the match and assaulted two men before leaving and returning armed with weapons. Baltazar was armed with a machete-style blade, while the other man produced a small knife. One man from the earlier confrontation was stabbed as he attempted to get away and required hospital treatment for serious injuries. The victims and attackers had not previously known one another. Baltazar was arrested at his home the following week.

Bayley was one of two masked men who arrived on a moped at a football match on Littlebourne Road, Canterbury on Sunday, April 5. He and the other defendant confronted people attending the match and assaulted two men before leaving and returning armed with weapons. Bayley produced a small knife, while the other man was armed with a machete-style blade. One man from the earlier confrontation was stabbed as he attempted to get away and required hospital treatment for serious injuries. The victims and attackers had not previously known one another. Bayley handed himself in at Canterbury police station the following day.

Leon Everitt was jailed for six months at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to careless driving and causing actual bodily harm. The court heard the ABH was a domestic-related incident. He had been on remand and was released soon after the sentence.

In the early hours of August 18, 2020, in Aycliffe, Dover, Bradley Green deliberately drove a Mini Cooper at the victim, striking him once in the back and then reversing and driving at him again as he tried to get up. The victim suffered spinal fractures, temporary paralysis of his left leg, facial cuts, bruising and leg burns, and later required surgery. Green had taken the car minutes earlier during an unrelated altercation. He was accompanied by his twin brother Mason Green and Travis Potts. Bradley Green later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Travis Potts was involved in an affray in Aycliffe, Dover, in the early hours of August 18, 2020. He threatened the victim's wife, punched the victim to the back of the head, and tussled with him on the car bonnet. He admitted affray.

Matthew Trodden attacked his girlfriend at her home after she told him to leave. He put his hands around her neck and squeezed until she feared losing consciousness, damaged a table, then struck her with a broken table leg, pulled her hair, punched her and bit her nose. He later got on top of her and pinned her down with his knee on her neck. The victim was left with a bleeding nose, facial injuries and emotional harm. Trodden had been drinking heavily and had taken non-prescribed medication.

Chan Atak piloted an overcrowded, deflating 14-metre dinghy across the English Channel with 165 people on board on 23 July. The crossing lasted nearly 24 hours. One of the two outboard engines was not functioning, the tubing had started to deflate, and the vessel had no navigation, emergency signalling or firefighting equipment, with fuel containers and batteries stored together creating a risk of fire. Atak operated the boat for 90 minutes before crouching among passengers and removing his jacket to avoid detection as helmsman.

Chan Mathok Atak piloted an overcrowded inflatable dinghy carrying 165 migrants across the English Channel on 23 July. The vessel was severely overcrowded, deflating, had only one working outboard engine, limited food, drinking water and medication, inadequate lifejackets, and a considerable fire risk due to batteries being close to fuel cans. Atak was seen piloting the boat during 90 minutes of aerial footage before moving away from the engine and removing his jacket in an attempt to avoid being identified as the helmsman.

Police attended Guy Griggs's former home in Herne Bay on an unrelated matter on 9 November 2023 and found two stun gun devices, one on his bed and one in a locker. The devices were charged and capable of discharging electricity. He answered no comment in interview but later pleaded guilty. Other items were seized, including a knuckle-duster, catapults, an air pistol, cannabis, pills, drug paraphernalia and potentially live shotgun ammunition, but Griggs was not convicted in relation to those items. The court heard he had been street homeless between the ages of 14 and 27, had been attacked by addicts targeting his insulin needles, and took 15 medications for various medical conditions.

On 21 May, neighbourhood officers spotted suspicious activity on the A20 near Folkestone, Kent. A Renault Kangoo van in a layby contained a cash-counting machine. An HGV nearby began to drive away and was stopped by police. In the trailer, officers found carrier bags containing almost 50kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than £2 million. Danilah was the HGV driver.

On 21 May, police investigating a Renault Kangoo van near Folkestone stopped a nearby HGV. In the trailer they found almost 50kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than £2 million in carrier bags. Marku was discovered hiding in the rear of the lorry, attempted to flee, and was detained. He was carrying the keys to the Renault Kangoo.

Kian Minister deliberately started multiple fires in Canterbury and Ashford within 24 hours on 27 March. He set fire to a wheelie bin in Sturry High Street at around 5.30am, attempted to start a blaze at Stour Retail Park by lighting a toilet roll, and ignited tyres outside a Mercedes Benz dealership on Mill Road, causing damage to the building. Later that day he used a fire extinguisher in an attempt to damage a footbridge at Ashford International station, smashed three car windscreens with a traffic cone, and set fire to further items near a skip outside the station. He was arrested shortly afterwards and charged the next day with multiple arson and criminal damage offences.

Ashley Atkins attacked a man with scissors in Canterbury High Street in the early hours of 20 February 2026. The victim suffered eight stab and puncture wounds to his head, ear and back, including deep and life-threatening injuries. The attack followed an earlier fist fight between the two men about half an hour before. Atkins admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Paul Kennedy, after the stabbing in Canterbury, sent messages instructing another person to delete WhatsApp exchanges containing evidence and admissions. He failed to delete messages from the deleted items folder on his phone and they were found by police. He pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

Billy Caton armed himself with a machete and returned to a block of flats in Newtown Green, Ashford, on 5 December 2024 after an earlier dispute. He had been drinking heavily and brandished the weapon during a triangular stand-off with two other men. Caton advanced with the machete at shoulder height, smashed a communal glass door, and shouted threats to stab one of the other men. He later left the scene and was arrested while shoplifting at a Morrisons store. He pleaded guilty to affray, possessing a bladed article in a public place, criminal damage and theft.

Cino Ioannou armed himself with a knife and a homemade mace and went outside during a confrontation at a block of flats in Newtown Green, Ashford, on 5 December 2024 after another man arrived with a machete. Ioannou swung the mace, wielded a knife, and later returned to his doorway wearing gloves and stirring a pot of cooking oil while beckoning the other man to enter. He suffered cuts to his ear and forehead when a glass door was smashed. He pleaded guilty to affray.

Sonny Steward armed himself with a container of boiling sugar water and a blade during a confrontation outside his home in Newtown Green, Ashford, on 5 December 2024 after another man arrived with a machete. He stood in support before retreating to the main entrance, where he was cut by glass from a smashed door. He later admitted picking up a small knife and the scalding liquid but said he acted in self-defence. He pleaded guilty to affray.

On 23 April 2026 in Ramsgate, Taray Weaver, intoxicated by drink and drugs, encountered a woman known to him, cornered her, punched her in the face, and demanded money for drugs. He forced her to walk to a pensioner's flat, sprayed blood from a hand injury and claimed to be HIV positive. He forced entry, kicked the pensioner's dog, armed himself with a knife and a carving fork, threatened to murder, rape and strangle the woman, and slashed her thigh, leaving a permanent scar. He also assaulted the 76-year-old pensioner. After arrest, he attempted to bite and spat at a police officer at hospital.

Riley Duffin was involved in a group street attack on September 24, 2022, in Tontine Street, Folkestone, in which the victim was repeatedly hit and kicked while on his knees. The victim suffered fractures to the right and left jaw and has ongoing problems with jaw clicking and pain. Duffin was 18 at the time and had been going through a difficult break-up before confronting the victim during a night out. He was convicted of grievous bodily harm after a trial.

Oliver Anderton was part of a group that attacked a man in Tontine Street, Folkestone, on September 24, 2022. The victim was hit repeatedly, went to his knees and was kicked repeatedly by members of the makeshift group. He suffered fractures to the right and left jaw and continues to experience problems including jaw clicking and pain. Anderton was 17 at the time of the offence and was identified by a doorman from a nearby bar. He was convicted of grievous bodily harm after a trial.

Omar Heidari piloted a dinghy carrying 95 migrants across the English Channel, endangering the lives of those on board. He was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court under the new offence of endangering others during a sea journey to the UK.

Manas David Yuk, a Sudanese national, arrived in the UK on 21 June with 82 others aboard a small boat crossing the Channel, including 13 children. He pleaded guilty to endangerment and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on 31 July 2026 to 18 months imprisonment.

Charun Magok piloted a small boat across the English Channel on 20 March 2026. The vessel was designed for five people but carried six, was taking on water because it sat so low, and had no signalling equipment, GPS devices, oars, flares, radios, navigational charts or first aid equipment. He was filmed piloting the vessel and later threw his coat into the sea in an attempt to avoid detection as the pilot.

Bol Chuol piloted a small boat across the English Channel that was intercepted off the coast of Kent on 22 March 2026. The vessel was massively overcrowded with 71 people on board, including children, and was taking on water. It had no lights, GPS devices, charts, first aid equipment or warning flares, and not everyone on board was wearing a lifejacket. Chuol was identified from a distinctive Christmas jumper he was wearing and was filmed throwing his coat into the sea in an attempt to avoid detection as the pilot.

Sladden carried out a sustained campaign of sexual abuse against three girls over several years. The offences were uncovered around 30 years later after the victims made formal reports to police in March 2024.