Canterbury Crown Court Sentencing Results

Rico Castle, from Ashford, formerly of Willesborough Road, Kennington, made an unwarranted demand of money from a vulnerable victim with ADHD and Tourette’s syndrome between January 2021 and July 2023. Initially friends with the victim, Castle discovered he had a savings account and began pressuring him for money, promising repayment which did not occur. Demands escalated with threats to harm the victim and those he cared about, forcing the victim to hand over more than £22,000. Police were alerted on July 7, 2023, after concerns from someone close to the victim.

On Sunday, February 8, 2026, Ryan Whitehead drove off from the Port of Dover while being spoken to about a road traffic offence. He led police on a high-speed pursuit on the M20, reaching speeds over 100mph, before losing control of his car in Seal, near Sevenoaks. The vehicle crashed into a traffic island, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision, and ploughed into a hedge. Whitehead fled but was found hiding in a nearby garden box and arrested. He was charged with assaulting an emergency worker, dangerous driving, and driving without insurance whilst disqualified.

David Whitehall was arrested on January 16, 2026, during a routine check at his home in Dover after acquiring a new smartphone to bypass restrictions and contact minors online. He exchanged explicit photographs of himself with young people while soliciting inappropriate images from them. Forensic examination revealed numerous indecent images of children, including twenty-seven videos in the most serious category. During arrest, he punched a police officer in the face and resisted additional officers by kicking and shoving. Faced eight charges including production of indecent photographs of a child and assault of an emergency worker.

Tyla Wanstall subjected his girlfriend to a sustained campaign of domestic abuse from September 2024, including physical violence such as punching her in the arm, face and stomach, striking her with a stool, dragging her by the hair to the edge of a bridge over the Thanet Way where she feared being thrown off, spitting in her face, smacking her head against a car console causing a black eye, and threats to kill her and their pet, snap her jaw, and turn up at her workplace. The abuse involved controlling behaviour, repeated accusations of cheating, bombardment with calls, and humiliation. The relationship began in October 2023 via Snapchat and escalated after incidents of jealousy, including one in December 2024 where he swung an axe and hit her ankle with a stool. Wanstall struggled with PTSD following the discovery of his mother Leah Churchill and sister Brooke Wanstall dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in his Whitstable burger van in February 2023.

Nicusor Lacatus, 53, from Romania, worked on behalf of a UK-based criminal network to recruit HGV drivers willing to move migrants between Dover and Calais. He was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in November at Folkestone’s Stop 24 service station on the M20 as he prepared to leave the UK.

On 8 November 2025, Oliver Hamilton-Harris met a friend for an afternoon of drinking to celebrate his birthday the following day. The pair spent several hours visiting pubs across Herne Bay. At around 6pm, they left a pub and returned to a residential address on Herne Bay High Street. An argument broke out, turning into a physical fight in the front garden. Hamilton-Harris went back inside the property, armed himself with a weapon, and returned to confront the victim, inflicting two stab wounds to the right side, back, and left side of the victim's chest. The victim sought help nearby, and emergency services attended. Hamilton-Harris was arrested the following morning.

Richard Mumford, of St Mary’s Gardens, Canterbury, was found in possession of 7,193 indecent and prohibited images of children during a routine check on his electronic devices in July 2024. Some images depicted victims as young as three years old, with 1,350 classified in the most serious category. Evidence suggested he attempted to delete his internet history. Two swords were also recovered during the search.

James Gavin, a 50-year-old HSBC executive, damaged CCTV cameras installed on land opposite his property in Grove Road, Selling, near Faversham, due to an ongoing dispute with the landowner over the storage of wooden pallets posing a fire risk to his timber-structure home. On July 23, 2025, he shot the first camera with his legally-owned shotgun, throwing the remains into a ditch. On July 29, 2025, he shot the replacement camera, then used a drill and axe to remove and discard it and the wooden pole. His actions were captured on a hidden wildlife camera set up by a witness, who rented the land for her horses. Gavin was arrested that night, confessed immediately, and expressed remorse. The incidents followed three prior fires at the site and council enforcement actions. Victims reported feeling terrified and on edge.

Jordan Williams owned an XL bully dog named Hunter that attacked a baby girl in Hawkinge near Folkestone in December 2024, causing two skull fractures, brain haemorrhages, and thigh tissue damage. The infant was airlifted to King's College Hospital and placed in a medically induced coma but made a remarkable recovery. Williams was upstairs in his bedroom at the time, and the dog was inadequately supervised despite a prior community resolution warning after it bit Williams in 2023. The dog was seized and euthanised.

Edward Watson, aged 49 and formerly of Garrard Avenue, Margate, subjected a younger child to sexual abuse starting in 1990 when he was a teenager. He carried out several attacks, often locking the victim in a room before the offences. The abuse came to light in September 2023 when the victim disclosed it to a trusted relative, who encouraged reporting to police. Watson was arrested three days later and charged with multiple sexual offences including gross indecency, indecent assault, and unlawful sexual intercourse with a child.

John King, a 52-year-old lorry driver from Sandgate near Folkestone, was caught on July 24, 2020, arriving at the Port of Dover in his Volvo lorry at 5.25am. Border Force officers uncovered 15 kilograms of high-purity cocaine hidden in the vehicle's air filter and other areas, with a street value of £1.2 million. The tachograph showed multiple stops at a Belgian layby, and his phone contained a photo of a tampered air filter. He initially denied knowledge but later admitted his involvement. No information on other participants or prior trips.

Aaron Nugent, 45, from Faversham, subjected his girlfriend to months of coercive and controlling behaviour after they moved in together quickly. This included jealousy, accusations of infidelity, verbal abuse, isolation, checking her phone, and following her. The first physical violence occurred on November 18, 2025, when drunk, he hit her in the face, leading her son to punch him. He smashed a window to re-enter the house. On November 26, 2025, at midnight, while drunk, he woke her and punched and slapped her face repeatedly, then strangled her until she couldn't breathe, causing bruising and making her fear for her life. He threatened to murder her and pushed her down when she tried to escape. She fled to a neighbour's house to call police. Nugent then smashed her TV. Despite bail conditions, he returned to her home immediately. The victim suffered heightened anxiety and depression.

Christopher Crittenden, 45, from South Ockenden in Essex, and his nephew smuggled six Vietnamese nationals from Calais to Dover in 2019. They were caught by Immigration Enforcement officers on 29 September 2019 with five men and one woman hiding under fishing gear in the trailer they were towing. Mobile phone data showed Christopher's prior involvement, including a February 2019 video of him driving a lorry to pick up illegal immigrants and July 2019 WhatsApp chats discussing arrests and breaking the law.

On December 31, 2022, at Herne Bay Angling Club, Fred Ketteringham, along with Leo Westlake and Toby Shilling, entered the venue around 8pm, causing a nuisance by shouting, swearing, and harassing customers. After being asked to leave, violence escalated with Westlake punching the first victim, and Ketteringham joining in the assault on a second man, kicking him and causing a fractured ankle, head cuts, and permanent tinnitus. The group also assaulted a woman by pulling her to the ground and kicking/punching her, and beat two other victims. One member yelled 'Kill the s***' during the attack. Ketteringham was arrested and charged with four counts of actual bodily harm and one of grievous bodily harm, but pleaded guilty to violent disorder. He has since turned his life around through boxing, signing a professional contract, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle without alcohol or drugs.

Jake Crittenden, 30, from Beckton in East London, assisted his uncle in smuggling six Vietnamese nationals from Calais to Dover in 2019. They were caught by Immigration Enforcement officers on 29 September 2019 with five men and one woman hiding under fishing gear in the trailer they were towing. Initially claimed they were returning from a fishing trip to France.

On December 31, 2022, at Herne Bay Angling Club, Leo Westlake, smelling of cannabis and slurring his words, along with Fred Ketteringham and Toby Shilling, entered the venue around 8pm, causing a nuisance by shouting, swearing, and harassing customers. After being asked to leave, Westlake shouted insults, took off his shirt, pounded his chest, and punched the first victim in the face. He then grabbed a second man from behind, leading to the group kicking him, causing a fractured ankle, head cuts, and permanent tinnitus. Westlake also pulled a woman to the ground, where she was kicked and punched, resulting in nightmares, anxiety, PTSD, loss of confidence, and inability to work. Another victim was punched in the face, and a fourth was lifted against a van and beaten. The group was arrested and charged with four counts of actual bodily harm and one of grievous bodily harm, but pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

On November 21, 2025, Dragos-Gabriel Geangalau, a 55-year-old Romanian truck driver, was stopped while attempting to board a ferry from Dover to France in his HGV. Ten people of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Nepalese origin were found hidden in the back of the truck. Each had paid between £1,000 and £1,500 to make the crossing. After his arrest, Geangalau initially claimed ignorance in a prepared statement but later pleaded guilty.

Leah Dane, 44, from Faversham, carried out sexual acts with a teenage girl over a period of months, persuading the victim they were in a relationship. She instructed the teenager to delete incriminating messages to conceal the offending. Teachers alerted authorities, leading to Dane's arrest. Messages showed the girl believed it was a relationship. The abuse had a devastating impact, leaving the victim suicidal, with sleep issues, fear, and pain affecting all aspects of her life.

Rebwar Hamad, a 48-year-old Iraqi man and previously convicted terrorist, attempted to illegally enter the UK by small boat on September 19, 2025. He arrived with others and was intercepted by an RNLI lifeboat off the coast of Dover. After being interviewed at Margate police station where he declined to comment, he paid approximately £1,000 (1,200 Euros) for passage on the boat following a refused UK visa application. This was his second illegal entry attempt; he had indefinite leave to remain in the UK since 2001 but was extradited to Italy in 2020 to serve a sentence for terrorism offences convicted in absentia in 2019, after which he was ordered to leave Italy.

On the evening of Thursday, September 4, 2025, Chase Price, aged 29 and of no fixed address, approached a group of strangers in Kings Drive, Faversham. He threw a bin at a man and a glass at a teenager. Price then ran towards a woman while holding a knife and exposed himself in front of several people, including children. He was disarmed by a bystander, exposed himself again, and fled the scene. Kent Police arrested him after a search.

Jon-Paul Clark, 44, of Coney Crescent in Crosby, organised an importation of 40kg of heroin with conspirator Rajesh Bakshi. The load, with a street value of £4million, was stopped at Dover in June 2022. Investigators found Clark’s DNA on the packaging. Clark’s and Bakshi’s phones were identified as travelling in Holland and Belgium in the days leading up to the seizure. A photo of Clark and Bakshi together was found on Clark’s phone taken just days before the drugs were intercepted. Texts were also found of Clark asking Bakshi for cash in the weeks following the seizure.

On September 18, 2025, Marius Bajenaru was arrested at Dover Port as part of a National Crime Agency operation. He had 17 people concealed in the back of his Romanian registered panel van. The operation was supported by Port of Dover Police, Kent Police, and Immigration Enforcement.

On September 18, 2025, Sorin-Costinel Ivan was arrested at Dover Port as part of a National Crime Agency operation. He had 32 people, mostly Bangladeshi nationals, concealed in the trailer of his HGV. The operation was supported by Port of Dover Police, Kent Police, and Immigration Enforcement. He admitted visiting a layby on the A20 near Ashford.

On April 11, 2025, Michael Harragan, 55, of Gladstone Road, Folkestone, set fire to seven vehicles in the early hours, including a campervan in Castle Road, Sandgate, where the owner was asleep inside and awoke to smoke, managing to extinguish the fire. The vehicles were targeted in Canterbury Road, Walton Road, Military Road in Hythe, and Whitenbrook. The fires caused extensive damage and were extinguished by Kent Fire and Rescue Service. Harragan was arrested in London Road, Hythe, and charged with six counts of arson, later with an additional count of reckless arson endangering life.

Stephen Sussams, 62, of Biggins Wood Road, Folkestone, began grooming a teenage boy on July 4 via a messaging platform, initially discussing everyday topics to gain trust before escalating to sexually explicit conversations over two weeks. He sent numerous graphic messages via platforms including Snapchat, repeatedly requested indecent images, and described intended sexual acts. On July 23, he travelled to meet the boy and was arrested while waiting. He refused to provide his phone password to officers.