Canterbury Crown Court Sentencing Results

Serhat Yalcin and Agid Yalcin assaulted a victim in his sixties in Canterbury city centre's High Street on Tuesday 1 September 2020. The victim had been using a cashpoint at around 1am when he was followed by the two offenders, one of whom barged into him. He swung his hand at one of the two men before he was knocked to the ground by Agid. Both men then spent around 15 minutes repeatedly kicking, punching and stamping on the victim as he lay stricken on the ground, leaving him with serious head and arm injuries which required extensive hospital treatment. Police arrived after the incident was seen by a CCTV operator and officers arrested both men at the scene.

Shane Howland was driving his VW T-Cross on the A2 near Shepherdswell on 19 May 2021, when he hit a patch of water and skidded off the road, smashing into a tree. His passenger, the 22-year-old victim, suffered fatal injuries in the crash. Kent Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit found that Howland was driving at more than 78mph, exceeding the 70mph speed limit. They also calculated that if he had been driving at or below the limit, he would have been able to stop before hitting the tree.

Sharon Stewart, 49, from Dover but of no fixed address, sent five unwanted abusive emails and posted an unwanted card to a man known to her over a six-week period, breaching a restraining order. One email stated: ‘Can you help with the voices in my head telling me to kill you?’

On Sunday 13 August 2023, Shaun Brocklehurst, 42, from Folkestone, was stopped by a man in a grocery store on Cheriton High Street while attempting to steal alcohol. An altercation followed in which he punched and kicked the man before leaving. Around half an hour later, he returned with a small fuel can, poured a flammable liquid over the front of the shop, ignited it, leading to a rush of flames. The fire was extinguished quickly by a member of the public and no injuries were reported.

Shkelzen Vata, 21, was one of three men found at a disused commercial property in School Lane, Ramsgate, which had been converted into a cannabis cultivation site with over 1,000 plants in various stages of growth, 291 lamps, fans, heaters and other equipment, powered by bypassed electricity. The site included makeshift living quarters and plants capable of producing cannabis worth £105,000 to £540,000.

Benjamin Birch stole approximately £1,500 worth of goods from seven supermarkets across Kent between 29 July and 14 October 2019, committing 20 separate shoplifting offences. Items included meat joints, washing detergent, chocolates, razor blades, and gin. In one incident at a Faversham supermarket, he took at least 14 beef joints despite staff attempting to stop him. He used a walking frame to conceal items.

On August 28, 2022, carpenter Ben Crawford, aged 32, of St Lukes Walk, Hawkinge, Folkestone, was refused re-entry to The Park Inn hotel in Folkestone due to his abusive and drunken state after consuming 10 pints and four Jagerbomb cocktails. He lashed out at the doorman in a racist attack, ripping off his coat and body-worn camera before punching him in the face, fracturing his cheekbone in three places. Crawford called him a 'foreign ****' and told him to 'f*** off'. The doorman was left dizzy with blurred vision and unable to work for four weeks. Crawford later admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.

On 4 April 2019, Mbuta-Mapasa was with Robert Durao in Margate. He was stopped on Northdown Road and found with a phone believed to be a county line device used to advertise drug deals. He had travelled from London.

On 26 June 2018, Francis waited for the victim, a woman in her 50s, at her home in Ramsgate. Despite her attempts to calm him, he threatened to smash her belongings and harm her. He followed her to another room and head-butted her in the face, causing facial injuries that required ongoing medical treatment. She fled to a friend's house and called police. Francis was arrested and later pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Kent Police officers attended the home of Barney Buttifint in Dover on Monday 25 July 2022 following concerns he may have weapons beyond those authorised by a firearms licence he held. During a search of the property, officers located a sawn-off shotgun, a .410 pistol and amounts of ammunition beyond that which Buttifint was allowed to hold under the terms of his firearms licence. These were among legally held weapons and air rifles. Buttifint was arrested the same day.

On Sunday 14 March 2021, shortly before 6pm, officers from Ashford’s Local Policing Team saw McGlaughlin’s uninsured Audi A4 driving along Kingsnorth Road, Ashford. They activated blue lights to stop him, but he drove off at up to 70mph in a 30mph zone, continued speeding in Beaver Lane, Brookfield Road and Chart Road, went around the wrong side of a roundabout, reversed into the police vehicle in Magazine Road, drove through red traffic lights, went through another roundabout on the wrong side, before abandoning the car in Heathfield Road where he was arrested after a foot chase.

In the early hours of Sunday 23 May 2021, Callum Gabbitas became involved in the assault of two men in their 20s near the High Street in Canterbury city centre. As the victims walked with their friends in Mercery Lane, they passed Gabbitas who was with three other people. After a brief greeting, Gabbitas became confrontational and, together with one of his group, attacked two of the other group. Gabbitas hit his victim in the face with a beer bottle, causing it to break, then took his belt buckle and beat the victim. The attack continued down the High Street until door staff intervened. The victim suffered facial injuries requiring hospital treatment. Gabbitas was arrested after CCTV traced him; he was found wearing clothes stained with the victim’s blood.

Basir Ramatullah, 21, steered an overcrowded dinghy across the English Channel for more than two hours with 53 other migrants on board before Border Force intercepted the vessel. He pleaded guilty to endangering others during the sea journey. The court heard the rib was overloaded and at least one person lacked a personal flotation device. His defence said Ramatullah, who was fleeing the Taliban, took control of the boat after a human trafficker abandoned it and another person gave up steering, having spent his life savings on the crossing.

On 16 August 2021, Bradley Simmonds, driving a waste removal lorry, collided with the back of a stationary car with hazard lights flashing on the coastbound A299 between Herne Bay and Birchington near St Nicholas at Wade, forcing it into a ditch. The car's driver sustained life-threatening injuries and was declared deceased at the scene. A test showed Simmonds had 11 times more than the specified limit of benzoylecgonine in his blood, indicating cocaine use prior to the collision.

Bradley Thomson, 25, from Dover, carried out a series of savage assaults in Dover during June 2023. On 10 June, he assaulted a man who had pulled over in his car on London Road, causing multiple fractures to the victim's face and skull injuries, and threatened the passenger. On 14 June in the Tower Hamlets area, he smashed property and threatened residents with a two-pronged fork, stabbed a man who intervened causing cuts and puncture wounds, kicked a woman on the ground, beat a man with a belt, and threatened others. A kitchen knife and drugs were found on him upon arrest later that day.

Alexandru Cercel, aged 39, formerly of Homestead Road, Dagenham, was part of an organised shoplifting gang that stole at least £34,500 worth of champagne and spirits from supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, and Sainsbury’s. The gang targeted stores in Cambridge, Ipswich, Basildon, Beccles, Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Diss, Canvey Island, and Hertford between October 2021 and June 2023, stealing up to £3,000 worth of alcohol per raid and returning to the same store up to five times a day. Nine offences were in Norfolk and seven in Suffolk, accounting for £16,000 of stolen alcohol. He was arrested at Dover docks on 1 July 2023 trying to leave the country.

Alexksander Caushi, 31, was arrested while hiding in the rafters of a building on Park Farm Industrial Estate in Folkestone which contained more than 2,000 cannabis plants spread over two floors, along with heating, growing equipment and chemicals. The growing area was hidden behind a false front office. Kent Police executed a warrant on Friday 28 July 2023.

Adam Fleming carried out a violent assault on a woman at his address in Ramsgate on Monday 11 January 2021. He called 999 downplaying her injuries. Paramedics found her with a serious head injury and extreme bruising to her face; firefighters assisted in bringing her down the stairs. She was airlifted to a London hospital. Fleming claimed he found her like that and heard a thud, denying involvement. He was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

Adam Woolnough, 36, was invited to stay with a friend in Browning Place, Folkestone, but subjected the victim (in his 50s) to multiple threats. On 1 October 2020, he punched the victim in the face several times for around five minutes. When the victim sought help from a church community worker, Woolnough waited, threatened him with a hammer, kicked and punched his head and body, then held a bread knife to his throat, causing fear for his life. The victim suffered a hand injury escaping. Police were called; Woolnough was detained en route to the church and spat at the officer.

Aiden Hubbard-Stewart, subject to a non-molestation order, approached the victim and another woman at Canterbury East railway station on 11 June, slapped the victim in the face and stole her mobile phone, which he later returned via a relative. He then repeatedly contacted the witness to pressure her to withdraw evidence. On 7 July, after the order expired, he followed the victim in the Forty Acres Road area of Canterbury, made threats and punched her to the ground, causing serious injuries requiring long-term medical treatment. He was arrested on 10 July while trying to climb out of a window in Cliftonville.

Arber Rama was driving along Canterbury Road in Densole, near Folkestone, at around 6.45pm on Thursday 15 November 2018 when his Mercedes car collided with a motorbike travelling in the opposite direction after overtaking in foggy conditions. His vehicle was on the wrong side of the road, straddling the centre line, causing fatal injuries to the 25-year-old motorcyclist who died at the scene and knocking over a pedestrian who suffered a hairline fracture to her leg.

Palushi was arrested alongside Hadushaj in Tunbridge Wells with 60 deals of cocaine and more than £8,000 cash in their vehicle.

Mataj acted as a street dealer for the gang, arrested with four wraps of cocaine and £1,200 during the police crackdown in Tunbridge Wells.