Exeter North And East Devon Magistrates' Court Sentencing Results

Laura Dean, a former police officer based at Bridgwater Police Centre, used a police computer system, Niche, to carry out searches on several individuals, including herself. None of the illegal searches related to victims of crime she had contact with in a professional capacity. She resigned from Avon and Somerset Police in September 2025.

On 19 June 2025, police were informed that a man had been in cardiac arrest and had suffered a serious head injury. The victim said he had been assaulted. CCTV showed the victim being approached by Whitcombe outside a pub in Ottery St Mary town centre. After a verbal disagreement, Whitcombe pushed the victim into a wall, causing a significant head injury. The victim suffered a bleed on the brain, a bruise to the skull and a skin laceration, and continued to experience strong headaches and leg tingling. Whitcombe later attended Exeter Police Station and was arrested. A search of his home found Class B drugs, and he pleaded guilty to possession.

Charlotte Taylor attacked a neighbour with a wooden rounders bat, striking her six times during an evening in May last year. The assault followed a two-year dispute over rubbish outside the property. The incident was recorded by the victim and a local man. Taylor was arrested after police recovered the rounders bat from a cupboard in her house. She was said to have acted spontaneously and to suffer from ADHD and anxiety.

Kym Lovegrove harassed a woman from Budleigh Salterton without violence between May 14 and June 13, 2025, following the breakdown of their short-lived relationship. They met at a mutual friend's party and began chatting on a dating site. After a few weeks, the victim wanted space, but Lovegrove repeatedly accused her of cheating, called her a 'slag', used racial slurs and 'bitch', and threatened violence including 'I'm going to rape you'. He contacted her mother and visited her address twice, captured on Ring doorbell footage, to deliver an apology present. The victim received WhatsApp messages every 30 seconds and felt scared for her and her mother's safety.

Kirsty Keily was stopped in her car by members of the public while drunk at the wheel in the car park of the Cowick Barton pub in Cowick Lane, Exeter, one Friday night last month. She had switched on the engine of her Kia car but was prevented from leaving and reversed back into a parking space. She was arrested by police and blew 90mg of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The victim, aged 36, was working for Daniel Hooper, trading as Hooper Roofing, at a domestic property in Honiton, Devon on 13 June 2023. The victim had been manually carrying old slate roof tiles down a ladder attached to a scaffold platform when he fell from a height of more than 25 feet. He broke five vertebrae, sustained skull and rib fractures, and was put into an induced coma for five days at Derriford Hospital. An HSE investigation found Hooper failed to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his employee by not planning or supervising the work at height or supplying suitable equipment such as a pulley system or mechanical conveyor.

Edward Donovan, of Churchill Drive, Crediton, turned part of an elderly landowners’ farm at Spreyton into an illegal waste site where he dumped 2,000 tonnes of waste collected from commercial businesses across central and east Devon as EDS (Ed Donovan Services). The waste included furniture, plastics, plasterboard and materials containing asbestos, causing pollution. He operated without a permit from May 2017 in lieu of payment for dismantling and removing 3 caravans. When told to tidy up in November 2017, he set the waste alight instead.

On 17/02/2026 at Exeter stole bank cards. Also handling stolen goods.

Dogs were found living in squalor at the Peters Marland property near Torrington, while sick horses and poultry had not received veterinary treatment. Inspectors found animals including dogs, horses, chickens, ducks and a goat living in unsuitable and squalid conditions, some without food, water or vet care. A stallion named Mid Morning Monkey had an untreated eye ulcer. Horses Symphonies Secret and Summer’s Place Jessica had untreated dental disease; the latter also had deformed legs, swollen knees, uneven gait and chronic arthritis. The case followed complaints about constant dog barking, breached noise abatement notices and a Criminal Behaviour Order limiting dogs to six.