Folkestone Magistrates' Court Sentencing Results

Isabelle Woodard was driving her Seat Ibiza east towards Dover on Alkham Valley Road on the evening of August 25, 2025, when she crossed into the opposite lane and collided head-on with a BMW. The BMW driver suffered a broken femur, three broken toes, deep cuts and bruising to his legs, and was trapped until firefighters cut away the door. A passenger in the BMW suffered a twisted ankle and muscle, back and shoulder pain. Woodard also sustained serious injuries, including fractures to her shoulder, arm, right femur and pelvis, and was airlifted to hospital in London. She admitted causing serious injury by careless driving.

Lee Begg stole alcohol and other items from the same Sainsbury's supermarket in Folkestone three times in one day. He took £60 worth of cider, then rum and other items worth £95, and later another £101 worth of goods, some of which were recovered. At the time he was subject to an eight-week suspended prison sentence for a drugs offence, criminal damage and threatening behaviour, and had breached it earlier in September.

Alfie Lowe drove his Nissan Note while more than three times the legal alcohol limit after visiting a pub with his mother. He drove her to her care home in Hawkinge because she needed medication. When he stopped and tried to help his mother out of the car, she fell to the floor and police were called. A breath test recorded 116 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.

Florjan Prengezaj was arrested after police discovered 141 cannabis plants being cultivated across five rooms and three floors of a property in Dover. Officers attended on the evening of 28 August 2026 following reports of suspicious activity and found boarded-up windows, excessive noise from ventilation fans, extreme heat, and high-intensity grow lights. He pleaded guilty to producing a controlled drug.

John Cosier, 39, stole more than £1,700 worth of goods in 21 shoplifting thefts from stores in Canterbury, Folkestone, Dymchurch and Dover between August 2025 and June 2026. He targeted supermarkets and shops including Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Co-op, Tesco, B&M and Welcome, sometimes returning twice in the same day. The court heard he had received a £30,000 inheritance, developed a cocaine addiction after falling in with the wrong crowd, and turned to crime when the money ran out. He had previous convictions but had not offended for 20 years.

Shannon Rossiter committed five thefts over two months, stealing alcohol, food, cleaning products, gift sets and other goods from shops across Canterbury and Whitstable. In one incident on 14 October 2025 at a shop in Sturry, she filled a basket with cleaning products and cans of alcohol and assaulted two staff members when they attempted to stop her, causing the store to lose £88. She was arrested on 16 November in a car park after officers found stolen gift sets in her possession and nearby.

On November 26, 2025, Aiden Cullen, a 30-year-old ground worker from Chaucer Crescent, Dover, was observed driving a Seat Leon in Castle Street, Dover, by Army officers who pulled him over. Checks revealed he was disqualified from driving due to a drink-driving offence with only 20 days left on the ban, and he was also uninsured. He was charged with driving while disqualified and without insurance.

Owen Curtis, 19, of Dover, and Kendal Carpenter, 18, of Dover, were involved in night poaching near Woolage Village, between Canterbury and Dover. On September 23, 2026, at about 10pm, police detained occupants of a Ford Fiesta parked near farmland in Pie Factory Road, Barfrestone. The search uncovered six deceased pheasants and one badly injured pheasant that was euthanised, four catapults, 200 ball bearings, three head torches, and a large lamp. The pheasants were killed inhumanely with catapults.

Owen Curtis, 19, of Dover, and Kendal Carpenter, 18, of Dover, were involved in night poaching near Woolage Village, between Canterbury and Dover. On September 23, 2026, at about 10pm, police detained occupants of a Ford Fiesta parked near farmland in Pie Factory Road, Barfrestone. The search uncovered six deceased pheasants and one badly injured pheasant that was euthanised, four catapults, 200 ball bearings, three head torches, and a large lamp. The pheasants were killed inhumanely with catapults.

Rhiannon Thomas, 36, of no fixed address, stole chocolate and coffee worth £27.83 from a Tesco store in Folkestone on January 26, 2026, less than a week after her release from prison on January 20, 2026. Officers witnessed her passing a bag containing the stolen items to an associate on Canterbury Road, Folkestone. She was arrested, charged with shoplifting, and admitted the offence. This incident occurred while she was wanted on recall to prison for breaching licence conditions. Items were recovered, so no compensation was sought.

Sharon Parry, aged 53, from Dorset Gardens, Walmer, harassed PC Lauren Eyre-Jackson, the police officer who investigated her previous stalking of a therapist, by sending defamatory emails, abusive texts, and making offensive phone calls and voicemails between March 20 and April 29, 2025. The harassment began with an email asking if the officer had slept with the therapist and escalated to insults and threats. Parry was arrested on May 1, 2025, after attempting to hide her phone, which contained searches for the officer. She admitted the offence of sending communications of an offensive nature. Parry has a history of similar behaviour, including a three-year jail sentence in 2018 for stalking her therapist involving threats, fake social media accounts, property damage, and false allegations, followed by further imprisonment for breaching the indefinite restraining order.

Howard Sargent, 52, from Romney Marsh, crashed a red Toyota Yaris into the wall of The Pilot Inn in Dungeness just after midnight on August 10, 2025, causing £60,000 worth of damage to the family-owned pub. Shocking CCTV footage captured the vehicle smashing through the restaurant area.

Jesse Barton, 37, of no fixed address, breached a Criminal Behaviour Order issued in August 2024 that banned him from multiple retailers including Ashford Designer Outlet and Co-op stores. On October 5, 2025, he visited the Co-op at Brookfield Court, stealing food, alcohol, and household goods, and returned twice on October 6. He also stole £180 worth of items from the Loudon Way Co-op branch. On October 7, he stole clothes valued at £650 from a retailer at Ashford Designer Outlet on Kimberley Way. He was arrested later that day and charged.

Christopher Lamb, a prolific shoplifter from Faversham, committed a series of thefts in Sittingbourne between February and June 2023.

Edith Nishanthy Nixon bred at least 10 litters of Pomeranian pups between 2020 and 2022 without holding an animal activity licence for dog breeding, contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Investigation followed a complaint from a puppy purchaser. She admitted under caution that a number of puppies had died due to lack of milk and showed lack of basic care or knowledge, including failure to act when pups were subdued and lethargic, inability to detect dehydration, and no monitoring of growth and food intake through weighing.

Faye Waters, 28, from Deal, admitted she may have left a gate unsecured while collecting belongings from her ex-boyfriend’s home in Dover, allowing his Staffordshire bull terriers, Leo and Luna, to escape on March 11, 2025. The dogs were found loose in Roman Way, St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe, taken in by a woman who tried to help, but they killed one of her elderly Jack Russells and injured the other, also injuring the owner with puncture wounds and a fractured hand.

William King from Ramsgate tagged five locations in Canterbury including Grade I-listed Fyndon’s Gate at St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury Magistrates’ Court, and the King Ethelbert statue in Lady Wootton’s Green. Caught on CCTV in April. The tags breached the council’s Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

Safiollah Mohammadi, 25, piloted an overcrowded boat carrying more than 70 people across the Channel from a beach near Calais, France, to UK waters on 21 May. Shortly after departure, a woman and child were pulled off by a French coastal patrol vessel and declared dead. Police in France are investigating the fatalities.

Shah Salim Sajjadi, 38, piloted an overcrowded boat carrying more than 70 people across the Channel from a beach near Calais, France, to UK waters on 21 May. Shortly after departure, a woman and child were pulled off by a French coastal patrol vessel and declared dead. Police in France are investigating the fatalities.