Ipswich Crown Court Sentencing Results

On November 22, 2024, in Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, Keon Graham, along with Nolan Akuoko and Dylan Craft, was involved in an attempted drug deal that turned violent. The victim, a 33-year-old man known to Akuoko from prison, was lured to the location to do a favour. Upon arrival, Akuoko pulled a gun (which discharged a blank round) on the victim during a struggle, and Graham stabbed the victim seven times in the abdomen, back, and wrist, and slashed his face. The group intended to buy six kilos of cannabis but the deal escalated into violence. Police recovered £12,430 in cash, a machete sheath, and a blank round casing; the machete and gun were disposed of in the River Orwell. The victim required surgery and was discharged after two days.

On November 22, 2024, in Woodbridge Road, Ipswich, Nolan Akuoko, along with Keon Graham and Dylan Craft, was involved in an attempted drug deal that turned violent. Akuoko messaged the 33-year-old victim, whom he knew from prison, to meet at The Drift off Woodbridge Road at 6.45pm for a favour. Upon the victim's arrival, Akuoko pulled a gun from his bag and pointed it at the victim, causing cash to fall out and leading to a struggle where the gun discharged a blank round. The victim was then stabbed seven times and slashed across the face by Graham during the fight. The group intended to buy six kilos of cannabis. Police recovered £12,430 in cash, a machete sheath, and a blank round casing; the machete and gun were disposed of in the River Orwell. The victim required surgery and was discharged after two days.

On August 25, 2024, Jamie Birch, of Foresight Road, Colchester, drove a Vauxhall Combo van at speeds of up to 78mph on 30mph roads while evading police, overtook vehicles on the wrong side of the road, failed to stop at red lights or junctions, drove with lights down on country lanes, threw drugs from the window, and stopped in a layby where he was arrested for dangerous driving and production of a controlled substance.

From February 2023, Luke Large exchanged messages of a sexual nature with a child he did not know, who stated she was 13 years old. He told her he was depressed and asked for nude images and videos, claiming he would otherwise harm himself. The communication was reported to officers in November 2023. After inquiries by South Wales Police, Large was identified at an address in Stowmarket, arrested, and electronic devices were seized. The investigation found images of the victim shared to other messenger accounts, and indecent images of children saved from the internet, including 11 category A images, 11 category B images, and one category C image, as well as extreme pornography. Further analysis showed another app used the previous year to save and share photos, videos, and persistently ask an unknown female for nude images.

Kenneth Bischoff, 66, of Colchester, Essex, placed hidden cameras on his shoelaces and used other equipment to secretly film under the clothing of women he knew and trusted, as well as couples through hotel windows. This behaviour, part of a fetish, involved taking 704 photos and videos dating back to 2016. Victims, including women who regarded him as a grandfather figure, reported feeling shocked, sickened, and violated, with one reading a victim impact statement in court.

Police attended an address in Twickenham Avenue, Brandon, on July 28, 2025, where they discovered a large cannabis grow containing 1,209 plants. Arben Meta, 24, of no fixed abode, was found hiding in a box within the roof lining of the building and arrested at the scene.

Simon Smith was arrested in April 2025 after failing to attend a police station as required by a sexual harm prevention order issued in March 2022. The order followed three offences of making indecent images of a child and possession of extreme pornographic images. He also committed two counts of making indecent images of children, possession of amphetamines, and failed to answer to court as soon as practicable. A search of his property located a laptop and a Samsung phone not known to police.

Arber Dashi, 27, of Bromford Rise, Wolverhampton, was involved in an organised crime gang operating cannabis factories in Ipswich and Felixstowe. A fingerprint and phone evidence linked him to a cannabis factory in London Road, Ipswich, discovered in April 2024, containing 373 cannabis plants worth over £180,000. Phone evidence also connected him to another factory in Langer Road, Felixstowe, found in June 2024 with 81 plants and harvested cannabis. He was arrested on February 6, 2025, in the West Midlands with items used in cannabis cultivation. He admitted knowledge of the Ipswich grow.

Paul Whyman, director of Dragon Wood Homes Ltd, repeatedly failed to address serious fire safety issues at Cliff House, a flat complex on Chevalier Road in Felixstowe, located on the site of a former hotel. An enforcement notice was placed in 2017, and in 2018, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service identified multiple breaches including inadequate compartmentalisation. Despite opportunities, the necessary work was not completed, and deficiencies persist eight years later.

Alex Stokes, a 32-year-old man from Northamptonshire, met a 15-year-old girl and her friend at the Latitude Festival at Henham Park near Southwold on July 23, 2022, at 11pm. He falsely claimed to be a security guard, though he was actually a steward who had been dismissed earlier that weekend for failing in his duties and should not have re-entered the site. The girls informed him they were 15 and had consumed alcohol. They spent time with him in a music tent where he gave them more to drink. Afterwards, Stokes had penetrative sex with the victim. The girls escaped by saying they needed to use the toilets. A festival-goer noticed their distress, and the victim disclosed the incident. At the welfare tent, the safeguarding lead called the police. Stokes was identified as the suspect on July 25, 2022, via a social media video and arrested two days later by Northamptonshire Police. He was bailed with a ban on contacting the victim or her friend. Charged in November 2023 after a year-long investigation.

Nigel Moyes, 62, formerly of Primrose Way, Ipswich, committed stalking causing serious alarm/distress and two counts of arson. The stalking escalated into dangerous and destructive behaviour, including arson.

Entered a Tesco store in Ipswich's Tavern Street despite being banned, picked up two bottles of wine, hit a staff member over the head with them causing one to break, and then stabbed the man with the broken remains on March 24 of this year.

Engaged in online chats about sex with individuals posing as school girls, sending a naked picture of himself and asking for explicit content, including requesting to see a 10-year-old's vagina, knickers, and school uniform. He had previously sexually assaulted a girl under 13 and raped a boy under 13 in 2007.

On November 3, Andrew Wickenden was riding an uninsured and unregistered electric powered unicycle along the Felixstowe seafront promenade with a loudspeaker playing, weaving between pedestrians. The device was not permitted for use on public roads or spaces. He collided with a two-year-old girl playing with her family, fracturing her skull and causing a bleed on the brain. The child was hospitalized, made a full recovery but requires ongoing check-ups. Wickenden claimed the child ran into him.

Kieran Hibble was riding a motorcycle over the speed limit in Queen Street, Colchester, in May 2024, when he collided with an 84-year-old pedestrian, causing serious injuries that required urgent hospital treatment. Witnesses reported him reaching out to strike other road users during the incident. Additionally, he was found to have breached multiple court orders, including using multiple devices to contact prohibited individuals and riding motorcycles without a licence in restricted areas.

Dermot Bradley-Beacham's Russian Terrier escaped from his home on August 5 due to an insecure garden fence and bit a child under 13 on the leg, causing a serious injury that exposed the bone. The child was initially taken to West Suffolk Hospital and then to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for surgery, and was released two days after the incident. Bradley-Beacham admitted knowing the dog was not friendly to other dogs or children and that the fence was insecure.

Tony Dines Dines, of no fixed abode but from the Ipswich area, pleaded guilty to two breaches of restraining orders.

Esat Dashi, then aged 27, of Willenhall, West Midlands, was the driver of a stopped vehicle in Felixstowe in June 2024, from which fertiliser, gloves, and storage bags were recovered. His phone had details of the address in Langer Road, Felixstowe, where police found 81 cannabis plants and harvested cannabis upon searching the property.

Thien Le, then 41, of no fixed address, was present at the scene of a cannabis factory in Langer Road, Felixstowe, discovered in June 2024, containing 81 cannabis plants and a quantity of harvested cannabis.

Scott Lawrence-Bayly, 28, of Bridge Street, Stowmarket, committed offences spanning a 10-year period, beginning when he was 14 years old. The first victim was eight years old at the time of the abuse. Further offences were committed when Lawrence-Bayly was an adult against a six-year-old victim.

Dragos Lujinschi made dozens of abusive phone calls to emergency workers between July and August. He was aggressive when arrested, using such force that officers feared the van could not contain him. He later admitted to the charges and was sentenced.