Maidstone Crown Court Sentencing Results

At 11.40pm on 23 June 2023, Jake Simms travelled to the Co-op in Pound Road, East Peckham with an accomplice. They forced their way into the premises and stole two cash boxes before fleeing the scene in a Toyota Prius. Witnesses reported the incident, patrols identified and pursued the vehicle through south-east London with Metropolitan Police. The car collided with a police vehicle and Simms was detained in the driver’s seat. A bag containing a long screwdriver, gloves and a hammer discarded during the pursuit was recovered by a police dog handler. Simms, from Southwark, Greater London, was charged with burglary, dangerous driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

Tyresse Johnson, 24, of Rainham, among masked intruders in violent house raid in Coxheath near Maidstone two days before Christmas. Armed with machete and crowbar, forced entry, savagely beat the two brothers. Baby and partner present. Stole 2-3kg cannabis and Tissot watch.

Thomas O’Sullivan was involved in a targeted aggravated burglary at an elderly couple's home in Medway on the evening of 12 January 2026. He had previously been befriended by the victims and used his inside knowledge to assist in planning the burglary, including mapping out the property and identifying valuables. During the incident the victims were assaulted and locked inside while watches, jewellery, and mobile phones were stolen.

Dono subjected his ex-partner to controlling and coercive behaviour during a 17-month relationship, isolating her from friends, monitoring her phone, damaging their flat, and using derogatory language. On 14 June 2025 in Tunbridge Wells, he punched her jaw around seven times while driving at about 40mph, threw her phone out of the window, and pushed her shoulder so that she fell from the open car door. He continued to harass her after the relationship ended, including making hundreds of calls, breaking into her home, and pressuring her not to support the prosecution while he was on remand.

Stephen Roche visited a pub near London Road in Rainham on 18 April 2025, approached a child he did not know, spoke to them briefly, and touched them under their clothing. The child immediately reported the incident to a relative and police were notified. Roche was arrested later the same day and charged with sexual assault.

Warren Young attacked a security van driver during a cash delivery in Rainham, Medway on 25 September 2019. He wrestled a cash box from the driver before fleeing in a black Nissan Qashqai driven by Samnit Sidhu. Police used ANPR to track the stolen vehicle and arrested Sidhu the same day. Young was arrested the next day and around £10,000 in cash was found hidden in a basement carrier bag at his home.

Solomon Howard, 24, of Gillingham, among masked intruders in violent house raid in Coxheath near Maidstone two days before Christmas. Armed with machete and crowbar, forced entry, savagely beat the brothers. Baby and partner present. Stole 2-3kg cannabis and Tissot watch.

Stephen Chambers, 35, of Maidstone, attempted to break into a property on 16 June 2019. After failing to get in through the front door, he smashed a glass conservatory door at the back to gain entry. Two alert residents spotted him acting suspiciously, found signs of forced entry, chased him down, and held him until police arrived. CCTV footage later showed Chambers tampering with the front door using pieces of a paint roller through the letterbox. He was charged with burglary.

Stephen Madge repeatedly abused a teenage boy throughout 1993 while working with a charity project. He developed an obsessive fixation on the victim, whom he first met in 1993. The abuse came to light in November 2014 when Kent Police were informed. He was arrested at his home in Sevenoaks in May 2015. Despite his denials, a jury found him guilty of all six counts of indecent assault.

Shafiullah Rasooli, 29, an Afghan asylum seeker, sexually assaulted two women while working as a delivery driver in Maidstone. On 26 June 2025, during a delivery, he called at a woman's home, asked for her date of birth, stepped onto her porch uninvited, put his arm around her and groped her breast. He offered her wine and returned with two bottles, continuing the assault, and later saved her number and called twice the following day. On 3 July 2025, he entered a second woman's flat without permission, asked personal questions and sexually assaulted her. Both victims were strangers to him.

Samuel Tesefay, 28, from Crystal Palace, was released from custody after an unrelated arrest. Frustrated that his laptop and phone were held, he asked for contact numbers and met a detective outside Medway Police Station. He suddenly punched the detective repeatedly in the head and kicked her in the back, causing facial injuries including a fractured cheekbone. He fled but was found hiding in bushes and arrested.

On 24 June 2023, Rhys McGown entered a store in Lonsdale Drive, Gillingham, with his face concealed by a t-shirt before leaving the premises. Ten minutes later he returned holding a house brick and followed an employee behind the counter. McGown demanded cash from the till and the victim, who feared for his safety, handed him £200. McGown ran from the store. He was captured on CCTV, an appeal was issued, and on 1 July he handed himself in at Medway Police Station. He was charged with robbery.

Samnit Sidhu acted as the getaway driver for Warren Young during the robbery of a security van driver in Rainham, Medway on 25 September 2019. He drove a black Nissan Qashqai and was arrested later that day in Grays, Essex. Police seized his mobile phones which contained messages linking him to the crime and placing him at the scene. Officers also found drugs, scales, CS spray, and £3,000 in cash in the vehicle.

Paul Reed, 56, of Chatham, committed a series of sexual assaults between December 2017 and March 2019 in Maidstone and Chatham. He disguised himself as an elderly woman, wearing women's clothing and covering his face with a scarf, to approach female victims at bus stops. In December 2017, he approached a schoolgirl at a bus stop in Maidstone, started a conversation, and then touched her inappropriately. On 30 December 2018, he sat next to a woman at a Chatham bus stop, chatted about the cold, and then touched her. In March 2019, on Chatham High Street, he approached another woman, wrapped a scarf around her shoulders, and touched her. He breached a Sexual Harm Prevention Order that prohibited him from approaching unknown women and covering his face in public.

On 1 May 2017 in Wildernesse Avenue, Sevenoaks, a gang including Hamill used a Skoda Octavia fitted with police markings and blue lights to approach a home. One man posed as a police officer to gain entry, then four masked offenders, one with a sawn-off shotgun, forced their way in after cutting a hole in a fence. The victim was pushed to the floor and threatened, while a relative locked herself in a cupboard and triggered an alarm. The gang fled empty-handed. The fake police car was later set on fire in Nottingham. Hamill was identified as one of the main offenders.

During the early evening of 23 October 2023, Michael Briggs entered a store in the High Street, Wrotham, purchased some crisps, left the premises, and a few minutes later returned armed with a knife. He threatened a shop assistant with the weapon and demanded money from the cash till. The victim refused and when another customer came in, he agreed to leave. Police were alerted and when patrols arrived, he was located and told to put down the knife. When Briggs refused and put his hand in a pocket where the weapon was suspected to be located, further warnings were given before an officer discharged a Taser. He was arrested and a craft knife was seized.