Maidstone Crown Court Sentencing Results

Valentin Ciobotaru, along with Gheorghe Ciobotaru and Gabriel Zaharia, targeted jewellery at addresses in north and west Kent and Essex. On 5 February 2022, they travelled to Sevenoaks in a silver Mercedes, forced a window open at a house in Hillydeal Road, and targeted further addresses in Shoreham Lane Sevenoaks, Leyton Cross Road Dartford, and Summerhouse Drive Bexley. They ransacked the premises and stole jewellery. They were also responsible for two burglaries in Loughton, Essex on 4 February 2022. Arrested on 9 February 2022 in the Mercedes in Ilford, Greater London.

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.

West Higgins made an unsolicited offer to carry out gardening work at the elderly victim's Rochester home and received a small advance payment. On 6 November 2020, despite completing no work, he attended the address to collect further payment. He convinced the victim to provide food, then as she retrieved items from the freezer, he pushed her against kitchen cupboards, placed one hand around her neck, and removed two gold rings from her finger, attempting to remove others. The victim suffered significant bruising and a cut to her finger but reported the offence to Kent Police immediately after he fled. Higgins was arrested the following day.

Wilfred Grant and Gary Parks ransacked a property in Brook Street, Snodland, entering a caravan contained within a gated area on 16 September 2020. They stole cash, jewellery, personal items including a wedding ring and cufflinks, push bikes, a motorcycle, and possessions belonging to the victim’s children. They were identified on CCTV and arrested the following month. Grant also committed a separate offence of vehicle interference by trying to steal from a car parked in Rochester High Street on 21 July 2020.

William Burton was part of a prolific gang of burglars who targeted homes across Kent and London between 21 November 2019 and 2 April 2020, breaking in during hours of darkness to steal car keys and vehicles from driveways, including four addresses in Larkfield and Maidstone with Ryan Hull, and a further 29 break-ins in areas including Whitstable, Canterbury, Tonbridge, Borough Green, Medway towns, Sevenoaks.

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.

Wayne Pickett, aged 24, was involved in a series of burglaries targeting homes across west Kent alongside Freddie Stephens and Brett Smith between May and September 2017. He was arrested on 28 September 2017 after police observed a stolen Audi and later intercepted the group returning in a Land Rover. Forensic evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, linked him to a stolen Seat Leon. He admitted his role in the raids and was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court.

William Saunders, a 35-year-old man from Maidstone, carried out a violent robbery on three young men who were socialising in Mangravet Recreation Ground near his home in Camp Way at around 10.30pm on 25 July 2020. He approached them appearing friendly, then returned and assaulted them by kicking in the face, punching, beating with a heavy torch, demanding money, alcohol and phones, shining torch in eyes, threatening further harm and to kill. He marched one victim home demanding money from relatives, stole £24 from a wallet, left others with an associate under threat. Further struggle with kicks and beating. Fled scene; arrested at home next morning.

Williams Jean-Michel Andres, along with Jorge Bravo and Jorge Espinoza, travelled from London to Kent in a Ford Focus on 8 November 2022. They smashed windows to enter two houses near Maidstone Road, Borough Green and Field Mill Road, Egerton near Ashford, stealing expensive watches, rings, tablets, cameras and bank cards. The gang also targeted a third house in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, stealing more items. Total value stolen exceeded £37,000. They were stopped by Surrey police near Hammersmith, arrested, and stolen property recovered from the vehicle.

Kathleen Perry gained access to the bank card of the 91-year-old victim, who had Alzheimer's disease, by visiting her home in Maidstone on 15 November and snatching the card. She and her daughter Siobhan then used the card over several days to make fraudulent cash withdrawals and purchases totalling £2,303, including cigarettes, vapes, trainers, a Samsung phone, and money from a Tesco cashpoint. The victim's family described how the experience left the victim frightened to answer her door and distrustful of carers, ultimately forcing her to leave the home where she had lived for 20 years.

Joseph Hoadley and Grant Searle stole an ATM from Northfleet Food and Wine on High Street using a Ford Transit van to ram raid the shop front on 28 November 2019, causing £11,000 damage. Hoadley entered the premises and attached a cord to the ATM which was pulled free. They also robbed staff at a Co-op in Talbot Lane, Ebbsfleet on 8 December 2019 using threats and a hammer to access the safe. Additionally, they committed burglaries targeting homes in Gravesend, Dartford and Meopham between 25 November and 4 December 2019, stealing vehicles, a car, an air rifle and a luxury watch.

On 1 May 2017 in Wildernesse Avenue, Sevenoaks, a gang including Meizen 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. Meizen was identified as one of the main offenders.

Joseph Mooney, 44, from Enfield, London, falsely advertised himself as a professional masseur using a Facebook platform to target women in Medway and Swale, offering discounts under the guise of being a newly qualified masseur. He attended addresses of their choice, started massages, and then sexually assaulted the victims. Some victims were shown his false qualifications and noted he appeared sexually aroused during the treatments. Further victims were identified during the investigation into his bogus business.

On 14 July 2022, Joseph Tullett approached a man waiting to withdraw cash from an ATM in Chatham High Street, engaged him in conversation, then suddenly pushed him over and stole the money as it was dispensed. Tullett was identified by local officers from CCTV near the scene and arrested on 20 July.

Joshua Bragg was part of a criminal gang that broke into seven addresses in Dartford and Gravesend between 1 April and 17 May 2023. The gang forced open front doors in the middle of the night, stealing car keys for high-value BMWs and Mercedes parked outside, along with jewellery, phones and computer tablets. The burglars travelled from Essex to commit the offences.

Joshua Hamilton, of Rankine Road, Tunbridge Wells, subjected a former partner to a series of violent assaults and sustained mental abuse during 2020 and 2021. The abuse included repeatedly beating the victim by punching, kicking and treading on her feet, pulling her hair, striking her with a belt, grabbing her violently around the throat, forcing her to stand in the corner facing a wall, controlling and monitoring her movements, and making repeated threats to kill or harm her. He was arrested in April 2020.

Between 2 and 5 August 2020, Keir Jackson went to a commercial premises in Abbey Fields and broke in by forcing open some doors. Whilst there, he stole a quantity of tools valued at around £12,000. The owners discovered the burglary and alerted the police. Crime Scene Investigators attended and recovered Jackson’s fingerprint from a barrel he had moved at the property. Jackson was arrested on 17 September and later charged with the burglary.

Keith Cranley, 42, of Shipwrights Avenue, Chatham, provided transport for violent house raid in Coxheath near Maidstone two days before Christmas. Five masked intruders including machete and crowbar attacked the brothers, who fought back. Baby and partner present. Stole 2-3kg cannabis and Tissot watch.

On 24 April 2018, police responded to a disturbance at James Road, Cuxton, where Keith Harrison, 34, of Charles Drive, was found acting erratically after using cocaine. During questioning, an unrelated assault allegation led to his arrest. While being taken to hospital, Harrison became violent, forcing police to pull over on the M2 motorway. He kicked an officer repeatedly in the vehicle, forced open the passenger door with his foot, and when an officer tried to shut it, kicked again, nearly pushing her into traffic. Outside the van, he bit and kicked officers in the face, causing injuries including a dislocated thumb, fractured wrist, and serious bruising.