Maidstone Crown Court Sentencing Results

Lee Wooding, aged 65, from McAlpine Crescent, Maidstone, abused children over a period dating back 20 years. His offences included filming himself licking ice cream off children's stomachs due to his fetish for bellies and navels, grooming them with gifts, encouraging strip poker, kissing them, and making one touch his penis. The abuse was reported to police, leading to his denial and trial in November 2025 where he did not give evidence and accused victims of lying. Victims described confusion, fear, and numbness in impact statements.

Ryan Bamblett, 28, from Bishops Oak Ride, Tonbridge, stalked three former work colleagues over six years, causing serious alarm and distress. He excessively messaged one victim after she left her job in 2018, continuing despite blocks and police reports in April 2019, using withheld numbers and false names, and creating a fake social media profile in her name. He sent sexual messages and a photo of his penis to a second victim starting six months after she left a convenience store job in November 2022, with contacts every three to six months until June 2024, using another colleague's name. After a short intimate relationship ended in late 2022, he stared intensely at the third victim at their supermarket workplace, then made harassing calls from random numbers in summer 2024, including sounds of masturbation on at least four occasions. Victims reported feeling terrified, vulnerable, powerless, filled with dread, isolated, violated, and unsafe, leading to significant lifestyle changes.

On February 1, 2024, at around 6pm on St Williams Way, Rochester, a 30mph road, Charanjit Singh-Shokar drove his Volvo S60 at significant speed while over the alcohol limit (126mg in 100ml urine, limit 107mg) and traces of cocaine in system, rear-ending the victim's Kia Sportage which had pulled out from Fairlead Road junction. The impact propelled her vehicle 30 metres, flipping it onto its side, damaging a parked car and garden wall. The victim suffered eight broken ribs, two fractured vertebrae, collapsed lung, blood clots, requiring a week in induced coma and nearly a month in hospital; she has 30% lung capacity and heart damage. Defendant stayed at scene, assisted, but failed breath test. No charges for cocaine. The victim unable to drive, suffers ongoing pain and exhaustion.

On 20 April 2025, Djorn Anderson travelled with another man to Medway, where they approached a man believed to have been involved in a previous dispute. After a verbal altercation, the victim was pulled to the ground and stabbed. Anderson fled the scene, leaving the victim with serious injuries. Police stopped the car he was travelling in on the A2 at Gravesend about 90 minutes later and found blood-stained clothing. He was linked to the attack through CCTV and later pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.

On 20 April 2025, Andrew Wedderburn travelled with another man to Medway, where they approached a man believed to have been involved in a previous dispute. After a verbal altercation, the victim was pulled to the ground and stabbed. Wedderburn fled the scene, leaving the victim with serious injuries. Police stopped the car he was travelling in on the A2 at Gravesend about 90 minutes later and found blood-stained clothing. He was linked to the attack through CCTV and later pleaded guilty.

Raymond Copping, aged 62 from Fareham in Hampshire, committed multiple child sex offences spanning over 30 years, some in Maidstone. The abuse involved grooming through gifts and treats, performing a sex act on himself in a tent with a child, and continued despite apologies. He manipulated victims by threatening they would be hated and disbelieved. Arrested in 2021 after one victim reported him, prompting another to come forward. Victims suffered severe ongoing psychological harm including anxiety, nightmares, hypervigilance, and damaged trust and intimacy.

Ryan James set fire to his bedroom and living room and locked the door behind him, leaving neighbours in the building to scramble for their lives. He had stashed valuables in a local gym locker beforehand. Neighbours tried to kick down his door to save him, unaware he had already left. He was arrested two days later wandering the town centre.

David Francois, intoxicated after consuming alcohol at a family party, initially drove the Ford Transit van dangerously on the wrong side of the road, swerving and nearly crashing, before allowing his unlicensed and intoxicated cousin Tyron Francois to take over despite knowing he could not drive. He encouraged and coached Tyron during the dangerous driving, laughing and joking as captured on dashcam, leading to the fatal collision with the pedestrian victim on Luton Road, Chatham, Kent, on November 27, 2021. David remained at the scene but lied to police about driving and his alcohol consumption, and assaulted four officers. The jury convicted him of sharing responsibility for the victim's death.

Following a family party in Lordswood on 26 November 2021, Tryon Francois drove a Ford Transit van dangerously in Chatham after swapping seats with his cousin. He mounted pavements, struck brick walls and iron fences, and hit a wall where the victim was standing, throwing him into a front garden. The impact also ruptured a gas main. He attempted to flee the scene before being arrested. He pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

Tyron Francois was driving a Ford Transit van without a licence or insurance, under the influence of cocaine, when he struck and killed the pedestrian on Luton Road, Chatham, Kent, on November 27, 2021. The crash occurred shortly after swapping seats with his cousin, following a family party where both were intoxicated. Dashcam footage showed dangerous driving including swerving, clipping kerbs, jumping a red light, and the impact that threw the victim into a front garden, rupturing a gas main. He fled the scene and was arrested hours later, testing positive for cocaine.

On February 14, 2025, at around 10.10pm, Ionut Bejan was driving an Iveco box van overloaded with more than 5,000 kilograms (exceeding the 3,500kg limit) coast-bound on the M20 motorway between junctions eight and nine near Charing. Between 10.06pm and 10.17pm, he sent and edited nine messages on WhatsApp, including one edited message that cannot be done hands-free, and updated a group chat picture. Meanwhile, a family in a blue Kia Carens pulled onto the hard shoulder due to a suspected mechanical defect. The 71-year-old pedestrian victim exited the vehicle and was struck at speed by Bejan's van, resulting in his death at the scene.

On March 4, 2025, Shaun Packer, of Victoria Street, Sheerness, invited a friend to his house where they were drinking. Being on licence requiring regular drug tests and fearing failure, Packer asked the friend to provide a urine sample to falsify the test. Upon refusal, a fight ensued, and Packer smashed a bottle of vodka over the friend's head, then attempted to stab him with the broken bottle neck. The victim fled to a neighbour's house, received treatment from ambulance crew, and was hospitalized with a deep cut on his head. Packer was arrested and charged with wounding with intent. He initially pleaded not guilty at Maidstone Crown Court on April 4, 2025, but later pleaded guilty to wounding.

Andrew Cullis, 43, of Lynden Way in Swanley, was found in possession of a USB containing explicit images of children during a routine sex offender management check in February 2025.

Between March 28 and April 24, 2025, Kevin Scarnell, aged 59 from Fellows Road in Camden, London, repeatedly messaged a young teenage boy on a dating app, bombarding him daily with sexually explicit messages, details of his sexual preferences, obscene images, and videos. He asked to meet in a car park on the outskirts of Maidstone and, once a date and time were agreed, expressed excitement and got a haircut the day before. On April 25, 2025, he travelled to the agreed location near West Park Road in Maidstone in his blue Ford Fiesta. He was spotted suspiciously circling the car park by proactive patrols, arrested unable to explain his presence, and his mobile phone was seized.

Roy Humphreys, 82, of Broadway in Gillingham, abused two boys in the 1970s and another in the 2000s.

Glenn Swanson, 63, formerly of Gravesend, committed child sex offences; another victim came forward while he was already serving a jail term.

Stuart Wenham, previously convicted in 2023 for making indecent images of children and released from prison in March 2025, breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order by using an unregistered secret phone and a laptop. The phone contained 600 ‘pseudo-cartoon’ images linked to the sexual abuse of children, including an infant under a year old. He illegally used a VPN, failed to declare the devices, and deleted internet history. He was arrested on 6 June 2025 after police suspected he was using two phones but had only notified them of one.

David Buisson carried out a premeditated burglary at the Watchfinder store in Bluewater shopping centre, Dartford, stealing 159 luxury watches worth £1.4 million. Between January and February 2025, he repeatedly travelled to the shopping centre using cloned number plates and was captured on CCTV. He used a camcorder to film staff movements and recorded a member of staff entering a safe PIN. On 7 February 2025, he accessed the roof with a telescopic ladder, cut a hole in the roof, retrieved a safe containing keys, and used those keys to open the main safe and remove the watches. He was later arrested and some stolen watches and the camcorder were recovered.

Haydon Sheard, a registered sex offender from Medway, was found with 355 illegal images of children on his mobile phone during an unannounced police visit to his home on April 25. He had previously been convicted in 2018 for possessing and distributing indecent images of children, and was required to notify police of internet-enabled devices. Officers discovered undeclared devices and images, leading to his arrest and subsequent guilty plea.

Daniel Loughran, based in Armagh, Northern Ireland, was involved in plotting to smuggle ten Vietnamese nationals, including eight children, into the UK by hiding them in a lorry with used tyres. The group planned the route from France through Belgium, charging each migrant £15,000, and communicated about hiding instructions and potential risks. The attempt was foiled by authorities.

Eoin Nolan, residing in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, conspired to facilitate the illegal entry of ten Vietnamese nationals, including eight children, into the UK. The plan involved hiding them in a lorry loaded with used tyres, transporting them from France through Belgium, and charging each migrant £15,000. The operation was intercepted by authorities in March 2020.

Lee Drury, 35, of Borough Green Road, Wrotham, placed his iPhone in a dislodged ceiling tile to spy on a woman showering at Snap Fitness gym in Tonbridge on June 9, 2023. He was found in possession of an illegal image of a child in the most serious category. Further investigation revealed additional indecent images on another phone. In August 2024, he initiated contact with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old child, making explicit requests and sending pornographic content.

Michael Millson, 39, from Chatham, was released from prison on licence but breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order by possessing an undeclared mobile phone with banned apps and software that allowed file sharing and anonymised browsing. Officers found several indecent images on the device. He was arrested on June 26, 2024, and faced 18 charges related to these breaches and the creation of indecent images.