Maidstone Crown Court Sentencing Results

During the morning of Thursday 8 February 2024, Gavin Lawless drove to High Halstow in a VW Polo and parked near the centre of the village. He then broke into a house while the residents were away and stole jewellery and watches, before returning home to Gillingham in the car. A neighbour noticed him acting suspiciously and took down the registration of his car, leading to his quick identification via CCTV and arrest on 9 February. Stolen items were recovered from a bag, the VW, and his home.

Freddie McPherson subjected his girlfriend to a campaign of abuse from August 2018 to May 2019 in Hawkhurst, Kent. He pushed her head into scalding hot cooking oil, choked her until she lost consciousness, beat her with a metal chair, and stamped on her. He also trapped her in their home, prevented her from seeking help, demanded access to her phone, and hurled insults at her, including telling her to take her own life. The abuse sometimes occurred in front of a young child.

From May to September 2017, Freddie Stephens carried out a crime spree across west Kent, stealing high-value cars, jewellery, and electrical goods from homes in Swanley, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Borough Green, Aylesford, and Biggin Hill. He was linked to at least 20 break-ins, sometimes acting alone. On 28 September 2017, police found a stolen Audi in Seal and waited nearby; when Stephens returned in a Land Rover with accomplices, he attempted to flee but was tackled and arrested. His DNA was discovered on a motorbike helmet from a Swanley burglary, and the Land Rover contained cloned number plates and burglary tools.

Jack Lee, 48, was one of two men who burgled a family home in Lower Halstow on 16 June 2018. The homeowner returned to find the house ransacked. CCTV captured the side of Lee's head as he prowled the property and showed their getaway car, a silver Ford Focus estate. Police tracked the car to an address Lee frequented and arrested both men. Lee was sentenced for two counts of burglary.

On 21 January 2019, Jack Reader entered the Chart Sutton store in Maidstone, brandishing an eight-inch knife. He threatened a female pensioner working alone and forced her to open the till before fleeing with approximately £100. He was quickly identified through CCTV footage showing his distinctive clothing, tattoos, and a mole beneath his ear, and was arrested days later still wearing the same clothes.

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.

Kieran Coll committed a two-year series of burglaries targeting homes, building sites and businesses in Surrey, Sussex and south London between August 2023 and June 2025. He stole £1,500 of tools from a building site on consecutive days and was linked by CCTV and forensic evidence to a November 2024 burglary in which £7,000 of tools were stolen from a furniture store. He failed to appear in court after being charged and continued offending. During the investigation he drove dangerously, abandoned a vehicle, and assaulted police officers, including injuring one officer, before being arrested in a supermarket car park.

Keith Cranley, 42, of 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, 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.

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.

Joseph Clarke, 46, broke into a residential property in Sittingbourne in 2019. He smashed a rear window and injured his hand, leaving a blood stain on a kitchen cupboard. He stole cash and a games console. The victims had left for church at 9:30am and returned three hours later to discover the burglary. DNA from the blood stain identified Clarke as the burglar. He pleaded guilty to burglary at Maidstone Crown Court on July 12 and was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment. The court heard he had no fixed address.

On 4 September 2018, John Gallagher, 49, turned up at a home in the Fant area of Maidstone wearing a high-vis tabard. Claiming a neighbour's flat was flooded, he told the woman in her 80s he needed to shut off the water supply. Once inside, he directed her into the kitchen and then went towards the bathroom, shouting instructions for her to turn taps on and off. The victim grew suspicious and ordered him to leave, but Gallagher had already stolen over £200 from her handbag. The entire episode was captured on CCTV, and he was arrested on 4 December 2018.

Jesse Eastwood spent months planning a targeted aggravated burglary at an elderly couple's home in Medway, which took place on the evening of 12 January 2026. During the incident the female victim was pulled to the ground and dragged inside while masked intruders attempted to rip rings from her fingers, and her husband was attacked with CS spray, beaten, and forced to hand over his watch. The attackers ransacked the home, stole watches and jewellery, locked the victims inside, and fled with their mobile phones.

Jason Wokeh, 20, of Woolwich, responded to online ad, viewed Rolex at Shepway address 9pm August 19, pulled 10-inch knife, threatened owner, stole watch worth >£10,000. CCTV identified, watch recovered.

Jason Bowers, 46, was one of two men who burgled a family home in Lower Halstow on 16 June 2018. The homeowner returned to find the house ransacked. CCTV captured the side of his accomplice's head and their getaway car, a silver Ford Focus estate. Police tracked the car to an address linked to the co-defendant and arrested both men near the vehicle. Bowers was found with the car's keys. He was convicted of two burglaries and also sentenced for driving while disqualified and uninsured.