Norwich Crown Court Sentencing Results

Mindaugas Grizas, 36, of no fixed address in Thetford, and another individual used a signal relay device to steal a Mercedes S Class from a driveway at 2.30am on April 7, 2025, in Breckland, Norfolk. The noise of the engine starting alerted the owner, who called police on 999. The car was stopped just 12 minutes later in Necton, where officers found the passenger wearing a balaclava, with the signal relay device in the footwell and a GPS jammer device still transmitting. Grizas was the driver.

Officers executed a warrant at the property in Pulham St Mary, on August 30, 2023, locating containers of suspected Class A (cocaine) and Class B (cannabis) drugs, as well as drug paraphernalia. Rumsey was arrested and taken to Wymondham Police Investigation Centre for questioning, later charged with a number of drug offences.

Justin Boydell, a senior loss adjuster at Criterion Adjusters, submitted fraudulent insurance claims worth over £160,000 between September 2015 and 2023. He used the identities of relatives, including his wife and deceased father-in-law, to open bank and email accounts, take out home insurance policies, and fabricate emails, reports and invoices to authorise payouts. He also created fictional contractors and kept recovered items including a Rolex Submariner watch worth £9,350 and artwork worth £2,750. His wife discovered the fraud in July 2023. He used the proceeds to overpay his mortgage and earn interest through savings accounts.

Paul Mathews, 62, and his son Dean Mathews, 40, both of Wisbech, engaged in an elaborate fraud scheme starting from 2021, purchasing reconditioned Tefal steam irons worth £400 at discounted prices, forging receipts to return them to Argos as if originally purchased there, and obtaining refunds totaling £136,000 through 528 transactions, often in the form of Argos gift cards. The scheme involved visiting multiple Argos stores using cars captured on CCTV. Suspicions arose from suspicious activity, leading to arrests in February 2024 and June 2024 after breaches of bail conditions and continued offending. Items seized included digital devices, steam irons, and bank cards hidden in a clock.

Paul Mathews, 62, and his son Dean Mathews, 40, both of Wisbech, engaged in an elaborate fraud scheme starting from 2021, purchasing reconditioned Tefal steam irons worth £400 at discounted prices, forging receipts to return them to Argos as if originally purchased there, and obtaining refunds totaling £136,000 through 528 transactions, often in the form of Argos gift cards. The scheme involved visiting multiple Argos stores using cars captured on CCTV. Suspicions arose from suspicious activity, leading to arrests in February 2024 and June 2024 after breaches of bail conditions and continued offending. Items seized included digital devices, steam irons, and bank cards hidden in a clock.

John Robson, from Gorleston, engaged in romance fraud by seeking out vulnerable women online and pretending to be in relationships with them to scam money and heirlooms. In 2021, he defrauded a woman in Bournemouth of over £7,000 by claiming it was for moving costs and family emergencies. In 2023, he took gold jewellery worth £10,000 from another victim under the pretense of cleaning it, which he pawned for £1,900, and also borrowed £150 for a motorhome that was never purchased. The offences occurred between 2021 and 2023.

Florin Petrache, 34, of no fixed abode and from the Great Yarmouth area, stole more than £50,000 worth of mobile phones, bank cards, and cash during a campaign of distraction thefts across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and the Thames Valley area. He would enter business premises like beauty salons, estate agents, dental surgeries and a library pretending to be Italian, introducing himself as ‘Mario’, and claiming to need help with translation, then using sleight of hand to steal phones and wallets. He was arrested on March 12, 2024, on the A149 between North Walsham and Cromer following a theft in Dersingham. Further investigations linked him to offences in February/March 2024 and a similar spree in October 2020, plus 58 further similar offences via Operation Converter.

Gabriel Stanescu, 22, of Ipswich, acted as the driver for Florin Petrache in a campaign of distraction thefts stealing more than £50,000 worth of mobile phones, bank cards, and cash from business premises like beauty salons, estate agents, dental surgeries and a library across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, and the Thames Valley area. He was arrested on March 12, 2024, on the A149 between North Walsham and Cromer following a theft in Dersingham, with stolen handsets found in the vehicle. Further investigations linked him to offences in February/March 2024 and 58 further similar offences via Operation Converter.

Wesley Theobald, a self-employed roofer, conned homeowners in Norwich, Ashill, and Dereham by performing unnecessary or shoddily-done work. He fleeced customers, including a vulnerable pensioner and a recently bereaved widow, out of tens of thousands of pounds. For instance, a widow paid nearly £60,500 for roof repairs that were not needed, leaving her home uninhabitable and requiring £65,000 to rectify. Another victim, a 73-year-old, lost almost £7,000 for incomplete garage roof repairs. The offences occurred while he was on licence from a previous jail sentence.

Donatas Kasputis, 35, of Costessey, operated as an international drug dealer on the dark web under usernames like 'Beatyhouse2015' and 'Goodgear'. He sold approximately 76kg of illegal drugs, including cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), and mephedrone (MCAT), over a 14-month period from May 2022 to July 2023. He dispatched parcels to over 550 buyers in the UK and internationally, with 174 parcels sent in a 24-day period. Kasputis was identified through a DNA profile shared with international partners, arrested in July 2023 at a Post Office in Norfolk with packages containing 4-MMC and cannabis, and further searches at his home uncovered 130g of cocaine, over 1,300 MDMA tablets, 6.4kg of mephedrone, and 1.4kg of cannabis.

Kirk Smith, 30, was the boss of the 'Wilson' drugs line, which sold crack cocaine. He sent messages advertising drugs between November 5, 2023, and February 22, 2024. He was arrested on March 4 in Suffolk Square, Norwich, after investigations identified him as the main holder of the line.

Erblin Topalli was the phone holder of a drugs line supplying class A drugs to addicts in Norwich between July and November 2022. He was identified through CCTV footage showing him topping up the phone at a shop in Aylsham Road. Police arrested him at a flat in Norwich, where they found up to £20,000 in cash hidden in shoeboxes and a sock, along with 15 deal-sized bags of cocaine and phones containing messages related to drug supply. He was caught with possession of criminal property as well.

On the morning of August 11, 2018, at a music festival at Houghton Hall in West Norfolk, a security guard saw Ahmed Fawole drop a small bag containing pills. A subsequent search revealed he had a further 50 small bags of white powder, which tests showed was amphetamine, plus four nitrous oxide canisters. They, plus cash and a mobile phone, were seized. A later search of his vehicle uncovered further canisters, zip bags with traces of cannabis, several hundred pounds in cash and cling film.

Peter McKenna was involved in a cocaine supply operation, using encrypted mobile phones to supply cocaine across Norfolk over several months. He was arrested at his home in January 2021 following police inquiries.

Dean Enifer was involved in a cocaine supply operation, using encrypted mobile phones to supply cocaine across Norfolk over several months. He was arrested at his home in January 2021 following police inquiries.

Jennifer Smith, a 50-year-old accountant from Wood Norton, exploited her position at a specialised agricultural enterprise to transfer £363,000 from business accounts to her personal banking reserves between 2019 and 2025. She used an un-monitored accounting position to manipulate ledger entries, masking the transfers as business expenses. The fraud went undetected for six years until discrepancies were identified by the company director in 2025.