CRIMINALS in Dorset who were put behind bars in May include a murderer, an attempted murderer and a knife-point robber.
Last month saw a raft of offenders who committed serious crimes appear in the dock, with many leaving the court room out the back door to the cells.
The list below includes 12 offenders that were sent to prison by judges in May 2021.
This included two cases in which life sentences were imposed, with minimum terms of 16 years and nine months and 14 years, respectively. The other 10 defendants were jailed for a total of more than 38 years.
Some of them might be released on licence part way through their time behind bars, while some cases saw extended licence periods issued as the judge ruled the criminal in the case was a "dangerous offenders".
All of the defendants lived in Dorset, with their cases heard at Bournemouth Crown Court, Winchester Crown Court and Stafford Crown Court
The offenders' names and a summary of what led to them appearing in the dock are as follows:
Theodore Adekoya
A MAN was sentenced to five years and three months in prison after admitting a series of robbery offences in Bournemouth.
Theodore Adekoya, 24 and of Mallard Road, Bournemouth, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, May 17, after admitting two charges of robbery, four counts of attempted robbery and three offences of possessing a bladed article.
Four of the robbery offences occurred within a period of less than two hours on the night of Tuesday, November 24, 2020.
Following a police search after his final offence on the evening of December 3, last year, Adekoya was arrested and the knife was recovered. He was linked to his earlier crimes through CCTV enquiries and descriptions given by the victims.
DC Christian Bryant, of Dorset Police’s Priority Crime Team, said: “Theodore Adekoya was responsible for a series of offences where he mainly targeted young men and either threatened his victims openly with a knife or made them believe he was in possession of one.
“Everyone has the right to feel safe when they go out in the evening in our communities and these must have been frightening experiences for the victims involved.”
Read more: Bournemouth students targeted by knife-wielding robber for their phones
Kevin Sherwood and Kevin Mark Sherwood
A father and son who overcharged elderly victims by thousands of pounds for building work at their homes have been jailed.
Kevin Sherwood senior, 62 and of Wimborne Road, Bournemouth, and Kevin Mark Sherwood junior, also known as Kevin Doe, 39 and of Craigmoor Avenue, Bournemouth, were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Tuesday, May 18. They had both been found guilty following a trial at the same court of two charges of fraud by false representation.
They were both sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s case was that the Sherwoods targeted two elderly residents, one in Corfe Mullen aged in his 80s and one in Poole aged in his 70s in 2017.
They pocketed £50,000 for roof work in Poole in July 2017 which chartered surveyor Philip Sealy said was only worth £8,600.
The second victim was charged £126,000 for work believed to be valued at £40,000, although the work was deemed unnecessary, and the jury decided the amount the Sherwood’s dishonestly took was £76,000.
Sherwood junior then banked the money, before sending it to members of his family and spending it on gambling.
Mitigating for Sherwood senior, Malcolm Gibney told the court the work carried out was to a good standard and the valuations were up for debate, with the money the Sherwood’s took totalling at £77,000 for both counts.
Mitigating for Sherwood junior, Nick Robinson said the defendant played a “secondary role” and that he followed his father, viewing him as a “God-like figure”.
Read more: Father and son from Bournemouth jailed for rogue roof work
Jordan Philips
A COCAINE dealer who fled the country after his arrest was convicted nearly five years after his crimes.
Jordan Phillips was part of an organised crime gang which flooded Bournemouth with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs.
But he fled to countries including France, Vietnam, the Philippines and Spain leaving his co-conspirators to face the music at a trial in 2018.
Phillips, 32, of Brassey Road, Bournemouth, denied conspiracy to supply cocaine between April and November 2016 when he finally went on trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.
But he was found guilty and sentenced to nine years in jail.
He was also convicted of breaching bail conditions when he fled the country and given a further four months in custody.
Mark Robert Williams
A man was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years after two women and a teenage girl sustained serious injuries during two violent attacks in Bournemouth.
Mark Robert Williams, 37 and of Cecil Road in Bournemouth, appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, March 29, and admitted two counts of attempted murder, two counts of false imprisonment, committing grievous bodily harm with intent and sexual assault by penetration.
Williams, who had previously been jailed for offences of attempted rape and rape, dating back to 2008 and 2009, respectively, appeared at Winchester Crown Court on Friday, May 21, and was sentenced.
The Honourable Mr Justice Neil Garnham described the offences on the night of Thursday, February 18, this year and into the early hours of Friday, February 19, as “barbaric” in a “truly dreadful case”.
The defendant had been arrested at his home address earlier on February 18 on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children. Williams had a phone with internet access which he had no informed police about.
As a result he was in breach of a lifelong licence condition following release from his term of imprisonment for the rape and attempted rape offences. However, he was not detained in police custody and instead taking back to his flat.
Williams gathered tape, cable ties and a large knife into a draw string bag.
Dorset Police received a report of a stabbing at an address in the Charminster area of at 8.08pm.
Officers attended and located a woman aged in her 40s with a cut to her throat and abdomen, as well as a puncture wound to her thigh. A teenage girl who was also present at the address had a cut across her cheek.
One of the victims told officers at the scene that a man - Williams – had attended the address and attacked them, tied them up, gagged them and threatened to kill them.
The teenage girl was sexually assaulted by Williams.
At 11.59pm on the same day officers were called to reports of a woman screaming in Vale Road.
Williams had repeatedly stabbed her in the throat before leaving the scene.
The victim – a woman aged in her 30s – was found with a laceration to her throat. She was flown by air ambulance to hospital and required surgery due to the severity of her injuries.
Officers located Williams who was covered in blood and acting strangely in Old Christchurch Road.
As a police car pulled alongside him on the pavement, he fell to his knees, put his hands out and told officers he was they man they were looking for.
Having been arrested, he gave full accounts of what took place in interview.
Manuel Eugenio Caldeira
A MAN who inflicted life-changing injuries on another man in Boscombe after he insulted his mother has been jailed.
Manuel Eugenio Caldeira punched Joseph Cirilo Ascensio Fernandes outside Bar 7 in Christchurch Road before repeatedly kicking him while he was on the ground.
After the attack he went back into the pool bar and another customer recalled him saying "I've finished him".
Mr Fernandes, aged in his 60s, was discovered in a doorway and he was rushed to hospital although this more than 20 minutes after the assault.
The victim was placed in an induced coma in the critical care unit at Poole Hospital with head injuries.
Nine days later he suffered a seizure and was diagnosed as having a stroke and pneumonia. He is currently living in support accommodation, using a powered wheelchair.
The defendant, of Randolph Road, Bournemouth, was due to face trial for an allegation of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, however, the court heard due to issues tracing eye witnesses who had left the country, the crown accepted a guilty plea to a charge of inflicting grievous bodily harm last month.
Judge Robert Pawson jailed Caldeira, 57, for 22 months at Bournemouth Crown Court on May 26 after telling him immediate custody was the "only appropriate punishment given the seriousness of the consequences" his attack had on the victim.
Robert Gregory
A BOURNEMOUTH man was put behind bars for terrorism offences after his phone contained content relating to the manufacturing of a bomb.
Robert Gregory, 24, had his mobile phone seized back in April 2019 after concerns were raised about searches that had been made on the device.
A detailed review of his mobile phone revealed that instructional videos on the manufacture of a small explosive device and an electronic timer had been viewed, or otherwise accessed.
This activity took place on April 13 and the phone was seized 13 days later.
Gregory, of Bournemouth, was charged and pleaded guilty to two charges contrary to section 58(1)(c) of the Terrorism Act 2000.
These were that he viewed, or otherwise accessed, by means of the internet a document or record containing information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
He entered the guilty pleas at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, April 1, 2021, and was sentenced at the same court on May 7.
The court heard Gregory fantasised about killing former Prime Minister Theresa May and blowing himself up in a mosque.
Judge Jane Miller QC jailed Gregory for four-and-a-half years and made him subject to an extended licence period for a further six years.
The defendant will also be subject to a terrorism notification order, which means he will be closely monitored for a period of 30 years.
- Read more: Aspiring terrorist 'fantasised about killing Theresa May'
- Read more: Man jailed for terrorism offences over bomb making content on phone
Allan Craig Cunningham
A SERIAL criminal attempted to burgle a Christchurch home which he had previously stolen a sentimental ring from.
Allan Craig Cunningham, 38, tried to gain access to the property in the middle of the day when its residents were out.
After he failed to get into the Bridge Street home via the back doors, he left the area. A judge described his explanation for being there as “frankly ludicrous”.
Cunningham, of Millfield, Poole, was jailed at Bournemouth Crown Court for four years and four months on May 4.
This was after he was found guilty at a trial earlier this year of the attempted burglary.
He admitted two counts of assault by beating, aggravated vehicle taking without consent, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and possession of a bladed article domestic incident in August 2020.
Joseph Anthony Farrell
A MAN who shocked a complete stranger when he broke into their home and fell asleep on the sofa was put behind bars.
Joseph Anthony Farrell put a brick through the back door of the property in Poole before taking food from the fridge.
The 43-year-old “made himself at home” in the early hours on February 19.
The homeowner phoned police after he came downstairs in the morning to find Farrell asleep at the address in Hennings Park Road, Oakdale.
Judge Brian Forster QC jailed Farrell, whose address was given as Cromwell Road, Weymouth, for eight months at Bournemouth Crown Court on May 7 after he pleaded guilty to burglary and breach of a suspended sentence order.
The court heard the defendant, who had been remanded in custody, has schizophrenia and was receiving support in the medical wing at the prison.
The judge said it was crucial a package of support was in place for when Farrell is released, including accommodation, or he is likely to reoffend immediately.
Lewis Crofts
A POOLE man was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 16 years and nine months behind bars for the murder of a woman who he had been in a relationship with.
Lewis Crofts repeatedly stabbed Kimberley Deakin to the face, neck and chest at her home in Stoke-on-Trent.
Crofts, 30 and of Lytchett Drive, Broadstone, had become “paranoid” about Ms Deakin seeing the father of her child Matthew Bloor.
After she flew back from Jersey with Mr Bloor and arrived at her home on November 6 last year, the defendant attacked the 29-year-old inside the address in Leigh Street, Burslem.
She was seen by neighbours in the street covered in blood before being taken to hospital, where she died a short time later.
Crofts fled the scene in Ms Deakin's Vauxhall Corsa before he was arrested by police in Northampton with blood stains on his hands, clothes and inside the vehicle.
At a Stafford Crown Court hearing on May 4, Judge Kristina Montgomery QC told Crofts his offence was one of the “gravest character” and he took the life of a "much-loved mother".
The defendant pleaded guilty to murder at a pre-trial review hearing in April.
- Read more: 'Evil monster' will serve at least 16 years and 9 months in prison for murder
- As it happened: Poole man is sentenced for murder of woman at her home in Stoke
- Read more: Family of murder victim say 'there will never be enough justice'
Ryan Michael Moors
A MAN who left his girlfriend with a broken arm and a fractured nose in two separate violent attacks has been put behind bars.
Ryan Michael Moors, 26, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, May 7, after he admitted offences of inflicting grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.
Moors, of Grove Road, Wimborne, also admitted breaching a suspended sentence and was jailed for a total of three years. A restraining order was also put in place for an indefinite period, prohibiting him from contacting his victim.
A detective described his offences as "despicable" and "completely unacceptable" on a woman who is around five years younger than the defendant.
On Monday, June 15, 2020, the victim attended Poole General Hospital and claimed she had injured her left arm by falling over in the bedroom of her partner’s address the previous night.
She was accompanied by Moors and staff noticed she appeared nervous around the defendant.
Following X-rays it was confirmed that the victim had sustained a fracture to her forearm. Medics noted that the injuries were more consistent with defensive injuries rather than from a fall and that the woman appeared to be holding her ribs on her left side, but denied her ribs had been injured.
Hospital staff then saw the defendant shouting at the victim as they left hospital.
The following day it was reported to police by a third party that the victim had been injured, with the injuries believed to have been sustained at the hands of Moors, and concerns were raised for her welfare.
Following enquiries, Moors was arrested and police learned about a previous assault from January 2020.
- Read more: Violent boyfriend who left partner with broken arm and fractured nose is jailed
- Read more: Man who attacked his partner had previous for assaulting women
Mirent Chotza
A MAN who dealt cocaine on the streets of Bournemouth was jailed for more than two years.
Mirent Chotza's criminal behaviour came to the attention of police after officers stopped the vehicle he was driving in Surrey Road and found a small amount of the class A drug near the steering wheel.
A subsequent search of his address in Nelson Road unearthed a much larger amount of a similar batch of cocaine in a false ceiling.
Police seized 41 wraps of cocaine, as well as herbal cannabis and cash from the property.
The value of the cocaine at street level was in excess of £4,000, while the cannabis was just over £1,000.
Officers found a total of £2,370 at the defendant's address, which was to be forfeited following a court order.
Judge Stephen Climie jailed the 25-year-old for two years and four months at Bournemouth Crown Court on May 18 after telling the defendant class A drugs are "endemic" in the United Kingdom and "ruining lives".
If you are interested in court and crime news, you might be interested in joining our dedicated Facebook group, which provides updates from across the county. To find out more, click here.
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