CRIMINALS jailed in February include a convicted paedophile, drug dealers busted in a hotel room full of cocaine, and a drink driver who left a motorcyclist needing a leg amputated.
Here are the people jailed for Dorset and New Forest offences throughout February 2023.
Robert Taylor
A man who committed a “significant” number of child sexual offences against a girl has been jailed.
Robert Taylor, aged 61, groomed and manipulated the 15-year-old and carried out the criminal behaviour over a three-month period.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard when the girl disclosed what had taken place to police, officers found more than 2,600 indecent images of her on the defendant’s phone.
Taylor, of Surrey Road, Poole, was found guilty of three counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a child and one count of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child aged 13 to 15.
He was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Caleb Ollie Johnson and Sonny Michael Foster
Two burglars smashed their way into a house in broad daylight and stole a child’s life savings as they ransacked the family home.
Caleb Ollie Johnson and Sonny Michael Foster’s first attempt to raid the Canford Heath address was only successful in setting off an alarm.
The pair, one of whom was in possession of a hunting knife, left the address but returned minutes later and broke in by smashing a window.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard they stole nearly £1,500 which belonged to a 12-year-old girl, as well as between £800 and £900 and a bank card belonging to her parents.
Judge Robert Pawson, who jailed both defendants at the hearing on February 2, said the crime committed on February 2 last year was a “comedy of errors or at least it would have been had it not been so serious".
Foster, 40 and of Thorncombe Close in Poole, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years’ imprisonment and Johnson, 23 and of Bindon Close in Parkstone, was jailed for eight years.
Avisen Goyanda
A man who committed an early hours attack with a glass bottle, permanently scarring his victim, has been jailed.
Avisen Goyanda ran around 100 yards down Old Christchurch Road in Bournemouth to arm himself with two bottles.
He returned to the scene where an altercation had broken out between two groups of men.
CCTV footage played at Bournemouth Crown Court showed him strike a man round the head with the glass flying off into the face of another man.
The man who was struck first suffered a deep laceration to the side of his head with a wound which left a four-inch scar.
The incident took place in the early hours of Saturday, June 30, 2018.
Goyanda, 23 and of Five Acres, Northgate in Crawley, was jailed for three years and eight months at a hearing on February 7, having previously pleaded guilty to offences of wounding with intent and wounding.
William Sheen
A serial burglar who stole from several businesses, including charity collections, in an “insidious” spate of crimes has been jailed.
William George Sheen, 26 and of Clarks Close in Ringwood, pleaded guilty to five burglaries in the New Forest.
He burgled ORA Beauty and Flip ‘N Tails Seafood in New Milton on the same day in November last year.
The following morning he burgled the Superpet store in Station Road and stole three charity boxes containing change. Later that day he then burgled the Tidal Vape store.
Earlier in 2022, Sheen burgled an address in Cloughs Road, Ringwood, where a quantity of jewellery, cash, and cigarette packets were stolen.
Sheen was identified through CCTV and DNA evidence. He was sentenced to 28 months in prison.
Sergeant Rob Ford, of the Ringwood Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “The sentence reflects the insidious nature of these crimes and the effect that they have had on the victims.”
Elias Gananca Da Cova
A drink driver who was almost four times the limit was responsible for a head-on crash which led to a motorcyclist having his leg amputated at the scene.
Elias Gananca Da Cova was seen swerving across the road and mounting the kerb in the minutes before he crashed into motorcyclist Michael Bouch in Richmond Park Road, Bournemouth.
A member of the public used their belt as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from his leg. Medics attended the scene by helicopter and amputated Mr Bouch’s right leg below the knee before he was taken to hospital.
One witness, who assisted Da Cova out of his Vauxhall Astra, described the vehicle as having an “overwhelming smell of alcohol” which was “almost like ethanol”.
The 60-year-old driver, who had a dozen previous drink driving convictions, was revving the car after the crash but he was unable to drive off, the court heard.
He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. Alongside the prison sentence, Da Cova was disqualified from driving for 11 years and eight months and ordered to pay £2,000 compensation.
Rachel Martin
A former prison officer has been jailed for 16 months after having an 'explicit' relationship with a Dorset inmate.
Rachel Martin was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court for misconduct in a public office and encouraging the possession of a mobile phone in prison.
Her relationship with prisoner Raymond Abraham is said to have taken place between November 1, 2020, and March 8, 2021, during which time messages 'of an explicit nature' were sent and hundreds of phone calls made.
The 25-year-old, who was 23 at the time of the offences, worked at HMP Guys Marsh near Shaftesbury.
She was receiving "large payments into her bank account" to fund shopping sprees and pay bills, the court heard.
Martin also admitted to supplying Abraham with high value designer clothes and footwear as well as female underwear - the latter of which was confiscated from his cell.
She was sentenced to 16 months in jail and burst into tears as the judge passed sentence.
Rubinthan Rasiah-Eswaranathan
A man involved in a drug dealing operation was busted by police after they found a bag containing hundreds of wraps of class A drugs in a hotel room booked in his name.
Rubinthan Rasiah-Eswaranathan was arrested by officers carrying out enquiries at the Carrington Hotel after £5,710 worth of heroin and cocaine was found in his room.
The 23-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and one count of possession of criminal property.
Police were led to the Carrington Hotel after making enquiries at the Heathlands Hotel following the arrest of a 16-year-old on suspicion of drug offences. He was in possession of a pass card for the latter accommodation and this room had been booked in Rasiah-Eswaranathan’s name.
A black bag found under the bed contained 379 wraps of cocaine and 192 wraps of heroin, as well as £900 in cash.
Rasiah-Eswaranathan was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
Sean Jonathan Cooper
A man who broke into a rural home before being caught by police using DNA analysis has been jailed.
Sean Jonathan Cooper, 28 and of Narrowleaf Drive in Ringwood, pleaded guilty to the offence of burglary following an offence in November last year.
On November 6, 2022, between 3am and 1pm, Cooper broke into a home in Bowerwood Road in Fordingbridge through a downstairs bathroom window.
Cooper was identified after a blood sample was found in the bathroom, and two fingerprints were found on broken glass from the window.
A further four burglaries, all committed by Cooper in September 2022, were taken into consideration by the sentencing judge.
Cooper was jailed for a total of 29 months in prison.
Ashley Martin Timothy Smedburg
A driver led police on a high-speed pursuit along the A31 and through a caravan park before he was bundled to the ground by a member of the public.
Dash camera footage shows how a group of people, including a child and a woman with a pram, “frantically” had to get out of the way of the Audi car being driven by Ashley Smedburg on June 3 last year.
The defendant, 34 and of New Street in Ringwood, was being pursued by police after he was clocked travelling at 74mph in a 50mph zone on the A31 in St Leonards.
After continuing on the dual carriageway for a short time, Smedburg turned off the main road and struck a hedge to the left.
He then sped past the pedestrians as he entered St Leonards Farm Caravan & Camping Park and narrowly avoided a collision with a delivery van.
Smedburg then existed the vehicle and was tackled by a member of the public before before officers detained him.
When questioned about the incident, Smedburg said he drove off because he was already disqualified and he had two wraps of cocaine on his person.
He was jailed for 10 months in prison and disqualified from driving for five years and five months.
Gideon Yeboah and Mohammed Khan
Two young men who were busted in a Bournemouth hotel with numerous wraps of cocaine and heroin have been jailed.
Gideon Yeboah, 19, and Mohammed Khan, 18, were caught red handed in a room at the Ocean Beach Hotel in Boscombe on November 30 last year.
Officers entered the hotel room in East Overcliff Drive before Yeboah and Khan attempted to flee. Yeboah engaged in a struggle with one of the officers before assaulting him.
Khan, meanwhile, was apprehended after a short chase. In total, police found nine wraps of cocaine and 18 wraps of heroin within the room.
Upon arriving at Bournemouth Police Station, a search of Yeboah found a quantity of cannabis, while a search of Khan found he was stashing a wrap of secreted cocaine and heroin in his buttocks.
Sentencing Judge Stephen Climie recognised the defendants represented “classic recruitment” for county lines and stated their age was a “very important factor” in his sentencing.
Khan was sentenced to two years in prison, plus a further six months for an earlier offence relating to carrying a knife in public to which he pleaded guilty.
Yeboah was sentenced to two years, plus a further two months for the assault of the police officer, which he also admitted.
Adam Matthew Weeks
A convicted paedophile has been jailed after admitting to sexually abusing children under the age of 13.
Adam Matthew Weeks, 25 and of Christchurch, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to several offences.
These were two charges of sexual assault of a child under 13, four offences of taking indecent images of a child, six charges of making indecent photographs of a child and two counts of causing of inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
In July last year, Weeks attended an appointment with his probation officer and offender manager in Bournemouth and handed his phone over for examination.
On his phone, they found a significant number of indecent images of young children as well as photographs and videos of the defendant sexually abusing a young child.
Weeks was arrested and officers from Dorset Police carried out searches of his home, seizing a number of digital devices.
Examination of these devices uncovered further indecent images as well as evidence of online communication with a child aged around nine from America.
Weeks was sentenced to eight years in prison and will also serve an extended licence period of a further four years.
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