CRIMINALS jailed in May include a murderer, a man snared by paedophile hunters in McDonald’s, and a drink driver who killed a woman and injured a baby.
Here are the people jailed for Dorset offences throughout May 2023.
Ashley Hickson
An offender with more than 50 previous convictions went on a period of dangerous driving which was compared to the video game Grand Theft Auto.
In a single morning, Ashley Hickson brought traffic chaos to main roads in Bournemouth.
During rush hour, the 29-year-old stole a car after forcing a schoolboy out of the vehicle and running over the foot of the boy’s mother as he tried to drive off.
Witnesses described him “swerving” across the road, crashing into vehicles and being on the wrong side of the road.
After dumping the car on the A338 Spur Road he got behind the wheel of another vehicle and drove in similar fashion, this time coming to a halt in a ditch near the A31.
Hickson, of Hesketh Close, St Ives, was found hiding injured in a bush.
Of Hickson’s driving, one witness said: “It was like a real-life version of the video game Grand Theft Auto.”
He was jailed for three years and disqualified from driving for four-and-a-half years.
Ermal Jahelezi
A drug dealer who was caught with more than £4,000 worth of cocaine just months after being arrested for possession of the same drug has been jailed.
Ermal Jahelezi gave false details to police when he was pulled over in a Mitsubishi in Holdenhurst Road, Bournemouth.
Officers combed his vehicle to find a quantity of cocaine.
Following his arrest, the 23-year-old was searched with police seizing a further stash of the class A drug with a total street value of around £4,100.
Just a few months before, police had found Jahelezi in possession of 39 bags of cocaine and £170 in cash.
Appearing at Bournemouth Crown Court in late April, he was jailed for three years and seven months.
Shane Bovey
A drink driver who killed a woman and injured a baby in a crash before hiding in a garden to try and escape police has been locked up.
Shane Bovey, 41, sped through Dorset from Lyme Regis at nearly 70mph in a stolen Mercedes before hitting and killing 48-year-old Nicole Bowden in Main Road, Mosterton, on February 8.
The speed limit in the village is 30mph.
He also seriously injured two other pedestrians, Emily Fox-Williams, 24 at the time, and an 11-month-old in the crash along the A3066.
He hid in a garden for three hours in a bid to evade police.
Bournemouth Crown Court learned that Bovey had been drinking heavily at The Royal Standard pub in Lyme Regis with a friend in the afternoon prior to the crash.
Addressing Bovey in the dock, Judge William Mousley KC said: “Your disgraceful driving has shattered the lives of a family.”
Bovey was jailed for 14 years.
He must serve two thirds of his sentence and has also been disqualified from driving for a further 10 years after his release.
Andrew Morgan
A man has been jailed after “viciously” attacking another man before threatening to kill him at a Tesco petrol station.
David Crego was punched and kicked by serial offender Andrew Morgan on the Tesco forecourt in Tower Park, Poole, after years of “ill-feeling” between the two.
The victim had just paid for petrol when he was “accosted” by 38-year-old Morgan on the morning of November 11 last year.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how the pair had never actually met but when Morgan saw Mr Crego he “completely lost his rag” due to their history, understood to involve a shared ex-partner.
CCTV showed Morgan punch the victim repeatedly in the head before hauling him to the ground and kicking him in the face.
When Morgan finished his assault, he told the victim: “If you grass on me, I will kill you.”
Morgan was jailed for 16 months having been convicted of actual bodily harm. He is also forbidden from having any contact with Mr Crego for ten years.
Ryan Highfield
A convicted child sex offender who poses a high risk to girls was snared by paedophile hunters twice in the space of a month.
Ryan Lee James Highfield, 37, arranged to meet a ‘13-year-old girl’ at McDonald’s in Boscombe.
Highfield had actually been sending messages and making arrangements with an account operated by an adult posing as the teenager.
He was stopped by members of the sting group at the fast-food restaurant in Christchurch Road before being arrested.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard he was released under investigation but then, one month later, went on to arrange to meet a decoy pretending to be an 11 or 12-year-old girl at Pokesdown Railway Station.
Highfield was again met by paedophile hunters and arrested by police.
Messages sent by Highfield included him writing “if only you were older”. When asked why by the ‘child’, he said “because I would love to **** you”.
Highfield was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, with a three-year extended licence period.
He was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order and placed on the sex offenders register.
Darren Waul
A burglar broke into a care home and posed as a carer before stealing from an elderly woman who lay terrified in her bed.
Less than 24 hours later, Darren Fitzroy Waul entered a couple's home and ended up fighting a “spirited” pensioner who refused to let the crook steal from him.
The 43-year-old drug addict, who was released from prison less than a month prior, first gained entry to the Grange Care Home and entered a resident's room pretending he was a carer.
He asked the vulnerable woman if she knew the code to a medicine cabinet in her room, at which point the woman pressed her alarm button.
Waul quickly stole a tablet, mobile phone and two bank cards before fleeing.
The next morning, Waul slipped into a ground-floor flat in Surrey Road, Bournemouth, and began stealing several devices.
The property owner, a 74-year-old man, was alerted to Waul and sprang into action by pinning the burglar up against a wall and began punching him.
After a scuffle, Waul again fled with a stolen mobile phone only to be arrested later that day.
Waul was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
Wanrong Liang
A man "obsessed" with weapons chased a group into a shop and raised a ‘revolver’ above his head in their direction.
Wanrong Liang brandished the imitation firearm having pursued the four young men into a convenience store in Turlin Moor after a confrontation.
He fled the scene but was traced by police a short time later to a flat in Sterte Road.
Inside the property officers discovered a large haul of weapons, which included Tasers and CS sprays.
At a Bournemouth Crown Court hearing, Judge Robert Pawson said Liang had given different accounts to police and probation.
At various times he had said the group of males were rude to him, had committed a criminal offence against him two years prior, they had made racist remarks and they may have been armed with knives.
“It doesn’t account for why you pursued them into the shop,” Judge Pawson said.
Liang, aged 30, was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
Dean Turner and Shane Lockton
Two men who defrauded elderly victims out of thousands of pounds by fraudulently cashing cheques have been jailed.
The exact circumstances which led to Dean Matthew Turner, 32, and Gavin Shane Lockton, 32, coming into possession of the cheques are not known.
Bournemouth Crown Court heard how the first victim, who was aged 96 and lived in Wimborne, needed some tree work done in his garden. He arranged for this to be carried out but ended up refusing to pay as he considered the work to be substandard.
The man said workmen had gone in and out of his property. It later came to light through his bank that a cheque for £9,000 had been withdrawn from his account.
It was said the victim found more cheques had been taken. Another cheque was used to acquire £15,000, while there was a failed attempt to gain a further £18,000.
Lockton was sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment and Turner 10 months’ imprisonment.
Sean Lewis
A burglar who smashed his way into a home was disturbed by his victim’s screams and ran away in an “extremely frightening” incident.
The Parkwood Road resident was disturbed by a loud bang and smashing window glass in a downstairs room.
When the victim went to investigate, Sean Alexander Lewis was leaning into the room with his arms and head through the window.
56-year-old Lewis was disturbed by the victim’s screams and ran away from the address.
He was arrested a week after the burglary which happened in February this year.
Lewis, of Tower Road in Bournemouth, was jailed for two years.
Alex Banda
A murderer will serve at least 14 years in prison after brutally killing a man by repeatedly stamping on his head.
Alex Banda, 28 and of Poole, was handed a life sentence on May 25 after being convicted of the murder of 47-year-old Daniel Upson.
The charge related to a violent attack on Mr Upson at Chapman's Hotel in Frances Road, Bournemouth, on the night of December 16 last year.
During a trial, the jury heard how Banda accused Mr Upson of stealing drugs from him before launching a violent assault on his victim, punching him repeatedly before kicking him to the head and stamping on him.
Following enquiries, Banda was arrested at an address in Wareham on December 17.
Blood staining was found on his trainers, found to be a match for Mr Upson, as well as on the sleeve of his jacket.
Detective Inspector Neil Third, of Dorset Police, said: “I would again like to thank all the officers, Crown Prosecution Service and witnesses who have helped to secure this conviction and sentence.”
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