Some of the criminals with Suffolk links who faced justice in April, with cases from Ipswich, Hadleigh, Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds and more
It was a busy month for the courts, with sentences handed out to dozens of people across the county.
While some were punished for more minor offences, others received long jail terms for the more serious of crimes.
These are the people with Suffolk links who faced justice in April.
Ipswich Town keeper fined for driving offences
Our first case might be one of the most high-profile court appearances of the month.
On April 1, Ipswich Town keeper Arijanet Muric was fined more than £23,000 for driving a Bentley without insurance and while using a mobile phone.
Muric, 26, of Playford Road, Ipswich, was caught in St Margaret’s Street, on August 14.
He also received six points on his licence.
You can read the full story here.
Sex offender went on the run
Also in April, a sex offender who went on the run was put behind bars.
Paul Ashworth, 71, appeared remotely to be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on April 4 for three sexual offences.
Ashworth, from Carlton Colville, was on trial in February but as the jury retired to consider their verdicts, he vanished from court.
After a 19-day-search by Suffolk Police, Hampshire Police, and the Border Force, Ashworth was located more than 150 miles away in Portsmouth.
The full story can be found here
Drug dealer hid cocaine in his underwear
Another case from April sees a dealer, caught in Newmarket, hiding drugs in his underwear for a police search.
Gleris Dega, 24, of no fixed address but from the Ipswich area, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment at Cambridge Crown Court on April 15.
He had pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, namely cocaine, and possession of an identity document with intent to deceive.
When pulled over on March 10, he presented officers with a fake ID.
Upon being searched by police, they found cocaine stuffed into his underwear.
You can read the full story here.
Man hit women over their heads with metal pole during robbery
Also this month, a man who struck two people over the head with a metal pole during a robbery was jailed.
Matthew Boom-Cousins, of Erle Havard Road, in Colchester, was jailed for four years and four months at Ipswich Crown Court.
Boom-Cousins broke into a property in Bildeston, near Hadleigh, on November 14 last year just after 9.30pm through a back door.
He was armed with a metal pole, which he used to strike two female residents over the head, with both suffering heavy gash wounds.
The full story can be read here.
Dealer and money launderer
Also this month, a man was jailed for money laundering and drug dealing.
Daniel Easlea, of Watson Way, Barrow, was sentenced to 45 months’ imprisonment at Cambridge Crown Court on April 17.
This followed Easlea’s guilty plea for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and MDMA, possession of an offensive weapon, namely a knuckleduster, and money laundering.
During a joint raid by the Serious Crime Disruption Team and CID on October 16, officers found two mobile phones, cash, scales and class A drugs at an address in Watson Way, the court heard.
More drugs were found under the hood of a barbecue and in the garage.
The full story can be found here.
Man raped woman in storeroom
A harrowing case from this month concerns Ambrish Dogra, who raped a female in a storeroom during a work party.
Dogra, of Layer Road, in Colchester, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on April 22.
During the trial, the court heard how Dogra organised a party at his workplace in Sudbury,
The party was held in a storeroom in December 2020.
He gave a female alcohol, and when the two of them were alone, locked the storeroom door, pushed her to her knees and raped her.
The full story can be read here.
