Some of the criminals with Suffolk links who faced justice in November, with cases from Ipswich, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Newmarket and more
It has been 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 November.
Man claimed to be a member of a banned mercenary group
Our first case sees a man from Watford who pretended to be a member of Wagner Group and threatened attendees at a Suffolk re-enactment.
Piotr Kucharski, 49, of The Glebe, Watford, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at The Old Bailey today.
In October 2023, Kucharski was detained at a combat re-enactment at Stonham Aspal, near Stowmarket, having attended despite been banned from the group.
While there, he threatened attendees while claiming to be a part of the Russian state-funded mercenary firm and to have served in Ukraine, the court heard.
During a disagreement with one attendee, Kucharski made a ‘cutthroat’ gesture and, while walking away, began slashing the air with a knife.
You can read the full story here.
Pair robbed village post office – with one killing an accomplice in a crash
A pair who robbed a post office in Wickhambrook were jailed.
Sonny Loveridge, 26, of Wilburton, Cambridgeshire, admitted the robbery in February 2023 and further charges of attempted robbery in Manea, Cambridgeshire, and causing death by dangerous driving while unfit through drink.
He was jailed for a total of eight years and 11 months and banned from driving for 15 years and 10 months.
Jimbilly Loveridge, 33, of Maldon, Essex, admitted the Wickhambrook robbery and was jailed for six years.
Staff at the post office were manhandled when the two men, armed with hammers, entered the store at closing time on February 25 last year.
Sonny Loveridge also admitted attempting to rob a shop in Manea in October 2023.
His accomplice, John Hayden, 36, entered the shop and demanded money but fled empty handed when the staff locked themselves behind the tills.
Loveridge then drove Hayden away but crashed the car near Chatteris. Hayden was pronounced dead at the scene and Loveridge suffered minor injuries. He was found to be over the drink-drive limit.
The full story can be read here.
Man entered into a sexual relationship with teenage girl
November saw a man who entered into a relationship with a teenage girl sentenced.
Matthew Redstall, 50, of High Road, Felixstowe, was jailed for two years at Ipswich Crown Court on November 8.
He pleaded guilty to seven counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of possession of an indecent image of a child.
In 2019, Redstall entered into a relationship with a 17-year-old girl which eventually became sexual.
You can read the full story here.
Teenager caused huge factory blaze
Our next case sees a 14-year-old boy sentenced after causing a huge factory fire in Sudbury.
The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Ipswich on November 14.
He previously pleaded guilty to arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered following a blaze at the Delphi factory, in Newton Road, at around 5.10pm on May 28.
On the afternoon of the blaze the defendant, alongside friends, gained access to the site via an opening, the court heard.
He was handed a lighter and set fire to some paper on an abandoned office chair, refusing to put it out, urging his friends to look.
He was given a 12 month referral order and told to pay £85 in costs, plus a £26 surcharge.
You can read the full story here.
Drink driver plunged car into water-filled ditch
Also in November, a drink driver who had an ‘extremely lucky’ escape after plunging into a water-filled ditch was jailed.
Edgaras Jucikas, of Beck Row, admitted drinking about four pints of beer before getting into his black Peugeot on the afternoon of June 14.
A member of the public called police after witnessing his car leave Westmoor Drove, in Littleport, and flip into the ditch.
The 28-year-old was helped out of the ditch and given blankets.
When officers arrived they carried out a roadside breath test where he blew 75, just over twice the legal limit of 35 micrograms per 100ml of breath.
He was jailed for three months.
You can read the full story here.
Man admitted string of drug offences
A drug dealer was jailed after admitting six drug offences.
Sam Roles, 26, of Winthrop Road, Bury St Edmunds, pleaded guilty to all counts at a hearing in May.
He appeared again at Ipswich Crown Court on November 12, where was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison.
These included conspiring to supply cocaine and another class B drug between December 1, 2022 and May 11, 2023.
You can read the full story here.
Driver fell asleep at the wheel and seriously injured another motorist
A man was jailed after falling asleep at the wheel and seriously injuring another driver near Thetford.
Gabriel Ferreira, 20, of Lancaster Avenue, Watton, appeared at Norwich Crown Court on November 14.
He pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.
The court heard that Ferreira had been driving home from a night out in Norwich, at around 4.20am on Sunday, February 11, when he drove head on into a white Vauxhall Corsa on the A1075.
When officers arrived on scene, Ferreira said that an unknown man had been driving him home in his car, crashed and then fled.
He was jailed for one year.
The full story can be read here.
Store owner fined after third breach of selling illegal vapes
An Ipswich store owner, who was caught in possession of illegal vapes three times, was fined.
Sabah Mamand, sole director of Kaka Baran Ltd, appeared before Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on Monday, November 18, having pleaded guilty to selling an illegal e-cigarette and possession for supplying 867 illegal e-cigarettes.
In January, Suffolk Trading Standards raided Mamand’s shop, Cardinal Convenience Store, in Franciscan Way, after he sold an illegal vape to an undercover inspector.
Officers searched the store and seized 867 illegal vapes worth more than £8,000.
The full story can be read here.
Newmarket man stabbed man in cowardly attack
A Newmarket man was jailed for three years after he admitted stabbing a man in the town’s market square earlier this year.
Sonnie Bishop Browne, of Dick Perryman Court, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on November 22 after earlier pleading guilty to wounding Jordan Marks with intent on April 10.
He had also admitted possession of a bladed article, a large knife, for which he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment to run concurrently.
In the dock with him was his brother, 19-year-old Georgie Bishop, his mother Nicole Bishop, 46, all of the same address and his girlfriend Alisha Gentle, 19, formerly of Exning Road, Newmarket.
The full story can be read here.
Man drove at police officer trying to arrest him
A 25-year-old man from Lowestoft who drove at a police officer who was trying to arrest him was among those jailed in November.
Kye Jacobs was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on November 26 after admitting dangerous driving and assaulting a police officer.
He was given a three-month sentence for driving at the officer, who was trying to arrest him for failing to appear in court.
The incident was at a Tesco car park in Hollingsworth Road, Lowestoft, on May 31.
The full story can be read here.
Drug dealer lied to officers on being stopped
A drug dealer who lied to officers when he was stopped on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border was put behind bars.
Elvis Peci, 23, of no fixed address but from the Cambridgeshire area, was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Ipswich Crown Court on November 27.
He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug.
The court was told that Peci’s vehicle was intercepted at Fordham, near Newmarket, on September 4.
Upon being quizzed by officers Peci gave them a fictitious account of his whereabouts, after which his car was searched.
Detectives then found multiple bags of powder, found to be cocaine, worth about £1,900, and a quantity of cash.
The full story can be read here.
Woman talked her way into people’s homes and stole from them
A woman who talked her way into people’s homes and then stole from them was also brought to justice in November.
Aimee Haywood-Rutter, 28, of no fixed address but the Lowestoft area, admitted four home burglary charges and one count of fraud by false representation at Ipswich Crown Court on November 28.
The offences took place in January, July and August, during which she stole money.
She was jailed for four years.
You can read the full story here.
‘Wholly selfish’ man’s action significantly affected wildlife
Our last case concerns the actions of a man who kept using his site for waste disposal.
Paul Fenton, 58, of Gaelle Crescent, Hadleigh, was served an interim injunction by Her Honourable Judge Crane for the land at Flowton Pit.
The High Court of Justice Kings Bench Division ruled Fenton had no right to use the land for the deposit or storage of waste and he must make lawful arrangements for it to be removed within three months.
It followed a prosecution by Suffolk County Council.
The full story can be read here.
