The people with Suffolk links who were jailed in 2024, with cases from Ipswich, Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket, Sudbury and more
It has been a busy year for the courts, with sentences handed out to people across the county.
The year saw a mix of cases, from smaller incidents, to others being handed lengthy terms for more serious crimes.
Here, SuffolkNews looks back at the top cases from 2024 – and the criminals behind them who faced justice.
March: James Quigley’s murderers brought to justice
In March, the case of a harrowing murder that shocked Ipswich reached its conclusion as two teenagers were put behind bars.
Alfie Hammett and Joshua Howell, both 19, were jailed on March 11 following the stabbing of Raymond James Quigley, from Wymondham, in Westgate Street on January 17 last year.
They had been found guilty on January 26 after a trial which lasted more than five weeks.
The pair attacked James while he was with friends.
Hammett was jailed for 24 years while Howell was given 20 years.
You can read more here.
May: Man beat wife to death with skateboard
Olubunmi Abodunde, 48, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on May 9 for beating his wife, Taiwo, to death with a skateboard, in Newmarket in November last year.
He changed his plea to guilty during the third day of his trial last month, having previously denied murder.
Judge Martyn Levett described the attack as ‘cold blooded and callous’ before sentencing Abodunde to a mandatory life sentence.
He must serve a minimum of 17 years in prison.
You can read the full story here.
May: Teenager killed Suffolk mum in Australia – another teenager later cleared
Also in May, a teenager who killed a Suffolk mum-of-two after breaking into her home in Australia was jailed.
Emma Lovell, 41, was stabbed to death during a home invasion on December 26, 2022.
At the time of her death, she had lived in North Lakes, Brisbane, for 11 years, although she grew up near Ipswich.
The defendant, who was 17 at the time of the incident and cannot be named for legal reasons, was handed a 14-year sentence.
In October, another teenager was convicted of burglary and assault in connection with the incident.
However, Justice Michael Copley found him not guilty of murder as well as malicious act with intent and unlawful wounding at Brisbane.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison in December – but as he’d already served that time, he was allowed to leave the court.
You can read more here.
June: Trio’s attempted murder left victim with nightmares
To June now, where a trio who attacked and ran over a man in Beccles were put behind bars.
Lewis Aldridge, 27, of Market Place in Southwold; Nathan Baker, 20, of Quay Street in Halesworth; and Daniel Hermon, 27, of Market Place in Southwold, were sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on June 17 after being found guilty of attempted murder on May 30.
This followed an incident at 2.45am on November 18 in London Road, where the trio pulled Julian Johnson, 53, to the ground before attacking him.
Baker and Hermon drove to Southwold to pick up Aldridge and get revenge, asking him to bring knives, although these were not used in the attack.
After their attack, the court was told that Hermon said to ‘finish him off’, at which point they ran him over with Baker’s car.
Mr Johnson suffered from nightmares and was left with life-changing injuries, as such he could no longer work as a painter and decorator.
Baker and Aldridge were sentenced to 17 years in prison, with Aldridge being given an additional one year for possession of a knife, to be served concurrently. Hermon was jailed for 18 years.
You can read more here.
July: Man’s nine-hour rooftop stand-off with police after stealing more than £90,000
In July, another big case from Ipswich went through the courts.
Daniel Coulson, 50, of Woodbridge Road, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court on July 22, having pleaded guilty to four offences on May 20.
Coulson, who was on licence after a 2017 conviction for rape, stole dozens of items from Europcar, in Woodbridge Road, on May 9, including 17 sets of car keys and an £80,000 Mercedes.
He then took more than £5,000 in cash and jewellery from Carats and Staffright, in Butter Market.
After being caught on CCTV at 4.30am, Coulson climbed on to the roof of the building, where he remained until shortly before 1.40pm.
He threw items, including mobile phones and his own passport, at officers, before being brought down.
He will spend two years and six months behind bars.
The full story can be read here.
August: Man jailed for fatal stabbing in village
Jay Cotterill, 43, of Ipswich Avenue, Sutton Heath, near Woodbridge, was sentenced to 11 years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court on August 9.
Cotterill stabbed Richard Hunt, 37, of Ipswich, to death in Ipswich Avenue on October 8 after an altercation between the two, which included Mr Hunt assaulting Cotterill with a baseball bat.
The court was told Cotterill then went back inside to arm himself with a large kitchen knife and at this point his partner dialled 999.
The pair were known to each other and had both previously been in a relationship with the same woman.
You can read the full story here.
August: Drunk driver caused death of best friend
Another case that reached its end in August was that of a 20-year-old who crashed her car into a tree, killing her friend.
Ellie Lambert, of Kirby Rise, Barham, was sentenced to more than three years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court on August 20, having previously admitted causing death by driving without due care and attention.
Lambert was more than twice the legal drink-driving limit when the crash took place during the early hours of April 29, 2023. Officers were called to the scene in Thornhill Road, Barham, at 12.35am.
Bethany McCauley, 18, from Pinewood, Ipswich, who was in the front passenger seat at the time, died at the scene while Lambert was seriously injured.
The full story can be read here.
September: Former teacher ‘groomed’, ‘watched pornography with’ and ‘gave alcohol’ to victims
A harrowing case from September saw a former teacher jailed for sexual abuse.
Richard Taylor, 56, of West Street, Icklingham, near Bury St Edmunds, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment at Ipswich Crown Court on September 20.
He was convicted in June of sexual activity with two children, aged 10 to 14, between 1999 and 2003.
These included one count of rape, six counts of indecent assault of a male and nine counts of indecency with a child.
Handing down his sentence, Judge Martyn Levett said: “You groomed each of these children, watched pornography with them and on occasion gave alcohol.”
The full story can be read here.
November: Teenager caused massive factory blaze
In November, a 14-year-old boy was 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.
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.
December: Murdered toddler’s body was pushed around in wheelchair after her death
The trial of Chelsea Gleason-Mitchell and Scott Jeff, both 24 and of no fixed address, but formerly of Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, took place earlier this year.
On December 13, the pair were jailed at Ipswich Crown Court for their role in the death of two-year-old Isabella Wheildon, who was subjected to an ‘escalated regime of brutality’.
Gleason-Mitchell, a former nursery worker and Isabella’s mother, was jailed for 10 years for causing or allowing Isabella’s death.
Jeff, her boyfriend at the time, was handed a life sentence for her murder and must serve at least 26 years in prison.
Isabella’s body was found in a locked bathroom at a temporary housing unit in Sidegate Lane, Ipswich, on June 30 last year.
It is believed she died four days earlier and the couple continued to wheel her body around in a pushchair.
The full case can be read here.
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