A police officer, a murderer and a child rapist are among those who have been sentenced to jail in July.
We've compiled a list of some of the criminals who were locked up behind bars in Sussex last month.
From the killer of Goring police sergeant Matt Ratana to a teacher who spied on young boys while they showered, here are some of the highest-profile criminals jailed in July.
Matthew Taylor
Hastings rapist Matthew Taylor will spend the next six years and nine months in prison after being found guilty of the rape of a woman, coercive control, and two counts of sexual assault by touching a girl under the age of 13.
The 50-year-old was found guilty of all the charges which were reported to Sussex Police in 2021.
Taylor, a tradesman of Priory Road, Hastings, must serve two-thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for release.
Read More: Man raped woman and sexually assaulted child
Rease Colebrook, Edson Cardoso and Gary Brown
The drug-dealing trio was busted by police after being caught selling crack cocaine and heroin to vulnerable people.
They were behind the "Sparky" county line in Eastbourne, but it was not long before officers raided properties in Eastbourne and London to seize the Class A drugs.
Rease Colebrooke, 29, of Normanton Street, Forest Hill in London, was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin, possession with intent to supply cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin, and possession of cannabis.
Edson Cardoso, 28, of Allwood Close in London, was charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin, as well as possession with intent to supply more than a kilogram of cocaine.
Gary Brown, 28, of Larkbere Road, Lewisham in London, was charged with possession with intent to supply heroin, possession of an offensive weapon - a knuckle duster, and possession with intent to supply crack cocaine.
They appeared at Woolwich Crown Court on July 19, where they pleaded guilty to all offences.
The following day, Colebrooke - whose street name was Ady - was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment, Cardoso - whose street name was Rio - was sentenced to six years and four months’ imprisonment, and Brown - whose street name was Major - was sentenced to three years and four months’ imprisonment.
Read more: Trio convicted and jailed in connection with Sussex county drug line
Laurence Knight
Metropolitan Police officer Laurence "Larry" Knight sexually assaulted a woman in the sea off the coast of Brighton during his stag night
She repeatedly told him to stop and reminded him he was "getting married in two weeks".
Knight, from East London, was charged with rape and sexual assault and denied both charges.
At trial, he was cleared of rape but found guilty of sexual assault.
Knight was sentenced to two years in jail at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on July 28. He is also suspended from duty and will be on the sex offender's register for ten years.
Read more: Police officer jailed after Brighton beach sex assault
Louis De Zoysa
The killer of custody sergeant Matt Ratana, Louis De Zoysa, will be behind bars for life after a sentencing hearing at Northampton Crown Court on July 27.
Matt, from Goring, was shot twice by De Zoysa using home-made bullets from his illegally-purchased revolver inside Croydon Custody Centre.
Sgt Ratana, serving with the Metropolitan Police, was a popular figure in the rugby community in Sussex as coach of East Grinstead RFC.
De Zoysa will not be eligible for parole.
Read more: Murderer who shot serving police officer to death sentenced to life behind bars
Simon Abraham
The doctor sexually assaulted a patient in her own home with a "specialist" therapeutic massage in October 2020.
Abraham, 34, who worked at Eastbourne District General Hspital, denied the incident happened but was convicted of sexual assault at trial.
Abraham, of Penrith Way, Eastbourne, appeared at Chichester Crown Court on May 26 and was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with nine months in prison and nine months on licence.
He will also appear on the sex offenders’ register for ten years and was given a five-year restraining order from his victim.
Read more: Doctor sexually assaulted woman in her home after offering 'specialist' massage
Brian Hoad
Hoad plied a 12-year-old girl with wine and raped her.
The 66-year-old first attacked her in the 1980s and continued to do so over four further years - including when other family members were in the house.
The "abhorrent" abuse was reported years later in 2021 and he was found guilty of four counts of raping a girl under 16 and two counts of sexual assault on a girl under 16.
Hoad was sentenced to 18 years in prison and was also given an indefinite restraining order to stop him from contacting his victim.
Read more: Rapist who preyed on 12 year old jailed for 'abhorrent' and 'detestable' abuse
Jamie Marsh
Police caught the disqualified drink-driver behind the wheel with a pregnant woman as a passenger on July 9 - three weeks after he had been banned from driving.
PC Neil Hersey and PC Brendan Slattery pulled him over and were given a false name, with Marsh claiming his name was Stephen Paul Marsh, and a fake date of birth.
Marsh, 38, unemployed of Phoenix Rise, Brighton tested positive for 63 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
He was sentenced to ten weeks in prison with a three-year driving disqualification.
Read more: Banned motorist caught drink and drug driving with pregnant woman and child
Graham Head
Fake taxi driver Graham Head used his silver Mercedes to pose as a taxi driver - only to carry out "terrifying" sexual assaults on vulnerable young women.
The 66-year-old kidnapped and sexually assaulted a woman in his car and attempted to rape another in a park bush after she received a lift from him.
Head was caught in the early hours of November 18, 2022, after one of his victims escaped and partially identified the registration plate of the car.
Following a trial at Hove Crown Court in May he was found guilty of kidnap, attempted rape and assault by penetration.
Head, of Coast Road, Pevensey Bay, was sentenced to a 23-year extended sentence consisting of 18 years in prison.
He will serve a minimum of 12 years before he is eligible for parole.
Read more: Sexual predator who posed as Uber driver to commit 'terrifying' sex attacks jailed
Raekwon Hanniford-Brown
The killer tried to escape through Gatwick Airport after stabbing a man 24 times in a row over house keys.
The violent drug dealer was handed a life sentence at Croydon Crown Court for the murder of Errol McKay, leaving him to die in his own home.
Read more: Murderer attempts to flee country through Gatwick after stabbing family man 24 times
George Webb and Sarah Somerset-How
Sarah Somerset-How, 49, and George Webb, 40, were found guilty of holding Tom Somerset-How, Sarah's disabled husband, in slavery/servitude.
They were also found guilty of ill-treatment by a care worker between 2016 and 2020.
Webb, whose temper was described by the victim as a “nuclear bomb anger”, was also convicted of causing actual bodily harm while both defendants were found not guilty of fraud by false representation and theft.
The court was told that the pair from Bognor neglected, abused and exploited 40-year-old Mr Somerset-How, with cerebral palsy, leaving him bed-bound and malnourished.
The pair have been jailed for 11 years.
Read more: Woman and carer who enslaved disabled husband are jailed
Less Messam
The man was jailed for three years and two months after he subjected his former partner to decades of domestic abuse.
The court heard how she would be injured during violent outbursts, often in the presence of their three children.
He controlled her finances, what she wore and who she spoke to.
He pleaded guilty to the offence in court on April 18, 2023, where it was heard how he burnt his partner in the face with a cigarette butt, strangled her with a dressing gown cord, smothered her with a pillow and punched her in the face on numerous occasions.
Read more: Man jailed for subjecting former partner to years of horrific domestic abuse
Callum Steer
Police have said a man is "fortunate to live to tell the tale" after he was stabbed by Steel in an unprovoked attack.
A 31-year-old man sustained a knife wound to the kneck in Gossops Drive, Crawley, on March 11 2022.
Steer, of Rosedale Close, Crawley, was arrested the next morning and was sentenced to eight years in prison at Lewes Crown Court on June 28, 2023.
The sentence consists of six years in custody plus two years on license.
Read more: Man ‘fortunate to live to tell the tale’ after being stabbed – 23-year-old jailed
Tanya Edwards
Dealer Tanya Edwards tried to swallow wraps of Class A drugs to avoid arrest.
Officers searched a property in St Leonards after two women, believed to be dealing drugs, were spotted coming and going from the address.
When they entered, they found Edwards attempting to swallow wraps of Class A drugs to try conceal them.
Edwards was charged with being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, both heroin and crack cocaine, and possession of criminal property and was remanded in custody.
Following a week-long trial, a jury found Edwards, of Long Ley, Wolverhampton, guilty of all offences and she was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Read more: Drug dealer tried to swallow Class A drugs to avoid arrest
Lee Norris
Builder Lee Norris fled the scene of a car crash, before strangling and threatening to kill a woman in a bid to stop her reporting it.
He was traced to a property in Portslade where police also found a distressed woman with "significant" facial injuries.
Norris was found with blood on his hands and arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm, making threats to kill, failing to stop after a road accident and driving without insurance.
He was later arrested further for intentional strangulation and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
He pleaded guilty to each count at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, November 10 2022 and at Chichester Crown Court on Monday, June 19, he was jailed for four years and six months.
Read more: Builder strangled and threatened to kill woman after he fled crash
Piers Le Cheminant
Paedophile teacher Piers Le Chaminant watched pupils in the shower and groped them in the classroom.
Now 77, the teacher targeted boys at Oakwood boarding school in Chichester and Salisbury Cathedral School in Wiltshire between 1965 and 1986.
Le Cheminant, of Newton Abbot, Devon, would call boys to the front of the class and grope their buttocks while their classmates watched, the court was told.
He would also watch the boys shower after they had played sport and took some of his victims somewhere private, where he would grope them and smack their buttocks.
Le Cheminant was convicted of 10 indecent assaults against nine boys.
Le Cheminant was also given a lifelong sexual harm prevention order and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register.
He was jailed for a total of nine years on July 10, and must serve a minimum of six years before he can be considered for release.
He will also be a registered sex offender for life.
Read more: Paedophile teacher who groped boys and watched them in the shower is jailed
Reece Page
The driver took a Mini Cooper that did not belong to him from outside The George Hotel in Hailsham just after 1am on February 26 last year.
He crashed the vehicle into a brick wall in nearby Polegate Road before running away, leaving a 22-year-old man trapped in the passenger seat with life-changing injuries.
Page, of Station Road in Hailsham, only had a provisional license at the time of the incident and admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
Read more: Coward jailed after fleeing crash and leaving injured passenger behind
Max Kernot
The cleaner isolated his ex-partner from her loved-ones and strangled her with a seatbelt during an abusive relationship.
After the end of their relationship, he harassed her and smashed her house and car windows. He also called her around seven times a day.
Kernot, of no fixed abode, smashed all the windows on the ground floor of the woman’s house and was arrested after also damaging three cars.
He was released on bail but later re-arrested after being seen driving past the woman’s house.
After originally pleading not guilty, Kernot eventually admitted charges of common assault, engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, criminal damage, stalking with harassment and a public order offence.
Kernot, from Crawley, was jailed for 30 months at a sentencing hearing at Lewes Crown Court on July 27.
He was also given a seven-year restraining order against his ex-partner and her family.
Read more: Man strangled partner with seat belt and isolated her from her family
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