CRIMINALS jailed in 2020 for crimes in Dorset include rapists, men who attacked women and people who attempted to groom underage children.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic and two national lockdowns affecting many parts of daily life in 2020, the courts continue to operate and deal with cases.
The list below includes some of the offenders that were put behind bars by judges throughout the year.
While all of the criminals committed offences in Dorset, some of the cases were heard in courts outside of the county, including crown courts in neighbouring Wiltshire and as far as York.
The offenders' names and a summary of what led to them appearing in the dock are as follows:
Former police officer jailed for killing lover
Timothy Brehmer, 41, of Hordle, New Forest, sentenced to ten years and six months for the manslaughter of nurse Claire Parry, whom he’d been having an affair with for 11 years.
She asked him to meet at the Horns Inn pub at 3pm. Brehmer said he had formed the decision to kill himself after seeing “no way out”, he went to Screwfix in Lymington to pick up rope to kill himself but failed due to click and collect, he then went to see Mrs Parry to see why she wanted to meet.
At 2.41pm on May 9, Brehmer arrived at the Horns Inn, Mrs Parry arrived a few minutes later.
A text was sent to Mrs Brehmer on Brehmer’s phone reading “I’m cheating on you”. The text was sent by Mrs Parry.
Brehmer then stabbed himself in the arm “to show how desperate he was” and factory reset his phone “so nobody could find him” after he killed himself.
He claimed he asked Mrs Parry to get out the car and when she refused he walked around the front of the car to the passenger door and tried pulling her out.
After failing, he “bundled in” to push her out. He said he had his arm around the top of her chest and it “must have slipped up in the melee” which resulted in Mrs Parry dying of a brain injury due to compression to the neck.
Brehmer is then seen at around 3.20pm walking to the entrance of the pub and sitting on the ground.
Mrs Parry was left “half in, half out” the car unconscious, she died in hospital the next day.
Judge Mr Justice Richard Jacobs said he was “sure” Brehmer intended to take Mrs Parry by the neck after she sent a text to his wife revealing the affair.
Judge Jacobs sentenced Brehmer on the basis that he lost control after the message was sent rather than on the basis he unintentionally killed her.
He said: “No words of mine can convey the tragedy for Claire’s family of the events of that Saturday afternoon. Your actions have robbed the wider community of a highly qualified nurse, who loved her job and looking after people.
“Your actions have not only cut short her life at a young age, and robbed the community of a nurse, but you have deprived her family of a daughter, wife and mother; as well as a sister and niece.”
Man raped 11-year-old girl and then cycled away from the scene
James Connell Loveman, 23, attacked a 11-year-old girl in the Old Windmill near Easton on a night in August last year.
Loveman, of Portland, was convicted of charges of rape and assault by penetration following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court in September.
He had previously admitted an offence of sexual assault of a female aged under 13.
The victim, who was 11 at the time of the incident, was with her 14-year-old friend and they had spent the evening walking around Portland.
At around 1.30am on Saturday, August 31, they were in the area of Easton Square when they met a man who was sitting on a bicycle.
They walked with him to an old windmill to the south of Park Road, where they chatted for a time before the victim’s friend went outside. Once he was alone with the victim, Loveman sexually assaulted her and then raped her before riding off on his bike in the direction of Weston.
Following an investigation led by detectives from the Force’s Major Crime Investigation Team (MCIT), Loveman’s DNA was found to be a match of a profile obtained from the victim’s clothing and he was arrested on Saturday, September 7, 2019.
He was jailed for seven years.
Assistant manager at Weymouth hotel ‘almost destroyed’ hotel owner’s life after stealing £12,000
A former assistant manager breached the trust of a "hard working" Weymouth hotel owner as he stole more than £12,000 in fraudulent refunds and purchasing items for his new business venture.
Martin Weaver, 44, was initially employed as a restaurant manager at Shelley’s restaurant in March 2017, before he convinced the Richmoor Hotel’s owner, Loriane Hillier, to become the assistant manager at the hotel.
But following a tip-off from a local businessman, Mrs Hillier discovered he was fraudulently using the hotel’s bank cards to purchase items for himself from Booker wholesalers and carried out false refunds to his own cards.
Between February 8, 2018 and July 17, 2018, he stole a total of £12,656.87 from the business.
Following an investigation spanning several months, Weaver, of Gladstone Road in Scarborough, was arrested by police and charged with fraud.
Mrs Hiller noted “unusual” activity with a number of refunds and noted Weaver must have “intercepted” a hotel bank card used for carrying out this transaction.
There had been 28 refunds to the sum of £5,198.30 to one card belonging to Weaver while a further 11 refunds, to the value of £3,975, were made to another of his cards.
He also paid £600 to a local caravan park using the hotel’s credit card.
Evidence of Weaver’s fraudulent actions were passed over to the police, who arrested him in July 2018 after he had been followed to the hotel by Mrs Hillier’s husband.
Weaver was jailed for 12 months and ordered to pay a £140 victim surcharge at York Crown Court on Thursday, December 10.
Organised gang members flooded Dorset with Class A drugs
These three members of an organised gang were sentenced to more than 28 years behind bars.
The trio, Jose Ivo Ferreira, 30 and of no fixed abode, Dean Wesley Lovell, 30, of Cull Close, Poole, and Fleur Marie Newman, 28, of Ripon Road, Bournemouth, were responsible for supplying Bournemouth and Poole with huge amounts of cocaine, heroin, ketamine, MDMA and cannabis.
Drugs with a street value in excess of one million pounds were seized, following an operation led by officers from Dorset Police's Serious Organised Crime Investigation Team (SOCIT).
Five blocks of cocaine, each weighing nearly a kilo, and more than £60,000 in cash was recovered by officers.
Ferreira admitted charges of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs in December 2019. Lovell and Newman pleaded guilty to class A and B drugs supply offences in August this year.
All three were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, October 16. Ferreira was handed 12 years in prison, Lovell received nine-and-a-half years and Newman was sentenced to seven years.
Rapist attacked school girl in playing field
Rapist Adrian Cordery was jailed for 15 years for viciously attacking a 15-year-old girl at knifepoint in Dorchester.
The 33-year-old, of Dorchester, was handed the sentence at Bournemouth Crown Court.
He was told he will serve 15 years in jail and will be subject to an extended licence period of a further eight years.
The judge called it a 'shocking' crime and praised the victim in the case for her bravery as well as the police investigation which led to Cordery being arrested.
Full story of how Dorchester rapist was brought to justice
Cordery was found guilty of rape in September following a trial.
He attacked the girl on a school playing field as she walked back from her part-time job at night.
He had originally admitted rape, but changed his plea to not guilty, leading to a trial.
A jury unanimously found him guilty of rape, along with another charge of threatening with a knife relating to the attack in fields on Barnes Way on December 5 last year.
Dangerous driver caused death of Bridport man in horrific A35 crash
Gary Clayton Craven, aged 32 and of Crock Lane, Bridport, was sentenced to six years in prison in January after being found guilty of causing death by dangerous driving and three offences of causing serious injury by dangerous driving in connection with a crash on the A35 Sea Road South on Monday, November 13, 2017.
He was also disqualified from driving for four years, with the ban due to begin when he is released from prison.
Craven was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday after being found guilty at an earlier trial at the same court.
At around 11.15pm on the night of the crash, a Mercedes E350 being driven by the defendant was involved in a collision with a Mitsubishi L200 Warrior pick-up truck being driven by 64-year-old Steven Spear from Bridport.
Mr Spear died as a result of injuries sustained in the collision. Craven’s three passengers also sustained serious injuries.
Craven ran away from the scene following the collision, leaving one of his passengers trapped in the rear seat of the car. He was located at his home address at around 1.50am on the morning of Tuesday, November 14, and arrested.
Witnesses described seeing Craven driving at speeds in excess of 70mph through 30mph speed limits in Bridport town centre prior to the collision. Further witnesses reported seeing the vehicle travelling at up to 80mph around the time of the collision, which occurred on a 40mph stretch of road.
Man groomed school girl on Snapchat
Keets, 23 and of Bennett Road, Bournemouth was jailed for four years and four months at Bournemouth Crown Court on Thursday, October 29, after he admitted string of child sex offences.
After first messaging in August 2019, Keets and the girl, who was aged 14 at the time when he was 22, engaged in consensual sexual activity at the defendant’s home.
The victim was reported missing in November 2019 and was found by family members at Keets’ address.
He was arrested and admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the victim but claimed he did not know she was underage.
He was released on bail with conditions not to contact the victim but, following reports Keets was breaching those conditions, officers attended his address in February 2020 and found him in company with the victim.
Keets was arrested again and an examination of his mobile phone revealed a number of messages illustrating the defendant’s grooming behaviour toward the victim as well as indecent images of her.
DC Caroline Gould, of Dorset Police’s Child Exploitation Team, said: "We are committed to supporting vulnerable young people who are at risk of grooming at the hands of offenders such as Keets and will do all we can to bring those who commit these despicable crimes to justice.”
Drug dealer who tried to conceal heroin and cocaine inside himself is jailed
Jebb James Green, aged 29 and of Lewisham, London, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, September 14 after admitting two charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply.
A police officer on patrol in the Greenhill area saw Green involved in an exchange with a known Class A drug user at around 5pm on Wednesday, June 10.
Green was found in a public toilet a short time later and was detained by the officer for a search.
He was taken to Weymouth police station for a strip search, where officers established items had been concealed in his bottom.
Court extensions were granted to keep Green in custody while officers waited for him to pass the items.
Officers waited more than 190 hours, more than a week, for the suspected drugs to pass through.
Police officers recovered three packages that were found to contain more than 100 wraps of cocaine and more than 50 wraps of heroin.
Judge sentenced Green to five years and three months in prison.
Weymouth man groomed underage girl - and continued to see and message victim despite being on bail
Matthew Lucas Cheshire, aged 21 and of Ranelagh Road in Weymouth, admitted three offences of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and a charge of sexual activity with a child at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Cheshire – who was 20 at the time – was first arrested by officers from Dorset Police on August 6, 2020 following a report from a third party that he had been involved in a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl who he had contacted over social media.
When he was interviewed, the defendant said he had been in contact with her over social media but denied any sexual contact or communication.
Cheshire was released on police bail and his phone was seized for examination. It revealed messages exchanged between the defendant and the 14-year-old girl involving sexualised content and there were references to sexual activity that had taken place between them.
He was further arrested on September 10 following reports that he had been seen with the girl, in breach of his bail conditions. It was also found that Cheshire had continued to message the girl in a further breach of the terms of his bail.
He was sentenced to a total of four years and two months in prison with an extended licence period of a further two years. The defendant was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for a period of 10 years.
Man carried out 'vicious and frenzied' knife attack on woman
Gary Patrick Sadler, of Victoria Road, Parkstone, approached the victim in the Dolphin Shopping Centre in August last year and asked her how she was.
He then pulled a knife out of his trouser pocket and launched at the woman. The 57-year-old moved the knife towards her neck, before she hit the blade with her hand, causing it to break off the knife handle.
Despite the knife breaking, Sadler continued to try and stab the victim. He then grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to the floor.
The victim was punched in the face while lying on the floor on her back, with Sadler kneeling on her legs so she couldn’t move.
A woman who was nearby, and heard the victim shout for help, asked the man to leave the victim alone and go away. Sadler consequently got up and walked away.
Following enquiries by officers, Sadler was located a short time later in Baiter Gardens and arrested. The knife was located at the scene of the assault.
The victim sustained cuts to her face, neck and back, as well as a cut to her finger after trying to get Sadler to stop attacking her. She was taken to hospital to receive treatment.
He was found guilty of grievous bodily harm and possession of a knife in a public at Winchester Crown Court and was jailed for 13 years on Monday, June 15.
Detective Constable Ben Swain, of Bournemouth CID, said: “Gary Sadler was responsible for a vicious and frenzied attack."
"I would like to praise the victim for her bravery as this must have been a very frightening incident and it has had a significant physical and psychological impact on her life.
"I am also keen to thank the members of the public who intervened for their outstanding actions that stopped the victim from being further assaulted.
"I am pleased that we were able to locate Sadler and arrest him so we could bring him before the court to face justice for this serious offence."
Man stabbed victim three times in altercation
A man who fatally stabbed 20-year-old Kai Archer in Bournemouth has been jailed for eight years – with an extended period on licence of three years.
In sentencing Jamie Frank Higgs, who was found unanimously guilty of Mr Archer’s manslaughter, a judge said the killer posed a significant risk of serious harm to other members of the public.
Higgs, aged 19 and of Windsor Road, Bournemouth, stabbed his victim three times during an altercation outside Bournemouth Pizza Co in St Swithun’s Road on the evening of November 16, 2019.
Mr Archer, who lived nearby, was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment but died a short time later.
The defendant was acquitted of murder but convicted of manslaughter following a trial at Winchester Crown Court in August.
Woman stole £437,000 from her employer to fund house renovation and fund lavish lifestyle
Emma Elizabeth Rhodes, of Manor Lane, Verwood, stole £437,000 over a two-and-a-half year period from Norco Holdings, a group of companies in Dorset that employ around 150 people.
When police raided her home, the former financial controller was living in a caravan and wooden chalet at the rear of the property, while her house was being extensively rebuilt and modified.
Officers also found documents relating to the purchase of an £80,000 Range Rover Sport and a receipt for an £8,300 Rolex watch.
Rhodes, who only changed her plea to guilty at the last minute, even tried to blame her employer for being complicit in the theft – an allegation which was completely unfounded.
She had also used her ill-gotten gains to pay for luxury hotel breaks, holidays in the sun and skiing trips. The only available assets recovered were two shotguns and a diamond ring.
A detailed financial investigation was carried out into the company accounts, which revealed that the theft offences were committed between Friday, December 18 2015 and Tuesday, May 8, 2018. All 29 thefts were concealed in legitimate transactions and ranged from £1,632 to just over £35,000.
In total, £7,000 was stolen in 2015, £91,000 in 2016, £233,000 in 2017 and £194,000 up to her dismissal in 2018.
The 37-year-old had been set to go to trial at Bournemouth Crown Court, but on Monday, November 2 she pleaded guilty to an offence of fraud.
She was jailed for five years at the same court on Friday, November 20.
Thief caught stealing from vulnerable woman
Samuel Cooper, 35, was jailed for a total of three-and-a-half years after admitting three offences of burglary, as well as fraud by false representation.
Dorset Police said the elderly victim, who is deaf, was concerned that money appeared to be going missing from her home in Gillingham over a period of several weeks.
Her quick-thinking neighbour installed a camera in her bedroom to try and identify who was responsible and on May 14 this year, a man was seen on the camera to enter the bedroom, go through the victim’s drawers and take £20.
The man was subsequently identified by local neighbourhood officers from the camera images as Cooper.
The victim was also informed by her bank that her card had been cancelled as someone had tried to use it three times with the incorrect PIN on May 1.
Detectives and local neighbourhood officers worked together to obtain banking information, which led to a trawl of CCTV starting from where Cooper attempted the transactions using the card and concluding with the defendant returning to the area where he lived.
Cooper, of Lodbourne Green, Gillingham was again identified by a local neighbourhood officer.
On two further occasions between May 1 and May 14, £35 in cash was taken from the victim’s bedroom.
In total over a two-month period, the victim estimated that between £200 and £300 had been stolen from her and jewellery was also taken.
Sex pest pushed victim to floor and held her by throat in attempted rape
This man attempted to rape a young woman after punching her in the face during a terrifying attack in Weymouth town centre.
Mohammad Abdullah, aged 23 and of no fixed abode, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court to seven years in prison today after being found guilty of attempted rape at an earlier trial at the same court.
Dorset Police said the incident took place at around 4.30am on Saturday, May 18 when the victim, who was 18 years old, was walking alone through the town centre when the defendant approached her and offered to walk with her.
As they reached a block of flats, Abdullah forced his victim into a communal hallway and pushed her to the floor before holding her by the throat when she screamed for help.
He then punched her twice to the face as she tried to get away and forced her to the floor again, holding her arm behind her back.
Abdullah attempted to undress his victim but a passer-by heard her screams and went to her aid. The defendant fled the scene.
Police were called and officers attended. Following enquiries, Abdullah was arrested at an address in Poole the following day. He initially gave his age as 16.
The judge also ruled that Abdullah would serve an additional four years on licence.
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