Locked up in April - 28 of the most high profile criminals jailed in Sussex last month
By Michael Drummond
Published 28th Feb 2019, 14:03 GMT
Updated 1st May 2019, 12:53 GMT
A predator who attacked drunk women, a boy drug dealer who stabbed a man to death and a masked armed robber are just some of criminals jailed in Sussex last month.
Here is a roundup of some of the most serious sentencings in Sussex in April. All sentencing details accurate at time of convictions.
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Harry Leigh convicted of raping a girl in Hastings and pleaded guilty to five counts of inciting four girls to engage in sexual activity, eight counts of causing seven girls to watch a sexual act and three counts of making indecent images of children. He was jailed for 14 years, eight of which will be spent in custody.
Boy drug dealer Kai Gasson was convicted of murdering Arnold Potter in Crawley following a lengthy trial. Gasson whose anonymity was lifted by a judge was given a life sentence with a minimum of 15 years.
As care home manager for Summerley Care Home, Treloar was supposed to look after 70 vulnerable people. Instead she stole a staggering 4,138.94 from two residents. She has been jailed for a year.
Stride was jailed for 21 years for raping a young girl and sexually assaulting another. He will also be a registered sex offender for life as a result of these historic sex offences.
Michael Cunnett subjected cabin crew to a violent homophobic attack at 9.30am after drinking four pints of Stella. One of his victims experienced excruciating pain when Cunnett punched him. Cunnett pleaded guilty to intentionally interfering with performance of aircraft crew member's duty, two charges of common assault and one count of criminal damage and was jailed for seven months and ordered to pay compensation.
Megan Hammond robbed a Bognor pharmacy at gunpoint but was caught by police because of how childish her homemade disguise was. She threatened staff and demanded high-strength painkillers. She pleaded guilty to robbery, possessing an imitation firearm and possessing an offensive weapon and was jailed for 32 months.
Christopher Lancasters sheer greed led him to spend nearly five years stealing 54,000 from the company he worked for. The disgraced payroll supervisor bought a holiday to Dubai and designer clothes with the money he stole while he worked for Gardeners Books, a court heard. He pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was jailed for 20 months.
Six men were sent to prison for a total of almost 30 years for their part in the supply of class A drugs in Crawley. Francis Gomez, 41, of London, was given a 15-year-prison sentence. Laeek Ahmed, 27, of Denchers Plat, Crawley, was sentenced to six years in prison. Jamal Sultan, 33, of Redditch Close, Crawley was handed a four-and-a-half year jail term. Sarder Bashir, 37, of Martyrs Avenue, Crawley, was given a four month suspended sentence. Robert Smith, 35, of Burwash Road, Crawley was given a 20-month suspended sentence. Syed Hussain, 40, of Heron Close, Crawley, was given a 32 month sentence. Picture shows: Francis Gomez (top left), Jamal Sultan (top right), Laeek Ahmed (bottom left) and Syed Hussain (bottom right)
Iraq war veteran James French was caught driving dangerously on the A27 on the way home from the pub. He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol, breaching a restraining order, criminal damage and committing an offence while the subject of a suspended sentence and was jailed for 10 months.
Predator Tarling took advantage of drunk women and sexually assaulted them. Offences took place in East Sussex (sexual assault), Polegate (rape) and in Sheffield (sexual assault). He was jailed for six years.
