Some of the criminals with Suffolk links who faced justice in July, featuring cases from Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket and Sudbury
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 more serious crimes.
These are some of the people with Suffolk links who faced justice in July.
Man misused blue badge at shopping centre
The first case saw a 56-year-old man fined for misusing a blue badge belonging to his late father.
John Ryan, of Freckenham Road, West Row, was caught by a West Suffolk Council civil parking enforcement officer on December 15.
The officer came across a vehicle parked on double yellow lines in the access road to the Guineas shopping centre, in Newmarket, displaying a blue badge.
The badge expired in February 2022 but was not returned to the authority.
Ryan pleaded guilty on July 1 at Suffolk Magistrates’ Court, in Ipswich, to two offences relating to the blue badge use.
He was fined, ordered to pay investigatory and legal costs and a victim surcharge, totalling £1,674.
Suffolk driver loses licence after crashing into lamppost in Cambridge
A Suffolk driver lost his licence after drink-driving into a lamppost in Cambridge.
At about 3am on June 2, police were called by concerned residents after a silver Mercedes was parked in the middle of Hills Road and the driver was slumped over the steering wheel.
Residents woke the driver, 43-year-old Tom Onyango, who then started driving slowly towards the train station before crashing into a lamppost.
Onyango, of Beck Row, blew 89 microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath at the roadside, more than twice the legal limit of 35.
Onyango appeared at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on July 4.
He was disqualified from driving for 20 months and ordered to pay a £288 fine.
Drug dealer jailed for three years
Also in July, a drug dealer linked to the supply of cocaine and cannabis in Lowestoft was jailed for three years.
Ashley Gray, 40, of London Road South, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on July 11.
He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cocaine and cannabis at an earlier hearing.
He was arrested after his home was raided by officers in October 2022.
Officers found he has been dealing drugs in the town for more than two years.
Another drug dealer in court
A Sudbury drug dealer appeared at Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing last month.
On July 12, Mirban Pasha, 34, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 28 months behind bars for a string of offences, which he admitted at an earlier hearing on March 30.
These included drug dealing, plus possession of criminal property, namely a large quantity of cash and driving a vehicle without insurance.
Officers seized £8,700 in cash from a property in the town.
This netted him an additional four-month sentence, to be served concurrently.
Drug dealing duo jailed
July also saw a drug dealing duo from Ipswich jailed.
Ermal Dragioshi, 21, and Klajdi Kordhaku, 20, both of Vernon Street, were each sentenced to under one year in prison at Ipswich Crown Court on July 16 – Dragioshi received an eight-month sentence and Kordhaku seven months at a young offenders’ institute.
The pair pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a Class B drug, being concerned in the supply of cannabis and acquiring criminal property.
Dragioshi was arrested on April 17 after being stopped and searched by officers in Riverside Road, Ipswich, the court heard.
In his possession were 14 bags of cannabis.
His detainment led to officers arresting Kordhaku as he left a property in Vernon Street.
Rapist left victim with injuries to face and throat
A rapist who left his victim with injuries so severe she was unable to speak properly for days was jailed in July.
Abdulay Espirito Santo, 34, of Rendlesham Road, Ipswich, was handed an eight-year sentence at Ipswich Crown Court on July 19.
A jury found him guilty of one count of rape and one count of actual bodily harm after a five-day trial.
On September 4, 2021, Espirito Santo took the victim to his home address after a night out, the court heard.
After she declined to have sex with him he then forced his way on to her, grabbing her face and pulling her hair back during the attack.
Man who had stolen £90,000 before nine-hour rooftop stand-off with police jailed
Also in July, a man was jailed after stealing more than £90,000 from Ipswich businesses – which culminated in a nine-hour rooftop stand-off with police.
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 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.
Eleanor Gwilim, prosecuting, told the court he threw items, including mobile phones and his own passport, at officers, before being brought down.
For the three burglaries, Judge Pugh sentenced Coulson to two years’ imprisonment, to be served concurrently.
He will serve an additional six months for causing a public nuisance offence.
Man handed three suspended sentences
A 22-year-old man from Haverhill was among those sentenced in July.
Thomas Hunter, of Duddery Road, was arrested in Haverhill and admitted supplying cocaine and cannabis in 2021 and possessing a class B drug with intent to supply between 2020 and 2021.
He also pleaded guilty to having a bladed or pointed article.
At Ipswich Crown Court on July 24, he received three suspended jail terms for a total 32 months to run concurrently.
Dangerous sex offender had history of abuse against children
July also saw a dangerous sex offender put behind bars for more than 15 years.
Michael Costin, 59, of no fixed address, appeared before Snaresbrook Crown Court on July 24.
Between 2017 and last year, victims came forward to multiple police forces detailing accounts of the sexual abuse they faced while Costin held a position as a Scout leader.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police established Costin abused four victims between 1982 and 1986 in east London.
He went on to abuse a further 10 victims in and around the Suffolk area between 1989 and 1994.
A police spokesperson said Costin groomed his victims, who gave harrowing accounts in their interviews to specialist Met officers, with some describing how they were sexually assaulted while they slept at camps, received ‘love letters’ from their abuser and were forced to perform sexual acts.
Costin pleaded guilty on June 13, 2023, to 14 counts of indecent assault.
He was sentenced to 15 years and three months prison.
Property firm and director jailed for breaching fire safety regulations
A Suffolk property management company and its director were sentenced in July after being found guilty of breaching fire safety regulations.
Home from Home Property Management Ltd, which managed properties at 2 to 100 Wolsey Street, Ipswich, and company director Edward Ottley were sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court.
Ottley received a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to perform 120 hours of unpaid work. Home from Home, with the registered address of Pownall Road, Ipswich, was fined £60,000.
They were found guilty of eight non-compliance offences in a crown court trial at Colchester Magistrates’ Court on June 6.
The court heard it was identified in July 2017 the Ipswich premises had aluminium composite material, similar to that found to be a factor in the blaze at Grenfell Tower.
A fire risk assessment of the premises was undertaken in 2017 by a company appointed by Home from Home, but it did not factor in the high fire risk of the cladding.
It was establishedthe fire risk assessor had been given inaccurate information by the company about the level of risk.
When this became clear, the assessor invalidated the fire risk assessment.
Man raped ‘vulnerable’ woman
Also in July, a 34-year-old man was jailed for the rape of a ‘vulnerable’ woman in a village near Bury St Edmunds three years ago.
John Hutton, formerly of Mendlesham, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on July 26, where he was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment.
The incident took place on July 7, 2021, when the victim, a woman in her 30s, had been on a night out with friends and met Hutton, whom she knew.
Hutton socialised with the group before walking the victim home later that evening, where he raped her.
It was also believed she was drugged, and although officers were unable to determine who may have drugged her.
However, the court concluded she was not in a fit state to consent.
Albanian drug dealer breached deportation order
Our final case follows an Albanian drug-dealer who returned to the UK after being deported and used a fake Bulgarian licence.
Edison Dautaj was jailed for six months at Ipswich Crown Court on July 29, having pleaded guilty to possession of a fake identification document alongside driving offences.
The court heard that, when stopped by officers in Ipswich on June 30, Dautaj provided them with a fake driving licence and a false address.
After his arrest, officers discovered Dautaj was deported from the UK in May last year after being convicted for drug-dealing.
He will have to finish his two-year sentence for this conviction, plus six months for using fake documents.
