Jailed in Essex: The faces and stories of criminals locked up this month

From lorry drivers smuggling cocaine to dog owners causing mayhem by letting their pets worry sheep, these are some of the cases which cost defendants their liberty this month.

Driver accepted offer of £4,000 to smuggle cocaine across the border

A LORRY driver who racked up gambling debts and “decided to have another gamble” by attempting to smuggle cocaine into the UK has been locked up.

Lukasz Kowalczykl, 29, was caught at Harwich International Port in February with 7kg of cocaine.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard he had agreed to £4,000 payment in exchange for a job smuggling the class A drug into the UK from the Hook of Holland.

Graham Hughes, mitigating, said Polish national Kowalczykl said his stay in custody awaiting sentence had proven to be an “isolating” experience.

He questioned his level of involvement in the smuggling operation.

Mr Hughes said: “There is a degree of trust but equally there are those on both sides of the Channel insuring those drugs are, once past customs, quickly taken from the driver.

“He has no idea of the scale of this operation, he was going to be paid what in the context of the value of the drugs was a relatively small amount – some £4,000.”

Mr Hughes also highlighted his client’s lack of previous convictions and complete lack of prior involvement in illicit drug importation operations.

The court heard Kowalczykl, of no fixed address, accepted the job because of the gambling debts he faced.

Recorder John Caudle said: “You built up your gambling debts because I suspect you weren’t a very good gambler.

Most people aren’t very good gamblers.

“You then sadly, whilst you were talking to this person in a bar, decided to have another gamble.

“As you said in the pre-sentence report, you were willing to take the risk of bringing the cocaine.

“Because you’re sitting where you are that gamble did not pay off.”

Jailing him for six years, Mr Caudle said Kowalczykl had been caught during his first border check, which may have been “the best thing that had ever happened to him”.

He said: “I suspect if you hadn’t been caught you may well have done it again.

“You would eventually have been caught and you would have been punished for making a number of trips which would have increased the sentence very substantially.”

Raider who stole exotic items from dead man's home locked up

Jailed - burglar Greg Atkins was found with stolen goods

A BURGLAR who was found in possession of a stolen medal also snatched ornamental birds eggs and a Zulu horn from a dead man’s home.

Greg Atkins, 43, was foiled after leaving a chisel behind at the scene of a burglary in Belmont Crescent, Colchester.

Ipswich Crown Court heard the occupant had died in June last year.

Lynne Shirley, prosecuting, said one of his neighbours kept a close eye on the property and solicitors were instructed to deal with his estate.

On July 16 last year, a man visited the property to identify items referred to in the man’s will.

Ms Shirley said: “Amongst the items were two eggs in a box, an ostrich and emu egg, and also a large Zulu horn in a drawer under a bed in a front bedroom.”

The man returned on July 22, leaving while everything was in order, but coming back five hours later to find the back door open. He tried to open the front door with a key, but found the chain was on, which he noted had not been the case earlier in the day.

Ms Shirley said: “He thought it may be a person engaged with the solicitors and went back home.

“He returned at 6.30pm and discovered the property was in the same state he had observed at 5pm which he thought was odd.

“The side gate had been forced and the rear side door jimmied open.

“A chisel was at the back doorstep, and another was in the lounge.

“He said the house was a mess and it wasn’t in the state he found it in when he visited earlier.”

Atkins’ DNA was recovered from the chisel by the back door.

Atkins, who has 25 convictions for 61 offences, admitted burglary and five counts of handling stolen goods.

The stolen goods included the ornamental eggs and horn he took in the burglary, as well as a Tiffany bracelet, an Amazon Alexa, a set of binoculars, a 1902 medal, a coin, a heartshaped pendent, a silver cross and a ring.

Barry Gilbert, mitigating, said Atkins had contracted Covid-19 and “had nearly died”

while in prison.

Judge David Pugh sentenced Atkins, of Riparian Square, Colchester, to 27 months imprisonment.

Seizure of cocaine, cannabis and cash led to conviction of two dealers

Jailed - Christopher Southart and Kevin Parr were locked up for their roles

TWO men have been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison for drug offences.

Police seized about two kilogrammes of cocaine, two kilogrammes of cannabis, a large amount of cash and a Range Rover in an operation that led to the arrest of the pair in 2019.

Christopher Southart, 35, of Valley Road, Dovercourt, was jailed for eight years and two months last week after admitting to possession of drugs with intent to supply cocaine at an earlier hearing in January 2020.

Kevin Parr, 60, of Alexander Street, Harwich, was jailed for four years and six months at Ipswich Crown Court after being convicted of conspiring to supply cocaine at an earlier hearing.

A third man, Paul Fenton, 56, from Hadleigh, was given a suspended sentence of two years and six months and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid community service.

Fenton had admitted permitting premises to be used for producing class A drugs at a previous hearing.

The sentences follow a police operation which took place on September 11, 2019, after the recovery of about two kilogrammes of cocaine.

Officers from the Cyber, Intelligence and Serious Organised Crime Directorate, supported by uniformed police, arrested Southart and Fenton at Flowton, near Somersham, in Suffolk.

A large amount of cash and a Range Rover were also seized.

A further search at an address in Harwich the following day resulted in the arrest of Parr with two kilogrammes of cannabis also recovered.

Det Insp John Allison said: “The arrests and charges were the result of a concerted effort by officers from the Cyber, Intelligence and Serious Crime Directorate.

“The sentences should serve as a warning to those involved in organised crime.”

Dog owner given time behind bars for sheep-worrying offences

A DOG owner has been jailed after admitting to “worrying and injuring livestock” which left one farmer having to put 11 of his sheep down.

Warwick Foreman, 52, of Compton Road, Colchester, appeared before Ipswich Magistrates’ Court, where he was sentenced to 21 weeks in prison.

It follows four incidents last year.

Two sheep were found by their owner in Brantham on August 9 - and they were so severely injured, they both had to be put down.

On August 22 the same victim found two badly-injured ewes, with one needing to be put down.

Between August 30 and August 31 two other sheep were attacked, and they also had to be put down.

Finally, a further incident on September 11 saw two badlyinjured ewes found, with one animal needing to be put down on this occasion.

Additionally, a further four sheep had to be put down after the were found severely injured on December 3 in the Lawford area.

At an earlier hearing in March this year, Foreman pleaded guilty to four counts each of being in charge of a dog and worrying livestock and four counts of criminal damage.

As part of the investigation, police managed to secure DNA saliva swabs from both dogs.

It found a match to the ear of one of the sheep fatally injured linking it to one of the dogs.

The sentence also includes an offence where he was also convicted of taking a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent in Bentley, Suffolk.

PC Andre de Jongh, from the Rural and Wildlife Policing Team, said: “The emotional impact on farmers should never be underestimated.

“Seeing a flock of sheep through the lambing season is an extremely involved process.

“The financial implications for farmers stretch far beyond the price of a dead ewe.

“It involves the loss of future earnings, the replacement of expensive breeding stock, veterinary costs, disposal costs right down to the impact it may have on their insurance.

“Dog ownership comes with great responsibility and if owners do not have tangible control over their dogs, there are significant consequences.”