THE courts have been busy this month as judges continue to rattle through a challenging backlog of criminal cases.
Among those jailed in May include a man who raped a girl after sharing a night out with her in Colchester city centre.
And a former car dealer who turned to selling drugs after his business failed was also locked up.
Here’s a round-up of some of the high profile cases which have resulted in imprisonment this month.
Shaun Western
A TEENAGER who raped a young woman while she slept after a night out in Colchester has been jailed for more than six years.
Shaun Western, now 24, raped his victim who had been put to bed with a sick bowl next to her after a night in Walkabout, Head Street, and was “nine out of ten drunk”.
The complainant woke up screaming “get out, get off” after being awoken by Western having sex with her in autumn 2018.
Western, of Edward Paxman Gardens, Colchester, then put his shoes on and ran out of the flat as others inside the property rushed to the victim’s aid.
The defendant denied rape but was convicted after a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court returned an 11-1 majority verdict in March.
He was sentenced to six and a half years behind bars this morning.
Jack Jacovou
A CAR dealer who got his hands on more than £200,000 worth of drugs after his business suffered during the pandemic has been jailed.
Jack Jacovou, 41, has been locked up for six and a half years after running an operation which housed cocaine and cannabis at addresses in Colchester and Kirby Cross.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard police officers found cocaine with a street value of between £180,600 and £206,400 during a raid at a property in Colchester.
£28,000 worth of cocaine and cannabis was found in a separate warrant executed at Jacovou’s home in Thorpe Road, Kirby Cross.
He admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis and being concerned in the supply of cocaine between December 16 and 24, 2020.
Emiljan Cani and Ervis Qerimaj
A PAIR who operated a £470,000 cannabis farm in Clacton have been jailed for more than three years.
Albanian nationals Emiljan Cani and Ervis Qerimaj were found growing the Class B drug by police officers investigating a separate matter on December 15 last year.
Upon entering a property in Beach Road, the constables found kit used for the cultivation of cannabis and a hole in the wall connecting it to the neighbouring house.
Cani, 26, and Qerimaj, 37, were then arrested after a brief chase on foot having been spotted by the officers walking out the front door of the second address.
Officials determined the property contained cannabis plants worth £470,000.
The defendants, both of no fixed abode in the Clacton area, admitted producing a controlled drug of Class B.
Cani was jailed for two years and Qerimaj for 16 months.
Scott Warner
A JAILED drug dealer escaped from prison by climbing a fence sparking a two week police hunt.
Scott Warner, 34, scaled the fence of HMP Sudbury, in Derbyshire, and made off on foot after growing “frustrated” about his time behind bars on April 6.
Sam Thomas, prosecuting at Chelmsford Crown Court said: “Two weeks later Mr Warner was seen driving a white Mini Cooper and was stopped by the police.
The drug dealer had only served five months of his 45 month sentence handed to him in November last year for being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin in north Essex.
Warner, previously of London Road, Clacton, admitted escape and was handed an additional ten months onto his prison sentence.
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