Suffolk criminals jailed at Ipswich Crown Court this week

Joel Green

Joel Green was jailed for six years (Image: Suffolk police)

Described as a "high risk of harm to children", Ipswich Crown Court heard how Joel Green had a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl when he was 18. 

Green, who is currently serving a two-year sentence after punching his own father, met the girl in the summer of 2020 when he sold her cannabis.

Prosecutor Brian Reece said the victim made it clear she was 14 and Green admitted they had sex on at least 10 occasions.

A statement from the victim said: "You, Joel Green, have ruined my childhood and trust in relationships. Every time I saw you, I was consuming drugs you gave me.

“You would tell me that you would kill my mum or my sister and eventually me. This has been so emotional and draining to go through again.

“Your behaviour broke me.”

Green was sentenced to six years in jail.

Steven Anderson

Steven Anderson was jailed for seven years (Image: Suffolk police)

Steven Anderson, was an on-call firefighter with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service.

He was sentenced for engaging in sexual activity with two children, sexual assault, sexual touching offences and indecent electronic communication.

Charles Myatt, the prosecution barrier, said one of the victims, who was a teenager at the time of the abuse but is now an adult, is now “suffering from nightmares” and that “if she goes out, she is always worried”.

The other woman, who was also a teenager at the time, now has “heart palpitations” and “wakes up at random points in the night” as she too suffers from nightmares.

The most serious of the counts of child sexual activity involved penetration with a finger.

Speaking to Ipswich Crown Court, Judge Emma Peters said the girl "lay frozen not knowing how to deal with this" while the incident on Christmas Day in 2022 went on for 45 minutes. 

Anderson, 33 and of no fixed abode, was sentenced to seven years behind bars.

Alazar Yohans 

Alazar Yohans was jailed for three years (Image: Suffolk police)

“I felt completely alone, there was no one there to help me,” said the victim of Alazar Yohans, who was sexually assaulted twice by the man on a night out in Ipswich with her boyfriend.

The first incident happened inside Bar Twenty One when Yohans kissed her without consent. 

He left the bar with a friend and followed the victim who had become separated and sexually assaulted her by putting his hand down her trousers.

The victim could be heard telling Yohans "leave me alone" on camera footage recorded from a property in Rectory Road.

Yohans maintained that he was 18 throughout proceedings, but his representation told the court they were not disputing Home Office findings that he is aged between 27 and 32.

He was given a three year sentence for the sexual assault in the street and a 3 month sentence for the kiss without consent, to be served concurrently.

Gary Preston

Gary Preston was sentenced to nearly a decade (Image: Suffolk police)

Gary Preston, 63, from Haverhill was investigated by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) which found he targeted educational facilities, airports, shopping centres, shopping centres and local authorities. 

Through the investigation, it was found Preston had sent letters to recipients across the UK including addresses in Essex, London, South Wales, Surrey and Yorkshire between September and October 2013.

All of the letters contained an undisclosed white powder and several packages also included "warning" notes telling the readers to run or hold their breath. 

The substance was later found to be talcum powder. 

At Woolwich Crown Court on April 18 he was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison and put on the Sex Offenders' Register for life. 

Preston was also sentenced for an indecent assault at knifepoint against a woman in Rainham, Essex, which happened in 1988. 

David McGowan

David McGowan was jailed for five years (Image: Suffolk police)

Described as a man with "no respect for other people" who only "cared for his own financial gain", 49-year-old David McGowan was sentenced to five years after an armed robbery.

On Tuesday, December 12, McGowan entered the Shell petrol station in High Street, Newmarket wearing a black ski mask, racked the gun he was holding and removed a knife from his waistband. 

He placed a bag on the shop counter and told the staff member to place money and cigarettes into the bag. 

Officers were called shortly after McGowan left the building having stolen cash and cigarettes.

At an earlier hearing, McGowan, of Tutte Gardens in the town, pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of a knife in a public place. 

Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Carly Laflin said: "He now has time in prison to think about his actions and hopefully consider the harm he has caused."