A former police officer who had sexually inappropriate conversations with an alleged rape victim and a drug dealer were among the criminals locked up in Suffolk this week.
Russell Stanley
Russell Stanley, Denmark Road, Lowestoft, has been jailed on three counts for being concerned with the supply of cocaine between August 2021 and April 2022, and two other counts of possession with intent to supply cocaine over 2023 and 2024.
Police attended his home address and seized his phone, £550 in cash and drug paraphernalia.
Stanley made no comment upon arrest but while on bail in October 2023, police visited his address and found cocaine, scales, paraphernalia and a mobile phone with messages showing he was involved in commercial supply.
Further to this, police stopped a car on the A12 on March 26 this year, in which Stanley was a passenger and found a bag of cocaine in his underwear valued at around £1,500.
It was heard in mitigation that Stanley had suffered recent bereavements, leading him back to his drug habit, selling drugs to fund his own.
Stanley had 14 convictions for 45 offences between 2002 and 2024, including 17 drug offences.
Leonard Swallow
Leonard Swallow was jailed for 15 years for one offence of rape, nine offences of sexual activity with a child and six offences of sexual assault.
He was found not guilty of one offence of rape, five offences of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, two offences of sexual assault and four offences of sexual activity with a child.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how Swallow had groomed the girls by giving them sweets, money, alcohol and cigarettes.
In mitigation it was heard Swallow has medical issues and prison would be a challenge for him as he is claustrophobic.
An indefinite restraining order was put on Swallow not to contact the victims.
Ryan Althorpe
Ex-police officer Ryan Althorpe, of Meadow Crescent, Ipswich, was jailed for 10 months after being found guilty of two misconduct offences.
The charges were attempting to engage a female into sexually inappropriate conversation with a view to engaging in sexual activity with the alleged rape victim and wilful neglect to record her disclosure of a non-recent rape allegation between November 16 and December 3, 2020.
READ MORE: Ipswich police officer Ryan Althorpe jailed for misconduct
The 33-year-old was a temporary sergeant based at Woodbridge in the Safer Neighbourhood Team when one of the offences took place.
Ipswich Crown Court heard how Althorpe told the woman it would be a shame if she was put off sex because of what she claimed had happened to her.
He had also asked her to send him a picture of herself and asked for graphic details about what had happened during the alleged rape.
Christopher Whittleton
Christopher Whittleton has been jailed for 21 years with another year on licence for two counts of raping child when she was under 13, rape of the child between the ages of 13 and 17 and another count of rape of the same girl.
In a statement, the victim said: "This feeling I must punish myself is a direct result of what happened to me.
“As a child I tried to end my life twice as I thought this would stop the abuse.
“I wanted to protect my mum and didn’t want her to find out.
“I see everything as if I was there again: I can smell him, I can feel him on my body, I can’t breathe, I freeze.
“I experience excruciating pain as if it was happening again.”
Ipswich Crown Court heard how the first rape happened in a ditch, and the defendant would tell her it was her fault.
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