Jailed in Suffolk: The criminals put behind bars this week

Peter Durrant

The 73-year-old man travelled to Ipswich expecting to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex in Christchurch Park and was sentenced to 28 months at Ipswich Crown Court.

Durrant, who was 72 at the time, made the journey to Ipswich after several weeks of online chats with an undercover police officer who was posing as the stepfather of a teenager called ‘Riley’, the court heard.

Durrant told the officer what he wanted to do to the girl and said “the younger the better”.

The 73-year-old arranged to meet the undercover officer and “Riley” in a tea room in Christchurch Park, Ipswich in September last year and when he got there he was arrested by police.

Jailing Durrant for 28 months, Judge Emma Peters said: “Children need to be protected from people like you who make arrangements to abuse them.”

Ricky Davis

The 31-year-old has been jailed for three years after he stole 15 motorcycles worth more than £30,000 after posing as a buyer and driving off after asking to take them out for a test drive.

Sentencing Ricky Davis of Maundy Close, Bury St Edmunds, judge Nicola Talbot- Hadley said some of the offences took place while he was banned from driving.

Davis admitted stealing a motorcycle in Brandon in December 2020 and two in Bury St Edmunds in October and November 2020

The 31-year-old later admitted to stealing a motorcycle in June 2021 in Thetford and another in August 21 in Bury St Edmunds.

After being charged with these thefts, Davis met with officers from the Operation Converter team and admitted a further 12 thefts of motorcycles between October 2020 and October 2021 in Bury St Edmunds, Brandon, Thetford.

Natasha Nair for Davis said he had stolen the motorcycles to pay off a £30,000 drug debt after being intimidated by the people he owed money to.

Elliott Thompson

The 31-year-old was jailed for 28 months after he helped smuggle an illegal immigrant into the UK in the back of a van and carried out a “frenzied” attack on his partner.

Sentencing Thompson of Bluebell Ave, Bury St Edmunds, Recorder Sarah Przybylska accepted that he had been duped into driving a van with a specially converted compartment to Calais and hadn’t been present when the illegal immigrant was loaded into the vehicle.

Elliott Thompson, 31, was jailed for 22 months at Ipswich Crown Court. (Image: SUFFOLK POLICE)

However, she said that when Elliott became aware of what was going in he had continued the journey and hadn’t alerted the authorities.

He admitted assisting in the unlawful immigration of an Albanian national in October 2019 and a separate offence of unlawful wounding in April last year.

Wayne Cleaver, prosecuting, said the unlawful wounding offence related to a “frenzied” attack on his partner after he had been drinking at her home in Bury St Edmunds.

During the assault, he had repeatedly hit her in the face, put his hands around her throat as if to choke her, bit her arm, dug his nails into her arm, while laughing as if he was enjoying what he was doing.

James Mitchell and Luke Booth

The two men who were involved in a string of thefts from farms and businesses across Suffolk where agricultural and machinery worth more than £130,000 was stolen have each been jailed for four years and six months.

Sentencing 35-year-old James Mitchell and 22-year-old Luke Booth, both of Woodlands Way, West Meadows, Ipswich, Recorder Sarah Przyvylska, described the thefts as “planned and sophisticated”.

The pair admitted conspiracy to steal over a three-month period towards the end of last year.

Charles Judge, prosecuting, said that during the conspiracy agricultural equipment and machinery worth £133,000 was stolen.

Simon Gladwell for Mitchell said his client, who has four children, wanted to put his criminal past behind him as soon as possible and to start a crime-free life.