Sussex defendants among those sent to jail in July

Gary Shapland, 50, of Hertford Road, Worthing, was caught by paedophile hunters at Asda car park in Lancing.

He admitted 12 offences which included attempting to communicate with a child for the purpose of committing a sexual offence, and causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

Shapland was jailed for two years and eight months and was put on the sex offenders register.

Meanwhile sick Nigel McDermott, 52, of Hawks Ridge, Harnham, Wiltshire, drove 100 miles to Tilgate Park in Crawley in expectation of meeting a girl for sex.

But in fact the profile he had seen was used by a police officer to investigate paedophiles.

At Hove Crown Court he admitted facilitating a child sexual offence. He was jailed for three years.

Drug dealer Ian Edwards, 36, from Worthing, was put back behind bars for selling heroin and cocaine.

He had been released on licence from prison when he was caught dealing again by the police. Another six years was added to his jail term.

Ricky Lewis, 35, of Wakefield Drive, Crawley, drove 100 miles to Deal in Kent during the height of the coronavirus lockdown.

He claimed he wanted to give a friend a haircut. But officers found £300,000 in the boot of his car.

Lewis admitted possession of criminal property and unlawful possession of a weapon (a Taser), he was jailed for two years and two months at Canterbury Crown Court.

Fraudster Miles Drake, 54, of Talbot Terrace, Lewes, admitted stealing £69,000 from his own father.

It left his father Nicholas unable to pay his care bills for Parkinson’s disease. Drake was jailed for two years.

Thug Lawrence Hughes, 29, of Southover Street, Brighton, was jailed for one year for attacking a police officer.

Hughes had punched the officer in the head as he lay on the ground during the height of the coronavirus pandemic in April.

Burglar Mark Thursting, 57, of Lower Rock Gardens, Brighton, raided homes in the Queens Park area of the city. He was jailed for five years.

Finally romance fraudster Richard Robinson, AKA Gary Rogers was jailed for swindling women in Sussex.

The 64-year-old motor dealer was jailed for ten years for crimes including two counts of fraud against women in East Preston and Haywards Heath, as well as motor vehicle theft, witness intimidation, and two assaults.

In one incident where one of the women confronted him, he struck her and pushed his thumb into her throat.

He then put his other hand over her nose and mouth before she managed to break free from his grip.

The court was told he defrauded one woman out of £111,000 and the other of more than £100,000.

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