A drug addict who stole from an elderly neighbour; a man with drugs in a Kinder Egg, and another who planned to kidnap young girls. These are just some of the Cambridgehire criminals now facing time behind bars.
1: Emma Willey stole more than £64,000
Emma Willey, 43, was sentenced to a year and nine months at Peterborough Crown Court on May 12 after stealing more than £64,000 from her elderly neighbour.
She was trusted by her 88-year-old neighbour to complete financial transactions for her, do her weekly food shop and help with general errands.
But in November last year, the victim received a court summons for failed direct debits and was told her balance was just three pence when she contacted her bank.
It then transpired that Willey had helped herself to £64,434.62 of the victim’s money between December 2019 and November 2022.
2: Jedidiah Clay made threats with a knife
A teenager who threatened a woman he had never met before with a knife at a bus station in Peterborough was jailed for one year and nine months.
Jedidiah Clay, 19, and a friend began shouting “paedo” at the woman at Queensgate Bus Station on September 10 last year and became aggressive when challenged.
Clay began shouting “you, you”, while pulling up his top to reveal a knife handle in his waistband.
On May 4, at Peterborough Crown Court, Clay, of Gonville Place, Cambridge, was jailed after pleading guilty to possession of a knife in a public place, using threatening words with intent to cause fear of violence and threatening a person with an offensive weapon in a public place.
3: Zeshaan Tariq was described as "every parent's worst nightmare"
A predatory paedophile who tried to lure a schoolgirl into his car before kidnapping another girl the same afternoon was described by a judge as “every parent's worst nightmare”.
Zeshaan Tariq, 28, was driving in Dogsthorpe on July 7 last year when he tried to persuade his first victim, a 10-year-old gir, to get in his car. When the child refused, he became verbally aggressive and she ran away.
when he was arrested, police found Google searches on “how to lure a child to a car”.
He was found guilty of kidnap, attempted kidnap and sexual assault at Cambridge Crown Court.
Tariq, of Meadow Grove, Welland, Peterborough, was sentenced on May 5 to eight years and nine months in prison, with an extended licence period of three years and made subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
4: Patrick Muddiman left his driving licence at the crime scene
A prolific criminal who robbed a shop in Brampton, in Huntingdonshire, was caught after leaving his driving licence at the scene.
Patrick Muddiman, 38, entered the Co-op store on the high street at just before 10pm on March 3.
He punched a shop customer who was standing at the till threatened two staff who handed him five and ten pound notes amounting to about £120.
Muddiman, of Whiteford Drive, Kettering, Northamptonshire, had 24 previous convictions for 36 offences including theft, violence and other robberies, admitted charges of robbery and assault by beating, and was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on May 12. He was handed six years in prison with an extra three years on licence.
Read full details of the case here
5: Gordon Law had drugs stored in a Kinder Egg container
A drug dealer caught in his car with a crack pipe on his lap has been jailed.
Gordon Law, 41, was spotted by police officers at just after midnight on May 18, 2021 parked in McDonald’s at Caxton Gibbett in a black Toyota Aygo.
One of the officers approached the car, which had its lights on and engine running, and saw the pipe, along with some residue, on Law’s lap.
Law was very drowsy and when he realised it was the police, he knocked a yellow Kinder Egg container onto the floor, which was found to contain Class A drugs.
On May 4, at Peterborough Crown Court, Law, of Ouse Road, St Ives, was jailed for two years and five months, after pleading guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs, two counts of driving with no insurance, two counts of driving a car otherwise than in accordance with a licence, dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified.
He was also disqualified from driving for two years and three months.
Full details of Law's offending here
6: Paul Stanford went on the rampage in Cambridge
A man who spat in his former partner’s face and then went on a rampage in Cambridge was jailed for more than two years.
Paul Stanford, 46, saw the woman in the Station Tavern pub, in Station Square, Cambridge, on February 3.
Stanford, who was subject to a restraining order preventing him from contacting the woman, began to argue with her before spitting in her face.
Stanford briefly returned to the pub, before storming off towards a nearby hotel where he pushed cups and glasses off a table. He then started shouting at another man and also punched him in the face. He alos racially abused police officer and threatened him.
Stanford, of Daniels Close, Willingham, admitted three breaches of a restraining order, assault causing actual bodily harm, five counts of assault by beating, racially aggravated harassment, affray and common assault.
On May 4 he appeared at Peterborough Crown Court and was jailed for 142 weeks.
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