Here are the names and faces of the men and women judges have put behind bars in March 2025.
Upminster man’s four-hour attack on woman
He punched, kicked, strangled, bit, spat at and verbally degraded the woman in what a judge described as a child-like outburst of anger.
On January 10 he went to the woman’s home high on cannabis and fell asleep on her sofa for two hours.
When he woke up the catalyst for his attack was that she challenged him about messages he had been sending to other women.
Over the course of four hours Gold subjected her to a sustained attack in front of her infant children.
A prosecutor said: “He repeatedly punched and kicked her, grabbed her fingers and bent them backwards and punched her in the body in a sustained assault which resulted in injuries to the entirety of her body.”
At one point Gold pinned her down and bit her arm, then later he strangled her until she felt like she was going to pass out.
Gold also used a knife to cut up her clothes then poured shower gel over her home.
When Gold was arrested four days later he admitted carrying out the attack.
Gold was jailed for one year and four months.
Read the full story – Upminster’s James Gold jailed for four-hour attack on woman
Barking rapist who filmed teen assaults
He described the abuse of four girls aged 15 and 16 as “just a bit of fun”.
A police investigation was launched in April 2024 when a 15-year-old girl reported she had been sexually assaulted.
By building a relationship with the victim, officers found out that Franklin had also abused three other girls.
Between August 2023 and January 2024, Franklin sexually assaulted the four teenagers aged 15 and 16 when they visited his home.
He would ply them with drugs and alcohol, and once they were inebriated he would sexually assault them, often filming his actions.
He described the transformation when they took the drugs as “incredible” and “absolutely breathtaking”.
The court heard how Franklin attempted to minimise the abuse and said it was “just a bit of fun”.
Franklin was jailed for 18-and-a-half years.
East London couple’s knifepoint Sainsbury’s heist
Nicoleta Popescu, 19, of Shenstone Gardens in Romford, and Nicon Popescu, 31, of Stanmore Road in Leytonstone – who were boyfriend and girlfriend as well as partners in crime – have both been jailed for the robbery.
The couple entered a Sainsbury’s in Battersea and approached the kiosk while a third person blocked the door.
They jumped over the counter and Nicon Popescu, who was holding a knife, threatened the shop assistant who then backed away from the counter as Nicoleta Popescu began loading a duffle bag with tobacco.
They managed to take thousands of pounds worth of cigarettes before fleeing from the shop.
The pair remained at large until they were stopped in Romford a month later and were found to be carrying tools for theft including a crowbar, bolt cutters, screwdrivers, gloves and a torch.
Both were convicted of aggravated burglary and going equipped for theft.
A judge sentenced Nicon Popescu to three years and eight years in prison whilst he gave Nicoleta Popescu two years and seven months.
Romford man threatened to kill woman in presence of a child
On February 16 this year he threatened a woman in a domestic setting and in the presence of a child.
Keeble appeared at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court three days after the incident.
He pleaded guilty to making threats to kill and damaging the same woman’s door.
He was later jailed for seven months.
Read the full story – Romford man threatened to kill woman in presence of a child
Stratford dad led police on chase in stolen Kia
He stole the Kia Sportage from a driveway in Colne Engaine on January 6.
The owner was woken to a beeping sound and realised the vehicle was being driven away from the property at about 1.30am.
The woman instantly reported the theft of her vehicle to the police.
Thanks to a tracking device installed in the car, which was bought new four years ago for around £33,000, the journey of the car was followed.
Nearby police officers were informed and reported that a vehicle matching the description had been seen, but with different number plates.
Officers put on their sirens and indicated to King to stop, but he ignored them, starting a high-speed chase towards London.
Near Braintree, on roads with a maximum speed of 50 mph, King drove at between 80 to 100mph and increased his speed to almost 120mph on the A120.
He was stopped in Petrol Way, London, where he crashed into a metal barrier after trying to ram the police car chasing him.
Read the full story – Stratford dad Vlad King led police on high-speed chase in stolen Kia
Leyton man sexually assaulted teen girls outside court
McCollins was arrested and questioned the following day but denied sexually assaulting the girls.
But when the case made it to court McCollins pleaded guilty.
He was jailed for 23 weeks to be served consecutively to a separate sentence.
Read the full story – Leyton man sexually assaulted teen girls outside court
East London man jailed for drug smuggling
He and his accomplice – Matthew Byrne, 44, from Sevenoaks – went by handles when communicating on the encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
Devlin was referred to as ‘scalpcleaner’ whilst Byrne went by ‘slickvalley’ and ‘officialcleaner’.
The chats revealed an attempt to import roughly five tonnes of cocaine between March 2020 and June 2020 via a number of ports in Europe, including Antwerp and the UK.
Detectives discovered the men had discussed smuggling between five and ten tonnes of the class A drug at a time across the previous eight years.
The pair also discussed their contacts within the criminal world, including a firearms dealer, South American cocaine wholesalers, and more.
The cocaine was disguised under cover as banana consignments from companies they had created to appear less suspicious.
Devlin had been instructed by Byrne to burn pallets that contained the fruit used as part of dummy runs because they could not sell this legitimately.
Read the full story – East London man jailed for role in £190 million cocaine smuggling plot
The fruit dummy tests are believed to have cost £300,000 alone.
Their smuggling fantasies included discussions of using ‘plug cars’ by recommendation of Byrne, with specially constructed concealments to stash drugs and money.
Byrne’s criminal associate contacts were extensive, with messages revealing a conversation with another contact about the pay for lorry drivers at £50,000 each for their role in smuggling 250 kilos of cocaine.
