8 crooks who were jailed in 2020 for committing crimes in the Braintree area

The men below all received more than 12 months behind bars following hearings at Essex crown courts.

Police said their actions caused "misery" to their victims and have spoken of their delight at securing successful convictions.

The men are:

Jason Connors

The prolific thief broke into dozens of cars and stole power tools from across mid Essex.

Connors, 24, was linked to 65 different theft from vehicle offences which occurred across East Anglia between September and October 2019.

Police found 19 of those offences, which happened in Braintree, Halstead and Chelmsford, were connected to a series of similar incidents in Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire.

Officers found stolen tools inside the vehicle Connors was driving the two times they stopped him.

Connors, of Tamar Way, Slough, was charged with conspiracy to steal and he admitted the offence in court.

He also admitted failing to provide a specimen and driving while disqualified.

Connors was sentenced to three years in jail when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court.

He was also banned from driving for 21 months.

Speaking after sentencing, investigating officer Detective Sgtergeant Leila Sandford, of Braintree CID, said: “We know the impact having items stolen from your vehicle can have, particularly if they’re things like tools which you need to work.

“Jason Connors has no respect for other people’s possessions.

“He is a prolific thief whose actions have caused misery to those members of our communities whose vehicles he broke into.

“This conviction and sentencing is the result of a lot of hard work across the criminal investigation department and the community policing team."

Ian Cowen

The paedophile spent nearly £1,800 accessing child abuse through online live streaming services.

Officers from the Police Online Investigation Team executed a warrant at the Cressing home of Ian Cowen in February last year.

It followed information that the internet connection at the address had been used to access indecent images of children between August and September 2018.

A number of computers, phones, and electronic storage devices containing hundreds of indecent images of children were found.

Web searches relating to the abuse of children were also found.

Officers also found dozens of chats with other users on Skype where Cowen discussed the abuse of children and offered to pay for live streams showing abuse.

In total, it was established the 35-year-old, of the Westerings, had spent nearly £1,800 between 2014 and 2019 with various online streaming services.

Cowen admitted making indecent images of children, taking indecent images of children and attempting to arrange a child sexual offence, at Chelmsford Crown Court in April.

He was jailed for three years at the same court in July.

Investigating officer Det Con Nick Riley said: “Following a thorough investigation Ian Cowen is now serving a sentence in prison and will remain a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.

“He attempted to take advantage of vulnerable children and vulnerable people from the Far East, by exploiting their circumstances and their need for food and medication.

“It is abhorrent and Essex Police POLIT will continue to work with colleagues from around the world to put a stop to these horrific crimes.

“No child, whatever their circumstances, should have to suffer at the hands of offenders like Ian Cowen."

James Hearne

The prolific home raider stole bank cards before using them to buy food at McDonald’s.

James Hearne carried out six burglaries across Essex – including properties in Witham - in which he stole bank cards and keys which he used to take victims’ cars.

During a break-in at Laburnam Way, Witham, on March 17 he once again stole bank cards while children were sleeping in the home.

Another incident elsewhere in Essex saw Hearne steal a BMW, which was later found partly dismantled in a “chop shop” in Romford.

Hearne, of Hitchin House, Romford, admitted six counts of burglary, five counts of theft and four counts of fraud at Basildon Crown Court.

Alexandra Monaghan, mitigating, said Hearne had got himself into debt and resorted to crime as he had lost his job, and had the threat of bailiffs coming to his property and taking his possessions.

The court also heard how Hearne had been offending since he was a juvenile.

Sentencing him, Judge Andrew Hurst said: “Five of them were at night when the residents were at home and asleep.

“In Witham the children were present at the home as well.

“You purposefully thought you were going to make quite a lot of money.

“It seems to me that committing a burglary is what you do and you do not care about people’s property and the effect on them when they are targeted.”

Hearne was jailed for nine years.

Harry Adams

The not-so-smart burglar was stopped by police just 30 minutes after stealing a car in Braintree.

Harry Adams, 21, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars after he admitted stealing a Peugeot 308 from outside a house in Bedford Close.

The owners were woken by their dog barking and heard screeching tyres outside.

They looked out to find their car had been stolen.

Adams had got into the house through the front door and taken a handbag containing car keys and a purse from inside the porch.

He was travelling along the A12 at Brentwood in the stolen vehicle when he was stopped by police – just 30 minutes after they were told of the burglary.

Adams, of Fernhill Street, Woolwich, was arrested and charged soon after.

He admitted burglary and theft of a motor vehicle when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court in July.

He was ordered to pay a £156 victim surcharge on top of the his jail sentence.

Adams was also banned from driving for two years and three months.

Speaking after sentencing, the victim and owner of the Peugeot said: “This incident has been devastating and had a huge impact on my whole family. I am glad that the person involved has been charged now as it has put my mind at rest.

“I have to give credit to Essex Police for finding my car so quickly – we are so lucky to have gotten the vehicle back. The officers were brilliant and it was fantastic for us.”

Sanjoy Rajput

The convicted sex-offender was jailed for breaching a court order on multiple occasions.

Sanjoy Rajput, 53, was handed 18 months behind bars after he broke a number of rules relating to a sexual harm prevention order.

The order was put in place to restrict his use of devices which has access to the internet.

Officers from the Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders team (MOSOVO) carried out an unannounced visit to Rajput's home in Harebell Drive, Witham, on September 23.

They found a mobile phone inside the property which he was not allowed under his prevention order.

A subsequent investigation also found Rajput had acquired a new credit card which he was meant to have informed authorities about.

He was arrested and later charged with breaching his prevention order and five counts of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the sexual offenders register, which included the use of an alias name to groom young females online.

Rajput admitted the offences at Chelmsford Crown Court on October 22 and was handed jail time at the same court last week.

Marian Tanasuca

A 'PREDATORY' rapist was jailed for nearly seven years after admitting to attacking a woman in Witham

During the early hours of July 14, a woman, aged in her 20s, was walking home from her friend's house when she noticed a man behind her.

The man, who was said to be acting strangely, then walked past her, before tripping up and falling on the floor.

As the woman tried to help him up, the man put his arm around her and then kissed her on the cheek and touched her inappropriately.

She told the man not to touch her and walked away from him, before he offered her money for sex.

When she said no and continued walking, he became verbally abusive towards her and ran up behind the woman, grabbed her hair, pulled her to the ground and raped her.

As soon as the incident was reported, officers quickly arrived and a man was identified and arrested on suspicion of rape.

Marian Tanascua, 43, of no fixed address, was subsequently charged with three counts of rape, before pleading guilty to all three offences when he appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on September 7.

He was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison after appearing again at Chelmsford Crown Court on November 4.

The convicted rapist has also been told that once his jail term is complete, he must spend another eight years on licence.

Leo Munns

The teenager who drove a stolen car up to 120pmh while attempting to evade police was jailed.

Leo Munns, 19 of Crittall Road, Witham has been sentenced for a spate of burglaries in Rosewood Close, Colchester, Chalks Road and Yew Close in Witham in February.

Cars were stolen from each house, include a BMW.

Munns was driving a stolen car and fled at speeds of up to 120mph with police in pursuit.

Officers used a stinger to bring the BMW to a stop, but Munns got out and ran off.

The car had been stolen during the Chalks Road burglary and was on false number plates.

Munns had left behind his mobile phone, which contained text messages discussing the BMW, and an Audi that had been stolen from Yew Close.

He was arrested in March during a roads policing operation targeting criminals using the roads.

Munns admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

He was sentenced to a three year detention and training order and banned from driving for four years and nine months.

Ryan Dobson

The drug dealer whose makeshift factory could have made nearly £4 million worth of cannabis-laced boiled sweets was jailed for nine years.

Ryan Dobson, 54, ran the production line from his home in Dunmow, making professionally packaged tins of cubed confectionery in his kitchen and garage.

The Metropolitan Police found 12 rubber moulds, some covered in cannabis oil, which allowed Dobson to quickly produce 900 cannabis sweets at a time.

Officers also found high strength skunk cannabis stalks in labelled vacuum-sealed packaging in a raid on his home on November 4 last year.

Prosecutors said the value of the sweets, along with more than 20,100 empty tins found in 28 boxes in Dobson’s garage, meant there was a potential to make 745,920 grams, with a street value of £3,729,600.

Dobson, who pleaded guilty to drugs and weapon offences, was jailed for nine years on Thursday at Snaresbrook Crown Court after the judge rejected his claim that he only sold the cannabis to cancer sufferers.

Detectives also found a small amount of cocaine, two stun guns and two encrypted “Encrochat” mobile phones at Dobson’s home.

Dobson, of Church Lane, admitted to three counts of supplying a Class B drug, possession with intent to supply a Class B drug, producing a Class B drug, importation of a Class B drug, possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a weapon for the discharge of an electrical current to stun and incapacitate, and possession of a Class A drug.