Drug dealers and paedophiles are among the criminals put behind bars last month.

Here is a look back at some of the people who were jailed in Norfolk in March:

Darren James, 48, and Kelly Bond, 53

Two men were sentenced to a total of 38 years in prison after being found guilty of drugs offences and possession of a loaded gun.

Darren James, 48, formerly of Norwich Street, Dereham, was sentenced to 22 years in prison, while Kelly Bond, 53, formerly of Lopham Road, Kenninghall, was jailed for 16 years.

The two men were arrested in Dereham during the early hours of May 12, 2020, after a search of their vehicle found an amount of cocaine as well as a loaded handgun and ammunition.

Searches were subsequently carried out at an address in Kenninghall and two packages of cocaine were seized.

Further enquiries showed the two men had travelled around the country and coordinated the purchase, supply and distribution of significant quantities of class A and class B drugs.


Thomas James, 18

A teenager who stabbed three people in Norwich, including a doorman, was jailed for six years.

Thomas James, 18, of Bolton Road in Norwich, pulled a knife to stab one man in the chest and arm and a second man in the torso during a dispute in Prince of Wales Road.

Shop security guard Alan Gray, 61, suffered a knife wound in the stomach as he grappled to restrain the attacker on October 9 last year.


Ben Noller, 34, and Luke Bush, 32

Two men were jailed for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs in Norfolk.

Ben Noller, 34, of Cyril Child Close in Colchester, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply crack cocaine between April 1 and April 24, 2020.

Luke Bush, 32, of Sunnyside in Diss, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply crack cocaine during the same period.


Louis Vaz, 37

A man from Great Yarmouth was jailed after pleading guilty to supplying crack cocaine and heroin.

Louis Vaz, of Tolhouse Street, was sentenced to four years in prison at Norwich Crown Court after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin in February 2020 and possession with intent to supply heroin in October 2020.

Vaz, 37, was arrested by officers patrolling King Street in Great Yarmouth at 8.15pm on February 17, 2020, after they witnessed Vaz exchanging drugs with another man.

Officers searched Vaz and found him to be in possession of a quantity of cash and a mobile phone.

Further enquiries led officers to an address in King Street where Vaz was living at the time and officers seized drug paraphernalia and a sim card.


James Willis, 29

James Willis, of Fisherman's Drive, March, Cambridgeshire, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs in Thetford between June 26 and July 2, 2020.

Following an investigation by the Breckland Neighbourhood Policing Team, Willis was arrested at an address in Bury Road, Stanton, on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.

Officers attending the property seized cocaine, cash, drug paraphernalia and mobile phones which had been used to advertise the sale of Class A drugs in the Thetford area.

Willis was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, March 3.


Kane Platten, 33

Kane Platten, of New College Close, Gorleston, was jailed for five years after he admitted having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Platten had started to engage the victim in sexual conversation, asking if she would have sex with someone who was 30 when, at the time, he was 29.

John Morgans, prosecuting, said the victim was "scared" and "worried" and did not respond but was taken by Platten, now 33, to a bedroom where he got on top of her and had sex.

Platten was sentenced at a hearing at Norwich Crown Court on Wednesday, March 9.


Ryan Page, 23

Ryan Page, of no fixed address, was jailed following a stabbing in Lowestoft.

Page was sentenced to eight years and one month in prison for causing grievous bodily harm and 27 weeks’ imprisonment for possession of the bladed weapon, to be served concurrently.

The incident happened in Yeovil Road near East Coast College in Lowestoft after a fight broke out between a group of men late on the evening of Saturday, May 1, 2021.

A 21-year-old man was hit on the back of the head with a glass bottle and suffered a single stab wound to the chest.

Page was charged with two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, namely a knife.

On March 4, Page appeared at Ipswich Crown Court where he denied one charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent but pleaded guilty to the other offences.


Eve Sizeland, 35

Eve Sizeland, of Lindley Close, Norwich, was jailed for five years for her part in an established cannabis supply business.

She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B drug and acquiring, using or possessing criminal property between November 27, 2020, and September 30, 2021.

Sizeland was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, March 10.


Samuel Masters, 33

Samuel Masters, 33, of Friends Road in Norwich, was jailed for 32 months for his part in the same established cannabis supply business as Sizeland.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply a Class B drug between November 27, 2020, and September 30, 2021, and one count of acquiring, using or possessing criminal property on April 10, 2021.

Masters was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, March 10.


Ismet Desmir, 35

Ismet Desmir, of The Roundway, London, was jailed for three years after being found in possession of £60,000 worth of cocaine.

Desmir was driving in Portersfield Road, in Norwich, in 2019 when he was stopped by police as part of an ongoing investigation by the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU).

In a search of the car, officers found a kilogramme of cocaine with a potential street value of £60,000.

Desmir pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for 37 months at Norwich Crown Court on Friday, March 11.


Huseyin Nokay, 24

Huseyin Nokay, 24, of Hertford Road, Enfield, appeared at Norwich Crown Court after pleading guilty to being involved in supplying crack cocaine and heroin at an earlier hearing.

He also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and possessing criminal property.

Nokay had been operating the Omar county line drug network in Norwich and also the Adam network into Essex between June 2020 and June 2021.

He was given seven years in prison.


Mantas Dvareckas, 25

Mantas Dvareckas, 25, of Granville Road in Great Yarmouth was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to theft.DNA evidence linked Dvareckas to the theft of GPS navigation systems worth £30,000 from tractors in Cheshire.

The thefts occurred at some point between October 10, 2021 and October 1, 2021.



Elton Townend-Jones, 51

Townend-Jones, 51, of Walpole St Peter near Wisbech, has been jailed after raping and sexually assaulting a schoolgirl under 13-years-old between 2015 and 2020.

The paedophile was jailed for a total of 14 years and must serve two thirds of his sentence before being considered for release.

DC Susan Brown, an officer who investigated the case, said: “Townend-Jones’ horrific sexual abuse of his victim went undetected for years and I am pleased he has finally been brought to justice."



David Thompson, 45

David Thompson, 45, of Lilac Drive, Lowestoft, has been jailed after attacking a victim in his own home.

Thompson and a 17-year-old, who cannot be named due to his age, attacked the victim at his five-bed home in Lowestoft on December 19, 2021.

The victim said the attack "felt like 400 punches" and at one point, the pair were hanging off his back, the Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Thompson was sentenced to 20 months' imprisonment for GBH, and was given eight weeks for breaching a suspended sentence.


Taylor Gee, 23

Taylor Gee, 23, of Long Road, Lowestoft, was jailed after more than £1,000 worth of drugs were found in his home.

Gee was sentenced to 27 months in prison for possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, namely cocaine.

He also received three months in prison for possession of cannabis.


Robert Lovett, 42

Robert Lovett, of Godric Place, Norwich, was jailed on Thursday, March 31, after admitting theft and common assault.

A court heard how Lovett had walked into a Norwich newsagents and tried to steal the till during a night-time raid.

He went into Fields Newsagents in Tombland and lifted the till from the counter after a confrontation with the lone member of staff.

Norwich Crown Court heard Lovett ran out of the store and was chased by the shop worker, who was pushed to the floor by Lovett when he tried to grab the till back.

Jailing Lovett for 16 months, Judge Maureen Bacon said it had been a theft which had involved intimidation "and the use of force" on a sole worker at a store late at night.

Lovett has 58 previous convictions for 102 offences.