Sussex’s judges, juries and magistrates were busy in February.
These are some of the most serious, high profile and prolific offenders who were jailed in the second month of 2024.
All information comes directly from Sussex Police.
9. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in February 2024
A man who sexually abused a young boy in Sussex in the 1980s and moved to Sweden has been jailed after an international investigation spanning 13 years, Sussex Police have confirmed. Police said Glenn Langrish, aka Glenn Stephens, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with another three to be spent on licence, at Hove Crown Court on February 2 for multiple child sex offences. Sussex Police said Langrish, 74, worked at a lawnmower repair shop in Crawley called ReeEven Hire during the 1980s. Police said Langrish began communicating with a 10-year-old boy called Stephen Lewsey – who Sussex Police said has chosen to waive his right to life-long anonymity for victims of sex offences – over a shortwave radio in 1983. Eventually the pair arranged to meet, and Stephen began working regular weekends at the hire shop with Langrish, police added. Over the next several years, Sussex Police said Langrish sexually assaulted Stephen every time he worked at the shop and when he was giving him a lift home. Police said the abuse stopped in 1989 when Langrish was jailed for unrelated child sex offences. On his release in 1994, Sussex Police said he moved to Sweden and changed his name to Glenn Stephens. Stephen, who is now 51, reported the abuse to Sussex Police in 2011 and an international search began for Langrish, police said. Sussex Police said Interpol discovered he was living in Vendelso, Sweden, with Swedish citizenship in 2016. He was interviewed by Swedish police, but as a Swedish citizen was protected from extradition back to the United Kingdom, police added. Police said an international warrant was issued for his arrest should he leave Sweden and, in May 2023, Sussex Police were alerted by the National Crime Agency that Langrish was in Poland. Sussex Police said he was brought back from Poland by the Metropolitan Police’s extradition team on July 5, 2023, and taken into custody at Heathrow Airport the same day. Langrish was subsequently charged with four counts of indecency with a child and four counts of Photo: Sussex Police
10. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in February 2024
A man has been jailed following a crackdown on County Lines drug-dealing. Officers executed a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant at an address in Crawley, where local dealer Liam Batchelor was arrested. It was after he was identified as operating a drugs line supplying heroin and crack cocaine to vulnerable drug users in the area. The 37-year-old, who referred to himself in bulk text messages as ‘Tilgate Liam’, was found in possession of six mobile phones which were examined and clearly showed his criminal activity. He was charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, which he pleaded guilty to, and was sentenced to three years and nine months’ imprisonment when he appeared before Lewes Crown Court on January 12. Batchelor, of Boswell Road, Tilgate, was arrested as part of Operation Ruby – a crackdown on County Lines drug-dealing in Crawley in December. A number of other suspects were also arrested and are due to appear in court over the next few months. Photo: Sussex Police
11. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in February 2024
Drug dealers operating a County Line into Eastbourne have been jailed after detectives dismantled their supply into the town. Jonid Cufaj, Julian Cufaj, and Urim Peraj, operated the “Tony” mobile phone line supplying cocaine from Essex to Eastbourne. But following an investigation, warrants were executed and they were arrested. Now, following a trial, they have each been jailed for being concerned in the supply of class A drug. The three were sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on January 31. The court was told how Jonid Cufaj, 25, a labourer of London Road, Romford, effectively led the group, while his younger brother Julian Cufaj, 22, unemployed of Southend Arterial Road, Havering, was also linked to the drug supply line in Essex. They worked with Urim Peraj, 25, unemployed of Cavendish Avenue, Eastbourne, who acted as the drug dealer in Eastbourne. Detectives from Eastbourne CID and the Eastbourne Community Investigation Team gathered intelligence as part of Project Adder to disrupt County Lines drug dealing after a drug user was stopped in Eastbourne in February 2023. The “Tony” line was uncovered, with mobile phone marketing messages alerting customers to drugs available in Eastbourne. Along with colleagues from Essex Police, the Metropolitan Police as part of Operation Orochi, and Sussex Police’s Neighbourhood Enforcement Team, warrants were then carried out at four addresses. Evidence showed how the Cufaj brothers were linked to organising the supply and sale of class A drugs along with Peraj. Drugs and mobile phones were seized as part of the investigation. Jonid Cufaj was found guilty of being concerned in the supply of a class A drug between January 1, 2022, to February 7, 2023. At Lewes Crown Court on January 31 he was jailed for six-and-a-half years. Julian Cufaj was found guilty of the same offence, as well as being concerned in the supply of cocaine from November 25, 2022 to February 8, 2022, and being concerned in the supply of cannabis in the same period. He was hailed for Photo: Sussex Police
12. Locked up in Sussex: These are some of the criminals jailed in February 2024
A man who raped a teenage girl in an East Sussex park has been jailed. David Berbers, 21, of Byatt Walk in Richmond-upon-Thames, attacked his victim – a girl under the age of 16 – in St Ann’s Well Gardens on the evening of Sunday, July 25, 2021. "He had arranged to meet her after the pair had been communicating on social media,” a Sussex Police spokesperson said. "After suggesting they walk through the park, he raped her before fleeing the scene, leaving her to seek help from members of the public nearby. She was supported by medical professionals and specialist police officers, while an urgent investigation was launched.” Police said Berbers was identified through his Instagram account and the phone number he used to contact the victim – as well as a ‘detailed description she provided’. Urgent enquiries were carried out and he was arrested in London three days later on July 28, 2021, police said. “He was subsequently charged with the rape of a girl under 16 in relation to the Hove incident,” the police spokesperson said. "Berbers was also charged with two counts of rape and attempted rape as part of separate Metropolitan Police investigations, and possession of extreme pornography.” At Kingston Crown Court on Monday, December 4, a jury found him guilty of three counts of rape and one count of attempted rape, police said. Police said Berbers pleaded guilty to possession of extreme pornography. At the same court on Friday (February 16), Berbers was jailed for 11-years and given a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order. Photo: Sussex Police