Move Over, Leigh, There's Another 'Sob Story Samantha' In Town!

Laura Hope was emotionless in the dock at court when she received her sentence for causing the death of John Hevey, 61, in a horrific crash on Eastern Avenue in Southend on May 21 last year.

The 28-year-old was driving her partner’s BMW along the road. She had 2.9 micrograms of cannabis in her system at the time – over the legal drug driving limit – when she approached a roundabout.

She pulled out into the roundabout but failed to check for oncoming vehicles and ended up hitting Mr Hevey as he drove around.

An utterly avoidable death.

In a victim impact statement, his daughter Yasmine Hevey said her father had been “robbed” of his life, and that he will “leave a hole that no one will be able to fill”.

Her brief tried the 'plead her belly' trick:

Mitigating for Hope, Michael Rawlinson said she was remorseful for her actions and that she “will live with them for the rest of her life” and argued that her sentence should be suspended due to the fact that she has a six month old daughter to which she is the sole carer for, and that an immediate prison sentence would do serious damage to her upbringing.

But at least she wasn't up before Judge 'Lenient' Leigh. This was another Samantha.

Sentencing Hope, of Coleman Street, Southend, Judge Samantha Cohen said that Mr Hevey’s death had a “devastating” impact on his family but chose to suspend her sentence due to the effects it would have on her daughter.

Hope received 18 months in prison suspended for two years, 300 hours unpaid work, and a curfew for four months meaning she cannot leave her home between 8pm and 6am.

/facepalm

Still, if she had a clean reco..

Oh.

A woman viciously assaulted her ex-partner and his new girlfriend, a court heard. Laura Hope, 27, of Dolphins, Westcliff, launched a prolonged attack on the couple who were forced to seek refuge in a shop where the attack continued.

Hope denied two counts of assault, but was later found guilty after a trial at Basildon Crown Court and appeared at the same court to be sentenced, despite insisting she was not guilty.

Judge Graham handed her a 12-month community order. The order requires her to complete 20 days of a rehabilitation activity requirement with probation and 60 hours of unpaid work.

There's no hope for justice any more, is there?

And What Does Happen...? Well, Nothing!

Christopher Summers had previously been sentenced for trying to meet who he thought was an under age girl for sex after messaging online.

He was given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order as part of that sentence, and was told he could not have a mobile phone with access to the internet, or use private browsing, without informing the police. However, the 65-year-old, of The Greensted, Basildon, had bought a Samsung phone which had the ability to browse privately, and did not tell the police when asked. He had then used this to access legal pornographic sites, but tried to hide this from the authorities. He also deleted his internet history to prevent police from seeing what sites he had visited.

Summers eventually admitted two breaches of his order and was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court yesterday.

Well, he's for the chop, surely?

Representing himself, he was asked by Judge Samantha Cohen (Ed: Oh oh!) why he had hidden the phone and had visited the site. He replied: "I don't have an answer to that. It was just to see what happened."

Well, guess now you know!

Summers also said he had not told his 90-year-old mother he was in court, and that if he were sent to prison it could have a negative effect on her.

Yes, no doubt. Those are called 'consequences'...

Summers also said he was in a stable relationship and his partner was looking to move to the UK within two to three weeks.

Does he/she have to wait for term time to finish, or something?

Judge Cohen gave Summers a suspended prison sentence of six months, saying it was only because of the impact on his mother that she had not sent him to jail.

*sighs*

She said: "You present a risk of future offending by contacting young people.

"These are deliberate breaches of your order.

"You knew perfectly well that you should have told police you were using the phone and should not have used private browsing.

"It's only because of the impact of you going to prison would have on your very elderly mother that I am going to suspend the prison sentence.

"You have escaped custody by the skin of your teeth."

No, because the justice system is weak.

And We Wonder Why Drugs Are Rife...

Oliver Cox has admitted being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs in Southend.

The 21-year-old was arrested and charged following police raids across the town on June 10 last year.

The raids were part of Essex Police’s crackdown on County Lines drug dealing in Southend and London. Cox admitted being involved in drug dealing from April to June that year.

Bang to rights, for once! 

Mitigating, Anthony Abell, said: “21 is very young.

“He has a very good chance to turn it around.

“He is a Christian, and he’s been studying that religion in prison.

“There is some good there in that way.”

Ha! Good luck with that old chestn... 

Judge Samantha Cohen...

Oh. 

...said: “You will be aware that Class A drugs are sold by organised criminal gangs and they bring with them violence and misery.

“They damage people’s lives.

“Another way the gangs work is by pressuring and coercing young people to become involved in their business and that’s what happened to you.

“You yourself were a victim of an organised crime gang who coerced you and pressured you to becoming involved in the drugs supply enterprise.”

/facepalm 

Judge Cohen said: “You are a young man, 20 at the time and you had your 21st birthday in prison.

“Mitigation says you are a bright young man and have lost your way, and you have capacity to find it again, and a guaranteed apprenticeship.

“It’s been organised by your older brother, who is putting his neck on the line for you.

“The pre-sentenced (sic) report says you got involved in debt in the gang and you had to pay it off.

“What you should have done is speak to people, speak to the authorities and go to your parents, who plainly support and love you.”

Cox, of Clifton Avenue, Benfleet, received two years in prison suspended for two years and a two month curfew from 8pm to 5am.

*sighs* 

Only 'Could'...?

A teenage drug dealer has admitted carrying cannabis just five months after dodging jail when he was caught with £38,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin.

Dealer Tyrese Terry appeared dressed in a grey hoodie and trousers at Basildon Crown Court, to admit his latest offence, which could activate a two-year suspended sentence handed to him in May.

Why isn't it automatic? Why should it be left to the judge?

Addressing him in court on Friday, Judge Samantha Cohen (Ed: Whew! Not Samantha Leigh...this time!) said: “Your legal team are making arrangements on whether the much more serious matter should be tried. This will be heard on December 16.”

One to watch...

Ah, The Same Old Familiar Stories...

Ryan Crook, 33, had been a class A drug user for 10 years before falling into £900 debt with his dealer and being forced to sell drugs to pay it off, Basildon Crown Court heard on Wednesday.

After working off the debt, Crook was threatened by the dealer he worked for and told to continue selling drugs. He was arrested on the afternoon of October 21, 2022, when officers from Essex Police’s operation raptor teams caught him make a sale red-handed while on patrol in Southend.

Nice! Bang to rights, and no escaping! 

In her sentencing remarks, Judge Samantha Cohen...

Oh, wait.

...said: “You had been a class A drug user for 10 years and you ran up a debt of about £900 which you then repaid by working for your dealer.

“Once that debt was expunged you were then threatened that ‘your life would be made hell’ if you did not continue dealing.

“That pressure meant that, instead of going to the police, you carried on dealing.”

And you believed that, Samantha? Of course you did. 

Crook, of Archer Close, Southend, who had pleaded guilty to possessing a controlled drug of class A with intent and possessing criminal property at an earlier hearing, was handed a two-year sentence suspended for two years. He was also ordered to undertake 250 hours of unpaid work.

*sighs* 

Just Another Night Out In Grays...

Adam Price got into a fight with two people on Grays High Street after he was drunkenly walking around asking for violence.

When the two people he started on armed themselves and assaulted him in return, he fled up the high street, and returned with a sword, swinging it around.

Adam was clearly never told to be careful what you ask for....

The 29-year-old's sister Rosie Price, 24, tried multiple times to calm the situation, but anger overcame her and she threw a brick in the direction of the two men.

*rolls eyes*

The incident happened in June 2018, but later the same year, Price drew his sword again.

What, he was allowed to keep it after the first time?

He came to his partner's home where she was there with two children, and in his drunken state, dropped a pizza on the floor.

When his partner asked him to pick it up, he became enraged and hurled abuse at her, assaulted her and broke her phone. The woman fled the home to her neighbour who called the police.

At this point, Price took off his shirt, got his sword and started hacking the front door of the neighbour's home, where three children were cowering in fear.

Lovely! Pity the cops didn't turn up armed and do society a favour...

Adam and Rosie Price, of Park Avenue and Lodge Lane, Grays, appeared at Basildon Crown Court today for sentencing.

Adam Price admitted affray, two counts of possessing a sword, two counts of criminal damage and common assault.

Rosie Price was previously found guilty of affray in relation to her brick-throwing.

Can't wait for the mitigation...

Mitigation for Rosie Price said her involvement was minimal and had resulted in her anger getting the better of her after trying to peacefully calm her brother and the situation.

Mitigation for Adam Price said that he has long suffered with a disjointed education and cannot read or write, but he is attending literacy classes in prison and was remorseful for his actions.

Who on earth would belie...

Oh. Of course.

Judge Samantha Cohen (Ed: Oh...) told Adam Price he had behaved in an "aggressive, violent and outrageous way" saying his partner and children "would have been utterly terrified" of his attacks with a sword.

Rosie Price received a 12 month community order and 30 days rehabilitation.

Adam Price received six months for affray, 15 and 16 months for possessing the sword on two occasions, to run consecutively. He received concurrent sentences for criminal damage and assault, totalling three years and one month in jail.

Why the difference?

"We Need Female Judges To Stamp Out Domestic Violence.."

Daniel Heath accused his partner of cheating on him, and flew into a drunken rage when he stumbled into her Basildon home after drinking heavily.

The 34-year-old of Lottem Road, Canvey, banged on the door of his partner’s home before being let in at 1am on February 5 this year, three hours after she went to bed. He falsely accused her of having another man in her home, and the shouting woke up her 11-year-old son, who went into the bedroom to comfort her. Heath then punched the woman and left her with a black eye, before going downstairs and getting a kitchen knife, shouting ‘when I find him, I will kill you both’ before falling asleep in an armchair.

Over the course of the next week Heath would watch his partner and her son, turning up one evening and calling her son “scum”.

The court heard of an incident when his partner moved her car off the drive so it looked like she wasn’t in. Heath called her asking where she had gone, and when she claimed she was at her mother’s house, he told her he had been there and not seen her car.

On another occasion he came around, took a hammer from the shed and hit it against kitchen work surfaces, and smashed a photo frame as he left the house, when his partner called the police.

Heath was arrested and later went on to admit controlling and coercive behaviour, assault and criminal damage.

Ooh, the justice system is going to deal with an animal like you as you deserve. Isn't it?

Mitigation said that Heath was “disgusted” by his actions and had sought help to curb his alcoholism.

Hah! As if that'll get you off the hook!

Judge Samantha Cohen told Heath he had put his partner and her son through a “terrifying” ordeal and gave him a 16 month suspended sentence, 150 hours unpaid work and £340 in costs.

*blinks*