Jane Hunt

Two 21‑year‑old men, Inza Dosso and Noah Manuel, received suspended prison sentences at Ipswich Crown Court for running drug lines supplying cocaine and heroin in Colchester and Braintree. Police linked them to the operations through cell site data and their phones, and Dosso was found discarding cocaine during a search. Both admitted involvement, with Dosso citing debt and Manuel citing personal drug use. Their suspended sentences include rehabilitation requirements and unpaid work hours.

A Colchester man, David Caney, was confronted by a paedophile hunter group after engaging in explicit online conversations with decoys he believed to be girls aged ten and twelve. Police later found indecent images of children in his possession. He admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and making indecent images and received a two‑year community order, rehabilitation requirement, unpaid work, costs, and a five‑year sexual harm prevention order. His lawyer said he offended out of loneliness and had already suffered consequences after being publicly exposed.

A 76-year-old man, Gerrard Hogan, was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court to nine years in prison for sexually assaulting a schoolgirl in Colchester in 2019. Convicted of multiple sexual offences, he was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life and barred from contacting the victim for 15 years. The judge condemned his actions as devastating, while the victim’s mother described the lasting impact on their family. Hogan had no previous convictions but is expected to struggle with imprisonment due to his age, and several character references were submitted to the court.