In the dock: The most serious cases heard at court in Essex

Offenders have ranged from abuse of young children, being snared by a hunter group, to dealing drugs in our streets and being involved in fights.

Here is a round up of the most serious cases heard before Basildon Crown Court this week.

Jamie Parker

Parker has been jailed for four years for sexual activity with a child almost a decade ago.

The 35-year-old, of Sturrocks, Basildon, admitted one charge relating to the offence on October 28, 2011.

The offence came to light when it was reported many years later.

His victim said in her impact statement that he had "stolen her childhood".

Jake Dickinson

Dickinson was spared jail after chasing his ex partner with an axe.

The 19-year-old of Eros Avenue, Southend, had previously demanded sex from the woman, despite the fact they had already broken up.

She ended up leaping from a first floor window to escape him.

He was eventually spared jail.

Bradley Davis

Davis was arrested by police following a confrontation by a paedophile hunter group near his home in The Gore, Basildon.

During the live stream, the 30-year-old maintained that he knew the profiles he had been speaking to and sending the threats online were decoys and was trying to expose them.

Davis was arrested by police following the event on October 7, and was charged with four counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and four counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, including penetration and no penetration.

In some of his messages he had threatened to tie a girl up and sexually assault her.

Despite the serious nature of the messages, he was spared jail.

Denzel Lebbie 

Denzel Lebbie was found with a stash of cocaine and cannabis when police stopped a car in Southend.

Lebbie was found in the passenger seat of the Vauxhall Corsa in Riviera Drive on January 7, 2019, along with Samuel Lowe who was in the driver’s seat.

A small amount of cannabis was found in the car, and when Lebbie was searched he had a spring loaded lock-knife, and underneath his clothing was a fist sized bag containing cannabis and 11 wraps of cocaine.

The court was told he had racked up 15 drug offences between 2018 and 2020.

He was jailed for two years and four months.

Tobi Akintimehin 

Akintimehin dealt drugs in Southend which was more than 40 miles away from home.

The 25 year old was confronted by police in Warrior Square car park and drugs were found on him.

He claimed that he was scared of the repercussions of not paying off his debt to dealers, and that his family may have been in danger.

He was spared jail.

Che and Zane Martin

The Martin brothers were involved in a brawl which saw a man suffer a skull fracture.

The incident - on December 9, 2018 at Mojo's Bar in Leigh - came just months before the gin bar faced a review of its licence for hundreds of complaints about noise and behaviour.

Che and Zane Martin, aged 23 and 26, were handed suspended sentences for the attack.

Che had punched the man once, before Zane came outside and hit him again, causing him to fall to the floor and hit his head on the pavement.

This cause a fracture, which required glueing back together.

Read more here.