Two men who were caught attempting to smuggle a boatload of Albanian nationals into the country and a rapist have been jailed this week.

Florin Craciun and Eremia Mirea

The pair of thieves have been jailed after going on a week-long mobile phone shop burglary spree around Suffolk and north Essex.

Craciun, 20, and Mirea, 19, appeared before Ipswich Crown Court via video link from Peterborough prison on Thursday morning.

East Anglian Daily Times: Florin Craciun and Eremia Mirea appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on ThursdayFlorin Craciun and Eremia Mirea appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on Thursday (Image: Suffolk Constabulary)

The pair had previously admitted smashing their way into the O2 store in the Buttermarket, Bury St Edmunds, causing an estimated £4,500 in damage and stealing a number of items, at about 2am on April 29.

Craciun, of of Queens Road, Lowestoft, and Mirea, of Queens Road, Lowestoft, asked Judge Emma Peters to also take into consideration three other burglaries during the preceding few days.

Both men were sentenced to 12 months in a Young Offender Institution and will be liable for deportation at the end of their sentences.

Keiffer Sewell

An Ipswich man who raped a drunk woman at an 18th birthday party at a house in the town has been jailed for seven and a half years.

Ipswich Crown Court was told that during the party, the woman was sick after having too much to drink and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Sewell went upstairs with the woman, undressed her and raped her.

The police were called after the woman complained that she had been raped.

Sewell, of Hadleigh Road, Ipswich, denied raping the woman, who is in her 20s, four years ago in 2017, when he was 19.

He was found guilty by a jury by an 11-1 majority verdict after a week-long trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

He will have to serve at least two-thirds of the sentence and will have to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

James Hall-Brunton and Carsten Lienan

The pair have been jailed for attempting to smuggle a boatload of Albanian nationals into the UK via the Suffolk coast.

Hall-Brunton, 4 and Lienan, 51 had previously admitted assisting unlawful immigration into the UK.

The court heard how Hall-Brunton, formerly of Middlesex but more recently of Paderborn, Germany, paid 4,750 Euros towards chartering a suitable boat and stood to make 15,000 Euros as a result of the operation.

Evidence suggested he made three previous reconnaissance journeys to the marina – accompanied by Lienan on one occasion last autumn – and had also considered using Pin Mill, on the Shotley peninsula, as another possible entry point.

Hall-Brunton and Lienan were each sentenced to 45 months' custody.

Karl Tulloch

A Suffolk prisoner who illegally used a mobile phone at HMP Highpoint has been handed a further two-year sentence.

Karl Tulloch, 35, was sentenced at Northampton Crown Court after being charged with transmitting, or causing to transmit, any image or sound from inside a prison by electronic communication for simultaneous reception outside a prison last year.

East Anglian Daily Times: Karl Tulloch has been handed a further two-year sentence for mobile phone use at HMP Highpoint in west SuffolkKarl Tulloch has been handed a further two-year sentence for mobile phone use at HMP Highpoint in west Suffolk (Image: Northamptonshire Police)

Tulloch, formerly of Northampton, was further charged with one count of a mobile phone inside a prison. He is currently serving an 11-month sentence after being recalled to prison.

He pleaded guilty to the offences on July 8 and was sentenced to a total of 15 months for four counts relating to the illegal phone use, plus a further nine months for the possession charge, to be served consecutively.