See who was jailed in Suffolk and Essex this week - including teenager who stabbed a victim in the head and a repentant burglar.
Trio jailed for 66 years after 'brutal' Marks Tey stabbing
Sentencing Donald Adu, Calvin Armstrong and Ermias Yohannes at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday November 29, Judge Martyn Levett described their attack on Leon Sobers as "relentless, brutal and cowardly."
Mr Sobers, who is in his 40s, was set upon after being ambushed in an alleyway in Marks Tey, near Colchester, on Halloween last year and suffered what were initially thought to be life-threatening injuries.
Adu, 25, of Howard Road, Stoke Newington, London, who was described as the instigator of the attack and Armstrong, 22, of no fixed address, were each jailed for 26 years. Yohannes, 16, of Eagle Drive, Colchester, who was wearing a skeleton mask at the time of the attack on Mr Sobers, was described as a dangerous offender. He was sentenced to 14 years detention with an extended licence period of five years.
After sentencing, Detective Constable Mike Heslegrave from Colchester CID said: "This was a sustained and furious attack by a group of people who intended to kill the victim.
"Adu, Armstrong and Yohannes have not shown any remorse for the attack or the impact it has had on the victim's life."
Burglar jailed for three years on 35th birthday vows to change his ways
Marcel Bagley, of Tern Road in Ipswich, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court on November 27 to admit two burglaries in his own neighbourhood within a week.
The court heard that the father-of-four intended to turn over a new leaf on the day of his 35th birthday by confessing to the burglaries and asking the sentencing judge to take into account a string of other thefts.
Prosecutor David Wilson said the first burglary took place on the night of Wednesday, August 28, when Bagley entered his elderly next door neighbour's property and stole a television, remote control, cigarettes and tobacco. Six days later, he entered a flat in nearby Magdalene Close, through a fanlight, and stole a £500 Xbox games console and a television bought for £3,000. Bagley was handed a three-year sentence - half of which he will be required to serve behind bars before being released from prison on licence.
Teenager stabs victim in head in Essex
A teenage victim was walking with friends along an alley between Fitch's Mews and Fitch's Crescent in Maldon around 3pm on April 22, when he was approached by 19-year-old Joshua Goodchild, of New Writtle Street, Chelmsford.
Goodchild produced a kitchen knife from behind his back, asking "Who wants to get dipped first?".
He then stabbed the victim to the side of the head before making off.
The victim's friends called for an ambulance, and local residents came out and helped the victim while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
He sustained a single deep cut to the side of his forehead and his wound was later glued following a trip to hospital.
Goodchild was arrested on May 1 and denied any knowledge of the stabbing during interview.
He was later charged with GBH with intent and pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday, September 24.
At the same court on Thursday, November 21, he was given an eight and-a-half year extended sentence, four and-a-half years to be served in prison and a further four on licence.
On November 25, investigating officer Detective Constable Claire Hicks said: "Joshua Goodchild is a dangerous perpetrator who has refused to accept that there was anything fundamentally wrong with his behaviour."
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