Paul Clifton, 55, a former English teacher from Sidcup, has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing two underage girls. The offences began in 2006 when Clifton targeted a 16-year-old pupil at an East London school. Over a decade later, in 2017, he abused another girl, aged 15, at a Surrey school.
Clifton gained the girls’ trust through gifts and attention before coercing them into long-term sexual relationships. One victim said, “Asking how this impacts my life is like asking someone how they breathe… The defendant robbed that from me.” Another victim revealed that Clifton sent her direct messages in her twenties that triggered panic attacks. He pleaded guilty to nine child sex offences.
In Croydon, Lewis Benjamin, 20, and Jamal Ali-Richards, 19, were sentenced for the manslaughter of 34-year-old Justin Henry. Justin went missing in October 2023 after a night out. CCTV footage showed him stopping at McDonald’s before heading to Waddon New Road. His body was later discovered in a car boot on Kingswood Drive, approximately 19 minutes away.
Police found bloodstains at Benjamin’s flat, which had been stripped bare. Benjamin was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Ali-Richards received eight and a half years.
In Thornton Heath, Bradley Scott, 27, and Jevonte White, 18, were convicted for using drones to smuggle drugs, weapons, and phones into prisons across the UK. They conducted 105 drone drops at 17 prisons, concealing contraband inside drink cartons. Scott was jailed for six years, while White received a suspended sentence.
Detective Ian Bradshaw commented that the smuggling operation fuels debts and violence, posing serious risks to both staff and inmates.
Osama Alkhair, 37, was sentenced to seven years and four months after attempting to rape an unconscious woman in Croydon on December 29, 2023. The attack was interrupted. Judge Tony Hyams-Parish warned that Alkhair would be deported after serving two-thirds of his sentence, stating, “You took advantage of a woman who was clearly incapable of consenting.”
Wesley Maughan, 25, was jailed for 22 months after stealing over £34,000 worth of stock from Boots stores in Banstead and Coulsdon, as well as other shops across Surrey, London, Buckinghamshire, and Kent. CCTV footage showed him filling bags and walking out without paying. He was arrested at Harwich Port while attempting to flee using a fake ID. Maughan pleaded guilty to 13 counts of shop theft.
Originally published by UKNIP.
