News 10 April to 16 April
Two men have pleaded guilty to Grievous Bodily Harm with intent, following a serious assault in Colchester in January.
An investigation by Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate was launched on Tuesday, 9 January after a 16-year-old boy was found seriously injured at Queen Street in Colchester.
The victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and luckily has since made a full recovery.
Enquiries were quickly launched, and a scene remained in place in the city centre for a couple of days.
CCTV enquiries indicated that the victim had been involved in an argument with two men, inside Pepes Chicken Shop shortly before 6:30pm. The argument had escalated into a fight in the street, where the victim sustained multiple stab wounds.
These enquiries identified Kaya Adu, 19 and Rushi Jadeja, 21 as the main suspects. They were arrested in Colchester on 13 January, they were charged with attempted murder. Adu was also charged with possession of an offensive weapon in a public place.
Following a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on 9 April, both men entered guilty pleas to Section 18- grievous bodily harm with intent which was accepted.
They will appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 4 June 2024 to be sentenced.
Detective Chief Inspector Greg Wood from Essex and Kent Serious Crime Directorate said:
“This assault was extremely concerning for residents in Colchester with it taking place outside a busy fast food restaurant in the early evening.
“The victim sustained serious injuries and has had to have multiple surgeries following this assault but has thankfully made a full recovery.
“By the two men entering a guilty plea, this has saved the victim having to wait for a trial to get his justice. I hope that this allows him to put this awful assault behind him and move forward.
“I have to commend the work of our officers, who acted quickly to preserve the scene and collect vital evidence in order to make these arrests and secure these charges. I also have to commend the work of the paramedics on the night, who as always worked under immense pressure to help the victim.”
Community Policing Team - Inspectors Blog
I suppose I should start this with an apology and an introduction. I am Chris Coyles, currently helming the Community Policing team (CPT) here at Colchester while Insp Mirrington-French is away on a secondment, picking up the mantle in the past few weeks has been a fun but steep learning curve. That has meant though I have not been able to seamlessly keep the blog going during the transition, but I know how it is received and have been keen to keep it going while I am in the role, though at least to start with it may be fortnightly as I continue to bed in, sorry it has not been possible to put out again until now.
There have been some great police work in the past few weeks both from the CPT as well as the wider team here at Colchester.
No doubt you will have seen the story of the cash in transit robber in the news or on social media last week. Thankfully this is a crime type that is incredibly rare in today’s world but thanks to some incredibly rapid work by the operational teams from Colchester and Operational Policing Command the offender was quickly arrested, and evidence recovered, and following a robust investigation by CID he was charged with the offence. While detail can not be provided at the current time, once there has been a final resolution to the court process and it is reported on I suspect you will understand what I mean when I say there is no need to be concerned that there is a new master criminal working in the area.
In the past few days we received information that there had been a cannabis farm identified at a commercial premises in the city. The team here at Colchester worked with the premises owner to secure the site and recover around 300 plants that were close to maturity as well as arrest one person involved who has been charged and already put before the courts who have agreed to keep him detained until his next hearing in May. Further investigative work is underway to see if there are any other parties we can bring to justice.
As the summer starts to approach and the weather improves you will start to see coordinated patrols in the City Centre. Staff from the Community Policing Team and the City Centre Wardens will be working together to make sure they are covering the hotspots for crime and anti-social behaviour as effectively as they can by avoiding patrolling the same area at the same time to give greater coverage. That does not mean you will never see us together though, there will be days where joint patrols will also be out to make sure we are learning from each other, and the community can see that Team Colchester is out there working together for them.
There is so much going on that I cannot cover everything in my blog, but I hope that this gives an understanding and flavour as to what the team have been doing. If you want more information about anything in this blog or want to get in touch about an initiative or something else then please write to us at colchestercommunitypolicingteam@essex.police.uk.
Thanks for reading.
Inspector Chris Coyles
Our Roads Policing officers were responding to a collision on northbound M11, between junctions 8 and 9, at around 8pm on Wednesday 29 November last year when they witnessed a Volkswagen car driving on the hard shoulder. The car was heading southbound, towards the oncoming traffic.
When stopped and questioned by officers at the scene, the driver admitted he had driven the wrong way to avoid being stuck in the traffic caused by the collision.
Charlie Wilson of Lord Holland Road, Colchester, admitted dangerous driving when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 10 April. The 27-year-old was ordered to complete 200 hours of community service and disqualified from holding a licence for 12 months. In addition, he will have to take an extended test before regaining his licence.
World war 2 grenade found in castle park
Over the weekend the City Centre Team responded to reports from the Colchester castle park rangers of an old unexploded grenade washing up on the river bank in the park.
After attending and liaison with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from the military it was found to be an old world war 2 grenade which the team assisted with while a controlled explosion was carried out
Man sentenced after admitting 13 shop thefts
A 50-year-old man with an ‘appalling history’ has been jailed for shoplifting.
Jason Keane, of no fixed address, admitted 13 counts of shop theft between 16 November 2023 and 8 March 2024.
On Monday 8 April 2024, after hearing the total value of goods stolen was more than £960, Colchester magistrates jailed him for two weeks for each offence, a total of 26 weeks.
 Let's talk
Upcoming community police events
Wednesday 17 April 10am to 11am
Greggs, St Christopher Road
Wednesday 17 April 10am to 11am
Coffee morning -Wimpole Road Methodist Church, Wimpole Road
Friday 19 April 5pm to 6pm
Starbucks, Sheepen Road, Retail Park, CO3 3LL
Saturday 20 April 10am to 11am
Marks and Spencer, Stane retail park, CO3 8DW
Monday 22 April 10am to 11am
Lakelands community Centre, Stanway
Wednesday 24 April 10:30am to 12pm
Oak tree Café, Highwoods Square
Thursday 25 April 10am to 12pm
Coffee morning - Age Well East 63 North Hill, CO1 1PX
Thursday 25 April 10:30am to 11:30am
University of Essex, Zest Café
Sunday 28 April 4pm to 8pm
Bike marking - Leisure World Colchester, Cowdray Avenue CO1 1YH
Monday 29 April 10am to 11am
Marks and Spencer, Stane retail park, CO3 8DW
Tuesday 30 April 12pm to 1pm
Lakelands Community Centre, Stanway
Wednesday 1 May 10am to 11:30am
Coffee morning - Wimpole Road Methodist Church, Wimpole Road
Monday 1 May 10am to 11am
Marks and Spencer, Stane retail park,CO3 8DW
Thursday 2 May 10:30am to 11:30am
Community 360 Hub, Long Wyre Street
Thursday 2 May 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Tiptree tea rooms, Tiptree jam Factory
Saturday 4 May 10am to 12am
Marks Tey Community Centre
 Keeping your shed or garage safe and secure
An opportunistic burglar will try a shed or garage first because they can find the tools they need to break into the main house.
Shed and outbuilding security: first steps
First off, check that your insurance covers the contents of your shed or outbuildings from theft.
Think like a thief
Take a look at your shed and consider how you would break in. It’s worth having a good padlock on the door with no exposed screws. Pay attention to hinges, as these are sometimes easily removable. If you have windows then these could be vulnerable unless they’re secured with wire mesh or grills. And keep it locked at all times.
Alarm it
Consider a battery-operated shed alarm. They look low key but they respond to movement or door contact with an extremely loud siren.
Lock it, hide it or mark it
Don’t give them the opportunity or the tools to commit a crime. Lock everything away securely. Tools can be locked inside a locker or box or secured with a chain.
Secure your bike to the ground or a lockable stand within a locked shed or garage. Visit sold secure to search for ground anchors and other locks designed to fix to floors and walls.
It’s always worth draping an old sheet or blanket over the top of mowers or bikes to keep them covered from view.
Although it might sound like stating the obvious, never leave your garage or shed door unlocked if you’re not around.
Property marking your items is advisable and some tools can be painted with your name or postcode. Forensic marking is also an option.
A locksmith belonging to the Master Locksmiths Association can advise you on the most secure shed and garage door security. They can also help you install it. Most also provide full home security surveys.
The top five most common items stolen from sheds
- Bikes
- Mowers
- Sports equipment
- Power tools
- Garden tools
Be fraud smart
Bribery
Bribery is giving or offering a person something to persuade them to act dishonestly or break the law for you. It is illegal to offer, give or accept a bribe.
For example, a company paying an official to award them government contracts would be bribery.
A bribe doesn't have to be money. It could be something else, like offering a promotion at work in return for a favour. Or it could be a high-value gift, like tickets to a sporting event.
Businesses have a legal duty to prevent bribery within the company.
Corruption
Corruption is when someone abuses a position of power to get money or something else valuable.
For example, a group of companies secretly agreeing to set artificially high prices would be a form of corruption called price fixing. Or an employee selling company secrets to a competitor is corruption.
Match-fixing in sport is another form of corruption where a coach or player influences the outcome of a match for financial reward.
Disagreements between people about wills, visitation rights, property boundaries, landlords and tenants are not fraud, bribery or corruption.
Also, disputes over missold or faulty items or bad service are not fraud, bribery or corruption.
Find out how to get help with civil disputes.
Reporting bribery or corruption
You might have only seen or heard something that makes you suspicious of bribery or corruption. But we still want to hear about it so we can decide whether to take action.
 What is 'Cash for Crash', how can I avoid becoming a victim and what do I do if it happens to me?
In a 'cash for crash' incident, fraudsters deliberately stage or cause a road traffic collision 'accident' for the purpose of financial gain.
Induced accident
In an induced incident, the criminals will target an innocent motorist to make them out to be the 'at fault' driver in an accident. The induced incident can take many forms, some of the most common scenarios are explained below:
- The driver of the vehicle in front suddenly slams their brakes on and you run into the back of it – the driver then insists it's your fault. Some criminals will intentionally disconnect their brake lights so you don't know they're slowing down until it's too late.
- A driver may flash their headlights for you to pull out of a junction or wave you out of a junction, they then fail to let you out and you collide with them – they deny flashing their lights or inviting you to pull out.
- A car is stationary in the middle of a quiet road, often at night, you drive up to it wondering what's going on and stop, the driver of the vehicle then suddenly reverses into you and maintains you drove into them.
- A driver overtakes you and then suddenly swerves in front of you and brakes hard – you collide with the rear of their vehicle and they blame you.
The criminals who set up this type of scam may also be operating in a gang and have witnesses strategically placed on foot or even following in other vehicles, who will stop and say the other driver version of events is correct.
The criminals who cause these incidents usually target their victims and look for people who will be insured and who they perceive won't be too difficult for them to deal with e.g. the elderly, lone females or mums with children. Such incidents are very dangerous because a collision between two vehicles can have serious unforeseen consequences.
Spot the warning signs
- Be suspicious if a driver appears very calm after a collision and has all their details already written down on a piece of paper.
- Be suspicious of exaggerated claims e.g. after a very minor collision you receive information from your insurer in relation to high repair costs for damage to the other vehicle when only minor damage was caused, cost of hire cars/vehicle recovery when the other driver left the scene in their vehicle, injuries such a whiplash from a very minor impact, injury to passengers when the other driver was alone etc.
- Be aware of passengers or the driver in a vehicle you are following looking backwards/paying a lot of attention to your vehicle – they may be weighing up the best time to slam the brakes on and cause an accident.
- Beware of drivers driving extremely slowly or driving slowly and then suddenly speeding up.
- Don't assume that when a driver flashes their headlights, invites you to proceed or puts their indicator on that it's safe. Use your judgement and wait to make sure it's safe before you go.
What can you do
- Be vigilant – it's best to avoid such situations altogether.
- Don't follow vehicles too closely – leave plenty of room so that in the event of something unexpected happening you can stop safely.
- Try to think ahead and anticipate the actions of other drivers.
- Even if you suspect the accident you've been involved in is a scam, you must comply with your legal responsibilities – please see the following link: What are the driver's responsibilities when involved in an accident?
- Be suspicious and don't get too close to vehicles that have stopped in the road for no reason.
- At the scene of an accident never admit liability for anything.
- Get the details of independent witnesses before they have a chance to leave the scene but be aware they may be part of a gang that has set up the scam.
- Insist on calling the police – 101 for the non-emergency number, 999 if an emergency response is required.
- If you suspect a scam it's usually best not to challenge the driver of the other vehicle about it there and then.
- Obtain as much information as you can about the vehicle, passengers (if present), damage to vehicle, location, time, date, weather conditions, witnesses etc.
- If it is safe to do so, take photographs.
- Never agree to settle the matter informally.
- Tell you insurer what has occurred as soon as you can.
- If you suspect a scam, as well as contacting the police and your insurer, notify the Insurance Fraud Bureau via the link below or by calling the Cheatline on 0800 422 0421
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