News 6 November 12 November
The mum of a man who was fatally stabbed in Lakeside shopping centre has sent to a message to anyone thinking of carrying a knife.
In it, Lauretta Ugwa warns of the devastation which knife crime causes and its far-reaching consequences for the families of victims – and perpetrators’.
She has bravely decided to speak out as part of a national week of action on knife crime, named Sceptre week.
Her son, 29-year-old Michael Ugwa, was in the Lakeside food court at 4.30pm on 28 April 2022 when a chance meeting led to him being stabbed by Muhammad Khan.
Khan, of Illford, east London, and his accomplice Brandon Lutchmunsing, previously of Grafton Road, Dagenham, confronted Michael and his friends.
As the confrontation escalated Khan lunged at Michael with a knife and stabbed him under his arm, through his ribs and puncturing his heart.
Khan was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum or 27 years.
Lutchmunsing was convicted of manslaughter and affray and sentenced to 13 years.
We’ve made more than 1500 arrests in the last 12 months as we target people who leave you feeling unsafe in your home.
We have also attended almost every break-in that’s taken place since April, continuing our commitment to tackling burglary.
Superintendent Tim Tubbs, Essex Police’s lead on burglary, said the force is committed to attending your home if it’s targeted:
“That’s why we’re committed to attend home burglaries and carry out all reasonable lines of enquiry.
"In October we went to 99.6 percent of all home break-ins and we’ve been to 99.3 percent in the last six months.
"Our work has led to more than 1500 arrests in the last 12 months in connection with residential burglaries and we are committed to continuing to improve our solved rates across the county.
"As part of the force’s approach, we regularly review where we are seeing hotspots, linked offences or repeat victims and where we see repeat suspects or have known burglary offenders wanted for other matters.
"And our work has seen home burglaries fall by 40 percent in the last five years.”
Can you help?
Officers investigating a serious collision in Thornwood are appealing for dashcam footage.
At just after 5.30pm Saturday 9 November, emergency services were called to a collision between a motorbike and a car in outside Harvest Energy petrol station in the High Road.
The motorcyclist has serious injuries and has been taken to hospital. The road was closed while we carried out our investigations.
Anyone with dashcam footage or information on this incident should contact us as soon as possible.
You can let us know by submitting a report on our website or by using our online Live Chat service which is available 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.
It can be found at the bottom right of our homepage at www.essex.police.uk.
Visit http://esxpol.uk/VQFBl to find out more about our website reporting services.
Alternatively, you can call us on 101.
Please cite incident 826 of 9 November.
 The retail crime tool kit ’the power of the criminal behaviour order’
It’s been a few weeks since I last provided an article to dispatch. Today I am writing about the tools we use in retail crime and the power of the criminal behaviour order.
As per the national retail crime plan, theft and retail-based offending has increased in the past year. To tackle this my team have been putting in extra work to identify and bring to justice the offenders. To identify more suspects, we have been working with retailers who use a system called Auroa. This is a data base that allows businesses to report thefts and upload pictures nationally and link offending between stores. Police can review these images and use them to search our facial recognition system and we often can identify prolific offenders who commit thefts on a regional level. Building the intelligence picture is key in tackling this type of offending as suspects often cross policing borders to commit crimes.
Second to this is the use of the criminal behaviour order. You may have heard of and ASBO however this is now known as the Criminal Behaviour Order. The power comes from Part 11, Chapter 1 of the Sentencing Act 2020. Criminal behaviour orders are civil orders that police apply for on behalf of victims. The purpose is to impose conditions on offenders to reduce harassment, alarm, and distress on victims. This is used in context of retail crime to prevent offenders from attending certain locations prolifically used by them to steal. Criminal behaviour orders can be imposed for a maximum of 5 years. Breaching the order is a separate offence and therefore allows for tougher sentences.
An example of my team’s use of Criminal behaviour orders:
Billy Greenwood, 29, of no fixed address stole from shops and vehicles, as well as breached a pre-existed criminal behaviour order (CBO) between 31 July and 5 September this year.
A prolific shoplifter been jailed for more than a year and-a-half for a string of offences across the Epping Forest District
He targeted the Boots on the Epping Forest Retail Park in Langston Road on six occasions, stealing more than £10,000 of skin care goods and make up items.
He also stole between £100 and £200 worth of meat from the BP in Chigwell Lane, as well as attempting to steal items from a car in Burney Drive, Loughton.
In May of this year, he’d been made subject to a CBO which banned him from entering the BP on Broadway, Loughton or the Boots in Langston Road.
At Chelmsford Crown Court on 28 October he was jailed for a total of a year and eight months.
In the sentence Greenwood was jailed for 20 weeks in relation to the thefts and 20 months for the breach of the criminal behaviour order. Showing how much of an impact the orders can have. This sentence will mean that less offending occurs in our district. Reduces the financial harm and distress to shopworkers.
In the last 6 months since I have started my role as the sergeant for Epping Forest and Brentwood Town Team I and my team have dealt with over 16 prolific offenders, solved over 150 crimes out of 210 investigated, and secured over 6 years of prison time for offenders.
As always, my promise to you the community, I and my team serve, is to do everything we can to reduce crime and when it does occur bring offenders to justice by gathering evidence and presenting the strongest cases possible.
Until next time,
Sergeant Jamie Shepherd, Town Centre Team
Christmas Giving Appeal
 Essex Police Epping Forest and our partners are seeking kind donations from residents and businesses to see that no local child goes without a Christmas present this year.
We shall ensure that all donated gifts go to children in need in Epping Forest, where they will make a huge difference.
Please consider supporting the campaign by selecting an item from the Amazon wish list.
Or by delivering an unwrapped present labelled with the gender and approximate age of the child to:
Epping Civic Offices, 323 High Street, Epping CM16 4BZ
In order for them to be given to the children in time for Christmas, please ensure they reach the Civic Offices by Thursday 12 December 2024. As a guideline we are looking for presents for children aged between 2-17 years old.
 Let's talk
Upcoming community police events
Thursday 14 November 10am to 11:30am
Fraud Awareness Event, Loughton Library, Traps Hill, Loughton IG10 1HD
Thursday 14 November 4pm to 6pm
Let's Talk, Loughton Tube Station, Old Station Road, Loughton IG10 4PD
Monday 18 November 11am to 1pm
Let's Talk, The Coffee Post, 50 High Street, Ongar CM5 9NE
Monday 25 November 11am to 12pm
Let's Talk, Costa Coffee, 2 Victoria Road, Buckhurst Hill IG9 5ES
Friday 29 November 5pm to 9pm
Theydon Bois Christmas Market, Forest Drive, Theydon Bois
Saturday 30 November 11am to 12pm
Let's Talk, IG9 Brunch and Cafe, 4 Lower Queen's Road, Buckhurst Hill IG9 6DL
 Crime prevention advice
Protect yourself from ATM theft
We know it’s not always easy, but try to be aware of anyone near you when you’re at an ATM. Being aware of your surroundings and not being distracted makes it harder for people to take advantage and less likely that they’ll try to.
Thieves will watch as you key in your PIN or distract you while you’re withdrawing cash. Be vigilant. Cover your PIN and keep an eye on your card at all times. If someone taps you on the shoulder or tries to speak to you, just ignore them.
When you've left the ATM, put your card away immediately.
You should also be careful with contactless cards. You can get a card holder to prevent your card details being inadvertently read.
Be fraud smart
Phishing/spoof emails
Fraudsters send fake emails claiming to be from well-known companies, providing payment instructions or claiming payments have been received in order to steal your details and money. Like fake websites, these phishing emails often use similar email addresses and stolen logos to appear genuine.
In some cases, fraudsters spoof genuine addresses. You can check if emails are genuine by contacting the company directly. Don't do this by using the contact details or live chat functions on the email received, use known contact details (preferably phone), or log into your account to confirm.
Don't trust unsolicited emails following unsuccessful bids on auctions that claim the original bidder is no longer purchasing and offer you the purchase instead.
 On what grounds can the police stop and search me?
There are several grounds that the police may legally stop and search a person, however, most of the grounds are too complex to list here.
The grounds for stop and search that often concern members of the public are where the officer has reasonable grounds for suspicion that the person is in unlawful possession of, or has unlawfully obtained an article, is a terrorist, or to prevent an act of terrorism.
The fact that the officer knows that a person has previous convictions is not sufficient grounds for reasonable suspicion. Reasonable suspicious also cannot be formed on the person's age, race or sex alone. There must also be some specific information or intelligence, see below for examples of stop and search powers.
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EXAMPLES OF STOP AND SEARCH
Officer B is on patrol and is aware that there have been a number of robberies with the use of a knife in the area. Officer B sees a young man in a shop doorway who appears to put a folding knife inside the front of his trousers. When questioned about his behaviour, he becomes evasive and denies putting anything into his trousers. Officer B decides there are reasonable grounds to suspect that he will find stolen or prohibited articles.
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Can Officer B search him?
Officer B can search him in a public place but only outer clothing. In this instance, it will be necessary to go beyond outer clothing to find the concealed property. Therefore, if he is required to remove more than an outer coat, jacket or gloves, it must be done out of public view. "Out of public view" is not defined but the shop doorway is inappropriate, as would be a quiet street.
- Officer C is on patrol when she sees THOMAS, a well-known local house burglar who has numerous convictions walking towards her.
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Would Officer C have sufficient grounds to search him?
Officer C does not have reasonable grounds to search him. Previous convictions or other personal factors either alone or combined can never give the grounds to search someone. However, there is nothing to stop Officer C from approaching him and speaking to him. If he does not want to speak to her, then she has no power to detain him.
An officer must comply with several guidelines prior to and during a stop and search,
- the officer must tell the person the grounds for the search
- the officer must inform them of the object of search (to find drugs, offensive weapons etc)
- the officer must show the person their warrant card if in plain clothes or requested;
- the officer must tell the person their identity;
- the officer must also tell the person to which station they are attached,
- the officer must tell the person that they are being detained for the purpose of the search
All stops and searches must be carried out with courtesy, consideration and respect for the person concerned. The length of time for which a person or vehicle may be detained must be reasonable and kept to a minimum.
There are wider powers available to officers who suspect that a person is a terrorist and they do not have to comply with the above but they must reasonably suspect that the person is a terrorist.
For any concerns about the use of the stop and search powers, you should contact your local policing team via their 101 number.
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