In a busy November for the county’s courts, here are seven Hertfordshire criminals who have been jailed this month, including two shotgun-wielding drug dealers in Welwyn Hatfield.
1. Kamal Hussun and Erasta Muaka
Erasta Muaka, 28, of Solomon Way, Tower Hamlets, controlled the Welwyn Hatfield county line and was jailed for four years after admitting his involvement in a conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin.
Kamal Hussun, 23, of Southgate Road, Islington, acted as a drug runner and admitted the same charge.
He also pleaded guilty to possession of a sawn-off shot gun and was sentenced to a total of six-and-a-half years behind bars.
Both appeared at St Albans Crown Court, who heard that the line had been operational from September 10 to December 15, 2020.
In July 2020, his Hussun’s DNA was found on a sawn-off shotgun hidden in a bush outside the communal area of flats in London.
Read more: Shotgun-wielding Welwyn Hatfield drug dealers jailed
2. Stuart Cheek
Former St Albans chief inspector Stuart Cheek was jailed for a year for possessing extreme pornography.
The 44-year-old joined Hertfordshire Constabulary when he became St Albans’ new chief inspector in 2018, was found to have files classed as extreme pornography on his personal phone when it was searched by specially trained officers.
“Stuart Cheek knowingly shared and received files that contained images of illegal extreme pornographic acts,” said District crown prosecutor Clare Forsdike.
“The sharing and viewing of images of extreme pornography is not a victimless crime. At the CPS we are determined to secure justice for these abhorrent crimes, whoever the perpetrator.”
Read more: Former Herts Police chief jailed over extreme pornography
3. Karan Soni
Hatfield drug dealer Karan Soni has been jailed for 10 years and four months after killing an armed robber who stole cocaine and money from him.
Luton Crown Court heard that Soni killed Tola Piper in what Judge Sara Cockerill described as a “freak accident” in Dewsbury Road, Luton, on November 29 last year.
Giving evidence, Soni admitted that had built up a cannabis debt and had been told to deliver drugs to a man in Parys Road, off Runfold Avenue.
He said he had never met Mr Piper before, but when he got into his vehicle, he pulled a machete out of a drawstring bag and placed it against his neck.
Soni, of Birchwood Avenue, Hatfield, then drove his car into Mr Piper, causing him to fall onto the bonnet.
The victim was then catapulted into the air when one of Insignia’s wheels locked with the victim’s getaway car, a Nissan Micra, before being crushed under the wheels.
Police and paramedics were called, but they were unable to save Mr Piper who suffered fatal chest injuries.
Read more: Drug dealer jailed after killing armed robber in Luton
4. Karl Foskett
Karl Foskett, a former soldier from St Albans, has been jailed for six years after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Norfolk.
The 35-year-old, who served with the Royal Anglian Regiment in Iraq, was found guilty of sexual activity with a child in Hemsby, Norfolk.
King's Lynn Crown Court heard the victim, who was 14 at the time and cannot be identified for legal reasons, was given alcohol by Foskett before the offence, which happened on August 22, 2018.
Foskett, of Russet Drive, St Albans, has 14 previous convictions for a total of 23 offences, was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) for 15 years and put on the sex offenders register for life.
Read more: Former soldier jailed for sex offence against teen girl
5. Nathaniel Ferdinand
St Albans motorist Nathaniel Ferdinand has been sentenced to two years and eight months behind bars for causing a collision in Harpenden, which resulted in a bus driver losing his leg.
The collision occurred on the A1081 Luton Road at around 4pm on Saturday, April 9, this year.
Ferdinand, from Henderson Close in St Albans, was driving his BMW along the road when he veered into the opposite carriageway and collided head on with a bus.
The driver of the bus, a man aged in his 60s, was seriously injured, sustaining several fractures which resulted in his leg being amputated.
Ten passengers were also injured in the collision.
The 28-year-old failed a roadside drug test after the crash, testing positive for cannabis.
Read more: St Albans man jailed after causing serious injury by dangerous driving
6. Frank Donoghue
Frank Donoghue has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after burgling the home of a woman in her 90s.
The incident took place in Bricket Wood, in February this year, during which the 40-year-old broke into the home of a woman in her 90s, and slept in her spare room overnight.
When the victim awoke, she discovered Donoghue and confronted him before he made his escape, but the intruder left with several items from the house and forensic evidence identified him.
Read more: St Albans man jailed after burgling woman's home
7. Billy Smith
Former Stevenage resident Billy Smith has been put behind bars for two years and four months after punching and beating his former partner with a belt.
The 24-year-old had been in a relationship with the woman for around six months in the summer of 2022, with the victim since admitted that she thought he was going to kill her.
In one attack, Smith punched his victim in the face following an argument outside of Stevenage High Street's Mulberry Tree pub, and in another - outside the Tranquil Turtle in Symonds Green Lane - he grabbed her by the hair and beat her to the ground using a belt.
Smith then forced her to walk home with no shoes on, while threatening her with violence.
Read more: Man punched and beat ex-partner with belt
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