It won’t be a happy New Year for this bunch of killers, rapists, child abusers, drug dealers, thugs and thieves, nor will it be for many years to come. All were jailed during 2022 and received some of the heaviest sentences handed down by judges at Northampton and other crown courts.
1. STEFAN DRACA
The 18-year-old was told in January he will serve a minimum 15 years after a jury found him guilty of murdering 16-year-old Rayon Pennycook with a single stab wound in Reynolds Road, Corby, in May 2020. The pair had intervened in a dispute between two girls but got involved in a knife fight. Judge David Herbert told him: “You went prepared for violence. You used the knife you took to the scene and stabbed Rayon Pennycook in the chest. This case highlights the danger of knives." Photo: Northamptonshire Police
2. JOHN GARDNER
The 46-year-old Kettering paedophile was given an extended 10-year jail sentence in January for child sex offences. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
3. JAMIE ROBINSON
The 32-year-old from Duston, Northampton, hid a camera inside his former partner’s home to make secret recordings, turned up at her workplace and tracked her to a hotel where she was staying with a friend and booked himself into an adjacent room. Robinson was jailed for four years after admitting assault and stalking. Photo: Northamptonshire Police
4. SEAN SHORTLAND
Northampton Crown Court heard how Shortland tried to strangle a woman in a random attack in June 2020 after following her from a Tesco Express in the town. The 25-year-old from Little Billing was jailed for a minimum 16 years in January after being found guilty at a trial in 2021. Photo: Northamptonshire Police