Friday 18th October 2024

Sussex Alerts - Hastings Police

A prolific offender jailed for burglary and drug dealing in Hastings. 

A prolific offender has been jailed for burglary and drug dealing in Hastings; on 3 December 2023, police saw Nicholas Huggins exit an address in Mount Pleasant Road, who was acting suspiciously.

He was seen around 30 minutes later exiting the same address. Officers followed him and witnessed a suspected drug deal on Hughenden Road.

When Huggins was approached and detained, he dropped a plastic bag containing 16 wraps of crack cocaine; he was arrested and following a search on his property in Mount Pleasant Road, a bag containing large amounts of crack cocaine and heroin was found.

While he was on bail for this incident, he committed a burglary series between 21 March and 6 April in the town, and on 21 March, Huggins attempted to enter a store on High Street, and caused £400 worth of damage to the front door; he was unsuccessful in entering.

Later that day, he tried another business on the same street but again had no luck in breaking in and caused damage to the door.

On 31 March, Huggins forced entry into a business on St Andrews Market and stole a phone, and a week later, on 6 April, he smashed a window of a store on Queens Road and stole four laptops. He was then arrested.

Huggins, 36, was charged with possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, two counts of attempted burglary and two counts of burglary. He pleaded guilty to all charges, he also admitted to committing 25 other burglaries in the Hastings area, which were taken into consideration at sentencing.

He was sentenced to a total of four years and two months’ imprisonment when appearing before Lewes Crown Court on 9 October.

Hate Crime Awareness week 2024.

During the week a number of events have been held across Hastings with police working alongside partners on awareness days, where communities could come and talk to us and find out more about the work we’re doing to not only raise awareness of, but also what happens if you report a hate crime, and what support is available.

Officers attended both the Hastings and Ore Sussex Coast College campuses during the week where hundreds of students were spoken to and given advice on how to report hate crime, as well as how to help support and encourage friends and others around the campus to speak out about hate crime.

Attending officers on the day said: “It was encouraging to hear so many students demonstrate a strong understanding of protected characteristics and hate crimes, and we were happy to talk about our role in dealing with this type of crime, emphasising that Sussex Police takes any reported incident seriously”.

Elsewhere in the week officers partnered with the British Transport Police, Victim Support and staff from a local mediation charity at Hastings train station for a day of awareness, where together they spoke to hundreds of residents and visitors to the town, sharing the message that; Sussex Police takes a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime and there is no place for hate across the county.

A man has been jailed for numerous violent offences against a woman in Hastings

Lee Woods, 31, of no fixed address, attacked and strangled a woman in her 30s inside her address.

It was heard that police were called to a report of a disturbance on Priory Road, off Egremont Place on 20 August after Woods and the woman could be heard arguing.

Woods violently assaulted her during this exchange and strangled her, she tried to escape to the bathroom, where he kicked the door down and assaulted her.

After trying to evade police, Woods was arrested on 24 August and charged with grievous bodily harm, intentional strangulation and criminal damage. 

He pleaded guilty to all three charges on 28 August at Brighton Magistrates' court.

On 24 September at Hove Crown Court, Woods was sentenced to 40 months’ imprisonment and was handed a five year restraining order against the woman.

Detective Constable Kieran Morris said: “This was a horrific sustained attack of a lone female, the level of violence used against the victim was shocking.

“I would like to praise the woman in her bravery in making this report and throughout the course of the investigation.

“This was dealt with swiftly with the commencement of the investigation to the date of conviction being just over 30 days, and that shows just how seriously we take cases of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG).

“I would urge and encourage anyone experiencing domestic abuse to come forward, you will be supported and we remain committed to protecting all victims of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls.”

Hastings prolific shoplifter given custodial sentence.

A prolific shoplifter has received 26 weeks custodial prison sentence following thefts in Hastings.

Rona Colvin, 41, of Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings admitted to 5 counts of shoplifting, and 2 counts of breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order at Hastings Magistrates’ Court on 14 October.

Some of the stores impacted by Colvin’s shoplifting spree include Primark and Marks and Spencer's in Hastings, and Co-Op Bohemia Road.

Inspector Buck of the Hastings Neighbourhood Policing Team said:

"This is a great outcome for local businesses and communities. 

Officers are diligently addressing business crime within the town, and this case is among several ongoing proceedings being brought to court. 

We are resolute in our efforts to effectively tackle business crime in the area and to ensure that offenders are held accountable."

Contact us

For non-emergency incidents or crime prevention advice, click  www.sussex.police.uk,  (If you report a crime online, we will assess it in the same way as a 101 call).  

Call 101 when you do not require an urgent response. In an emergency when life is threatened or there is immediate danger always call 999. 

Speak to us face-to-face at a police station or contact the local policing team at www.sussex.police.uk/area/your-area.  

If you are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired, you can contact us using TypeTalk on 18000 or by sending a text to 65999.