CRIMINALS jailed in April include an 18-year-old killer, a Bournemouth beach rapist and a child abuser.
Thomas Betteridge
Thomas Betteridge killed 18-year-old Cameron Hamilton after a fight broke out in Bournemouth square during the early hours of Saturday, August 5, 2023.
Betteridge, 18, then fled the scene, and was heard by a witness saying, “I sliced him up”.
When he was arrested in the Lower Gardens a short while later, he filmed himself mocking police officers and posted it on Instagram.
Betteridge, of Southsea, was found guilty of manslaughter after a four-week murder trial at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Betteridge was handed a 12-year sentence in a Young Offenders' Institute, with a custodial period of nine years and an extended licence period of three years.
Gabriel Marinoaica
Gabriel Marinoaica pulled his 15-year-old victim, who could not swim, out to sea during a busy summer day before raping and sexually assaulting her.
Marinoaica, who was 18 years old at the time, now aged 20, committed the “brazen act” in broad daylight in front of many people.
He asked the girl if she wanted to ‘smash’, meaning to have sex, but when she said no he placed his hand over her mouth and raped her for about a minute.
When she returned, crying, to her friends on the beach Marinoaica pursued her, asking for her Snapchat details.
He was arrested 11 months later after semen found in the girl’s bikini matched his DNA.
Marinoaica, of Darlastan, Walsall, West Midlands was found guilty of three charges of sexual assault and one charge of rape after a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court in March.
He was sentenced to six and a half years in a young offenders’ institute and was placed on the sexual offenders register for life as well as given a sexual harm prevention order for 20 years.
Benjamin Kenneth Fooks
Benjamin Kenneth Fooks threatened staff with a screwdriver during an attempted robbery at a convenience store in Christchurch.
Fooks, 35 and of Christchurch, approached two female staff members at the Londis store on Stour Road before pulling a long screwdriver out of his pocket.
He repeatedly stabbed the shop counter with the screwdriver before doing the same to a nearby chewing gum stand.
One of the staff members chased the defendant out of the shop with a bottle before locking the door.
Although no one was hurt, Detective Constable Mohi Uddin, of BCP CID, said both victims have been left with “long-lasting anxiety and understandable trauma.”
Fooks was jailed for 20 months.
Connor Morris
Connor Morris, 26, set up a counterfeit business, with fake employees, as part of an elaborate scam to sexually assault seven models.
Morris lured his victims to a hired workspace to take part in 'data research' that would improve sizing for companies like Asos, Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, Oh Polly and Love Honey.
The women were paid £150 and could earn an extra £50 if they agreed to a 'muscle analysis' which required them to strip and let him measure their bodies.
However, this was an 'elaborate confidence trick' just so he could grope their breasts and touch their bottoms.
Morris, who worked as a leisure centre lifeguard, also set up hidden cameras in the Branksome Consulting Centre in Poole, Dorset, to film the women in a state of undress.
He eventually admitted nine charges of sexual assault and three counts of voyeurism between June and July 2020.
Morris, of West Street in Wareham, was jailed for three-and-a-half years.
Cary Alexander
Cary Alexander, 31, was found with several wraps of cannabis after police caught him acting suspiciously in Gervis Place, Bournemouth.
Following a second search in custody, Alexander was found with several wraps of heroin and crack cocaine and over £400 in cash.
A later search of his home then revealed additional heroin and a further £755 in cash.
After admitting to offences of being concerned in the supply of heroin, crack cocaine and cannabis, Alexander was jailed for 28 months.
Gemma Marsland
Gemma Marsland, 30, sent sexual messages to a vulnerable teenager before engaging in sexual activity with him.
She then deleted the messages and shut down concerns raised by others over her victim's ‘sexualised behaviour’.
Marsland inappropriately touched the boy and turned off the lights in the room they were in, before putting something by the door to stop anyone from coming in.
Marsland admitting two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, and a single count of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
Marsland, of Esme Avenue in Blandford St Mary, was jailed for one year.
She was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for ten years.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article