Seven people who attempted to import illegal bladed weapons purchased online and seized by UK Border Force have been visited by officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) as part of Operation Sceptre, a national crackdown on knife crime. Officers visited the homes of the intended recipients in South Gloucestershire, Bristol, Plymouth,…
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A man from Devon who attempted to target young girls online to sexually abuse has been sentenced to 10 years in prison following an investigation by Devon and Cornwall Police and the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU). Daniel Keenor, 47, formerly of Rosemary Gardens in Paignton and a registered sex offender, had attempted…
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A man from London has been jailed for five years following an investigation by the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) into the supply of firearms for use by organised crime groups in Bristol. Leo McKoy, 22, from Suffolk Road, Tottenham, was sentenced on Tuesday (9 May) at Bristol Crown Court after being found…
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A sexual offender from Glastonbury has been jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of more than a dozen offences. Stuart Marchmont was found guilty of 13 online sexual offences after a trial in February before being sentenced last week. The court was told the 38-year-old incited a girl, who was 12 at the…
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A man who had unknowingly been speaking to police when he was arranging to meet a child to rape has been jailed. Joseph Hopkinson, aged 39, travelled by train from Leicester to Cheltenham in August last year intending to rape a 10-year-old. He had in fact been communicating with officers from the South West Regional…
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More than 100 people have been arrested and hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs seized as part of the latest phase of a South West regional drugs operation. Results included 7kg of cocaine with a street value of £700k seized from a car which had travelled from Merseyside into Gloucestershire and was brought…
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Three Bristol men are being investigated as part of an international operation that saw the takedown of Genesis Market, one of the biggest online marketplaces selling stolen credentials to criminals worldwide. Warrants were carried out by officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SWROCU) and Avon and Somerset Police in Eastville and Sneyd…
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A former prison officer who pleaded gulity to nine counts of misconduct in a public office has been sentenced to one year and four months in jail at Bournemouth Crown Court today (28 February). Rachel Martin, 25, of Woodvill Road, Salisbury, engaged in an emotional and intimate relationship with a serving prisoner at HMP Guys…
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Specialist police teams dedicated to tackling organised crime across the country made more than 3,000 arrests and seized class A drugs worth over £100 million last year, as they continued to target the UK’s most serious criminals. Throughout 2022, the nine Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) in England and Wales pursued those behind organised crime…
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A Trowbridge man has been jailed for five years after pleading guilty to sexual communication with a child. Gary Palmer, 42, of The Halve, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual communication with a child and nine counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity. He was sentenced at…
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