A busy start to 2024 has seen south Londoners sent to prison for crimes including rape, murder and theft of an ancient vase.
Their sentences range from a few months to a life sentence.
Below are the names and faces of some of those who have been jailed in south London this January.
Bardhyl Mustafaj
He had visited the victim's home near Hampstead Heath to fix a lightbulb.
The victim, aged in her 50s, subsequently reported Mustafaj to the police and he was charged with four counts of rape dating to May 2019.
A crucial piece of evidence found by police was the presence of the 64-year-old’s DNA on a teddy bear his victim used to push him off her when he tried to kiss her.
He was jailed for eight years.
Read the full story here - DNA on teddy bear helps send 'lightbulb-fixing' rapist to jail.
Louis and Stewart Ahearne
On the evening of June 1, 2019, the men were wearing masks and gloves when they broke into the museum by smashing a pane on the front door before shattering a display case and leaving with the items, believed to be from the 15th century and valued at £2,870,000.
DNA from the scene matched Stewart on an international database and police also identified the registration plates on a car leaving the scene and discovered it had been hired by Stewart days before the burglary.
CCTV images then implicated Louis.
On Tuesday (January 16), the brothers were each sentenced to three years and six months in prison at a court in Geneva, the Metropolitan Police said.
Ibrahim Moro
They convinced old people that they were in the loving relationships they desperately craved.
One elderly Australian man who believed he was in a relationship with Patrick was initially asked for small amounts to buy her clothes for the winter.
But Patrick then told him she was entitled to 78kg of gold in Ghana and had to pay for it to be released.
The man transferred almost £138,000 to the fraudsters.
The Australian man died before Moro and Patrick were sentenced.
Moro was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison while Patrick got an 18 month suspended sentence.
Matthew Bower
Swanley man Matthew Bower, 52, spent thousands of pounds commissioning the sexual abuse of children as young as two.
An FBI investigation found he would send money via Paypal asking for explicit photos or videos.
In 2017 a 15-year-old girl in the USA came forward and explained how a female family member had sexually abused her.
It was revealed that Bower had been paying that family member to photograph the abuse for his sick sexual gratification.
Other chat logs were found in which Bower actively encouraged others to sexually abuse kids.
They identified a woman in Romania who had been abusing a child under the age of 2, as directed by Bower.
Bower was jailed for 13 years.
Dean Beason
Dean Beason, 41, of Lincombe Road in Bromley, was part of a county line which pedalled drugs in Gravesend.
After Kent Police were informed of the messages officers were sent to Erith to catch the person responsible for the ‘Jeff Line’.
This led them to Corinthian Road in Erith on October 11 last year, where they stopped a Peugeot 206.
Beason was driving the vehicle and the phone which had been sending the texts was also inside.
Officers also found two more phones and a wrap of crack cocaine.
Beason was arrested and a search of his home recovered 20 deals of crack cocaine, eight wraps of heroin, electronic scales, £450 in cash and a booklet with details of drug deals.
He was jailed for four years.
Christopher Gibbons
Alongside Tyrone Patten-Walsh, 36, from Romford, he hosted a podcast series which aired their homophobic, racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic and misogynistic views.
As well encouraging listeners to commit acts of terror, investigators found that Gibbons had also created an online library containing hundreds of extreme right-wing texts and other material.
It contained more than 500 videos of extreme right-wing-related speeches and propaganda documents.
The library had nearly 1,000 subscribers, and the content had been viewed more than 152,000 times.
Jake Simms
He travelled to the Co-op in Pound Road with an accomplice.
Once there, they forced their way into the shop and stole two cash boxes before fleeing the scene in a car.
Witnesses described the criminals’ car as a medium-sized black vehicle, and it was later identified as a Toyota Prius heading towards London.
Kent Police and the Metropolitan Police followed the car through south east London, which soon came to a halt after colliding with a police vehicle.
He was jailed for two years.
Read the full story - South east London man with hammer and screwdriver stole cash from Co-op.
Jamie Lewis
Matt, 42, had tried to break up a fight in an Iceland car park on Canvey Island.
During the fight Matt was stabbed twice in the neck by Lewis, and he was pronounced dead in the early hours of Saturday morning.
After stabbing Matt in the neck, Lewis returned to the pub covered in Blood and tried to enter again.
Lewis was arrested in Croydon three days later and was charged with murder and possession of a bladed article.
A jury unanimously found him guilty of murder on October 10.
In January he was sentenced to life in prison.
Harvey Smalling
The officer and a friend had asked Smalling if an uncollected order was his, to which he unexpectedly reacted in an aggressive manner.
They then left the restaurant in order to avoid any further confrontation, but Smalling followed them.
Despite trying to avoid him by crossing the road, Smalling approached and threatened them.
The pair attempted to calm him down, but the victim was stabbed in the chest with an item Smalling had taken from his bag.
Smalling fled the scene, and his victim was taken to hospital for treatment to a serious chest wound.
He has since made a full recovery.
Smalling was jailed for two years and eight months.
Read the full story - ‘Violent’ Orpington man stabbed off-duty police officer near restaurant.
Shaun Bent
In a raid of his home address officers uncovered a rucksack which contained three pistols, each containing 18 round magazines and 46 rounds of ammunition.
788 grams of cocaine and drug paraphernalia was also found by police, along with £53,000 in cash and a money counter.
Read the full story - Lewisham drug dealer had pistols, £53k cash and nearly 1kg of cocaine.
Hameed Baig
He ran a drugs line from London to Southampton.
He was arrested after police raided a flat used by Baig and his accomplices in Netley in December 2022.
Several drugs phones, cannabis and over £26,000 of cash was found stashed throughout the property.
And when Baig was searched £1,165 in cash was found inside his trousers.
Keys for a Ford Focus, which was parked nearby, were also found.
Inside the car was a large quantity of crack cocaine, heroin and cocaine, drugs paraphernalia and a pistol.
He was jailed for four years and three months.
Read the full story - Greenwich drug dealer caught with £1,165 hidden in trousers.
Ashley Singh
They would then max out the credit cards on expensive tech and designer clothes which they sold on.
The couple used this cash to buy lavish holidays and a pedigree puppy, as well as expensive shoes and bags.
Singh and Bruyea’s spree came to an end after a local officer noticed a pattern and flagged it to economic crime specialists.
A total of 18 victims were identified in London, Sussex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Singh was sentenced to three years in prison while Bruyea was sentenced to 20 months at a young offenders’ institute, suspended for two years, a rehabilitation programme and 120 hours unpaid work.
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