The Argus • 28/04/2025

Mother seeks justice for 'murdered' daughter who drowned in river

Pat Tompkins from Saltdean is still fighting for her daughter Angela Read, who drowned in the Hastings River, New South Wales, in April 2000. Australian police and pathologists in New South Wales believed the 34-year-old killed herself, but Ms Tompkins believes she was murdered. READ MORE: Road blocked as emergency services attend incident Ms Tompkins with one of her grandchildren in 1997 (Image: Supplied) She said: "My daughter would have never taken her own life; I am absolutely co...

The Argus • 27/04/2025

Arrest after car collides with shopfront

Officers were called over reports a vehicle had crashed into a shopfront in Seaside, Eastbourne at 9.55am on April 26. The police force has confirmed that no one was injured inside the building, and that the driver of the vehicle was not at the scene. READ MORE: Two people taken to hospital after incident in marina Officers attended an address in the town, where a 37-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, and...

The Argus • 26/04/2025

One person electrocuted and two others injured at St George's Day fete

Police officers assisted emergency services with the incident in Markstates Common, near Chailey on Saturday at 11am. The event was immediately abandoned.  The bungee cord trampoline ride was set up under a pylon at the event. The police force said that it was understood that a man in his 20s sustained an electric shock and was taken to hospital as a precaution. Two more were treated at the scene, the ambulance service confirmed. READ MORE: Updates as trains delayed due to "safet...

The Argus • 23/04/2025

Ancient woodland saved after high court battle with country club

Wealden District Council challenged an appeal decision on a proposed development on an ancient woodland at Wellshurst Golf and Country Club in Hellingly at the High Court. Councillor Ian Tysh, Alliance for Wealden (Green Party) and lead councillor for planning and environment, said that the outcome is a “triumph for environmental protection". The ruling means that the woodland has been saved from development for the time being, the council said. READ MORE: Cliff collapse warning issu...

The Argus • 23/04/2025

Drugs and illegal working practices uncovered at barber and vape shops

Officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) were joined by agencies including Trading Standards, Immigration Enforcement and the Department of Work and Pensions along with local police forces to visit 11 barber and vape shops across Sussex, Hampshire and Thames Valley. In Sussex, officers visited a premises in Crawley and a premises in Hastings as part of the operation. Sussex Police said that "a number of individuals were appropriately safeguarded by officers" an...

The Argus • 23/04/2025

Police launch appeal after man "hit by cyclist" leaving him with brain trauma

Adil Elyas, from Hove and in his 50s, was reported to have been hit by a cyclist while crossing Western Road in Brighton near to the Waitrose bus stop on April 15 at 4pm. Sussex Police has now launched an appeal for witnesses of the incident to come forward. READ MORE: Hove man named and charged with terrorism offence The police force has said that the bike, which may have been electric, did not stop at the scene, and that enquiries to locate the rider are ongoing. A spokeswoman...

The Argus • 17/04/2025

Man left with bleed on brain after e-bike delivery driver 'hit and run'

Adil Elyas, from Hove, was crossing the road in Western Road, Brighton on Tuesday afternoon at roughly 3pm when the collision happened. Three eye witnesses told The Argus that they saw Adil fly into the air, flip over and hit his head against the road and watched as the delivery driver rode off. READ MORE: School teacher banned after sending ‘intimate’ emails to female pupils Adil was rushed to A&E at Royal Sussex County Hospital, where he was diagnosed with the bleed, along with bra...

The Argus • 17/04/2025

Ex-police officer found not guilty of assaulting member of public

Adam Burke, 30, appeared at Staines Magistrates’ Court for a two-day trial on April 9 and 10, after he denied a charge of assault in connection with use of force on a member of the public at an incident in Brighton on December 8, 2023. Burke resigned as a police constable from the force in December 2023. The matter was referred to the Independent Office of Police Conduct who directed that a local investigation by the force’s Professional Standards Department should be conducted. Crim...

The Argus • 17/04/2025

Shoplifter banned from stores across Sussex

Mwiya Kamutumwa, known locally as Kush, targeted stores in Chichester including Tesco Express and the Co-Op in South Street, TK Maxx in East Street and One Stop in St Paul’s Road between February 18 and April 14. Sussex Police said Kamutumwa stole hundreds of pounds worth of goods, such as household cleaning products, trainers, an Easter egg and multi-boxes of chocolate bars. His offending was reported by the businesses, which allowed Sussex Police to build a file to present to the Crown...

The Argus • 16/04/2025

School teacher banned after sending ‘intimate’ emails to female pupils

Reece Morgan was teaching English, classics and Latin at Seaford College near Petworth, West Sussex, when he began regularly emailing a girl, referred to by the panel as Pupil A. The teacher and pupil sent dozens of emails to each other, a Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard, which “became increasingly more inappropriate over time”. In some of the messages Mr Morgan sent to Pupil A, using their personal email addresses, he said “sleep tight” and described himself and the pupil as a “d...

The Argus • 16/04/2025

Constance Marten’s baby potentially exposed to 'substantial risk of hypothermia'

Marten, 37, and Mark Gordon, 50, are accused of the manslaughter of their daughter Victoria who died after they went off-grid and slept in a tent in early 2023. The child’s body was discovered with rubbish inside a shopping bag for life in a disused shed near Brighton after the defendants were arrested in Golf Drive, Brighton, on February 27, 2023. On Tuesday (April 15), jurors heard evidence from a chartered ergonomist who conducted experiments on the risk of hypothermia to Victoria....

The Argus • 16/04/2025

Man charged with sexual offences against young girl

Sussex Police launched an investigation in 2023, into offences against a girl who cannot be identified for legal reasons. The alleged offences relate to the early 2020s and the girl has since received support from specially-trained officers. READ MORE: Full police statement after women dies following sea search Shaun Gannon, of an address in Crowhurst, was charged with three counts of sexual assault by touching of a girl under the age of 13, and two counts of making a photograph or p...

The Argus • 15/04/2025

Company boss stole £150,000 in Covid support funds

Mehmet Akyuz of Conway Street in Hove, fraudulently obtained three maximum-value Bounce Back Loans worth £50,000 each in 2020 for his Green and Hove Limited and Leathers Wear Limited companies.  Both Green and Hove, trading as Organic Earth Cafe, and Leathers Wear, were not trading at the time of Akyuz’s applications.  Green and Hove and Leathers Wear were incorporated in February and March 2019 with Akyuz as the sole director. The former was a retail food and grocery store with a ca...

The Argus • 15/04/2025

Kebab shop found guilty of selling lamb doners made with 'other meats'

Directors of Worthing Kebab Ltd, trading as Worthing Kebab House & Pizza at 32 Teville Road, Worthing, appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on April 3 and pleaded guilty to all charges. West Sussex Trading Standards had previously visited the premises in August 2021 and July 2022, providing detailed food safety issues which included allergen advice. In 2023, the company and its director, Mr Yasar Kizilcay, were prosecuted for failing to provide accurate allergen information and for dis...

The Argus • 11/04/2025

Woman with 'limitless greed' stole from club and pushed it to near bankruptcy

Jeanette Gardner, 66, of Meadow Road, Hailsham, had worked her way up from bar staff to a position where she controlled the club’s finances at The Hailsham Memorial Institute. The family social club in Western Road, was facing bankruptcy after Gardner abused her position as an employee to steal thousands of pounds from its accounts. Following an extensive police investigation, Gardner, who denied wrongdoing, was held accountable and has now been ordered to pay back some of the stolen mon...

The Argus • 11/04/2025

Man named and charged after 'shaken' baby taken to hospital

Police were called to a report of a baby being shaken and aggressively handled by a man in Bear Road, Brighton on April 9 at 5pm. Officers attended the scene and a man was arrested and taken into custody. Following further enquiries, a 38-year-old man, and 36-year-old woman, both from Brighton, were arrested on suspicion of neglect. They have since been bailed pending further enquiries. The baby remains in hospital at this time while assessments continue. READ MORE: Boy, 13,...

The Argus • 08/04/2025

Murder charge as tributes paid to 'a good, kind boy'

Metodi Petrov Ivanov suffered fatal stab wounds in the attack close to the pier, in The Esplanade, Bognor on April 4 at 9.40pm . The 20-year-old, who lived in the town, was taken to Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, where he died from his injuries in the early hours of April 5. His next of kin have been informed and supported by specialist officers, and have issued the following statement: "We are devastated at the loss of our beloved Metodi. He was a good, kind boy who had a...

The Argus • 02/04/2025

Tributes pour in for ‘gracious’ and ‘upstanding’ victim in murder investigation

Emad Farag was found dead by police officers in a property in Hartfield Avenue, Brighton following reports of a man attacking multiple people on Tuesday at 7.30 am. Police officers found the 57-year-old inside the property with significant injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A woman and a boy were also located at the address with injuries and have been taken to hospital for treatment. A 19-year-old man from Brighton has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in c...

The Argus • 28/03/2025

Grandfather guilty of groping younger woman on flight while she slept

Momade Jussab, 66, sexually assaulted the woman in her twenties after she fell asleep watching Grease on a flight from Doha. The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court she woke to find him sexually assaulting her under her clothing. Jussab, from London, admitted touching the woman and told police she had led him on and was 'asking for it'. A judge told him the woman was wholly blameless and he had shown no remorse. The woman had wrapped herself in blankets,...

The Argus • 28/03/2025

Men charged after thousands of pounds worth of stock taken from phone shop

Sussex Police were called to the Three store in Montague Street, Worthing, following a break-in on March 7. Stock, including mobile phones and electronic devices such as headphones, was missing from the store room area, police said. Two suspects were identified by officers following CCTV enquiries. READ MORE: Man found not guilty of rape The two men were subsequently arrested on March 25. Robert May, 50, of no fixed address, and Joseph Perry, 41, of Whitebeam Road, Northbrook...