In a busy May for the county’s courts, here are five Hertfordshire criminals who have been convicted this month, including a knife-wielding murderer who killed Stevenage teenager Kajetan Migdal.
1. Patrick Sharp-Meade
Sharp-Meade, 20, of Cuttys Lane, Stevenage, was given a life sentence at Luton Crown Court for murdering the 18-year-old in a vicious attack, after he and his friends left their school prom in Stevenage in May 2022.
The school friends were getting changed by Kajetan’s car after the event before heading to Cambridge to meet other classmates, when Sharp-Meade approached them.
He challenged them, mistakenly thinking they had been following or speaking to his ex-girlfriend, who had walked past the group moments earlier. He then pulled a zombie knife from his trousers, and stabbed Kajetan in the chest.
Sharp-Meade fled the scene, returning briefly to his nearby flat to hide the murder weapon in his mattress. Kajetan who was left fatally injured, sadly died the next day in hospital.
Lawyer Lorraine Telford for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Sharp-Meade’s irrational jealousy led to the loss of a promising young man’s life.
"The witness accounts given during the trial provided a clear picture of what happened on that tragic night when the four schoolfriends were confronted by a total stranger, wearing a balaclava and armed with a large zombie-style knife.
"Sharp-Meade’s attack on Kajetan was wholly unprovoked and senseless, and the jury found him guilty of murder after the prosecution proved he was fully aware and in control of what he was doing when he stabbed and killed Kajetan. He will now spend a significant amount of time in prison for his crime."
2. Michael Aggabao
Michael Aggabao, 51, of Lister Close, was found guilty of six counts of sexual assault, one count of digital penetration and one count of attempted digital penetration following a 10-day trial at St Albans Crown Court.
The offences were committed against two victims, both under the age of 13 at the time. They occurred between May 2009 and May 2014, and during March 2019.
Aggabao was cleared of one count of sexual assault and one count of digital penetration.
For charges against the first victim, Aggabao was jailed for a total of five years with a year on an extended licence, as well as a further nine years to be served concurrently.
For charges against the second victim, Aggabao was sentenced to three years in prison, with a further nine years to be served concurrently.
Aggabao was also handed an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and will be placed on the sex offenders’ register.
3. Saimir Dyzeni, Florjan Dani and Albion Dani
Three burglars who stole £100,000 and ransacked homes across Hertfordshire have been jailed.
Saimir Dyzeni, Florjan Dani and Albion Dani were sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Friday, May 3, where they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle homes.
Dyzeni, 29, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to five years and three months behind bars, while Florjan Dani, 28, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison.
Albion Dani, 24, of Cranbrook Road in Ilford, was sentenced to five years and three months, plus a further three months for two counts of possession of a false ID document.
Following the conclusion of their sentences, all three men will be deported to Albania.
The trio targeted 31 homes in Three Rivers, Watford, Dacorum, Broxbourne, Welwyn Hatfield, London, Kent and Thames Valley, stealing £100,000 in jewellery and cash before often ransacking the properties.
The men were arrested by Hertfordshire officers on Friday, February 8, having been caught shortly after targeting a home in Upminster.
Officers found crowbars, multiple pairs of gloves and face coverings inside the car that the three men were arrested in.
Officers also recovered sacks of jewellery from the address where they were residing, much of which has now been identified as stolen from burglaries and returned to the rightful owners.
4. Gary Jakeman
Gary Jakeman, 34, committed the crime outside Morrisons on Hatfield Road on February 28 last year.
The court heard that the victim, aged in his 80s, was using the ATM to make three cash withdrawals at 3.25pm.
Jakeman was loitering by the cash machine on his bicycle, and tried to put his hand in the victim's pocket to steal his money.
The victim resisted and, as a result of the force used by Jakeman, he was knocked to the ground.
Jakeman took £80 as money fell out of the victim's pocket, and then he cycled away.
The court heard that Jakeman - currently of no fixed abode - had stolen the money to fund his drug habit.
5. Charles Vance, Sean Kellard, Ryan Burton and David Black
Charles Vance, of Stag Lane in Chorleywood, was sentenced to two years and four months behind bars for conspiracy to stalk involving fear of violence at St Albans Crown Court last Friday (May 10).
The 43-year-old, who pretended to be a victim of the same stalker and reported fictitious characters to the police, was sentenced to a further eight months imprisonment for perverting the course of justice, to run concurrently. He was also given a five-year restraining order not to contact the victim.
Between April, 23, 2022, and January 28, 2023, the victim was hounded by hundreds of texts and phone calls, which included violent threats.
She was also subjected to messages threatening to get her child pregnant and sent death threats from 'Hannah'.
Unbeknown to the victim, a tracker was planted on her car, which was used to monitor her movements and terrorise her further.
The court heard that on February 5, 2022, a lighter was posted through her letterbox. On February 8, 2022, white lilies symbolising death were delivered to her address.
Offensive language was written in graffiti on her car on March 4, 2022, and her car windows were smashed on April 2, 2022.
Vance enlisted work colleagues Sean Kellard, 32, of Newton Road, Newbury; Ryan Burton, 25, of Mount Pleasant Lane in Bricket Wood, St Albans and David Black, 30, of Anglefield Road, Caversham in Reading, to continue terrorising his victim.
Kellard, sentenced to 21 months in jail, was paid by Vance to make numerous phone calls to the victim pretending to be 'Hannah’s brother'. In these calls, Kellard was threatening and told the victim he was sitting on a bench outside her address waiting for her.
Burton, sentenced to 18 months in jail, suspended for two years, 200 hours of unpaid work and a curfew between 9pm and 6am for three months, was responsible for smashing her car windows on April 2, 2022, making her car undriveable, and making phone calls to the victim in which he played noises from horror films. He received no separate penalty for the criminal damage.
Black, who was handed a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years and 200 hours of unpaid work, planned messages to be sent to the victim, sent lilies to the victim, and purchased a tracker to put on her car.
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