Three men jailed for burglary of woman in her 70s

Three men have been jailed after being convicted of burglary at the home of a woman aged in her 70s, which took place in Cavendish over four years ago.

Anthony Cosgrove, aged 47; Sammy Okat-Uma, aged 46; and Ashton Seymour, aged 50; all appeared at Ipswich Crown Court today Friday 2 August.

Cosgrove (pictured left) was jailed for 62 months in prison, Sammy Okat-Uma (centre) was jailed for 59 months in prison and Ashton Seymour (right) was given 52 months in prison.

All three men had initially pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burgle and were sent for trial, with proceedings getting underway on Tuesday 5 March.

However after the jury had been sworn-in, but before commencement of the trial, Okat-Uma, of New North Road, Ilford; and Seymour, of New Wanstead, Wanstead, (both addresses being in the London Borough of Redbridge); changed their pleas to guilty.

Cosgrove, of Lodge Close, Chigwell in Essex, did not change his plea and so the trial continued, resulting in him being found guilty by a unanimous decision on Friday 8 March.

A fourth man had been charged in connection with the incident and had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to burgle in February 2022, but he died later that year in a road traffic collision in London, prior to being sentenced.

The incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday 16 April 2020 at a property in Nether Road.

The court heard how at just after midnight, the victim – a woman aged in her late 70s at the time – was woken up by three men in her bedroom. One of these men held his hands firmly over her mouth and demanded money. While she was being held down, the two other men began searching her home. 

After a short time, the victim was able to scream for help, alerting a neighbour who came to assist and called police. The neighbour entered the property and was confronted by the three men, two of whom ran directly past her and out of the door. The third – who was holding the victim down – lingered for a short time before he then pushed past the neighbour and ran off.

Police officers arrived and found that an untidy search of the property had taken place and an amount of cash and jewellery had been stolen from within. In their haste to flee the scene, the suspects left a holdall bag behind and a crowbar. The holdall contained various items believed to be a robbery kit, including gaffer tape and latex gloves.

The victim was left extremely shaken as a result of the incident but was not physically injured.

Initial CCTV enquiries in the area identified a Ford Mondeo and a silver Peugeot vehicle arriving at the scene and leaving shortly after at speed.

Forensic testing of the items left behind by the suspects detected the DNA of Sammy Okat-Uma and he was arrested six days later (on 22 April) and was charged the following day.

Following his arrest, Okat-Uma’s phone was analysed and found there had been frequent calls made to Ashton Seymour both before and after the incident. Further analysis of Seymour’s call data strengthened the belief of detectives that he was one of the other people responsible.

Officers also made enquiries of ANPR cameras (Automatic Number Plate Registration) to identify what vehicles had been in the area at the time of the crime. A Ford Mondeo was found to have been travelling on the A131 between Sudbury and Halstead at the material times.

This vehicle was not insured and the previous owners had informed the DVLA they were no longer the registered keeper. The registration number was run through ANPR and the car was found to have left Wanstead just before 8pm on 15 April (approximately four hours before the burglary).

A further ANPR hit on the car located it in Wanstead again on 14 April, this time just a two-minute drive away from Seymour’s home address. The vehicle was stopped by police in Romford on 26 May, where it was found being driven by a new owner who had bought it that day having seen it advertised on Gumtree.

Seymour’s DNA was tested against a mixed profile DNA found on the holdall bag and provided a positive match for the presence of his DNA. Seymour was subsequently arrested on 13 June 2020 - five days after the deceased defendant had been arrested – who had also been linked to the crime via calls made by Okat-Uma.

Anthony Cosgrove was also connected to the crime via mobile phone analysis and frequent contact with Okat-Uma and Seymour both before and after the burglary.

The prosecution case provided evidence of various phones linked to the defendants co-locating on the evening of 15 April (implying the parties were together), then they stopped interacting with the network for a number of hours - indicating they were deliberately turned off - before being turned back on in the early hours of 16 April.

When Cosgrove’s phone was turned back on it connected to a mast in close proximity to the home of the deceased defendant in Chelmsford. The last connection Cosgrove’s phone had made on 15 April was just before 7.50pm, when it hit a mast near his home address in Chigwell – this was a call from Okat-Uma.

Cosgrove was arrested on 4 August 2020 and was then charged three weeks later on 26 August, along with Seymour and the deceased defendant. 

Detective Sergeant Glenn Toms said: “This was a truly appalling crime that demonstrates the depths of what some criminals are prepared to do.

“Burglary is an intrusive crime anyway, but for three men who were aged in their 40s at the time of the offence, to subject a woman aged in her 70s to a terrifying ordeal like that is both rare and truly shocking.

“The victim was understandably affected by the events of that night, but displayed great resilience in assisting us with our enquiries, along with her neighbour who demonstrated incredible bravery in coming to her aid and being confronted with the intruders.

“Three of these men ultimately admitted their guilt for their roles in conspiring to commit this crime, but Anthony Cosgrove chose to prolong the victim’s wait for justice. The jury were satisfied that he was involved with the others and were unanimous in finding him guilty. 

“This was a complex investigation that required many strands of intertwining evidence to prove the defendants were those responsible. This included forensic evidence, mobile phone analysis and ANPR data and was a real team effort to enable us to convict the offenders.”