Cambridgeshire Major Crime Unit reaches landmark 3,000 year sentencing figure

Since the Major Crime Unit was formed in 2012, the tri-force collaboration between Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire police have overseen offenders who have committed the most serious and horrendous crimes locked away for more than 3,000 years.

Detective Superintendent Jo Walker leads the unit and said: “Seeking justice for victims and their families is at the heart of what we do. The mix of skills and specialist knowledge of our staff and officers on the unit allow us to track down offenders and build cases to bring them before the court.

“It is not only the work of my officers and staff who play a part in dealing with these investigations. We work closely with colleagues and partners in many different departments across Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire to deliver justice and reassure our communities.”

The tri-force unit is made up of more than 100 detectives and 70 staff who investigate all major crimes across the three counties. The offences they deal with include murder, manslaughter, stranger rape and kidnap and extortion as well as cold case (historic) offences. At any one time the teams are investigating up to 50 cases across the three forces.

The Major Crime Unit has worked on some of the most serious cases in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough since 2012.

Some of the cases include:

In November 2016 two men, Mark Lintott and Joel Lawson, were sentenced for manslaughter and robbery having assaulted pizza delivery driver Ali Qasemi in Peterborough.

Four men were sentenced to a total of 35 years in October 2017 for kidnapping a man from Peterborough.

A man was sentenced in December 2017 to a discretionary life sentence for a rape which occurred in Peterborough in the 1980s and a 12 month custodial sentence to run concurrently for burglary and indecent assault.

In June 2015 Jeff Henry was assaulted and died in hospital less than a week later. Two men, were given 22 years and 16 and a half years respectively for manslaughter. A third man was jailed for four years and six months for assisting an offender.

In August 2016 a man was sentenced to life in prison to serve a minimum of 11 years for stabbing Marius Micebicius at a property in Wisbech.

In October 2016 a man was sentenced to life to serve a minimum 20 years for the murder of Laraine Rayner at a property in Wisbech.

In August 2015 a man beheaded his wife Samantha Ho at their home in St Neots. He was detained under the mental health act indefinitely in March 2016.