Charles Thomson
@cethomson.bsky.social
Newsquest Crime & Investigations Journalist (Essex)
4x Weekly Reporter of the Year
2x Crime & Investigative Reporter of the Year
4x Weekly Reporter of the Year
2x Crime & Investigative Reporter of the Year
Henrietta Oyibo was still on bail after drunkenly crashing her car and assaulting officers two-and-a-half years earlier.
The incident at Grays police station erupted after she was wrongly accused of breaching her bail.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2557798...
The incident at Grays police station erupted after she was wrongly accused of breaching her bail.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2557798...
Drunk south Essex woman bit and spat at police officers after crashing into wall
Henrietta Oyibo, from Grays, drunkenly crashed her car into a wall, then bit and spat on Essex Police officers sent to arrest her.
www.echo-news.co.uk
October 30, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Henrietta Oyibo was still on bail after drunkenly crashing her car and assaulting officers two-and-a-half years earlier.
The incident at Grays police station erupted after she was wrongly accused of breaching her bail.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2557798...
The incident at Grays police station erupted after she was wrongly accused of breaching her bail.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2557798...
Yesterday's sentencing was the busiest I've ever seen a court, four families each permanently scarred by a horrific chain of events that began with illegal drugs - as do, I would estimate, the large majority of violent cases I cover, including domestic violence.
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Yesterday's sentencing was the busiest I've ever seen a court, four families each permanently scarred by a horrific chain of events that began with illegal drugs - as do, I would estimate, the large majority of violent cases I cover, including domestic violence.
The family of Kieran Shepherd, said the judge, are also serving 'a life sentence' of their own, the 'devastating impact' on their own lives detailed yesterday in heartbreaking impact statements.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556640...
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556640...
Parents of young dad stabbed in back by drug dealer pay heartbreaking tribute
The parents of a young dad stabbed to death by a Basildon drug dealer paid heartbreaking tributes to him at a sentencing hearing.
www.echo-news.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
The family of Kieran Shepherd, said the judge, are also serving 'a life sentence' of their own, the 'devastating impact' on their own lives detailed yesterday in heartbreaking impact statements.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556640...
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556640...
It is not only O'Keeffe who has been sent to prison.
Two of his friends, Harrison Carpenter and Joseph Dawe, helped him chase down Kieran Shepherd.
They have been jailed for a combined 21.5 years for manslaughter.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556542...
Two of his friends, Harrison Carpenter and Joseph Dawe, helped him chase down Kieran Shepherd.
They have been jailed for a combined 21.5 years for manslaughter.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556542...
Two men jailed for manslaughter over Essex drug addict's stabbing
Essex Police has released photographs of Harrison Carpenter and Joseph Dawe, jailed today for the manslaughter of Chelmsford man Kieran Shepherd.
www.echo-news.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
It is not only O'Keeffe who has been sent to prison.
Two of his friends, Harrison Carpenter and Joseph Dawe, helped him chase down Kieran Shepherd.
They have been jailed for a combined 21.5 years for manslaughter.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556542...
Two of his friends, Harrison Carpenter and Joseph Dawe, helped him chase down Kieran Shepherd.
They have been jailed for a combined 21.5 years for manslaughter.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556542...
I was the only journalist present for O'Keeffe's testimony. I sat through every minute he was in the witness box.
I wrote this article after he was convicted, reflecting on his live evidence.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2545084...
I wrote this article after he was convicted, reflecting on his live evidence.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2545084...
Opinion: Murder conviction seemed inevitable after Basildon killer testified
Echo crime and investigations reporter Charles Thomson reflects on watching Basildon drug-dealer Zack O'Keeffe testify at his murder trial.
www.echo-news.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
I was the only journalist present for O'Keeffe's testimony. I sat through every minute he was in the witness box.
I wrote this article after he was convicted, reflecting on his live evidence.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2545084...
I wrote this article after he was convicted, reflecting on his live evidence.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2545084...
But the prosecution suggested he had revelled in his gangster image, filming himself showing off illegal weapons, including a zombie knife.
I got the CPS to release the clips. They, and his feeble explanations for them, were likely key to his conviction.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556200...
I got the CPS to release the clips. They, and his feeble explanations for them, were likely key to his conviction.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556200...
Video: Killer Zack O'Keeffe filmed showing off zombie knife before murder
Laindon drug dealer Zack O'Keeffe was filmed showing off knives and a baton in the lead up to Kieran Shepherd's Chelmsford murder.
www.echo-news.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
But the prosecution suggested he had revelled in his gangster image, filming himself showing off illegal weapons, including a zombie knife.
I got the CPS to release the clips. They, and his feeble explanations for them, were likely key to his conviction.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556200...
I got the CPS to release the clips. They, and his feeble explanations for them, were likely key to his conviction.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2556200...
O'Keeffe told jurors he had a troubled childhood, became dependent on cannabis & was 'groomed' by a drugs gang into dealing to fund his own habit.
After police arrested him & seized thousands in takings, he was left in debt to the gang & couldn't quit.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2541135...
After police arrested him & seized thousands in takings, he was left in debt to the gang & couldn't quit.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2541135...
Jury told 20-year-old Basildon murder suspect was 'groomed into' drugs gang
Zack O'Keeffe, from Langdon Hills, has told a murder trial at Chelmsford Crown Court how he was 'groomed' into dealing Class A drugs.
www.echo-news.co.uk
October 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
O'Keeffe told jurors he had a troubled childhood, became dependent on cannabis & was 'groomed' by a drugs gang into dealing to fund his own habit.
After police arrested him & seized thousands in takings, he was left in debt to the gang & couldn't quit.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2541135...
After police arrested him & seized thousands in takings, he was left in debt to the gang & couldn't quit.
www.echo-news.co.uk/news/2541135...
Exactly. Primarily over-50s who didn’t grow up with the internet, can’t use it properly & believe anything they see on Facebook. Objectively, they have it made (mortgage paid on a house, two cars on the drive, at least one foreign holiday a year), but never shut up about how hard done by they are.
October 12, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Exactly. Primarily over-50s who didn’t grow up with the internet, can’t use it properly & believe anything they see on Facebook. Objectively, they have it made (mortgage paid on a house, two cars on the drive, at least one foreign holiday a year), but never shut up about how hard done by they are.