One of the longest sentences of the year was handed to a 70-year-old woman convicted of murdering her husband. Christine Rawle killed Ian Rawle with a single stab wound to the back at their home near Braunton.
She was convicted by a jury and handed a mandatory life sentence with minimum term set by the judge. Rawle was one of a number of serious criminals jailed in March.
The others included an arsonist bent on revenge, a violent man on a mobility scooter and a consultant who watched porn before surgery.
Here is a round-up of the criminals sent to jail for despicable crimes in March 2024.
A homeless man bent on revenge was jailed for trying to set fire to flats near Exeter Cathedral owned by a homeless charity. Artur Surmiak, 34, was seen attempting to ignite Rizla paper with a barbecue lighter in the letterbox of 2A Cathedral Yard, a court heard.
The next day a police officer turned up to investigate and saw Surmiak at it again - this time having stuffed more paper in the letterbox. He ran away leaving only minor scorch damage behind.
It turned out that a month before the incident Surmiak had been kicked out of the flat by owners St Petrock's for unacceptable behaviour. When a housing officer saw him sleeping rough a short time later he vowed revenge by burning the flat down.
A Devon woman who knifed her husband in the back - then claimed she was the victim of domestic violence - was sentenced to life in prison for his murder. Christine Rawle said she was terrified of husband Ian Rawle, 72, when she stabbed him at their house near Braunton.
She told police he had been cruel, controlling and violent to her during a 29-year marriage. But a jury at Exeter Crown Court did not believe her account and found her guilty of murder after a trial. On Friday, a judge sentenced her to life in prison with a minimum term of 15 years and 153 days.
He said: "It was a wholly unprovoked attack when he was completely defenceless." He said Ian Rawle was "in no way the serial domestic abuser" his wife tried to paint him as. Instead she had ignored his pleas for help and watched him die.
A Torquay man downed two litres of vodka and ran over his partner with his mobility scooter, a court has heard. Paul Pickering mowed down the woman outside her home in Teignmouth Road.
Instead of stopping to help he drove off - leaving his partner of 20 years to hobble to the house and call 999 for help. She suffered a broken wrist and a broken foot in the incident.
Pickering has a history of violence within the relationship and appeared at Exeter Crown Court to be sentenced for causing grievous bodily harm. He was jailed for a year and seven months.
A man has been jailed for raping one 13-year-old girl and sexually assaulting a second after they had been plied with alcohol by a group of street drinkers. Clay Bamford met the two schoolgirls after they had gone back to his father’s flat with other youngsters who had been drinking near Exeter Cathedral.
He carried on drinking with the girls before raping one under a duvet on the floor and putting his hands inside the clothing of the other. She was so terrified that she thought about jumping to safety from a first floor balcony but instead chose to stay with her friend.
Bamford, who had recently been released from jail for a street attack in Exeter, was due up in court the very next day for exposing himself to a policeman. He was also on bail for attacking a fellow inmate while serving his previous sentence.
Two men were jailed after police uncovered a massive cannabis farm near Exeter. Valerian Ndreca and Adelaji Licaj, both 28, were found on the roof of an industrial building in Exminster.
Inside the building police found 705 cannabis plants. The potential yearly value of the crop was estimated to be £1.7million. Both men appeared at Exeter Crown Court on Friday and were jailed for two years and four months.
Both were in the country illegally after arriving in boats across the English Channel, the court heard. They will likely be deported on release.
A Torbay man who has notched up almost 150 previous crimes was jailed for his latest stealing spree. Anthony Moss used a rock to smash his way into a shop in Paignton and snatch vapes and scratch cards.
He then targeted cars in the local area - stealing vehicles and contents. Items he took included medical equipment belonging to a doctor and a laptop belonging to a teacher.
Moss, aged 47, of Smallcombe Road, was told by a judge at Exeter Crown Court that he is too old to still be behaving in this way. The prolific thief has 146 previous offences on his record, mainly for burglary, taking vehicles and some violence.
A former consultant anaesthetist at The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has been jailed for possessing indecent images of children, extreme pornography and other prohibited images.
Alexander Grice, aged 54, also known as Alexander Knight, was caught when a colleague saw him viewing an image on his phone as they were waiting for a patient to be brought into theatre. He was reported, his electronic devices seized, and over 10,000 illegal images were found on a storage device at his home. More than 3,000 of these were classed as category A images, the most serious in nature.
Grice, of East Street, Chulmleigh, pleaded guilty to a total of five charges and was sentenced to 20 months on Friday at Exeter Crown Court.
A cruel care worker was jailed after being caught on camera subjecting a 94-year-old man to sickening ill-treatment. Jinu Shaji was working at the Langford Park Nursing Home in Exeter when he pushed the vulnerable man's legs backwards over his head causing excruciating pain.
He ignored the man's cries of pain and pleas to stop and held him in position for four minutes. The incident was captured on a spy camera installed by relatives of the resident who had raised concerns with management about bruises on his legs.
When the manager of the home viewed the footage she said she had never seen anything so cruel in her 38 years of working in the care sector.
A semi-professional footballer has been jailed for violent and controlling behaviour against his partner. Dominic Court, 24, was described as a "jealous and violent bully" who made his girlfriend's life a living hell.
During a campaign of aggressive behaviour he grabbed her around the throat, menaced, kicked, spat at, bombarded her with messages and told her he dreamed of beating her up. During one terrifying incident the victim considered jumping 20ft out of a window to escape his knife threats.
When police got involved he ignored an order to stay away and used emotional blackmail by crying and threatening to harm himself. Court, formerly of Exeter, has been jailed for two and a half years at Exeter Crown Court.
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