WEST SUSSEX COUPLE JAILED FOR KIDNAPPING AND EXPLOITING TEENAGE GIRLS

A couple from West Sussex has been given custodial sentences after they kidnapped, manipulated, and put two teenage girls at risk last May. Jason Jezzard, 20 years old, who resides on Dorset Close in Littlehampton, and Melanie Smith, 27 years old from The Causeway in Goring, appeared before Chichester Crown Court on Friday, January 23. Both had previously admitted guilt. Jezzard was sentenced to just over four years in a Young Offenders Institution, with charges including the kidnapping of a 16-year-old girl’s mobile phone on April 22, 2014, and inflicting actual bodily harm on a man on that same day. Smith was sentenced to eight months in prison for each of three separate abduction charges, with all sentences served concurrently. Detective Sergeant Alex Lowe explained that Jezzard and Smith had methodically exploited two vulnerable teenage girls they knew, leading them into a lifestyle involving petty theft, drugs, and alcohol, without resorting to violence or threats. The girls, who were in local authority care, continue to be supported by Children’s Services as authorities work to prevent further exploitation. The court and police stressed that both individuals had been advised not to associate with the girls through Child Abduction Warning Notices but chose to ignore these warnings. Authorities reaffirm their ongoing commitment to protecting at-risk youth, stating, “Police and Children’s Services will continue to collaborate to safeguard vulnerable young people.”