JASON JEZZARD AND MELANIE SMITH FROM GORING AND MAESTEG SENTENCED FOR ABDUCTION AND ENDANGERMENT OF TEENAGE GIRLS

In a disturbing case that has shocked the local communities of Goring and Maesteg, two individuals have been found guilty of abducting and exploiting two teenage girls, actions that placed the girls in significant danger and involved a pattern of manipulation and coercion.

Jason Jezzard, aged 20, who resides on Dorset Close in Littlehampton, and Melanie Smith, aged 27, of The Causeway in Goring, appeared before Chichester Crown Court on Friday, January 23. Both defendants had previously entered guilty pleas during earlier hearings, leading to their sentencing.

Jezzard received a sentence of four years and two months imprisonment, to be served in a young offenders’ institution. His convictions include charges of abduction, a single count of robbery, and causing actual bodily harm. The robbery charge was related to an incident on April 22, 2014, involving the theft of a mobile phone from a 16-year-old girl who was not one of the victims in the abduction case. On the same day, Jezzard was also convicted of assaulting a man, further highlighting a pattern of violent behavior.

Melanie Smith was sentenced to a total of eight months’ imprisonment for each of three separate abduction offences. These sentences are to run concurrently, reflecting her involvement in multiple instances of unlawfully taking the girls. Smith also pleaded guilty to these charges during the previous hearing.

According to Detective Sergeant Alex Lowe of the West Sussex Missing Persons Team, the case reveals a calculated effort by Jezzard and Smith to manipulate vulnerable young girls. “Jezzard and Smith had cynically drawn two vulnerable and naive young girls into an environment of petty crime, drugs, and alcohol,” he explained.

He further elaborated that the offenders did not physically threaten or use force to take the girls, but instead exploited their naivety over time, systematically drawing them into risky lifestyles that jeopardized their safety. The girls, who are in local authority care and remain under such arrangements, were manipulated into situations that exposed them to considerable harm.

Authorities confirmed that both Jezzard and Smith had previously been issued formal warnings known as Child Abduction Warning Notices (CAWNs) under the Child Abduction Act 1984. These warnings explicitly advised them not to associate with the girls, yet they chose to ignore these directives, prompting their subsequent arrest.

Detective Sergeant Lowe emphasized the ongoing commitment of police and children’s services to protect vulnerable youth. “Police and Children’s Services will continue to work together to seek to safeguard vulnerable young people,” he stated, underscoring the importance of coordinated efforts in preventing such cases from recurring in the future.