A CHILD rapist, a machete thug, a knifepoint robber, and thieves who carried out burglaries stealing items worth tens of thousands of pounds were among those jailed in May.

Jonathan Smith, 57, was jailed for 24 years after a jury found him guilty of multiple rapes on a little girl in the late 1980s and 1990s.

The offences had taken place when Smith lived in Brighton and Hove, before emigrating to Australia in 1998.

He had been the Musical Director of the Brighton Festival Chorus from 1983 to 1998, and was a renowned choirmaster and conductor.

But his victim said she had gone through the torture of being abused “systematically” by Smith.

Persian restaurant owner Ashkan Zahedian, 29, saw red when one of his friends was involved in a scrap outside a neighbouring bar in Church Road, Hove.

He waded in originally as a peacemaker, but claimed he was struck from behind by a bouncer.

Despite being led away, Zahedian, of Davigdor Road returned three times to attack security guard Danny Chapman, including going to his car to fetch a machete.

He slashed Mr Chapman, and was jailed for three years for wounding.

Knifepoint robber Arturas Matuiza threatened a shop worker to hand over cash in Bognor.

The 22-year-old ran off when the shopkeeper refused to hand over money, and Matuiza was then caught. He was jailed for three years and eight months.

Burglars Marian Ghita and Cristian Rusu were part of a gang of four men seen raiding the Curry’s PC World store in Old Shoreham Road, Hove.

The gang stole laptops and mobile phones worth as much as £80,000. But they did not know they had also stolen a tracker phone – and they were hunted down by police and arrested while driving in an Audi on the A23.

The two men both face deportation for their crime, with Ghita, 44, jailed for two and a half years, and Rusu, 29, jailed for two years.

Meanwhile fragrance thief Justin Goulding broke into the Boots store in Bognor and stole £40,000 worth of fragrances.

He fled from police but the 41-year-old was stopped in Hampshire. He was jailed for five years and ten months.

Prolific criminal Rory McGrail found himself back in court, this time for spouting racist abuse at a police officer, spitting, and making coronavirus threats.

The 38-year-old of Longley Road, Chichester, was jailed for 14 weeks.

Greedy thief Gareth Cooper, 38, was jailed for robbery and stealing from vulnerable and elderly people.

He used fake sob stories about his dying daughter to worm his way into their trust, before stealing from them. But he was caught and sent to prison for six years.

Grinning pervert Daniel Walden, 21, sent messages offering cash to see people’s children naked.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court the 21-year-old admitted two charges of sending malicious communications of an indecent or offensive nature.

Walden, of Marine Parade, Brighton, had said: “I am interested [in] the kid in the ad, would you let me see him naked if I gave you £2,000?”

In another he wrote: “I don’t have a smartphone because where I am doesn’t allow them. I will give you £100 if you get me a naked picture of your son.”

Walden was sentenced to eight months in prison.