A Merstham resident has been found guilty of fraud and will be sentenced in May.

An investigation into Gerry Sherard was opened in 2018 by the Fraud and Financial Investigation Team at Reigate & Banstead Borough Council, after allegations that he was claiming means-tested benefits that he knew he was not entitled to.

The investigation uncovered undeclared properties, bank accounts and financial assets.

In March, Mr Sherard plead guilty to five of the seven counts of fraud.

Sussex Police are changing there policies and training on domestic abuse after a man who was known to the police, murdered his girlfriend in 2023.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct made recommendations after Ryan Evans, from Crawley, was convicted of murdering his girlfriend Holly Sanchez.

At he time Evans was on bail with a condition not to contact Sanchez.

As a result the force is introducing a new domestic abuse risk assessment that would reflect that the risk to a victim could increase if they had additional vulnerabilities.