Senior detective retires after 33 years of service

Securing justice for victims and their families has become a way of life for a senior Kent detective who is retiring after 33 years’ service.

As a long-serving member and eventual head of Kent Police’s Major and Serious Economic Crime departments, Detective Superintendent Gavin Moss has overseen countless high-profile investigations including murders, rapes and serious assaults.

But as he closes the door on a successful career, the Medway-born officer is full of confidence in the abilities of his highly-skilled colleagues to follow in his footsteps.

Professional

Gavin said:

‘One thing I say to victims and their families is that whilst I can never guarantee a conviction, what I can guarantee is a very thorough and professional investigation because I know what my staff are capable of. ‘Murder investigations in particular require us to go into absolute finite detail about the offender, the victim and everything we can possibly find out about how they came to their death. It’s absolutely necessary because ultimately we want justice for the families and to ensure Kent remains a safe place to live, work and visit. ‘I’m always very satisfied when we get a conviction because I know that initial conversation I’ve had with the family has come to fruition. When you hear the foreperson of the jury say “guilty”, it’s just a huge relief knowing the family who are sitting behind you have got that justice. They have to live with their loss for the rest of their lives and may never come to terms with it, but we can at least say we have done the very best we can to help them.’

Gavin joined Kent Police in August 1991 and initially worked as a response officer in Sheerness before joining the district’s Criminal Investigation Department and eventually training to become a detective constable.

In a varied career that has seen him work across the county tackling everything from vehicle crime and kidnappings to sexual offences and child protection issues, Gavin has always considered himself a detective at heart. However, some elements of a police officer’s work were a lot different when he was first starting out.

Gavin said:

‘Technology has changed dramatically from when I first joined the police. None of us had a mobile phone and when you look at what they are capable of now, it’s just incredible. There were hardly any CCTV cameras about either, and now there are thousands upon thousands including doorbell cameras and dashcams and it has made a big difference.’

Murders

High-profile cases detected by Gavin and his teams over the years include the murders of Police Community Support Officer Julia James in Aylesham in 2021, Jaydon McFarlane who was stabbed to death by a rival in Ashford in 2021, Natalie Jarvis who was killed by her boyfriend in Swanley in 2012, and Stephen Chapman who was stabbed and had his body callously disposed of in a wheelie bin in Rochester in 2020.

The final murder investigation overseen by Gavin related to the death of Xhovan Pepaj in Tunbridge Wells in 2021 and resulted in 13 members of a criminal gang being convicted for a variety of offences including murder, manslaughter and robbery.

Gavin said:

‘Xhovan was somebody’s son, somebody’s brother, somebody’s nephew and was clearly very well loved. His family wanted justice and were completely taken aback by the steps we went to and what we did to achieve that for them – eventually getting 13 people convicted at two separate trials to a total of 145 years’ imprisonment. ‘These were violent thugs who if they hadn’t have targeted Xhovan would probably have gone on to hurt or kill somebody else. It reassures me that our actions helped to prevent that, and I was very pleased that in my final case as a senior investigating officer my team and I were able to secure a positive outcome.’

Fond memories

Whilst Gavin is now looking forward to spending more time with his family, travelling abroad and watching football more regularly, he will look back on his time at Kent Police with fond memories.

He said:

‘In my 33 years here I have worked with some truly unbelievable people and made a lot of good friends. I have thoroughly enjoyed my career and would highly recommend joining the police to anyone who wants to commit themselves to public service and to helping people. ‘There have been a lot of very challenging investigations over the years, but would I do it all again if I could turn back the clock? Absolutely I would, 100 per cent.’