It is no stretch to say that the world of drugs and crime is a dangerous one.
The law courts regularly hear of cautionary tales about those who become involved in the underworld and end up paying the price. Those who rack up drug debts run the risk of incurring the wrath of their rivals and being subjected to violence and terrifying threats.
The consequences can involve arson attacks, stabbings and even torture. Meanwhile, those who are caught red-handed committing crimes run the risk of have-a-go heroes objecting and confronting them - often with force.
Here are nine court cases from 2022 which should serve as a warning to anyone tempted to get their hands dirty.
Brian Maxwell junior
A father and son received threat to life warnings from police when they felt the ire of rival gangsters.
Drug dealers Brian Maxwell, 54, and Brian Thomas Maxwell, 35, fell foul of a rival organised crime group who threatened them with serious violence. Prosecutors said another gang suspected Maxwell junior was involved in the theft of drugs that belonged to them.
In response to Osman warnings from Merseyside Police in May 27, 2020, Maxwell junior tried to buy weapons from criminal contacts to defend himself. He used encrypted communications platform EncroChat to try and source an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, an AK47, a Glock 17, a Grand Power pistol, a Walther PPK handgun and ammunition.
Maxwell jnr offered two Rolex watches to help pay for the guns and ammunition and said in other messages that he already had two guns. Maxwell snr, who used the handle "RetiredVermouth", and his son, aka "MediumRose" and "DiorNote", were arrested in September 2021.
Maxwell snr, of Stockswell Road, Tarbock Green, and Maxwell jnr, of Ditchfield Road, Widnes, both admitted conspiring to supply cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamine, and conspiring to produce cannabis. Maxwell jnr also admitted conspiring to possess, purchase or acquire prohibited firearms, and possessing prohibited firearms.
Maxwell junior was jailed for 18 years and four months, while Maxwell senior was jailed for 13 years and four months.
Jordan McMullen-McCourt, Jamie Chesterton and Callum Miller
A gang stopped off at McDonald's before torching a man's home over a drug debt.
Jordan McMullen-McCourt, 25, Jamie Chesterton, 29, and Callum Miller, 22, from St Helens and Haydock all appeared in Caernarfon Crown Court after they travelled to North Wales in a stolen car on April 29.
The gang bought a canister and filled it with unleaded petrol before going for food at McDonalds. They then left the petrol as an accelerant by the front door of the house of multiple occupancy in Wales before fleeing. The man they had targeted, Darren Fleming, lived in the middle floor, with other tenants on the ground floor and second floor,
Prosecutor Oliver King said the victim had met McMullen-McCourt in prison and they had become friends. But the friendship soured when the victim owed money for drugs.
At 8.30pm on April 29 McMullen-McCourt went to Mr Fleming's flat demanding immediate payment and threatening to burn his partner's house down. He then left. Mr Fleming rushed to that property, but then got a message from a friend to return as his own flat was engulfed in flames.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard witness Thomas Rowlands saw three men near an alley by the flat at 9pm. He saw two of them get out of a silver car, go away and come back smelling of petrol. One threw a container onto the railway tracks and they drove away.
The three men were later apprehended and all admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. McMullen-McCourt also pleaded guilty to dangerous driving.
Judge Timothy Petts said McMullen-McCourt, of Chadwick Road, St Helens, had been the "prime mover". His driving had been "incredibly dangerous" which could have had "horrendous and calamitous results, killing or injuring many people".
He jailed him for six years for arson and six months consecutively for dangerous driving. He also disqualified him from driving for six years and three months and until he passes an extended retest.
He sent Miller, also of Chadwick Road, St Helens, and Chesterton, of Maple Avenue, Haydock, to prison for five years and three months each.
Michael Walker
The knifeman pulled out a blade in a corner shop before being chased down the street and stabbed in the head with a machete.
Michael Walker brandished the knife in front of shocked customers, including terrified children, after a row erupted over parking. He produced the "very large" weapon from the waistband of his shorts, held it above his head and made a stabbing movement in a downwards motion.
His neighbour then attempted to run him over with his car and "hacked" at him with the fearsome weapon. The 34-year-old was left with blood "spurting" from his head after the incident at the Go Local Extra store on Roughwood Drive in Kirkby.
Walker admitted affray and possession of a bladed article in a public place. He was jailed for a year.
Andrew Cooper
The kidnapper was stabbed after abducting a 12-year-old boy, then tried to hotwire a motorbike.
Andrew Cooper whisked the youngster away on a train in a bizarre series of events. The schoolboy, whom he had never met before, and his friend were "chilling" in his flat after a "chance meeting". They played football and listened to music together before the complainant's friend left at roughly 10pm, leaving him alone in the property.
He then "offered the victim to stay". They then caught a train to Warrington, where Cooper "came across" a man who owed him money for drugs - who proceeded to slash him with a knife "several times" to his arms and chest.
After attempting to steal the motorcycle, he attended hospital for treatment to his injuries. The 24-year-old was jailed for a year after admitting child abduction.
Alfie Hodgin
The teenager was stabbed 27 times by a gang of men with machetes after trying to take over the running of a drugs ring.
Alfie Hodgin's dealing was uncovered by police after they found him lying in the street in a pool of his own blood, and with more than £2,000 of heroin and crack cocaine. This vicious assault had been an act of "retribution" after the 18-year-old had stolen drugs and a graft phone belonging to the county lines operation he had previously been working for.
Officers also seized £1,208 in cash from the defendant, while a graft phone - which contained dozens of flare messages advertising drugs for sale, which had been sent out to customers over the previous eight days - was found next to him on the ground.
In 2014, Hodgin became "one of the youngest people ever to receive an anti-social behaviour order" aged just 10. The teen admitted possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine and was locked up for two-and-a-half years.
Chris Mogan
The dad-of-four ran up a drug debt and was attacked when he tried to refuse to go to Blackpool and run a county lines operation.
Chris Mogan admitted his involvement in a drugs ring dubbed 'Scouse JJ', which flooded the seaside town with cocaine and heroin. The court heard the 34-year-old had "come under pressure" to work for the gang to pay off a drug debt.
He was assaulted when he "tried to withdraw". He had worked for Jaguar for 11 years and also worked for Aintree Plastics before he started taking drugs.
Mogan pleaded guilty to being concerned in and offering to supply cocaine and heroin. He wiped away tears as he was jailed for 32 months.
Ryan Leonard
He was put to work dealing drugs after gangsters threatened him with a hot iron and forced him to undress on camera.
Ryan Leonard was held against his will and subjected to threats after racking up a debt, with the footage then widely circulated online. Police even believed that the 28-year-old's life was under threat, and he set about paying off the owed monies via a "persistent, professional" heroin and crack cocaine supplying operation.
He admitted possession of cocaine and heroin with intent to supply, supplying cocaine and heroin and money laundering and was jailed for 54 months. But his partner Brooke Morgan, who stashed her drug dealing boyfriend's drugs in her vagina, walked free from court.
She agreed to accompany Leonard on his supply missions after being subjected to domestic violence at his hands. Illicit substances were also stashed at her Kensington flat, but the expectant 30-year-old was described as having "performed a limited function under duress".
Carl Llewellyn
A have-a-go hero delivery driver hit the robber on the head with a plank of wood after he raided a pharmacy armed with a knife.
Carl Llewellyn was also tackled by a chemist after storming the premises and demanding money and drugs. He targeted Green Cross Pharmacy in Bewsey, Warrington, at around 10.15am on July 5 this year. Llewellyn left with only a few packs of diazepam following the robbery.
The third-time offender admitted robbery and possession of a bladed article in a public place. He was jailed for six years.
Anthony Smith
The thug imprisoned a man before torturing and stabbing him over an unpaid drug debt.
Anthony Smith, from Croxteth, bound the man's hands and feet before beating, stabbing and threatening him at a home in Swansea. The 41-year-old, of Sovereign Road, told his victim he was going to be buried in a makeshift grave in the garden, and his girlfriend was going to be tied up and dragged behind a car as it drove along the motorway.
He pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, unlawful wounding, blackmail, robbery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and being concerned in the supply of cocaine. Smith was jailed for eight years.
