These are the faces of 55 people jailed in June for crimes linked to Merseyside and our wider region.
Dozens of criminals have gone before judges across our region to be sentenced for offences they have committed and while some were given a second chance others were handed time behind bars. They include a woman who sexually abused a 15-year-old over a period of months and a depraved dad who begged an undercover police officer to send him pictures of underage children.
They also include a woman who scammed her own family out of hundreds of thousands and a man who hit a young girl on an e-bike before leaving her injured in the street and fleeing to France rather than face justice.
READ MORE: Court changes for victims who come forward about abuse and rape
These are some of the people jailed in June in our region.
Clare Roughley
A scammer who stole hundreds of thousands from her family left her dad saddled with a mortgage he didn’t ask for just as he started his retirement.
Clare Roughley subjected her parents, grandparents and a woman she cared for to a vile campaign of theft over a number of years. The former bank employee was jailed back in October after admitting to using her insider knowledge to steal £325,000 from those who were supposed to trust her.
She set up online access to the accounts of her dad, Raymond Roughley, her mum, Delyn Roughley, and her nan, Theresa Leyland. Over a number of years, she drained their life savings to fund her escalating gambling addictions, as well as stealing thousands from a woman she was caring for.
Earlier this week, the 40 year old was back before a judge at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced for mortgage fraud carried out during the same period. Peter Hussey, prosecuting, told the court that during 2015 and 2016, the same period she was stealing from her parents, Roughley applied for and then took out a mortgage in her father’s name to buy the home where her and her partner were living.
Roughley, who is already serving a lengthy prison term for the offences she was sentenced for last year, admitted mortgage fraud. She was sentenced to another 38 months in prison. However, that will be served concurrently with her other jail terms and means it will not affect her projected release from jail on licence in autumn 2024.
John Kirk
A drunken cocaine-fuelled thug’s homemade petrol bomb exploded mid-air as he tried to take “revenge” against a nightspot that wouldn’t let him in. Convicted heroin supplier John Kirk, 34, launched the attack at Chambers bar on High Street in Runcorn in the early hours of Sunday, March 6, after being barred entry to Chambers and Alchemy on the same street earlier that night.
Door staff at Alchemy bar had turned Kirk away at 10.30pm on Saturday, March 5, after seeing him argue with staff at another pub earlier on. Kirk, who later told his probation officer he had been drinking alcohol and had snorted a line of cocaine, responded by making “rude comments” and shouting abuse at door staff and bar workers.
Just over an hour and a half later he tried to enter Chambers but was rejected by the same staff. He became aggressive but appeared to agree when police intervened to get him to go home. However, he then filled an empty Pepsi bottle with fuel from a nearby Petrol station and launched the lit missile towards the doorman. Luckily, it exploded before reaching him.
Kirk, of The Hove, Murdishaw, Runcorn, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted arson with intent to endanger life. He was jailed for four years and 10 months.
Karl McDonough
A burglar conned his way into an elderly couple’s home and stole thousands of pounds of jewellery by telling them he was a police officer investigating a previous break in.
Karl McDonough targeted Jean and Francis Hampson at their home in Everton early last year, stealing a “lifetime’s worth of jewellery” from Mrs Hampson. McDonough cruelly suggested he was there to take photos to help catch the previous burglar yet he then rifled through a cupboard and found her jewellery box.
When the couple began to suspect him him he pushed past them and ran off into the street with many of her valuables. The court heard the Hampsons' Everton address had been targeted by burglars before and McDonough used information about that crime to gain their trust before managing to steal Mrs Hampson's jewellery box.
In a statement, she said she had also lost every piece of jewellery given to her by her husband, who has sadly since died. McDonough, formerly of the YMCA on Great Crosshall Street, was jailed for three years and nine months. A restraining order will also prevent him from contacting Mrs Hampson.
James McGowan
A drug dealer doused a woman in petrol from a Lucozade bottle before she went up in flames.
James McGowan threatened to set Kelly Quinn alight when she asked for drugs while already in debt. The 24-year-old thug then hit her over the head with an iron bar.
Prosecutors said conflicting accounts of what happened next meant they couldn't be sure if McGowan set her ablaze. But after weeks in a coma, she remembered waking up covered in bandages like an Egyptian "mummy".
Ms Quinn visited her drug dealer's flat on Southport's Derby Road on Boxing Day to try to get drugs but McGowan and his girlfriend Holly McCarthy later came round and argued with her over a debt. McCarthy hit Ms Quinn and McGowan, who had previously threatened to "set her alight", doused her in petrol.
Ms Quinn then left but the petrol, which is believed to have been ignited during the lighting of a cigarette, burned her seriously and put her in a coma.
He told McGowan: "Your intention must have been to terrify your victim in order to bring her into line." Jailing him for two years and 10 months, the judge said: "I accept you did not set her on fire but you must have realised by pouring petrol on someone who smokes serious harm was foreseeable - there was a risk of serious harm occurring and it did occur."
McGowan's girlfriend, Holly McCarthy, also admitted common assault and was handed an 18-month community order, with a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 28-day home curfew in February.
Claire Newman
A mum stabbed two security guards as they tried to stop her stealing children’s clothes from a Next shop in Liverpool.
Claire Newman slashed David Bailey with a Stanley knife in the chain’s New Mersey Shopping Park store, leaving him needing 20 stitches in his arm. Mr Bailey’s colleague Ian Grogan was also injured by Newman after she injured his hand with the blade.
The 34-year-old wept as a judge jailed her for the attacks on March 9 and a pair of thefts in which she stole designer handbags from the Selfridges in Manchester and assault a security guard there as well.
Jonathan Duffy, prosecuting, said Mr Bailey and Mr Grogan spotted Newman stealing baby clothes in the Speke shop and managed to stop her from getting away. The pair were not planning to call the police and wanted to take a picture of Newman so that she could be banned from the shop. However, after initially following them Newman became aggressive and agitated.
Mr Duffy said: “She shouted that she would stab David Bailey and it transpired that she had a Stanley knife on her person and she stabbed Mr Bailey, causing him a nasty injury on his forearm.” Newman also caused a scratch on Mr Bailey’s jaw and bit his other arm. In the scuffle, she also caught Mr Grogan with the knife,.
Newman later admitted wounding Mr Bailey with intent and wounding Mr Grogan without intent. She also pleaded guilty to theft and possession of a bladed article. Newman, of HMP Styal, was jailed for six years and five months.
Helena Robertson
A woman who was banned from lying in the road in 2019 is back behind bars after threatening to smash up a woman’s house.
Helena Robertson, 45, of no fixed abode but from Runcorn, appeared at North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court in Warrington on Saturday, following an offence on Thursday. She pleaded guilty to “shouting and swearing” at her victim in breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), threatening to smash up the woman’s house, and failing to comply with her supervision.
Court papers said she was sentenced to 38 weeks in prison and ordered to pay a £156 surcharge, with the conviction regarded as “serious” because the “offence occurred in someone’s home having been invited in”, was committed during post-sentence supervision and due to her criminal record.
The incident took place in Runcorn. Robertson was made subject to a five-year CBO intended to curb her antisocial antics in May 2019 following a litany of nuisance behaviour.
Graham Handlon
A depraved dad begged undercover police to send him twisted pics and said: "I'm 100% paedo."
Graham Handlon thought he was talking to a fellow pervert online. But the 49-year-old was really chatting to a covert officer - just months after the deviant was previously spared jail for having a stash of sick images. The dad-of-two revealed he had bought an unregistered pay as you go phone "for all my paedo". And he boasted: "There's no limits with me. I'm just a dirty c***, I’m just into everything. Everything and anything what goes. You know what I mean?"
Liverpool Crown Court heard Handlon, of Park Crescent, Southport, was handed a two-year community order in January 2020, after he was caught with child rape images. He was given a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO). On November 30 that year he messaged the officer on web forum ChatIW stating "Hi m 47 peD north west no limits" and using the profile name "Bipedlknforbiped". Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, said: "Perhaps bi-sexual paedophile looking for another bi-sexual paedophile, if that's what bi-ped stands for."
Handlon sent him indecent photos and videos before claiming he "did" a girl when she was two. He sent more photos, boasting he had "100s", and asked the officer if he had any photos of his 11-year-old daughter - who the officer pretended to have sexually abused. The officer said he was "cautious" who he shared images with, but Handlon replied: "I understand that bud, I’m 100% paedo bud." To prove his claims he sent more images and added: "I have vids too."
He sent three child rape videos to the officer, plus a video of himself performing a sex act. Police tracked his phone and found CCTV footage of him buying a top up voucher at the Spar in Roe Lane, Southport on November 7, 2020.
Officers raided his home on January 25, 2021. He handed over a phone and laptop, but didn't produce his Alba mobile, which was discovered hidden inside a plastic bag in his letterbox.
He admitted three counts of downloading, three counts of distributing and one count of possessing indecent images of children, plus possessing extreme porngraphy and breaching his SHPO. A judge jailed him for three years and 10 months. He made a new 15-year SHPO and told Handlon to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Lauren Blaney
A mum ransacked her neighbour’s home then tried to hide from police behind a bin.
Lauren Blaney “trashed” the house on Handfield Road while on bail for doing almost exactly the same thing to her ex-boyfriend’s house months earlier. The 30 year old overturned a fish tank, stole a TV and smashed up numerous rooms during the bizarre incident last summer.
Zahra Baqri, prosecuting, said Blaney’s then neighbour returned to his home during the afternoon of June 17, 2021. She said the front door was locked as normal but that he found the rooms inside “trashed”.
Blaney was later seen running down the street and tried to hide from police behind a bin but was arrested later the same day and admitted burglary. Blaney’s victim suffered financial losses of around £1,000 due to the burglary.
The court heard her offending was driven by drug and alcohol abuse. Jailing Blaney for 12 months, Judge Anil Murray appealed to her to continue with efforts to address her addiction issues while in prison.
Olivia Kamara
A drug dealer was found hiding in a bathroom with more than 150 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin during a house raid.
Olivia Kamara had a previous similar conviction and Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday, June 6 that she had not long been released from prison when she was caught again. The 26-year-old was found with Class A drugs after police raided a house on Lovely Lane in Warrington on the morning of September 9 last year.
Police raided the house after spotting another woman, Louise Butler, involved in a drugs transaction in Lovely Lane. Butler went back into the house on Lovely Lane where she was living with her "abusive and bullying" partner.
After a few minutes she re-emerged and walked towards Colin Street, reportedly to meet a drugs customer. But Butler was intercepted by police and wrestled to the ground. She then spat out five wraps of drugs.
Police then found Kamara was hiding in a the house with more drugs. She admitted possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply and was jailed for four years three months. Butler was sentenced to 23 months imprisonment but suspended it for two years
John Stanley
A man tricked a teen on a night out into getting in his car then drove her to a flat, locked her in and pinned her to the bed by her throat.
John Stanley targeted the 17-year-old in Liverpool city centre back in 2018. After telling the victim, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, that he needed help getting home, the former taxi driver launched an attack which a judge today said would “send a chill down the spine” of girls and women in the city.
Stanley, now 35, protested his innocence for years but is now behind bars after a jury at Liverpool Crown Court saw through his lies.
His trial heard Stanley manipulated the girl, coaxing her into his car and asking her to drive him home, crying when she said she couldn’t do so. She eventually agreed to get in his car with her friend and the other man, to try to help him. However, Stanley then drove off, letting the girl’s friend and the other man out the car.
Mr Gibson said that once they were alone Stanley’s mood changed dramatically and he became aggressive. He refused to drive the girl home and instead took her to another house he was renting and said he would call a taxi.
The teen tried to contact a friend for help but didn’t know where she was being taken. When Stanley parked the car she refused to get out and asked him to call her a taxi outside but he grabbed her by the head and dragged her into the flat, throwing her against a wall in the process.
After pinning her down and choking her on a bed she managed to escape by hitting him with a high heel and running out of the property. Stanley was jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of false imprisonment.
Alan Underwood
A burglar’s campaign of harassment against a shop owner forced the man to sell his shop and move home.
Alan Underwood burgled Prescot Mobiles & Computer Services back in 2019, causing around £1,000 damage to the shop in the process. Yet when owner Shakir Ur Rehman recognised Underwood on CCTV and challenged him about the burglary Underwood threatened him and terrorised his shop for weeks.
The 40 year old’s campaign against Mr Rehman came before he launched a sickening attack on another shop worker in Prescot, throwing scalding hot coffee at her. Underwood, of HMP Altcourse, was jailed for three years. A restraining order will also prevent him from contacting the shop owner for seven years.
Tyrone Grimes
A drug dealer who hid 58 wraps of crack and heroin in his bum said he strayed into peddling Class As to cope with having to pay for his mum’s funeral.
Tyrone Grimes, 25, was arrested by police after they spotted him carry out a suspected drug deal in the Widnes on May 11 this year. Paul Wood, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday, said officers pulled over a Citroen Berlingo on Hale Road and arrested the driver, Grimes, who “tried to struggle”.
The officer also seized a “burner” phone from Grimes’s pocket. At Cheshire Police’s northern custody suite, officers strip-searched Grimes.
Grimes was recalled to prison on licence after his arrest in Widnes, and pleaded guilty at Chester Magistrates’ Court on May 12 to two counts of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, namely heroin and crack cocaine, and one of acquiring or using criminal property.
Grimes was initially charged with assaulting an emergency worker in relation to his arrest in Widnes on May 11 but the count was ordered to lie on file on Thursday. He was jailed for three years and four months in prison. The sentence had been reduced by a third from five years to reflect credit for Grimes’s guilty pleas.
Craig Walker
A drug dealer told police the drug bags found in his house were “to hold chicken nuggets”.
Craig Walker’s bizarre attempts to get out trouble came as he was caught by police with 70 wraps of crack cocaine down his trousers just weeks after being released from jail. A judge at Liverpool Crown Court warned him he was at risk of wasting his life if he didn’t stop dealing Class A drugs to fund his own addiction.
Anthony O’Donohoe, prosecuting, said police spotted Walker, 30, during a suspected drug deal on the edge of the city centre on May 17, 2020. The car turned off Angela Street and into Pennygate Close and after seeing someone get in the car to buy drugs police stopped the vehicle.
He appeared to have something down his trousers and was later found to have wraps of 70 wraps of crack cocaine. When asked by police about drugs bag in his house, Walker told them they were to hold chicken nuggets.
He later admitted possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and was jailed for four years.
Claire and Amy McGlone
Two sisters moved kilos of class A drugs and tens of thousands in cash across the country as part of a major drugs conspiracy.
Amy and Claire McGlone used the handle “Moodyalpha” to take instructions on couriering cocaine, heroin, cannabis from Merseyside to destinations across the UK. Police who arrested the pair found a massive drugs “hide” in their Mazda, while the hacking of the Encrochat network revealed the full extent of their criminality.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, said the sisters worked together, passing the Encro phone from one to the other as they both took instructions from their boss, “secretgold” during the spring of 2020. It is unclear when exactly the McGlones, neither of whom have any previous convictions, became involved in dealing drugs.
However, a stream of messages show the pair were ferrying drugs to and from Merseyside throughout April and May of that year. They were stopped by police in South Wales on May 20, 2020 and later admitted conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.
The court heard there was no evidence the women or their families were living “a lavish lifestyle” as a result of drug dealing, with Amy McGlone’s financial situation appearing to be particularly bad. Ms Daley said they appeared to be paid only a few hundred pounds for each trip.
Claire McGlone was jailed for four years and nine months and Amy McGlone was jailed for four years and six months.
Callum Unsworth
Callum Unsworth was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for the brutal robbery of a man in Southport. Yet supporters missed his sentencing after their outbursts saw them removed from the courtroom.
Unsworth targeted a man while he was getting cash out in the early hours of January 29 this year. The victim had been at a bar in the town centre and gone to get money from a cash machine but as he went to take it Unsworth came up behind him and took the cash, pushing the man to the floor.
Bernice Campbell, prosecuting, told the court the man’s knee was injured in the process and his glasses were broken in the robbery, which saw 23-year-old Unsworth run off with £30. Unsworth was later arrested and admitted robbery.
Unsworth, of no fixed abode, for two and a half years but said he believed the circumstances of his earlier years had made him more vulnerable to crime.
Martin Grant
Martin Grant, 33, was jailed for over 14 years on Friday, June 10, after Liverpool Crown Court heard he began using an EnroChat phone shortly after he was released from prison on licence. Grant, a father-of-two originally from Old Swan, specialised in high quality cocaine imported from Bolivia.
Police were able to link Grant to the EncroChat handle SwiftOrchid after they identified pictures of his home on the device. Grant, who lived in the Southport area, sent pictures of a bouncy castle on the device.
Ben Jones, prosecuting, said Grant acted as a "wholesale broker" and distributed Class A drugs to the midlands, Lancashire and Carlisle area. Last week the court heard how Grant's younger brother Liam used the Encro handle Beigepalm to supply cannabis. Liam Grant was jailed for four years and six months during an earlier hearing.
Mr Jones told the court Grant had previous convictions for vehicle taking, blackmail, handling stolen goods, section 18 wounding and possession of an offensive weapon. Grant had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, conspiracy to supply heroin, conspiracy to supply amphetamine and conspiracy to supply cannabis.
Paul Munro
A paedophile who sent messages saying he wanted to have sex with teenage girls told police “I’ve been silly again” after he was confronted outside his home.
Paul Munro sent vile messages to a chatroom account he thought was run by a 13 year old. But the 47 year old, from Oxton, was actually revealing his sexual interest in children to an adult who then handed them over to the police.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Monroe sent a series of messages to accounts run by a member of a vigilante group. He sent the messages only months after a community order handed to him for a previous offence ended.
A judge labelled Munro, of Woodchurch Road, a danger to young girls as he jailed him for four years with another six on extended licence.
Michael Doyle
A drug dealer who plotted the transfer of kilos of Class A drugs was found with a vacuum sealed block of cocaine in a cupboard in his house.
Michael Doyle directed the movement of large amounts of cocaine, heroin and amphetamine throughout the first half of 2020. The Bickerstaffe dad was jailed earlier this week after an investigation laid bare his criminality.
Police were able to link Doyle to the transfer of 7kgs of cocaine, though there were messages alluding to larger deals which were not concluded. Other messages showed Doyle’s interest in bringing drugs in from the Netherlands and transferring millions of euros to South America.
Doyle, of Heyescroft, was jailed for 12 years.
Paul Shaw
A paedophile sent 100 messages a day to Facebook accounts he thought were run by a young teen.
Paul Shaw thought he was speaking to a 13-year-old girl when he sent messages saying he would make her “feel tingles” if they met. But the 61-year-old grandad from Bootle was actually speaking to a vigilante who later confronted him and handed the messages to the police.
The court member of the group No More Silent Voices had set up a Facebook profile posing as a 13-year-old and received a friend request from Shaw. She then began receiving increasing numbers of messages from him.
Shaw continued to message the account and said he would have sex with the girl and asked her to masturbate for him. Like Paul Munro, he was caught after members of the vigilante group went to his house and police were called.
Shaw, of Aylward Place, was jailed for two years and eight months.
Dean Potter and Callum Pope
Two drug dealers are back behind bars after one gave the other a lift home from prison despite them being banned from associating with each other.
Cheshire Police said Dean Potter, 24, and Callum Pope, 22, were slapped with Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBO) in 2019 in a bid to curb their “repeated involvement” in antisocial behaviour, selling drugs and threatening behaviour in the town.
Despite this, at 10am on Friday Potter picked up Pope from HMP Risley in Warrington after his release from prison to drive him back to Runcorn.
Pope was jailed for eight months and told to pay a £156. Potter was given six months in prison and must pay a £128 surcharge.
Following the sentencing Chief Inspector Andrew Blizard, of Runcorn Local Policing Unit, said: “It is beyond belief that Pope would breach the terms of his CBO within minutes of being released from prison by getting a lift home from Potter.
“The pair were well aware that they were banned from associating with each other, yet they chose to get into a car together. As a result of that action both of the men are now behind bars.”
Lewis Lally
A man riding an e-bike fled to France after ploughing into a six-year-old girl, and leaving his victim seriously injured in the street.
Lewis Lally, 24, had a suspended prison sentence hanging over him when he drove "at full pelt" into a six-year-old girl on Windsor Road, Tuebrook, on March 4 this year. Harrowing footage of the crash was played at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, June 14, which showed the child get hit by the e-bike and lifted into the air by the force of the impact.
Lally, of Belvoir Road, Widnes, then caught a ferry to France the next day with another man on his way to Barcelona and after numerous attempts to locate him he was eventually arrested in Widnes on March 27.
He eventually pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving when he first appeared in the crown court in April. Jailing Lally for a total of two and a half years Judge Brian Cummings, QC described the CCTV footage as “shocking.”
Kevin Campbell
A "sickening" pervert spied on people using the toilet.
Kevin Campbell appeared for sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court. The 58-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to five counts of voyeurism.
Campbell, who lives in Allerton, planted a camera in a toilet in Birkenhead and filmed unsuspecting members of the public over the course of a year. The defendant stored the footage on his laptop, where an IT company uncovered his stash in December 2020.
The court heard Campbell was "distraught" when probed on the videos - and immediately admitted his guilt. However, David Watson, prosecuting, read out a number of statements from his numerous victims, who are still traumatised after footage of them was used for the defendant's own "sexual gratification".
Campbell, of New Heys Drive, was jailed for eight months.
Sarah Campbell
A mum sexually abused a 15 year old boy for months and eventually gave birth to his child.
Sarah Campbell had sex with her victim on a golf course and under a blanket while others were sleeping in the same room. The mum, now 40, would also ply the boy with cocaine and cannabis so they would “get off their barnets” together as part of her sordid plot to make him her “sexual play thing” between 2016 and 2017.
Martine Snowdon, prosecuting, said Campbell started grooming the boy and abusing him for the first time in 2016. She said they had sex multiple times and that she would offer him drugs. Ms Snowdon said: “They would “get off their barnets” regularly, as [the victim] put it, smoking cannabis and taking cocaine provided by her.”
Ms Snowdon said Campbell would try to avoid social services and others finding the boy by getting him to sneak into her house at odd times of day and hide. She then fell pregnant with a child later determined to be his and was charged with multiple sexual offences against him.
Campbell was found guilty after a trial earlier this year and was jailed for nine and a half years on Tuesday.
Darren Nelson and Robert Wood
A drug dealer bragged he had a key worker in his gang who transported illicit packages during lockdown.
Darren Nelson, of Whitfield Road, Walton, bragged about Virgin Media worker, Robert Wood's freedom to roam, a court heard. On Tuesday, seven of the 14 people in both gangs were jailed at Caernarfon Crown Court for a total of 66 years and 11 months for their crimes in North Wales and Merseyside.
Andrew Jones, prosecuting, said cocaine and cannabis were sourced via Liverpool and distributed and adulterated in North Wales between December 2019 and April last year.
Mr Jones said Wood, 58, worked for Virgin Media at the time and was a key worker during lockdown. He moved cocaine around North Wales, while other consignments were brought by other gang members.
But police breached their EncroChat messages - on which the conspirators used handles including Powerwhale and Excellent Wolf - and officers seized drugs from properties and vehicles.
All of the people involved admitted conspiring to supply a controlled drug of Class A - cocaine - and conspiring to supply a controlled drug of Class B - cannabis resin. Nelson and Wood's sentences included their part in a Liverpool gang's offences.
Nelson, 32, of Whitfield Road, Walton, was jailed for 15 years and nine months. Wood, 58, of Stamfordham Drive, Garston, was jailed for nine years and 11 months.
Kevin Hill
A senior member of a drug gang was jailed after he claimed he was a dog breeder selling XL bully dogs.
Kevin Hill, of Tarbock Road, Speke, led a Merseyside organised crime group that was responsible for the distribution of wholesale amounts of cocaine to Herefordshire between May 2021 and February 2022. The 48-year-old took over the illegal enterprise from his twin brother Keith Hill, of Ridgemoor Road, Leominster, who himself is currently serving a nine-year jail sentence.
West Mercia Police said the brothers were at the pinnacle of the organisation, and it's estimated that they distributed in excess of a kilo of cocaine. The police operation managed to gather significant mobile phone evidence which implicated Hill, with him pleading guilty and receiving a reduced sentence.
Hill was sentenced to nine years in jail for supplying cocaine and possessing offensive weapons on Monday, June 13 at Worcester Crown Court.
Jonathan Gordon, Dylan Johnston and Stephen Wissett
A dangerous and ruthless hitman behind a string of shootings was jailed for life after launching a bottle of acid into a dad's face for money - leaving him with permanent injuries.
Known Deli Mob gang member Jonathan Gordon, 34, offered his services on the encrypted EncroChat phone network using the handle 'ValuedBridge', and was hired by an unidentified gang boss behind the handle 'AceProspect' to carry out sickening attacks on several enemies. The messages revealed how Kirkdale based Gordon charged £6,000 for an acid attack, rising to £10,000 to permanently blind the victim.
Gordon was identified as the man behind a devastating attack on Lee Deakin, from St Helens, who was targeted on April 14, 2019 as he stepped outside his home to get a phone charger from his car. Mr Deakin remains in a constant battle to keep his sight, and even required emergency surgery this week due to complications from the attack three years on.
Liverpool Crown Court heard as well as being convicted of the near-blinding of Mr Deakin, Gordon was also convicted of two plots to carry out similar attacks that were aborted at the last stage, plus a spate of shootings including two running gun battles on the streets of Liverpool.
Judge Aubrey said Gordon's "extreme dangerousness" and lack of remorse meant a life-sentence was needed to protect the public. Gordon was handed a minimum term of 24 years and eight months before any possibility of being released by a Parole Board.
Gordon’s accomplice, Dylan Johnston, was handed a lengthy extended sentence of 27 years in prison with an additional four on licence.
Stephen Wissett, who drove the car during the attack, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, of which he must serve two thirds before being released on licence.
Michael Wilde
A former teacher, who sexually assaulted boys at the school where he taught for 38 years, was put back in jail for a fifth time.
Michael Wilde, 73, was first jailed in 2015 after two of his victims came forward, which led to three more revealing their ordeals at his hands for which he was again sent to prison. Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday, June 15, how Wilde was jailed again in 2019 and 2020 after another two former pupils of Wade Deacon High School in Widnes came forward.
The latest victim revealed what Wilde had done to him when he was aged between 11 and 14 in the 1970's while police were speaking to him about an unrelated matter in 2020.
Wilde, a granddad, of Drake Close, Burtonwood and Westbrook in Warrington, pleaded guilty to three offences of indecent assault and was sentenced to two years behind bars. The judge also ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.
Thomas Henwood
A driver who was racing a friend to Tesco ploughed into his car and left one of his passengers with serious head injuries.
Thomas Henwood was going well over the speed limit on Southport’s Sussex Road when he botched an attempt to overtake another car and crashed into it, causing his car to flip over. The soft top of his Mazda MX5 convertible crumpled inwards during the crash, leaving friend Harrison Povey, who was in the passenger seat, with a head injury that required 47 staples to be inserted into his skull.
The court heard Henwood and Povey were racing another of their friends to Tesco when the crash occurred. The 21 year old admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving earlier this year.
Henwood, of Aintree Lane, was jailed for 20 months.
Joshua Kehoe and George Harper
A pair of security guards battered a landlord, his bar staff and customers during a rampage through a Merseyside pub.
George Harper and Joshua Kehoe terrorised the Manor Farm pub in Rainhill as it hosted an 18th birthday party to which they weren’t even invited. They knocked a customer out before kicking his unconscious body, punched a man on crutches at the bar and thumped the licence holder so hard with a wine bottle his nose was left disfigured.
The pair went to the pub on Saturday, May 29, 2021, because their boss was providing security - though they themselves were not working. However, after an argument with the landlord’s partner, who believed she saw Kehoe routing through a bag.
Things escalated rapidly. Kehoe accused Ms Casey of having “a bad attitude” and became embroiled in an argument about what he had been doing. Mr Lunt asked the pair to leave and, while they did so, Kehoe shouted to him: “You need to sort your f***ing bird out.”
Harper and Kehoe then went and sat outside the pub for a number of minutes. They had been let out by a fire door and after a few minutes Kehoe opened it and went back in. Stephen Gledhill, another employee who had helped escort the pair out, was inside with Mr Lunt.
They assaulted both of them before going in and assaulting another one man inside the pub and another outside. They then returned to the bar and attacked a further two men before hitting Mr Lunt with a wine bottle.
Finally, they went outside and Harper punched another man in the head.
Kehoe, of Cretan Road, Liverpool, was jailed for four years. Harper, of Holland Street, was jailed for two years and eight months.
Peter Beecham
A man who managed to run an arm of a £6m cocaine and cannabis operation from prison and helped arrange a courier to bring drugs into jail.
Thanks to surveillance and cracking into encrypted phone messages, police managed to bring Thomas Davies's organised crime group down, along with a Liverpool-based group. On Tuesday seven defendants were sentenced to a total of 66 years and 11 months for their part in flooding North Wales with Liverpool-sourced drugs.
The day before, the same judge jailed six more people to a total of 42 years and eight months. In total, 11 men and two women have been put behind bars for a total of 109 years and seven months.
Among them was Peter Beecham, from Merseyside, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Beecham, 38, of St Brides Road, Egremont, was jailed for five years and three months for conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis resin.
Stephen Francom
An unwilling teenage passenger was flung from a a stolen van after it crashed after a 17 minute police pursuit.
Horrified police officers saw the girl being hurled onto a grass verge on April 8 and on finding her unconscious feared the worst but miraculously, although seriously injured, she survived.
The teenager and her friend accepted a lift in the vehicle when Francom, who they did not know, offered to take them to a nearby petrol station for cigarettes. But once there, while her friend was in the garage shop, a police car drew up alongside and Francom drove off as he was a disqualified driver and did not want to go back to prison.
During the chase, she was thrown through an open window and sustained serious injure
He was later arrested and was found to have 47 micrograms of alcohol in 100 mll of breath, which was 12 micrograms over the limit. A wipe test was positive for cocaine but he refused to have a blood test.
Francom, of Paton Close, West Kirkby, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, theft of the van, driving while disqualified and failing to provide a specimen and was jailed for two years eight months.
Stephen Jennings
A paedophile left his young victim suffering “night terrors” of a man at the end of her bed after she was sexually assaulted twice.
Stephen Jennings, 39, of The Glen, Runcorn, appeared at Chester Crown Court for sentence after three guilty pleas to possessing indecent images and conviction at trial over the two assaults.
Philip Clemo, prosecuting, said Jennings initially groped his victim over clothes. When she asked him to stop, “he refused” and assaulted her again. The abuse came to light when the child’s mother heard her using “inappropriate language”, and she then said what had happened.
It was reported to the victim’s school. In voluntary interview with Cheshire Police, Jennings denied what took place and any “sexual interest in children”.
That lie was left in tatters when a search of his two phones revealed 10 Category A abuse images - the most serious type and including one of a girl of about 10 years of age “in distress” being raped, 10 Category B and 178 Category C.
Recorder Mark Ford sentenced Jennings to four years in prison, and placed him on a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and the sex offenders register, both for life or until further notice.
Steven Bragger
A vile bully stamped on his girlfriend’s head and hit her with a bag that had a drill in it.
Steven Bragger also punched the woman in the face in front of her horrified friends, leaving her with a split lip. The 33 year old, from Warrington, subjected his then girlfriend to a series of violent assaults throughout 2019 and early 2020.
The court heard Bragger and the woman, who the ECHO has chosen not to name, got into a “turbulent” relationship and that he attacked her on numerous occasions.
Bragger, of HMP Liverpool, was jailed for three years and four months.
Christopher Woo
An angry customer threatened a shop worker with an axe after a dispute over a faulty mattress.
Christopher Woo also shattered a mirror and broke a table during the incident at Worldwide Furniture earlier this year. He left the worker terrified and caused more than £1,000 of damage to the Walton Road business.
The court heard Woo, 67, of Chatsworth Road, became angry after finding out a replacement mattress had not been ordered and went and got an axe from his car before threatening the worker and damaging furniture.
A judge jailed him for 16 months.
Paul Ball
A Liverpool man who bombarded his former partner with vile messages threatening to slash her face and douse her with acid has been jailed.
Paul Ball also threatened to shoot the woman, destroy her sentimental jewellery, attack her under the cover of darkness and in front of her children.
The 42-year-old also threatened to get social services to take her young child and set her home on fire. His victim told Liverpool Crown Court, “No eight-year-old should ask, ‘nan what would acid do to mummy’s face?’"
Ball, of Richard Kelly Drive, Walton, had pleaded guilty to harassment between October 30, 2019 and 30 October 2020. He was jailed for two and a half years.
Ryan Fagan
A thug who initiated the attack of a man in Liverpool city centre celebrated as he left court having been jailed.
Ryan Fagan, 40, had pleaded guilty to assault - causing actual bodily harm - for his involvement in an attack in Liverpool city centre in March. Fagan and co-defendant Kyle Johnson attacked Paul Buckley, 45, on Victoria Street in the early hours of March 1, 2022.
On Tuesday (June 21), Fagan was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. However, the sentencing of Johnson was adjourned until August due to a delayed psychology report.
The court heard that Mr Buckley attended a formal function in Liverpool city centre on February 28, 2022 and decided to remain in town after the event ended at around 11pm. Fagan was in the city centre with Johnson and others that night and they approached Mr Buckley on Victoria Street at around 3am.
The pair then launched a sickening attack on the man.
The judge sentenced Fagan to 12 months in prison. Afterwards, Fagan thanked Recorder Shafi, before letting out a loud cheer of "get in" as he left the courtroom.
Shaun Wrigley
A burglar broke into a man's home and viciously attacked him with a golf club.
Shaun Wrigley, 37, attacked his victim, before reaching into his wheelchair and stealing his wallet. He then apologised to the man, who was unable to defend himself as he had no legs.
Wrigley then volunteered to leave his hand print on a plate to ensure he could be caught, Preston Crown Court heard. Judge Graham Knowles QC sentenced the intruder to 11 years for the robbery and an assault on a woman in a safe house in Liverpool, LancsLive reports.
The court heard Wrigley broke into the man’s house while his partner was there and demanded cash while holding a golf club above his head. He then apologised to the victim and said he didn’t realise he was disabled but then appeared to reach and take something from his wheelchair.
The victim’s partner described Wrigley’s behaviour during the robbery as bizarre and he was picked up by police a few days later.
The court heard Wrigley also attacked a woman who was placed in a safe house due to previous violence from him, after a social services blunder resulted in him being given her address. During the attack, Wrigley punched the woman to the ground, strangled her and bit her, leaving her black and blue.
A judge sentenced Wrigley, of Bridge Street, Liverpool, to eight years for the robbery in Blackpool and three years for causing actual bodily harm (ABH) to the woman.
Yacine Djalti
The leader of an organised crime group from Liverpool who used a child to traffic drugs into Cumbria has been sentenced.
Yacine Djalti was the leader of a county lines drug gang that would run crack cocaine and heroin on the county line known as 'Mo' into South Cumbria in July and August 2021. On July 28, 2021, Cumbria Police executed a warrant at an address on Abbey Road in Barrow-in-Furness after they received intelligence that drug dealing was taking place in the area.
80 wraps of crack cocaine and 98 wraps of heroin with the value of £3,600 along with £360 in cash was found in the property. When police stormed the flat they found occupant Marc Woods, street dealer Derek Duncan, and ‘stock keeper’ Fred Williams, all three were arrested.
Thanks to phone evidence from the day police found that there was regular contact between all three of the men and OCG leader Djalti, as well as contact with drug courier Gary Crompton.
Just over a week later on August 5, 2021, officers conducted another warrant at another address on Titchfield Street in Barrow-in-Furness where a further 89 wraps of heroin and £1,080 in cash was found. Inside officers found the flat occupant and street dealer Ben Heavyside and a juvenile from Merseyside.
Finally, in a joint warrant from Merseyside Police and Cumbria Police that was executed on August 17, 2021 at a house on Whitney Road. As police approached the address Djalti was spotted walking down the street and officers began to chase him with him sprinting through gardens and discarding mobile phones, cash and a knife.
When the phones were recovered, police found that both were handsets used to run the county lines operation.
Yacine Djalti, 20, from Liverpool but of no fixed abode was sentenced to nine years and nine months in prison for conspiracy to supply heroin, conspiracy to supply crack cocaine, criminal damage to property, possessing a knife blade in a public place and racially aggravated public order.
Leslie Foster
A convicted rapist made a three-year-old rub his genitals in a city centre shop before trying to kidnap an eight-year-old and sexually assault her.
Leslie Foster had only recently been released from prison after committing sex offences against children but went on to target more kids in Home Bargains and Wilko in St John’s Shopping Centre last year. The 71-year-old has spent most of his life in prison after committing a series of sexual assaults against women and girls.
A judge said his pattern of predatory behaviour posed a risk to young children as he jailed him this morning.
Martine Snowdon, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court he was first reported after lurking in the arts and crafts aisle in Wilko’s in September last year. A ten-year-old, shopping with her parents and sister, wandered away from them and was discovered by her sister close to Foster, who had brushed past her. Ms Snowdon said: “The defendant had said to her “are you sure, are you shy, do you want a kiss?’”
Days later, in Home Bargains, he targeted a three-year-old girl, telling her to rub his genitals over his trousers. That girl also told her family what had happened and while shop staff were checking the CCTV Foster tried to kidnap another child. He located an eight-year-old in a different part of the shop and asked her if she wanted to “come and play” and told her he would give her some money if she did so.
He quickly fled after realising he was under suspicion - but was arrested after he returned at a later date.
Foster, of no fixed abode, was jailed for nine and a half years, with another four and a half years on extended licence.
Alan Dreha
A man who subjected a child to 11 years of sexual assault has now been brought to justice.
Alan Dreha, 70, of Hanmer Road, Kirkby, abused his victim between 1990 and 2001. Following a trial in May, he was convicted of 14 counts of sexual assault.
At Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (June 23), he was jailed for 17 years, plus two on licence.
Detective Inspector Yoseph Al-Ramadhan said: “Dreha denied his offending meaning his victim was forced to endure a trial. We welcome that he will now spend a considerable amount of time behind bars to consider the consequences of his actions.
“I would like to take this opportunity to praise Dreha’s victim for their courage in coming forward to report his crimes, and the dignity they have shown throughout the whole of this investigation.”
Lucas Devereux
A county lines dealer stole multiple cars and flooded communities with drugs.
Lucas Devereux, 20, of Ranworth Place, Norris Green, was arrested in July 2021, after Project Medusa officers raided his home. The warrant came after an investigation into a County Line dealing into Widnes, Cheshire.
Devereux pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs. He pleaded guilty to a string of four burglaries and theft of vehicles, that took place between December 2020 and February 2021 in the Kirkby, Southport and Norris Green areas.
Devereux was sentenced to four years and 10 months in a Young Offenders Institute after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and four burglary offences at Liverpool Crown Court.
Officers from Project Medusa have welcomed the sentence of Devereux, speaking on his sentence, Inspector Gary Stratton said: "The offenders who operate these County Lines do so, to the detriment of everyone around them - they exploit young and vulnerable people to store, transport and deal drugs and blight the communities in which they operate.
"Project Medusa is committed to cutting these lines and putting the organised criminals who operate them before the courts, as we have done today. We are also working to remove those who have been exploited by these groups, to give them a choice and a chance to make a different life for themselves.”
David Byron
A gangland debt collector was locked up for dodging penalty points in a speeding ticket scam.
Dad-of-three David Byron, 44, schemed with dodgy car rental business owner Benjamin Rood, 41, to swerve fixed penalty notices after being caught speeding in August 2016 and February 2017. Byron, of Longfellow Close, Kirkby, was driving Land Rover vehicles leased by Rood's franchise, 4x4 Hire Liverpool, on both occasions.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that as the rental vehicles were registered to Rood's business, he was obliged by law to provide the details of the driver. However, rather than Byron simply taking the points and paying the fine, WhatsApp messages recovered from Rood's phone revealed extensive conversations about nominating a "fall-guy".
That resulted in two men, Barry Sissons and James Ryan, being convicted of speeding in magistrates' court and each being handed six penalty points and fines ranging between £600 and £900. James Rae, prosecuting, told the court that Rood and several other men had been jailed for money laundering and conspiring to pervert the course of justice in May, but Byron had not been involved in their wider offending.
During an investigation into Rood, the WhatsApp messages were obtained by police, and Byron later pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, while asking for the 2016 incident to be taken into consideration by the court. Mr Rae said Byron also had a previous conviction for a similar offence, which saw him handed a suspended sentence in August 2012.
Byron was jailed for 10 months, and will be eligible for release on licence at the half-way stage.
John Digweed
A "proud dad" was unmasked as Encrochat dealer "Diorpaw" who moved 40kgs of Class A drugs in just a few months.
John Digweed used the Encrochat services to organise the supply cocaine and heroin during the spring of 2020. The 33-year-old tried to deny he was behind the handle “DiorPaw” but a jury saw through his lies in December.
On Friday, a judge told the “proud dad” his messages about his children played a significant role in police being able to identify him.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court Digweed was convicted of conspiracy to supply a range of Class A and Class B drugs including cocaine, heroin, amphetamine, ketamine, cannabis and ecstasy. He said Digweed mainly appeared to trade drugs to other dealers in Devon and Cornwall, though other locations across Britain were mentioned in his messages to other criminals.
Digweed was jailed for 25 years.
Bradley Graham
A dad-of-two who trafficked crack cocaine and heroin between Liverpool and Cornwall was forced to work for gangs as a child to pay off his mum's drug debts, a court heard.
Bradley Graham, of Pym Street in Walton, set up the so-called 'JC Line', a county lines operation aimed at flooding the Cornish coastal town of Newquay with Class A drugs. Graham sent 56 so-called flare texts, mass messages on a 'graft phone', to around 71 drug users in the town, between April 17 and June 19, 2020.
Graham would also enlist some of the local addicts to deliver drugs for him. He made regular visits to Cornwall, but ran most of the operation from his home in Liverpool, our sister site Cornwall Live reports.
Judge Anna Richardson jailed Graham for four years and three months after he admitted to two counts of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.
Stephen Grzyb
A man broke into a family home to steal their car as they slept upstairs.
Stephen Grzyb, from Huyton, broke into two homes on Brinton Close and Chillington Avenue, Widnes, in the early hours of Thursday, October 14, whilst the families and their children were asleep.
The 18-year-old broke into the first home through the garage but was unable to get in to the house itself. He left empty handed before running across the road to another house on Chillington Avenue.
The victims were upstairs when they were woken by the sound of breaking glass as Grzyb smashed his way through two sets of doors. He then stole the keys to a VW Golf R that was parked on the driveway and drove off as the victims watched from their bedroom window.
The vehicle was recovered later that day in Huyton. An investigation was undertaken by detectives at Widnes Proactive Policing Team and Grzyb was quickly identified as the suspect.
He was jailed for three years and six months.
Josh Hoskison
A pensioner was placed in intensive care and suffered life-changing injuries after being attacked outside a pub.
Denis Cunliffe was left with a bleed on the brain after being punched outside the Sefton in St Helens town centre before falling and hitting his head on the floor. Josh Hoskison, 25, dished out the unprovoked attack after rowing with his girlfriend and brawling with another stranger who had attempted to intervene.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, Wednesday, that the incident unfolded in the early hours of September 1 last year. At around 1.15am, a passerby encountered the couple engaged in a heated argument near to the Baldwin Street establishment.
He was described as acting as a peacemaker during the altercation. But Hoskison, who was on crutches at the time of the incident, told him to "f*** off", threw these walking aids to the ground and ran at the man.
The enraged mechanical engineer shouted "I'll gouge your f***ing eyes out" before the pair wrestled on the floor.
They eventually separated, but Hoskison then punched Mr Cunliffe - who fell backwards and "cracked his head". His assailant attempted to help him to his feet before realising that he had been knocked unconscious and "became completely different".
Mr Cunliffe was rushed to Whiston Hospital, where it was also discovered that he had suffered a fracture to the head. Mr Cunliffe, who had only recently recovered from a stroke, was later transferred to St Helens Hospital and spent two months recovering before being discharged home.
Hoskison, who has no previous convictions, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and nodded as he was jailed for 20 months.
Adam Caine and Neil Griffiths
An injured pubgoer was marched from cash machine to cash machine by robbers after a night out, leaving a trail of blood behind him.
The victim was led off from a taxi rank in Birkenhead town centre by his attackers on the promise that they would take him to a bar where he could still get served in the early hours. Instead, he was knocked to the ground and repeatedly punched as he was robbed by Adam Caine and Neil Griffiths.
The man had gone out to various pubs in the area at around 5.30pm on February 20 2020. By 3.30am the following day, he had gone to the rank on Argyle Street and was asking strangers if there were any nearby establishments still open to continue drinking in.
Caine and Griffiths approached him and claimed to know such a place, and he walked off with the pair. But he was instead attacked and knocked to the floor.
The victim ran back to the taxi rank, but was again accosted and taken to a cash machine - being "frequently punched" by Griffiths and elbowed to the face as this happened. He was then escorted to several ATMs, "leaving a trail of blood" in his wake.
Caine was jailed on June 30 while Griffiths was jailed earlier in the month. Both received two and a half year sentences.
James Santamera
A "prolific" burglar targeted a vicar's house and a school on parents' evening during a crime spree.
James Santamera broke into a staggering 18 homes, businesses and other properties during his latest spate of offending in the autumn of last year. He had only recently been released from prison on licence at the time.
The 46-year-old was jailed for four years in February 2019 over eight other burglaries. After being freed from this term, he handed himself in at St Anne Street Police Station in November last year stating he had "come under threat".
While there, Santamera confessed to a further seven break-ins. These included stealing a wallet containing money and a bank card from the presbytery of a church in Clubmoor.
The ex-Merchant Navy man was subsequently locked up for 44 months in February. Days before this sentencing, Santamera admitted to another 11 offences committed during the same period - resulting in him being hauled back to court yesterday.
One burglary was committed at shared accommodation above Yo's Restaurant, a Chinese on Wavertree Road in Edge Hill. This saw the defendant sneak into an occupant's bedroom and steal a wallet containing £20 in cash and a bank card, which was then used to purchase cigarettes.
Others saw Santamera enter staff rooms and "take what he could find", including purses and money, with another targeting the manager's office of a business. He swooped upon Merchants Taylors' School on parents' evening, seizing on the opportunity to go unnoticed inside to lift three laptops.
He was handed the mandatory three-year minimum term for a third strike burglar minus credit for his guilty plea, resulting in a sentence of 876 days behind bars. However, this time will be served alongside his currently term - meaning his scheduled release date in December next year will remain unaffected.
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