Another chapter was written this week in the tale of four brothers linked to one of Liverpool's most notorious gangs.
As members of the Strand Gang, the Thompsons wreaked havoc in one of the city's bloodiest turf wars.
But they have also been subjected to tragedy. Theirs is a story of traumatic childhoods, murder and homelessness that has ended in jail, death, or even both.
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This week Jamie Thompson was jailed for his links to a drug dealing network of misery that had access to a cache of deadly guns.
He claimed through his barrister he was now a changed man who wanted to be a positive role model for his young child.
But as a judge told him, "only time will tell" if he can break the decades-long cycle of misery and heartbreak that has engulfed his life and that of his three brothers: Joseph, Gerard and Daniel Thompson.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Jamie Thompson, 30, was part of a crew whose cocaine and heroin network stretched across England in 2020.
However, it collapsed following a raid at a remote Kirkby farm, where ringleader Kane Bennett had stashed a sawn-off shotgun and a bolt action rifle with a telescopic sight, and a semi-automatic pistol magazine was later found to bear Jamie Thompson's DNA.
Jamie Thompson, who has 23 previous convictions for 35 offences, was running his own drug dealing "graft" in Liverpool in 2020.
But he also supplied Bennett with ounce amounts of cocaine and heroin, which would often be hidden in the bodies of female couriers, who would then spread misery north and south by ferrying it to dealers in Morecambe, Plymouth and Torquay.
Jamie Thompson was previously locked up in 2014, as part of Merseyside Police's Operation Bronze.
That was an investigation into cannabis dealing, but he was also convicted of peddling crack cocaine and heroin, and for breach of bail, resulting in a sentence of four years and three months.
The then 23-year-old had been caught in West Derby in 2013 with a small amount of cannabis, but later tore off his electronic tag and went on the run.
He was arrested in a raid in Northwich in January 2014, when he dropped a package containing 359 wraps of heroin and crack, valued at £3,500.
At his sentencing in July 2014, Michael Bagley, defending, told a court how Jamie Thompson's "dysfunctional" upbringing led to his involvement in crime.
Mr Bagley said: "The background of the Thompsons is almost incredible in terms of the tragedy, misfortune and dysfunction he has had to endure...
"He is the youngest of four brothers. He had an older sister. His mother and father both deceased when he was at a tender age. He lived in a household where drug taking was the norm, where violence was the norm. He was taken into care at the age of seven.
"He and his brothers and his sister were split up and it is perhaps unsurprising that he is someone who is to a degree damaged."
Charles Lander, defending Jamie Thompson, expanded on that "very difficult upbringing" at his sentence hearing this week.
He referred to a letter sent by his client's girlfriend, and another from her cousin, who was "the partner of his now deceased twin brother".
Mr Lander said: "Both parents sadly died when he was very, very young. He and his twin brother Gerard were placed into care - they were placed into care in Stoke.
"After a number of years away from the Merseyside area they were brought back to Merseyside and placed with his sister and brother-in-law."
Mr Lander added: "An elder brother-in-law died in tragic circumstances in 2012."
That brother was Joseph 'Joey' Thompson, a leading member of the Strand Gang, who was shot dead while walking through Norris Green.
Nearly a decade later, his murder remains unsolved - despite a £20,000 reward in exchange for information leading to the gunmen who killed him.
The 'Strand Gang', aka the 'Nogga Dogs' were involved in a bloody gang war with rivals including the Croxteth or 'Crocky' Crew.
Joey Thompson, then 32, was walking along Ravensthorpe Green, on June 14, 2012, when he and a friend were sprayed with bullets.
But a "wall of silence" has since shielded the gunman who killed the dad-of-four in the brutal street execution.
While Jamie Thompson was serving his prison sentence imposed in July 2014, more tragedy befell his family.
Mr Lander said: "His sister's partner, who effectively acted as a father to him, died whilst the defendant was in prison."
Jamie Thompson's two other brothers, Gerard Thompson and Daniel Thompson, were also jailed in 2014, over a plot to steal cannabis from a rival gang.
Ringleader Gerard Thompson and his men had burgled a cannabis farm in St Helens in 2013, but were seen leaving carrying bin bags full of cannabis.
Photos on their own mobile phones showed them later celebrating with stacks of £20 notes.
Gerard Thompson was also sentenced for another burglary, when he and another thug tortured a cannabis farmer with a hammer and screwdriver, after tying him up.
He also fell to be sentenced for a plot to steal luxury cars, later crashed in police chases, including one stolen vehicle smashed into the side of a lorry.
In total, Gerard Thompson was jailed for 10 and a half years.
He was released on licence at the halfway stage of his sentence in May 2019, but in January 2020 was recalled for breaching his licence conditions.
On November 20, 2020, the 29-year-old was found dead at HMP Manchester.
Mr Lander explained this week: "Even now there are investigations as to how he died and still the family can't come to terms with as to how 29-year-old Gerard Thompson died.
"As your honour knows, set out by the defendant's partner, and also in the letter by Gerard's partner, is the background of this defendant.
"I don't seek to minimise his antecedent history [previous convictions] but clearly this defendant has suffered a lot.
"What gives him hope, what gives him the inspiration to lead a law-abiding lifestyle, is he now has a child of his own. She is now 17-months-old.
"Gerard your honour, the twin brother now sadly deceased, also had a young daughter at the same time, 10 days apart.
"The defendant sees it as his role to bring up as well Gerard's daughter. That's why the defendant now, in 2022, is a vastly different individual than the individual in 2020 who was hanging around with old associates."
Jamie Thompson's last surviving brother, Daniel Thompson, had been locked up for 21 months for his part in the cannabis burglary in 2014.
In March 2020, he was caught with a knife at Lime Street Station and said he forgot he had it because he smoked so much cannabis.
The 33-year-old - who at the time had 15 previous convictions for 23 offences - would tell a court he had been sleeping rough until a week beforehand, when he had gained a flat with the help of the Whitechapel Centre, Liverpool's leading homeless and housing charity.
However, he would lose that that as a result of being recalled on licence for a previous offence and being jailed for 21 weeks.
On Thursday, Mr Lander said it was "depressing" Jamie Thompson had also found himself back in a dock, because a third reference from a former employer was "full of positivity."
He said: "In 2019 he rid himself of various associates and to the shock of all who knew him, he found himself employment."
He said Jamie Thompson "impressed" during a nine-month spell working around the country, but lost that job in March 2020 because of the pandemic.
Mr Lander said his client then "fell back into old ways", but even before he was arrested in March 21, he had stopped drug dealing again.
The lawyer said: "He put that down to his daughter being with him and his partner - he is lucky to have his partner."
Mr Lander added: "It is his sincere wish to be reunited with his daughter as soon as possible."
Jamie Thompson, who admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and heroin, and possessing ammunition, was jailed for nine and a half years.
Judge David Potter told him: "I accept that you have had a very difficult upbringing with both of your parents dying when you were in childhood. That caused you to be placed into care with your twin brother, then placed with other family members on Merseyside.
"Your elder brother died in 2012 and also your twin brother died and even now there is uncertainty as to those circumstances.
"You have clearly suffered a lot. You are, it is said, inspired by your own child to live a more productive life on your release.
"It is hoped that in 2022 you are a different person to one involved in conspiracies to supply drugs in 2020.
"Time will tell."
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