A thug who attacked a dad as he was taking his kids to the park, a paedophile who boasted about abusing a 12-year-old boy and a £2.5million drugs trafficker were among the Merseyside criminals jailed this week.
Also locked up was a man who donned swimming goggles before chasing a man with a knife and slashing him in the face. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a kebab shop ower threatened his wife with a skewer and locked her in a cellar.
Here are the faces of six criminals who were imprisoned in our region in the past week:
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Jack Ricketts
The thug accused an innocent commuter of being a paedophile before battering him and biting his ear in a train station.
The care assistant was on his way to work early in the morning when Jack Ricketts began hurling abuse at him then subjected him to a "brutal" unprovoked assault. He feared he was going to lose his ear when his attacker sunk his teeth into it.
The 21-year-old attacker, of St Anne's Grove in Birkenhead, followed the carer into Birkenhead Central Station and "forcefully punched him from behind" to the left side of his face. He then aimed six more punches at him, tried to headbutt him and began biting his ear.
Ricketts shouted "he's a paedophile, he assaulted my sister" as he dished out the violence. He admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent and was jailed for two years.
Connor Tomney
The thug wore swimming goggles as he chased a man through the streets with a knife before slashing him in the face with the weapon.
Connor Tomney donned the eyewear in a "bizarre" attempt to conceal his identity as he attacked his victim following a "petty" argument involving his girlfriend and her mum's neighbours. He got out of a car and barged past his victim's pregnant partner, saying "move out of the way you little slag" and chasing him around parked cars.
The complainant fell to the floor, and his assailant swung a knife at him - hitting him on the left check and causing a "superficial" cut. The 29-year-old asked "have I done it?" before continuing to swipe at him with the knife before getting back in the car and being driven off.
Tomney admitted assault and making threats with a bladed article. He was jailed for 18 months.
Ryan Sumner
The thug attacked a couple as they were taking their kids to the park and left a dad fighting for his life.
Ryan Sumner's assault caused their baby's pram to roll into a road and saw the man suffer a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain. He was left homeless after his relationship broke down as a result of the incident.
The 22-year-old admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent during an earlier hearing. Sumner was jailed for two years.
Huseyin Erdogan
The kebab shop owner tried to slash his wife's face with a skewer before locking her in a cellar.
Huseyin Erdogan also made sinister threats to arrange for a hitman to murder his partner after she accused him of having an affair. The businessman started trying to slash at his victim's face with a skewer, pushing her down into the basement while continuing to "lash out" with the implement.
He trapped her in the cellar and threatened to "cut her with a knife" if she called the police. The 54-year-old later told her: "You're going to make me a murderer."
Erdogan admitted assault and making threats to kill. He was jailed for 23 months
Paul Roberts
The paedophile groomed a boy with gifts then bragged about his sick exploits on the dark web.
Paul Roberts was already a convicted sex offender when he assaulted the youngster, having bought him a bicycle and clothing. A probe by the National Crime Agency revealed that the 38-year-old had used the dark web to communicate with other depraved individuals online.
The pervert discussed with others the abuse he had subjected a 12-year-old boy to - which saw him sit next to him on the sofa and put his arm around him, then slap him on the bottom when he stood up. Roberts also kissed him on the lips, watched him have a water fight with another child and offered to buy him condoms.
He also admitted viewing indecent images of children "most nights. The defendant admitted two counts of sexual assault, attempting sexual communications with a child and two charges of making indecent images and was jailed for 40 months.
Connor Smith
The final member of a multi-million pound drug gang has been locked up.
Connor Smith was one of 10 men ensnared after a National Crime Agency investigation into a Merseyside-based gang which operated an amphetamine lab in North Wales. Conspirators have now been jailed for a combined total of nearly 200 years.
The 29-year-old was involved in the supply of class B drugs only - including up to £2.5million of cannabis. His communications on EncroChat, undertaken using the handle Tactical Hawk, evidenced a total of 499kg supplied or offered between April and June 2020 - drugs with an estimated street value of between £2,242,425 and £2,513,009.
He was also involved in trafficking around 20kg of ketamine. Smith admitted conspiracy to supply ketamine, mephedrone, diazepam and cannabis and production of cannabis and was jailed for seven years and 11 months.
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