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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Adam Everett

These are the faces of 39 Merseyside criminals who were jailed during April

Olivia Pratt-Korbel's killer, members of the "Scouse Mick" gang and people traffickers were among the Merseyside criminals jailed over the past month.

Also locked up were a mum and son who filmed themselves laughing as they torched a houseboat. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a dad used an international network of criminal contacts in countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Dubai to flood the UK with tens of millions of pounds of cocaine and heroin.

Here are the faces of 39 criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last few weeks:

READ MORE: 'Don't say nothing' - How Paul Russell faced up to his crimes and did the right thing in the end

Thomas Cashman

Thomas Cashman (Merseyside Police)

Thomas Cashman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel.

The 34-year-old, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was unanimously found guilty of murdering the nine-year-old schoolgirl by a jury. She was shot dead in her own home on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot in one of the most horrific crimes in Merseyside's history.

Cashman was due to return to court to be sentenced, but refused to appear in the dock to learn his fate. Professor John Cooper KC, defending, said that his client was "concerned that the matter was turning into a circus" and claimed that he had heard representatives of the Crown Prosecution Service "loudly" singing 'We are the Champions' after the verdict was delivered.

Justice Amanda Yip described his actions as "disrespectful to the family of the deceased". Gasps were heard among Olivia's family as the sentence was passed with one man heard to say "yes", while her mum Cheryl was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

Sentencing, Justice Amanda Yip said: "The killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel is an offence that shocked not only the city of Liverpool, but the nation. Olivia’s name is likely to be remembered for many years.

"She should not be remembered only for her dreadful last moments. Her family have spoken today of Olivia in life and of the hopes and dreams for her future, which were so cruelly snatched away.

"It is plain that Olivia was a lovely little girl, who cared for others and brightened the lives of her family and friends. They have suffered an unimaginable loss which they must carry for the rest of their lives."

John Webber

John Webber appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday (Merseyside Police)

The paedophile assaulted a 12-year-old girl while she slept

John Webber pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault. He cried and held his head in his hands as he was jailed for five-and-a-half years.

James Liddiard

James Liddiard (Home Office)

James Liddiard and David Finn were among six Merseyside-based people traffickers caught attempting to transport stowaways into the UK from France within the space of a week. The former did so with his mum in the passenger seat under the guise of a day trip to Paris.

The smugglers "worked in pairs", with the first such illicit journey being detected on December 9 2018. On this occasion, two hidden Vietnamese passengers were discovered in the boot of a car being driven by Charli White, with then 17-year-old companion Erin Burns "acting as a decoy" next to her in the front.

Then, on December 13, Liddiard was stopped while driving with his mum Andrea Cavanagh with a further two concealed migrants. The same day, Louisa Harrison and David Finn were caught transporting three stowaways locked in the trunk.

All six admitted facilitating unlawful immigration. Several pleaded guilty to the offence as long ago as August 2019, with delays in the case proceeding through the court system being cited among the reasons that some were allowed to walk free from the dock.

Liddiard was jailed for two years, while Finn was handed 22 months behind bars. White - who is also known as Charli Maddock - received a two-year imprisonment suspended for two years and a six-month electronically-monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am.

Cavanagh and Harrison each received 22 months suspended for two years and six-month curfews from 8pm to 8am. Burns was given a 15-month sentence suspended for two years and a six-month, 7pm to 8am curfew.

Sam Oliver

The roofer was wanted by two police forces when he was caught after men were seen "dealing drugs" outside of a primary school.

Sam Oliver, of Glangariff Street, Tuebrook, was on the run from Cheshire Police and was also wanted by police in Scotland when he was arrested by South Wales Police on January 10. Officers ended up executing a warrant at a property on Carreg Cennen Gardens after they saw the suspicious activity outside Cwm Glas Primary School in Swansea.

Oliver tried to flee through the back door but was caught, with officers recovering 20g of heroin and 57g of crack cocaine from the address, along with £699 in cash. The total street value of the drugs was estimated to be up to £6,000.

The defendant pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine. He was jailed for three years and four months.

William Davidson

William Davidson, from Melling, jailed for trafficking large quantities of Class A drugs using the EncroChat handles 'WoodenJay' and 'RainBonsai' (NWROCU)

Two men who were identified as major drug traffickers after chatting about their kids on EncroChat devices are starting huge prison sentences.

William Davidson, 39, and his right-hand man Steven Gorry, 47, were linked to the supply of 108kg of cocaine and 14kg of heroin arranged via the encrypted phone network, using the handles 'WoodenJay, 'RainBonsai' and 'RacyBike'. Detectives knew the handles were discussing huge drug deals, and were involved in a plan to import 76 kilos of cocaine from the Netherlands, but they then had to identify the men behind the devices.

Davidson was identified having had a child during lockdown and shared photos of his new baby on the network. Gorry also discussed homeschooling his children during the pandemic and shared information which hinted at his identity.

Both admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Davidson was jailed for 18 years and nine months, while Gorry was locked up for 16 years and six months.

Jwamer Saygul

Jwamer Saygul, 24, of Ringway in Neston, rapes a Ukrainian refugee in a park (CPS)

It took a jury just 25 minutes to find a rapist guilty after he attacked a woman in a park.

Jwamer Saygul, 24, violently raped the woman in a park in Neston, Wirral on October 3, 2022. He had met the woman, who had fled to this country from the ongoing war in Ukraine, on a bus from Chester City centre.

He was sentenced to nine years in custody.

Jackie Lloyd

Jackie Lloyd, 54, of Riversdale, Frodsham, was jailed for 40 months after her ex's barge was "completely destroyed" by arson. (Cheshire Police)

A mother and son recorded themselves "dancing" and "openly celebrating" as flames engulfed a barge they had set fire to in a "truly despicable act".

Adam Lloyd, 36, chanted "the roof is on fire" after using a cigarette lighter to ignite a cushion on the boat, leading to the fire that completely destroyed it. Accompanying him at the scene on the Bridgewater Canal in Runcorn on was his mum Jackie Lloyd, 54, who moments earlier had called the barge's owner Peter Hill, her former partner, and threatened to set fire to it after their relationship ended.

They were jailed for three years and four months each.

Harry Ford

Harry Ford (Cheshire Police)

A robber dragged a teenage girl through woodland as he stole her handbag before falling asleep in the dock once he was brought to court over the terrifying assault.

Drug-addled Harry Ford's brave victim followed him and began filming him on her mobile phone despite fearing that she had broken a bone during his terrifying attack. She continues to have nightmares about "seeing his eyes" nearly two years on.

The dad admitted robbery and was jailed for 15 months.

Paul Hughes

Paul Hughes (Merseyside Police)

A burglar ransacked a children's nursery twice in quick succession in order to steal tins of spaghetti, but was caught out after leaving behind a trail of blood.

Paul Hughes left the business thousands of pounds out of pocket having returned to pilfer the site for a second time only days after targeting it on the first occasion. But the 50-year-old was identified as the culprit after smashing a window to gain entry, cutting himself in the process and leaving his DNA at the scene.

Hughes admitted two counts of burglary during an earlier hearing. He was jailed for 14 months.

Graham Minards

Graham Minards (Merseyside Police)

A dad used an international network of criminal contacts in countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Dubai as he flooded the UK with tens of millions of pounds of cocaine and heroin.

Importer Graham Minards, who used the secret pseudonym "Calm Tea" on EncroChat as he traded in more than 1,300kg of class A drugs, is now beginning a lengthy jail term. Described as a "leading player nationally" and being "in the higher echelons" of organised crime, he and his business partner Peter Bradshaw - aka "Stocky Giant" armed themselves with hand grenades and were ready to recruit "lads who blow any c***'s head off" in order to fend off serious threats after falling into large sums of debt.

Minards admitted conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis. He was jailed for 21 years.

Bradshaw admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamine and cannabis. He was jailed for 19 years.

A third conspirator, Michael Aboo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis and conspiracy to launder money. He was handed 15 years behind bars.

Joanne Moran

Joanne Moran was found guilty of murdering her partner Jonathan Gibbons (Merseyside Police)

A woman has been jailed for life after stabbing her boyfriend to death.

Joanne Moran was unanimously found guilty of murdering Jonathan Gibbons this week. The 50-year-old victim was knifed in the heart at the couple's home on Bridge Road in Litherland in the early hours of October 30 last year.

The killer, who wore a black jumper in the dock and sat with her blonde hair tied back in a bun, showed no emotion as the jury's verdict was delivered after two hours and 53 minutes of deliberations. Forty-three-year-old Moran was handed a life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years.

Jake Shaw

Jake Shaw (Liverpool ECHO)

A man hit his girlfriend with a shovel as she fed her son breakfast before throwing bags of dog poo at her.

Jake Shaw then suffocated his partner with a pillow in a terrifying ordeal, which only ended when her dog sprung to her defence attacked the vile abuser - allowing her to escape. He admitted two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and was jailed for 10 months.

Owen Jameson

Owen Jameson, 19, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (Merseyside Police)

A teenager pulled a wheelie on a scrambler bike and led police on a high-speed chase.

Owen Jameson's DNA was also found on the trigger of a firearm which was recovered when police executed a warrant on Wilson Road in Prescot and searched an adjacent alleyway on March 8 2022. They gained access to a rear garden shed and officers discovered the loaded shotgun wrapped in black bin bags.

The 19-year-old pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, possession of cannabis, possession of a shortened shotgun without a licence, dangerous driving and driving without insurance. He was sentenced to 18 months in a young offenders' institution.

Owen Wright

Owen Wright, 30, of The Calvers, The Brow, Runcorn,was sent down for indecent image charges including Category A distribution. (Cheshire Police)

A cyber pervert shared child abuse images of the “most terrible” type, showing victims being “horrendously abused”.

Former chef Owen Wright was arrested when officers frompolice executed a search warrant in January 2021 and seized two iPhones and a Samsung phone. The devices were examined, and he was found to have been using platforms such as Snapchat, Kik Messenger and “mega links” to discuss and forward indecent images.

Wright later pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images, three counts of distribution and three charges of making such material. He was jailed for two years and four months.

Joao Domingos

Joao Domingos appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (Merseyside Police)

A man drunkenly attacked two security staff with glass bottles after being ejected from a city centre bar.

Joao Domingos pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening with an offensive weapon in a public place, one count of assaulting an emergency worker, and one count of causing criminal damage after an incident in the Tom Thumb bar on Hardman Street. Security staff removed the 41-year-old from the premises, but he began shouting “I will kill you”.

He armed himself with two broken glass bottles retrieved from nearby bins and began brandishing them. One worker suffered a small cut to his hand during a scuffle.

Domingos then spat blood in the face of a police officer following his arrest. He was jailed for 22 months.

Matthew Denton

Matthew Denton appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (Merseyside Police)

A man duped his unwitting dad into driving 20kg of drugs from Liverpool to Stoke before he was caught by police.

Matthew Denton pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to supply amphetamine after officers stopped a van driven by his father near Lymm Services on the M6 with his son in the front passenger seat while en route to Staffordshire. A bag containing the shipment of amphetamine was then discovered in the back.

The court heard that his dad was unaware of the illicit cargo. Denton was jailed for three years.

Jake Spencer

Jake Spencer (Merseyside Police)

A masked man burst into a pub brandishing a fake gun before being thrown out by an elderly drinker.

The startled barman ducked in terror as Jake Spencer pointed the imitation firearm at him and told him "you have till 12 to pay the money". It came only hours after he and Kenny Scott had chased the worker out of the same Liverpool city centre watering hole and battered him inside a nearby Tesco store.

Spencer admitted possession of an imitation firearm, inflicting grievous bodily harm and assaulting an emergency services worker and was jailed for 32 months. Scott pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and was imprisoned for 20 months.

Mark Edwards

Mark Edwards (Merseyside Police)

A cocaine deal "broker" was unmasked by his criminal contacts wishing him a happy birthday and his malfunctioning Sky TV box.

Mark Edwards and his associates secretly plotted to smuggle drugs through the Mersey Tunnels during lockdown and sourced illicit substances for a dealer known only as "Mr Kipling". His activities saw him netting substantial sums of money, with one business partner alone having owed him more than £100,000 at one stage.

Edwards pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis. He shook his head as he was jailed for 16-and-a-half years.

Jack Swanson

Jack Swanson is a prolific burglar and convicted arsonist (Merseyside Police)

A prolific burglar and arsonist watched a pensioner leave her home to go to church before stealing £70,000 worth of items from her property.

Jack Swanson pleaded guilty to one count of burglary, having targeted a 74-year-old victim in December last year. The 29-year-old was jailed for three years and four months.

Jared Skeete

(PA)

A teenager brazenly sniffed ketamine in full view of riot police as he threw lit fireworks at officers and called them "little sausages".

Jared Skeete was described as being "at the forefront" of violence which erupted during a protest at the Suites Hotel in Kirkby earlier this year, during which missiles were thrown at police and a Matrix van was torched. He admitted violent disorder and was given three years in a young offenders' institute.

Callen Chandler-Jones

Callen Chandler-Jones (Merseyside Police)

A vile rapist repeatedly sexually abused a vulnerable woman as she slept.

Callen Chandler-Jones' sickening assaults left her "completely broken" and feeling as though she had been "treated like an object". He admitted two counts of rape and was jailed for 20 years, as well as being handed an additional eight-year licence period.

James Billingsley-Taylor

James Billingsley-Taylor, 32, who was jailed for 'trading' horrific videos of child abuse with other paedophiles (Merseyside Police)

A married foster carer has been put behind bars after "trading" videos of horrific child abuse on Snapchat with other paedophiles.

James Billingsley-Taylor bizarrely tried to claim he was not sexually aroused by child abuse and was simply conducting "research", despite asking other paedophiles "can you see their face" in conversations about sharing sick videos. The 32-year-old admitted two counts of distributing indecent images of children, three of making indecent images and one of possessing indecent images and was jailed for two years.

Terence Earle

Terence Earle (National Crime Agency)

A gang behind a £1million amphetamine lab carried out their dodgy dealings in a Costco car park.

The organised crime group, led by "kingpin" Terence Earle, trafficked lorry loads of heroin and cocaine between Merseyside and Scotland. Meanwhile, chemicals used in producing the speed were stashed at a holiday park on the outskirts of Blackpool.

Earle admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to produce amphetamine. He was jailed for 16-and-a-half years.

Stephen Singleton - who used his "apparently legitimate chemicals company" in order to "supply the necessary ingredients for large amounts of amphetamine" - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce amphetamine. He was handed 41 months behind bars, to be served consecutively to another term of nine years and two months he is currently serving.

Christopher Crotty

Christopher Crotty appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday (Merseyside Police)

A man assaulted his ex-girlfriend then sent explicit images of her to her mum and brother.

Christopher Crotty was found guilty of one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two of disclosing private images without consent. He was jailed for 27 months.

James Coleman

James Coleman (Merseyside Police)

An innocent member of the public was hit with a shovel as a stag party and a group of workmen brawled in the street.

The groom-to-be, who was wearing a wedding dress while out celebrating his upcoming nuptials with friends in Liverpool city centre, was knocked unconscious and lying in a pool of his own blood after being kicked out of a Concert Square bar. A judge today compared the scenes of violence as being akin to the "wild west", with one visiting drinker having also wrapped his belt around his fist and used it as a makeshift knuckleduster as he threw punches.

Anthony Hughes, who rendered the bachelor unconscious, admitted wounding without intent and affray. He was jailed for two years.

James Coleman, who wielded the shovel, pleaded guilty to affray and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. He was handed 21 months behind bars.

Kevin Condliffe

Kevin Condliffe (Devon and Cornwall Police)

A county line gang called "Scouse Mick" which operated between Liverpool and Cornwall has been torn apart as members were jailed.

Four men were jailed at Truro Crown Court in Cornwall after playing significant roles in a conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine while also launder money from the sale of drugs to vulnerable people. Kevin Condliffe, 46 of Carr Lane East, Norris Green, Richard McLean, 39, of Curtana Crescent, Croxteth, Jonathan Fincham, 52, of Pellor Fields, Helston, and Kieron Ellis, 44, of Carbis Bay, Penzance, first came to the attention of police when phone and financial records found the group were bringing drugs between Liverpool and Cornwall by car.

They were also sending cash profits back up the line using Royal Mail. Condliffe was jailed for nine years and six months, McLean was jailed for eight years and six months, Fincham was jailed six years and six months and Ellis was jailed for seven years.

Crimea Price

Crimea Price appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday (Cheshire Police)

Four men who committed 19 burglaries targeting ATMs in supermarkets stole hundreds of thousands of pounds, a court has heard.

Arthur Gaskin, 35, of no fixed abode, Lee Leatherbarrow, 33, of Lascelles Street, St Helens, Crimea Price, 32, of The Pines, Newton-Le-Willows, and John Price, 27, of Newport Street, Stoke, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced for 19 burglaries in supermarkets and thefts from cash machines across the country. Crimea Price was sentenced to eight years imprisonment, Gaskin and Leatherbarrow were both sentenced to seven and a half years, and John Price was sentenced to six years.

Keith Forsyth

Keith Forsyth appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Monday (Cheshire Police)

A former driving instructor repeatedly assaulted a boy several years his junior in the 1980s, a court has heard.

Keith Forsyth, 53, of Whitecross Road, Warrington, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after being found guilty at trial to eight charges relating to abuse which took place over several years. He was jailed for 32 months.

Jack Wymer

Jack Wymer, 29, from Huyton, jailed for a high level EncroChat drugs operation (Cheshire Police)

An EncroChat crook linked to Spanish villas, ruthless gun thugs and kilos of Class A drugs boasted of making up to £10,000 per day.

Huyton drug dealer Jack Wymer, 29, and his underworld contacts were brought down by a major Cheshire Police operation dubbed Operation Thunderball, into criminals using the encrypted phone network to trade in drugs and firearms. Detectives found he was the man behind the EncroChat handle "ItchyTrain", which revealed him to be a high-end dealer selling commercial quantities of cannabis, heroin and cocaine.

Messages uncovered from his phone included photos of a kilo block of heroin, wads of cash spread out over a kitchen counter and the burned out remains of a Spanish villa, used to grow cannabis. He was jailed for 10 years and three months.

Craig Byatt

Craig Byatt (Merseyside Police)

A drugs courier was caught with nearly £85,000 of heroin and crack cocaine when he fell off his bike.

Craig Byatt was attempting to escape police along a canal towpath when he slipped and was arrested while carrying the illicit class A substances inside a sports bag. It came only months after he had led officers through the streets in a high speed car chase which ended in a crash.

Byatt admitted possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, drug driving and driving without insurance. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for five years.

Derek Miller

Derek Miller, of Louisville Avenue, Cambusnethan, Wishaw, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs (Cheshire Police)

Two men were caught with more than £100,000 worth of cannabis after police stopped them on the M6 with a cracked windscreen.

Officers spotted the Renault Kangoo near to Thelwall viaduct and stopped the car in January this year. Police spoke to the two people inside the car regarding the damage and the driver of car, 36-year-old Derek Miller, was subjected to a roadside breath and drugs test.

Following a positive drugs test, officers went on to search the car and discovered three vacuum bags full of cannabis weighing a total of 26kg, believed to be valued at between £104,000 and £182,000. Both Miller and the passenger in the car, 46-year-old Mark Lindsey, were arrested.

Both later admitted being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. Miller was jailed for eight months and Lindsey was sentenced to six months in prison.

John Murray

John Murray was sentenced to eight months imprisonment (Facebook)

Two football hooligans who were involved in a massive matchday brawl were seen throwing chairs and punches at Liverpool FC fans.

Thomas Keane, 28, of Kendal Road, Kirkby, and John Murray, 32, of Leyburn Close, Kirkby, both appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to one count of affray. It followed fighting between Liverpool and Everton fans at the St Hilda pub on derby day on April 22 last year.

Keane was sentenced to ten months imprisonment suspended for 18 months, ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity days and 140 hours of unpaid work. Murray was sentenced to eight months immediate imprisonment.

Stuart O'Brien

Stuart O'Brien, 48, jailed for breaching a football banning order (UGC)

A convicted Liverpool ticket tout ignored a court order and flew to the Qatar World Cup to make quick cash.

Stuart O'Brien, 48, had originally been arrested alongside two other suspects on February 1, 2020, outside Anfield stadium. He was in possession of £1,300 cash and Liverpool FC season tickets, ahead of a match between the Reds and Southampton FC.

He was convicted for touting and handed a five-year football banning order at Sefton Magistrates' Court in February 2021. Merseyside Police said as part of that order he was required to surrender his passport ahead of the Qatar World Cup in November last year.

However O'Brien, of Whitehaven Road, Anfield, kept hold of his passport and was "then seen in Qatar selling tickets". He was charged with breaching the banning order and returned to Sefton Magistrates' Court, where he pleaded guilty and was jailed for 12 weeks.

Gareth Parr

Gareth Parr (Merseyside Police)

A man who repeatedly stabbed a stranger in a pub was back in court for wielding a large blade in a park months before the attack.

Gareth Parr, 20, of HMP Hindley, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to one count of threatening a person with a bladed article in a public place. He was jailed for 10 months.

Jordan Walmsley

Jordan Walmsley appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday (Merseyside Police)

A man wanted by police for breaching the terms of his licence gave officers a fake name but his real phone number.

Jordan Walmsley, of HMP Altcourse, formerly of Southport, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine, possession of cannabis, perverting the course of justice and failing to surrender. He was jailed for eight months.

John Bishop

John Bishop appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday via video link (Merseyside Police)

A prolific burglar who stole £30,000 of clothes from a Flannels store in Southport made off with £80,000 in an “almost identical” robbery a year later.

John Bishop, 33, of HMP Hindley, formerly of Fazakerley, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to one count of burglary. He was jailed for 15 months.

Russell Jones

Russell Jones (Merseyside Police)

A pervert who sexually assaulted a hospital patient moaned "all of this is wrong" as he was jailed today.

Russell Jones drunkenly "loitered" in the grounds of Whiston Hospital "attempting to befriend female patients" after splitting up from his partner. The 45-year-old repeatedly pestered one woman in particular before preying on the "vulnerable" wheelchair user.

He was found guilty of one count of sexual assault by a jury following a trial. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, Jones was imprisoned for three-and-a-half years and handed a restraining order banning him from contacting his victim indefinitely.

Andrew Kirby

Andrew Kirby appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via video link on Thursday (Merseyside Police)

A man hit his girlfriend’s sister in the face with a hammer while two young children were in the house, a court has heard.

Andrew Kirby, 31, of St Oswalds Street, Old Swan, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to one count of wounding. He was jailed for 29 month.

Ryan Hope

Ryan Hope, of Hansby Drive, Speke, was jailed for 11 years and four months for his role in the drug operation (North Wales Police)

A drug gang who flooded Wales with cocaine from Merseyside have been jailed.

Paul Price, the boss of the drug operation, facilitated the supply of high purity cocaine from Merseyside to North Wales. He enlisted the help of Ryan Hope, from Speke, who worked alongside Price and operated in a "organisational role".

Both Price, 55, and Hope were jailed for 11 years and four months. Phillip Thomas Owens, 54, was also a sub-dealer operating out of Meredith Crescent in Rhyl and his address was used to receive commodities of drugs following the closure of another property.

Owen was jailed for five years in prison for his role. Malcolm Griffiths was another sub-dealer within the conspiracy and he bought cocaine in bulk frequently throughout the duration of the drug operation and had a debt to Paul Price of £39,200. Griffiths was jailed for five years.

Drug dealer Farrell Anthony Denton, 34, another was jailed for three and a half years for his role. Robert Thomas, 53, was a trusted associate and driver to Paul Price and was also jailed for three and a half years.

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