These are the people who have walked free from courts in Liverpool this month.
Judges bear in mind multiple factors when deciding whether to send someone to prison. While some offences are so serious that only a jail term is deemed suitable, other cases can result in offenders being given a second chance.
In May, they included a couple who were running a large scale cannabis farm from their Speke home but were given a second chance by a judge and a man who became so irritated at his neighbour that he threw a can of paint at her and her dog from a balcony.
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This month also saw a man walk free after taking pictures of a naked toddler in Warrington town centre and a former maths teacher get a suspended sentence for a five month stalking campaign he conducted against a women.
Jamie Fahy and Donna Jones
A couple used a secret door linking their two attics together to run a large scale cannabis farm.
When police raided the homes of Jamie Fahy, 38, and Donna Jones, 41, they found 135 cannabis plants with a potential street value of £170,100. Liverpool Crown Court heard on Monday, May 16, how the cannabis was being grown for “onward wholesale supply” and there were incriminating messages on their mobile showing the sophisticated enterprise.
Jones’ meter was by-passed to power the operation and £239,000 worth of electricity had been illegally used over the eight months before the raid.
A total of 98 mature cannabis plants were found in three bedrooms and the attic during a police raid on their Speke home on January 18 last year.
Sentencing both defendants to two years imprisonment suspended for two years the judge, Recorder Michael Blakey said that they had both played “a significant role.” He continued: “Looking at the case overall it is a just and appropriate sentence for you two.”
He said that he also took into account guidance about taking into consideration conditions in prison because of covid restrictions. He ordered them both carry out 100 hours unpaid work and a six months drugs rehabilitation course.
Recorder Blakey said he took into account medical difficulties of Fahy and his mother and that he has been out of trouble for eight years. He told Jones he took into account that she would lose her home if sent straight to prison.
He said: "A realistic prospect of rehabilitation is something I accept is quite probable. You both have strong personal mitigation and it seems to me immediate custody would result in a harmful effect on others."
Robert Kawinski
A vicious dispute ended in a man hurling a tin of paint at his neighbour's dog during a row.
Robert Kawinski, a former naval officer, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to a charge of common assault on his neighbour, Helen Willingham. He was accompanied by an interpreter.
The court heard that Kawinski, 61, and Ms Willingham both lived in flats at a One Vision housing association property in Laurel Road, Kensington. But on October 14, 2020 Kawinski threw a can of paint at her as she returned from taking her dog for a walk. The can bounced and hit her dog, leaving the Yorkshire Terrier with a cut on its head.
Judge Woodhall handed Kawinski a 12-month community order, with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days. He was also fined £450, and a restraining order to prevent him making any contact with Ms Willingham was imposed for five years.
Sadie Smith
A mum drove her seven-year-old son to the beach while four times over the drink drive limit.
Sadie Smith, 47, of Centurion Drive in Meols, Wirral, was caught on dashcam footage driving so erratically she ploughed over a roundabout and into a grass verge. Wrexham Magistrates court heard it was "nothing short of sheer luck" that she didn't cause a serious accident.
Smith cried as her family sat beside her while the court was shown footage of her almost colliding with a road sign on the A548 in Flintshire in March, with her son, aged seven, in the car with her. Prosecutor Helen Tench said Smith had been drinking the night before and had some alcohol in the hours before she set off to find a North Wales beach.
A concerned driver called police at about midday on March 19 when they saw a Saab Index being driven "erratically" in Flintshire. Smith was arrested after being found at the McDonald's restaurant on the Flint Retail Park "stumbling around the drive through" and "slurring her words".
When she was caught, she gave a breath reading of 139. The legal alcohol limit is 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
Presiding Justice Jacqui Jones, branded Smith's actions as "dangerous" and banned her from driving for the next 36 months. She was also told - as part of her 12-month community order - to complete unpaid work for 300 hours.
Robbie Wright
A man who described himself as a peacekeeper threw a glass at a group of men fighting in a bar’s smoking area.
Robbie Wright chucked a glass at other men as they rained punches on each other during a brawl at Formby’s Cafe D’Art back in 2020. The 30-year-old, from Great Altcar, admitted affray after the incident and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court.
A judge told him he could have badly injured a member of the public during the reckless incident. Ben Jones, prosecuting, said Wright was out at the bar with friends on September 29, 2020, when a fight broke out in the busy outdoor area of the bar.
He played CCTV footage of the brawl, with Wright seen on the edge of the fighting men before throwing a glass at another man. Mr Jones said: “It appears that halfway through a male, the defendant, took up a stance with a glass in his hand and as the fight continued he appeared to throw the glass in a direction of the group.”
He confirmed no one was hit by the glass. One man was injured during the wider brawl but the person responsible for that injury has not been identified.
Judge David Swinnerton said it appeared Wright, who had no previous convictions, had acted out of character. Wright, of Lord Sefton Way, was handed a 12 month community order and told to pay a victim surcharge.
Onismo Zhakata
A man who took zoomed in pictures of a naked toddler playing in a fountain told police he was trying to take a selfie instead.
Onismo Zhakata took pictures of the three-year-old in Warrington town centre in June last year. The child’s mum shook her head as the 43-year-old was handed a suspended sentence at Liverpool Crown Court this morning.
Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said a member of the public flagged down police officers on Horsemarket Street on June 2, 2021, and told them he had seen a man taking pictures of young children playing nearby. The person had seen Zhakata sitting on a bench and taking pictures, zooming in on a three-year-old girl who was naked in the fountain at the time.
Officers found three Category C images showing the girl but also found one Category A indecent image of a child and six images showing extreme pornography. Zhakata pleaded guilty to multiple sexual offences at Warrington Magistrates’ Court last month but maintains he has no sexual interest in children.
Zhakata, of Whitecross Road, was handed a 12 month jail term, suspended for 24 months. He must also take part in 30 rehabilitation days and undertake 80 hours of unpaid work.
Jordan Yates
A yob broke a man's jaw in two places as he tried to separate a fight outside a nightclub.
Jordan Yates, 23, hit his victim, Hayden Morris, so hard he caused a double jaw fracture and left him with permanent numbness in his lower lip. Liverpool Crown Court heard there were issues between Yates and the victim's friend, John Atherton, about a woman which led to the pair being kicked out of The Imperial club in St Helens.
They continued squaring up to each other outside and Mr Morris stepped in to intervene. He was concerned his friend was drunk and alone, and Yates had other men with him, said David Birrell, prosecuting.
CCTV footage played to the court showed the scene and powerfully built Yates striking Mr Morris “with a short arm jab” which left him with two fractures to his jaw and a lost tooth. He needed surgery to insert metal plates and also had two other teeth removed.
Judge Denis Watson, QC, sentenced the young dad to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years. He ordered him to carry out 150 hours unpaid work and 20 days rehabilitation activities.
He also imposed a three year restraining order and said he would have ordered him to pay his victim compensation if he had the financial means to pay.
Nathan Pettit
A former maths teacher made 14 Instagram accounts to stalk, intimidate and threaten a young woman.
Nathan Pettit, 26, was “obsessed” with the woman, from Wirral, who he initially met through their mutual interest in fitness training and they began a relationship. However just a few weeks later she discovered he was also seeing another woman and ended her relationship with him.
Despite this there was continued contact when he followed her and disrupted an event she was attending. He then went to her home and stayed the night and the next day they talked about their relationship but later argued.
He then began a campaign of stalking against her. Pettit, formerly of Paris Avenue, Newcastle-under-Lyme admitted stalking, which spanned five months, and intimidation which lasted for five weeks of that period. Judge Garrett Byrne said that Pettit was 26 ‘but I had formed the view in terms of maturity you are younger than that.”
The judge sentenced him to 18 months imprisonment but said it was a “finely balanced” case and suspended the term for two years. The judge said he took into account his immaturity and the fact he has not re-offended and only has the one previous conviction.
Ashley Fairfield
A drunk guest launched a fire extinguisher from the sixth floor of a city centre hotel to the lobby below.
Ashley Fairfield was rude to staff at the Radisson Blu when she returned after a night out without her room key. Shocking CCTV footage showed the mum-of-two first throw a hand sanitiser unit over an internal balcony.
But as staff looked up, the 48-year-old lifted the fire extinguisher above her head and hurled it down. The "highly dangerous missile" hit a marble staircase before it ruptured and shot across the foyer as it sprayed out dry ice.
The hotel said the estimated cost of repairs to the marble staircase and floor tiles was £220,000. A forensic pathologist said anyone struck by the extinguisher could have suffered a life-threatening injury.
Fairfield, of Thornbank Terrace, Dundee, was charged with damaging property with intent to endanger life and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to three members of staff. However, prosecutors dropped these charges after they accepted guilty pleas to the lesser offences of criminal damage "reckless" as to whether property would be damaged and a charge of affray.
Nicola Daley, defending, said her "distressed and emotional" client was "embarrassed and horrified".
Judge Watson said there was a realistic prospect of rehabilitation and jailing her would have a harmful impact on her children "who are at a difficult stage of their young lives". He gave her 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, with a 30-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. The judge said he didn't make a compensation order because of her financial circumstances.
Peter Scott
A dad-of-two strangled his sister unconscious when a family feud turned violent.
Peter Scott picked Jeanette Rice up by the neck and hurled her to the ground in a shameful attack. The 49-year-old shouted "I'm going to kill you, you f***ing c***" as he choked her until she passed out.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the shocking attack took place at their mother's home in Toxteth on October 28, last year.
Scott denied assault causing actual bodily harm up until the opening day of a trial. He changed his plea to guilty after the victim, her mum and sister attended to give evidence.
He has nine previous convictions for 17 offences, but had been out of trouble since 2005. Mr Bellis said none of his old convictions were relevant. The court heard Scott was "completely sorry and ashamed for what he has done".
The judge handed him 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a 30-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, 200 hours of unpaid work, and a five-year restraining order.
Cameron McKimmie
A young man stabbed his stepdad after he was told off for playing music too loud in his bedroom.
Cameron McKimmie argued with his mum and upset his little sister in a 1am row at his family's Wirral home. But when John Charles intervened there was a "scuffle" and McKimmie, 22, pulled out a four-inch blade.
He knifed his victim in the thigh, then chased him upstairs and stabbed at a bathroom door, as his stepdad hid inside. McKimmie was spared jail earlier this month after a judge was told he was "a good young man" and it was "completely out of character".
The judge handed him 18 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, with a 20-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, as McKimmie wiped tears from his eyes and his mum cried.
Troy Aindow
An armed cannabis dealer caught with drug money told police he had wanted the cash to buy a puppy.
Troy Aindow was found to have cannabis wraps and a lock knife. Aindow said he had no plans to use the knife but the judge described this as “nonsense” and told him not to waste his time.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that when arrested Aindow, now 20, said he had the knife in his pocket because “you just never know”. Police spotted Aindow in Belle Vale on April 13 last year and stopped him, later finding him to be dealing cannabis and in possession of a knife.
John Rowan, defending, said that references described Aindow, who has no previous convictions, as “a polite, helpful and upstanding member of the community.”
His involvement in the offences “has not only shocked those who know him but shocked himself and brought great embarrassment and shame on his family.” Aindow was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years. The judge also ordered him to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and 20 days rehabilitation activities.
Julie Gibbons
A drunk woman stabbed her partner after believing he was cheating on her.
Julie Gibbons, 56, and her partner, Paul Harrison had rowed earlier in the evening of August 2, 2020, after she accused him of being unfaithful to her, which he denied. He made them both some food at her home in St Helens, and gave her a knife to cut it but she refused the food and he took the knife back to the kitchen drawer.
By this point Gibbons had drunk almost three bottles of wine and continued to accuse Mr Harrison of cheating. Cheryl Mottram, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, May 24, said he then grabbed the knife and placed it on top of the cupboard saying "Go on, do what you want with it".
Ms Mottram said Gibbons then stabbed him in the chest but he was able to call an ambulance and get medical help. The court heard she was remorseful and had sort help for her issues with alcohol.
The judge, Recorder Daniel Prowse sentenced her to 15 months imprisonment suspended for 15 months. He also imposed 25 days rehabilitation activities, 80 hours unpaid work and a six month alcohol treatment requirement.
He told her: "No doubt influenced by the argument and alcohol you took the catastrophic decision to take that knife and stab him." Recorder Prowse told Gibbons, who had originally been charged with wounding, that she was fortunate the injuries were not more serious. “The consequences could have been catastrophic,” he said.
Donna Hand and Mark Webster
A man suffered a bleed on the brain after he was viciously attacked by a mum and her son.
Donna Hand punched Alan Cameron in the face before her son Callum and his friend Mark Webster kicked and stamped on him. Mr Cameron was later sedated at Walton hospital where he was treated for a bleed to the brain.
Sarah Griffin, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court how Donna Hand later lied to police when they knocked at her son's home address in St Helens about her role in the attack.
Callum Hand, of Silkstone Close in St Helens, had pleaded guilty to GBH with intent. He was jailed for 40 months. Webster, who pleaded guilty to affray, was jailed for 21 months suspended for two years. Webster admitted kicking Mr Cameron twice.
Judge Flewitt ordered him to attend a mental health treatment course for six months, undertake 40 days of rehabilitation and complete 120 hours of unpaid work.
Donna Hand, also of Silkstone Close, was jailed for three months suspended for 12 months. She was ordered her to complete a 25 day rehabilitation course. Judge Flewitt told Hand that if she started 'anymore fights' she would be jailed.
Callum Hand had a previous conviction for possession of a knife and assault. Webster had previous convictions for battery and possession of a knife. Donna Hand had two previous convictions for assault.
Ryan Cunliffe
A drunk man who was found unconscious at his nan's door and kicked a police officer narrowly avoided jail.
Ryan Cunliffe, 24, was given a suspended sentence in December after a naked drunken rampage where he threatened paramedics, damaged property and kicked a female PC in the head. During the incident Cunliffe, who had taken his trousers off after falling over while they were round his ankles, picked up a ‘for sale’ sign and used that as a weapon.
Cunliffe was back in Liverpool Crown Court on Monday, May 23, after being drunk on the streets of Haydock once again and was reported to be carrying alcohol, and had taken his trousers down. He was also reported to be following two women and the police were called to the Queens Road area.
Officers who later found him were subjected to verbal and physical abuse by Cunliffe. The judge, Recorder David Wilson, accepted Cunliffe had not gone out intending to commit an offence of violence and had been in a drunken stupor. He sentenced him to six months imprisonment suspended for 18 months and warned him “it is your last chance, be under no misapprehension of that”.
Extending the alcohol treatment requirement for another six months, he said: "You are at peril of imprisonment if you commit another offence before December 2023".
Jack Nolan
A teenager spared jail after a brawl when two men were stabbed has since walked free from court twice.
Jack Nolan and Charles George went to a home in Bootle to confront another boy. But he wasn't there and the two yobs instead fought with his family.
The boy's grandad was knifed in the back, while his uncle was stabbed in the arm, in shocking scenes captured on CCTV. But prosecutors said they were couldn't say which teen stabbed the victims, on May 10, 2021.
As a result, Nolan, 19, and George, 18, both received suspended prison sentences in January, after they admitted affray. However, Nolan, of Cricklade Close, Bootle, was soon back at Liverpool Crown Court - for dealing cocaine.
On April 13, he admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply and obstructing a police officer, in Sefton on May 8 last year. Neither of those offences put him in breach of his suspended sentence, as they predated it.
The judge on that occasion, Recorder Graham Wells, handed him two years' detention, suspended for two years.
Nolan - said to have "anger management issues" and ADHD - was back in the dock earlier this week for failing to attend a probation appointment on March 31. That was one of the requirements imposed by Judge Anil Murray when he sentenced him on January 5, for the incident involving the double stabbing.
The judge today revoked a community order previously handed to Nolan but said the two suspended sentences would continue. He imposed an additional 21 hours of unpaid work.
Zoe Paul
A priest gave a struggling mum free food and hundreds of pounds and she responded by trying to rob him outside his church.
Zoe Paul carried out the grim attack on Father David Potter outside St Albert’s Church in Stockbridge Village early last year. Liverpool Crown Court heard the 36-year-old was on drugs as she targeted Father Potter on the morning of March 16, 2021, grabbing him and demanding he give her money.
Nardeen Nehmat, prosecuting, said Paul had been to the church on Hollow Croft many times in the preceding months. Father Potter had tried to help her after she told him she was in need, eventually giving her a total of £780 and free food over a number of visits.
However, he later found her stories became increasingly unbelievable and her mood more aggressive. On one occasion, she ran into the church as mass was about to start and forced her way into the confession box before demanding money.
On the morning of the attempted robbery, she arrived as he opened up the church, again asking him to give her cash. Ms Nehmat said he refused and tried to move away but she then accosted him “persistently” trying to stop him from getting away and pushing him.
The judge, Louise Brandon, said Paul’s attack had clearly affected Father Potter, who said he still felt dread when opening or locking up the church gates on his own. Judge Brandon said: “That behaviour of yours had a serious impact on Father Potter. Much of this hearing has been about you but you need to think about what you have done to him.”
She handed Paul, of Barons Hey, an 18 month jail term suspended for two years. Under the terms of the sentence Paul will have to undergo drug testing twice a week and attend Brook House regularly for nine months.
