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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Neil Docking & Nick Tyrrell

Jailed in Liverpool: Faces of 76 people locked up this month

These are 76 people jailed in Merseyside this month.

Courts across our region heard a range of cases in January.

The stories the ECHO has covered include a TikTok star jailed for transphobic abuse, a 16-year-old who slashed a man with a chunk of glass and a stalker who terrorised a former Hollyoaks star.

READ MORE: Woman airlifted after being hit by car on major city centre road as two arrested

A woman who tried to kill her best friend and a gang whose botched robbery left a man dead are also among the people sent to prison so far in 2022.

Here is an overview of some of the people who have been jailed so far this year.

Leon Clark


Paedophile Leon Clark's cover story was busted when police heard the ringtone of the mobile he pretended he'd sold.

The 46-year-old lied that he no longer owned the device that investigators had linked to his Wirral home in June of last year.

But officers found the phone behind his radiator, which led to the discovery of 58 images of children being sexually abused.

Clark, of Lingdale Road North, Birkenhead, admitted one count of possessing and three counts of downloading indecent images of children.

The predator - previously jailed for sexually assaulting a girl - also admitted breaching a suspended sentence for failing to comply with sex offender requirements.

He was jailed for 18 months.

Michael McLoughlin and Terrence Kerwin

Michael McLoughlin killed aspiring firefighter Duncan Browne in an unprovoked attack over a taxi.

He delivered a fatal "catastrophic injury punch" to the 23-year-old at a taxi rank in Hanover Street in Liverpool city centre.

McLoughlin's friend - convicted heroin dealer Terrence Kerwin - first hit the victim, as they tried to get into a black cab ahead of him.

But after McLoughlin knocked out Mr Browne in the early hours of Sunday, July 4, 2021, the "cowards" got in the taxi and went to a party.

Mr Browne, from Kirkby, died in hospital next day, surrounded by his family.

McLoughlin, 36, of Torus Road, Old Swan, and Kerwin, 31, of no fixed address, both denied murder and were set to stand trial on January 4.

But the Crown Prosecution Service accepted McLoughlin's plea to manslaughter and Kerwin's plea to assault causing actual bodily harm, to the dismay and anger of Duncan's grieving family, who slammed the decision.

McLoughlin - a convicted armed robber - was jailed for nine years and four months, of which he must serve two thirds behind bars.

Kerwin was handed 10 months in jail, but had already spent nearly six months in custody, meaning he was immediately released.

Michael Morson and Kevin Baker

Dog breeder Michael Morson had a special space installed below kennels in his van to stash cocaine and heroin.

He used his business as a cover while involved in a scheme that saw him move a total of 10 kilos of cocaine and four kilos of heroin.

Police found Morson with £25,000 in cash, two Rolex watches, designer clothes and 25kg of cannabis when they arrested him in 2021.

A judge said Morson, 32, and Kevin Baker, 31, who was also dealing cannabis, were involved in dealing "on an almost industrial scale".

Morson, 32, used the handle "LuckySea" on the encrypted phone network EncroChat, while Baker went by the name "SunViking".

Morson, of Paxton Road, Huyton, who admitted conspiring to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis, was jailed for eight years and seven months.

Texts suggested Baker, of Montgomery Road, Huyton - who was found guilty of the cannabis plot - had dealt in as much as 58 kilos of the drug.

Baker was jailed for four years.

Nathan Creighton

Nathan Creighton, 28, of no fixed address, was jailed for 18 months for possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence (Liverpool ECHO)


Nathan Creighton brandished a 'gun' in a Snapchat video while threatening his former girlfriend.

He told his ex, who the ECHO chose not to name, "I've got this for yous" and also filmed himself saying: "If you think I’m f***ing about."

A court was told while it was not known whether the gun was real, his victim was very frightened of the "serial abusive domestic perpetrator".

The yob, who was previously abusive to his ex after their four-month relationship ended, was also violent to police after his arrest in November.

Creighton, 28, formerly of Manor Lane, Liscard, Wallasey, admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

He was jailed for 18 months.

Paul Kemp

A paedophile who failed to tell police where he was staying claimed he was sleeping under a hedge and had no idea what day it was.

Paul Kemp was spared jail in November after offering to pay two 14-year-old boys £20 if he could touch their penises in McDonald's.

Kemp, who admitted two counts of attempting to cause a boy to engage in sexual activity, was handed a nine-month suspended prison sentence.

The 64-year-old had to regularly update police of his whereabouts as a result of being on the Sex Offenders Register, but soon went missing.

He failed to attend a police station and a probation appointment, before he was found at the Mercure Hotel in Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port on December 3.

Kemp, of no fixed address, admitted breaching notification requirements and his suspended sentence.

He was jailed for 12 months.

Nicholas Whitcombe

Gym owner Nicholas Whitcombe's drug smuggling plot was busted when police found texts from him telling an associate how to 'clean' dirty cash.

Whitcombe, who was fined for refusing to close his Body Tech Fitness site in Moreton during lockdown, was described by a judge as a "professional drug dealer".

His role in the cannabis trafficking and money laundering scheme was exposed through an investigation by Jersey's customs and immigration department.

Whitcombe, 31, from Birkenhead, worked with Jersey-based Anthony Dryden, 31, in a plot valued at more than £54,000, between 2018 and 2019.

He sourced the drugs, which were sent to Jersey, collected and sold by Dryden, who then posted the cash back to UK addresses, provided by Whitcombe.

Both men were jailed for three years.

Ian Robinson

Ian Robinson, 33, of Netherton (Merseyside Police)


Ian Robinson stabbed a man just months before knocking his own ex-girlfriend's tooth out and breaking her cheekbone.

Robinson, 33, and his former partner, Kylie Gaffney, had confronted a mum at their children's school over claims she was spreading rumours.

The woman's partner William McIntyre told them to leave her alone, but the two couples came across each other in Poulsom Drive, Bootle.

During an argument Robinson stabbed Mr McIntyre in the chest, inflicting a wound requiring four stitches, and inflicted a small puncture wound to the elbow.

While under investigation for that attack, and having split up with Miss Gaffney, Robinson stayed over at the home she shared with their three children.

When she confronted him over texts from another woman, Robinson, of no fixed address but from Netherton, punched and kicked her in the face and head.

Robinson admitted two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm and possessing a bladed article.

He was jailed for three years.

Carl Sullivan

Carl Sullivan threatened to kill his neighbour as he brandished an imitation gun and knife at him after the man parked outside his home.

The 35-year-old, who was high on drink and drugs, began shouting at the innocent driver, Florin Niga, from his window to move his vehicle.

When he asked why, Sullivan was insistent, so the victim moved his car to the other side of the street, before Sullivan shouted: "Come in here."

Mr Niga declined but Sullivan said "if you are not going to come then I will kill you" while pointing a gun at the victim's head and holding a knife.

The drunken thug pursued the victim into the road with the air pistol and blade, in Suez Street, Warrington, at around 3.30am, on October 9 last year.

Sullivan later admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, possessing a knife and possessing cannabis.

He was jailed for 12 months.

Luke Browne


Luke Browne pulled a machete from his trousers when he was refused entry to a nightclub.

The 31-year-old has plagued pubs, bars and nightclubs across Birkenhead with violent and anti-social behaviour.

A court heard this has included Browne and gangs of masked youths "intimidating" staff and customers.

He was previously spared jail after he hurled a metal beer keg at the head of Elsa Frost, aka internet personality 'Banter Dancing Queen', at Mr Whites sports bar.

But last October 25 the yob - who has 60 previous convictions for a staggering 106 offences - tried to get into Platinum Bar with a machete, at around 2.40am.

Browne, of Paterson Street, Birkenhead, admitted possessing a bladed article and breaching a suspended sentence.

He was jailed for two years.

Anthony Lonergan


Taxi driver Anthony Lonergan used private hire vehicles as a cover for cocaine, cannabis and ketamine handovers.

Lonergan traded 76kg of cannabis, 3.8kg of cocaine and 3kg of ketamine between March 2020 and June 2020 alone on EncroChat.

But the private hire driver was busted as a result of the EncroChat hack and revealed as the man behind the handle "PalacePuma".

Detectives were able to nail him thanks to other dealers talking about his day job and Lonergan chatting about a holiday he'd booked to Ibiza.

Thanks to notes on his phone, they discovered he had actually been trading drugs since November 2019 and selling them on a "graft" phone.

The 25-year-old, of Lewis Walk, Kirkby, admitted conspiracies to supply cocaine, cannabis, cannabis resin and ketamine.

He was jailed for nine years and four months.

Charlie Meadows


Charlie Meadows stabbed and battered a taxi driver after trying to avoid paying his fare.

He left his victim John Gunning with stab wounds to his shoulder after the assault on Ennismore Road in Old Swan on June 17 last year.

The driver's car was left so badly damaged in the incident, which saw other men damage it, that it had to be written off and he could not work.

In a separate incident, Meadows was involved in trying to get drugs into jails and on one occasion threw a tennis ball full of ecstasy over a prison wall.

The 23-year-old was also sentenced for two separate incidents, a week apart in 2019, which saw him smuggle Class A drugs into HMP Berwyn in Wales.

Meadows, of no fixed address, admitted wounding with intent, possessing a bladed weapon and two counts of trying to take Cass A drugs into a prison.

He was jailed for six years and three months.

Roman Fletcher

A paedophile referee turned up to children's football matches and started running the line and giving offside decisions.

Roman Fletcher has a history of grooming youngsters and is subject to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

The 21-year-old, formerly known as Peter Burns, was previously locked up for using his role as a wrestling referee to target victims.

But he then started using his training as a football official to get closer to children - only to be spotted by an eagle-eyed coach.

Fletcher, of Halton Road, Runcorn, admitted breaching his SHPO three times by attending games at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub in Warrington on September 26, October 10 and November 7 last year.

He was jailed for 16 months.

Janine Clough

Janine Clough slashed the manager of a Lidl store when she was caught stealing a trolley full of meat.

The 43-year-old is one of Liverpool's most prolific shoplifters and was once banned from the city centre.

A judge said her "staggering" criminal record now features 70 previous convictions for 236 offences.

While high on crack cocaine and armed with a broken coffee jar, she sliced through her victim's uniform, leaving him with three wounds to his back.

Clough, of Liverpool Road, Huyton, struck at the Lidl store in Kensington and shoplifted £140 of meat, at around 9pm, on July 24 last year.

She pleaded guilty to theft, possessing an offensive weapon and assault causing actual bodily harm.

Clough was jailed for two years and 11 months.

Christopher Halewood

Christopher Halewood, 39, of Roseside Drive, Netherley (Liverpool Echo)

Christopher Halewood punched his ex in the face before hiding under bed sheets when she called the police.

The coked-up bully showed up at the home of his former partner - who the ECHO chose not to name - even though he was banned from doing so.

The 39-year-old hit his victim in the face and dragged her around the hallway by her hair, before trying to throw an empty vodka bottle and an iron at her.

A judge labelled the dad-of-four a coward and a bully after hearing the details of the events at the victim's address on July 10 last year.

Halewood, of Roseside Drive, Netherley, was found guilty of assault and admitted four counts of breach of a restraining order.

He was jailed for two and a half years.

John Southern

John Karl Southern, 34, of Burscough Street, Ormskirk (Merseyside Police)

Drug dealer John Southern went by the handle "BigDunc" on the encrypted phone network EncroChat.

The 34-year-old was found to have supplied 3.8kg of cocaine, 76kg of cannabis and 3kg of ketamine between March 2020 and June 2020.

However, detectives said evidence showed Southern, from Burscough Street, Ormskirk, had been involved in drug dealing since March 2019.

Southern denied any wrongdoing but was found guilty after a trial of conspiring to supply the drugs.

He was jailed for 15 years.

Graham Draper

Merseyside scout leader and former PCSO Graham Draper groomed and sexually abused a 13-year-old girl.

Graham Draper, then 22, sexually abused her multiple times over an 18-month period and told her they would run away together when she was old enough.

Draper, now 31, was a volunteer scout leader at a troop in Merseyside and formerly a police community support officer with Merseyside Police.

He groomed the girl online, kissed her at his house after picking her up in his car, then sexually abused with her in his vehicle, at various locations.

Draper gave her gifts, including money and alcohol, and said he loved her and they would buy a house together.

She went to the police in 2020 and the now dad-of-one confessed when arrested, before he admitted eight sexual offences, including causing a child to watch sexual activity and multiple counts of sexual activity with a child.

Draper, of Halifax Crescent, Thornton, was jailed for three years and four months.

Courtney Ireland-Ainsworth

"Poisonous" ex-girlfriend Courtney Ireland-Ainsworth sent herself threats from fake Instagram accounts to get an innocent man locked up.

Courtney Ireland-Ainsworth created up to 30 false profiles, then told police her former partner Louis Jolly was behind "vile" messages.

The "cunning" teenager reported him for supposedly threatening to stab her and warning: "She is getting a f***ing blade in her chest."

She made 10 police statements claiming Mr Jolly was harassing and stalking her, leading to him being arrested six times and spending 81 hours in custody, including being remanded overnight, over five months in 2020.

He was charged with assault and stalking, hit with a stalking protection order, bailed on a home curfew with an electronic tag, and even lost his job.

Detectives requested data from Instagram's owners Facebook, but the court heard this "took some time to be released to the police".

When it finally was released, it revealed the false profiles were in fact linked to Ireland-Ainsworth's own email accounts and IP addresses.

The charges were dropped against Mr Jolly and Ireland-Ainsworth, now 20, of Brackendale, Runcorn, admitted perverting the course of justice.

She was locked up for 10 months.

Bradley Hughes

Bradley Hughes, 31, of Hatfield Gardens, Huyton (Merseyside Police)

Police found a gun when they raided the home of drug dealer Bradley Hughes.

The 31-year-old used the secret phone network EncroChat, going by the name "TwoTimes", to supply Class A and B drugs between April 2020 and July 2020.

Detectives raided his house in Hatfield Gardens, Huyton, on Thursday, July 15 last year, after discovering his identity after EncroChat was hacked.

During the raid, officers found and seized a gun and Class A drugs.

He pleaded guilty to drug offences and having a firearm without a certificate.

Hughes was jailed for 10 years.

Michael Hall

Michael Hall, 33, of no fixed address but formerly of Mount Pleasant, Waterloo (Merseyside Police)

Thief Michael Hall who was brought down by his distinctive stripy socks was banned from every Co-op store in Merseyside.

The 33-year-old repeatedly targeted Co-op stores in 2021 and even cheekily stayed in a hotel to raid two more in North Wales.

He waited just two months after getting out of prison to begin his latest crime spree, which involved losses of more than £135,000.

Hall, of no fixed address, climbed onto the roofs of the premises - usually brazenly using a ladder - to break in and scarper with cash and goods.

But the drug addict's downfall involved his distinctive socks, which were spotted on CCTV and later found at his home.

Hall, formerly of Mount Pleasant, Waterloo, admitted burgling eight Co-op stores and also a coffee shop, where he stole a charity box.

He was jailed for six years.

Grant Pridham

A boy thought he was going to die when Grant Pridham demanded cigarettes and pointed a BB gun at his head.

The deluded thug had earlier been thrown out of a pub in Burtonwood after producing the air pistol and claiming to be an "assassin".

The 30-year-old then accosted two teenagers in the street, shortly after midnight, and threatened them with the weapon.

Pridham, of Borron Road in Newton-le-Willows, admitted two counts of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

At the time of the offences, on September 4 and 5, 2021, he was on licence after serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for robbing an elderly couple in their Warrington home at knifepoint.

Pridham was jailed for three years and nine months.

Roy Bryers

A dad was "sickened" to discover a paedophile had photographed his daughter through her bedroom window.

Roy Bryers, 49, spied on the child, who was standing at her window while undressed, and took a picture on his mobile phone.

The victim and her parents had no idea, until police raided Bryers' home on July 9, 2019 over sick chats he'd taken part in online.

Among his collection of child sex abuse photos, officers recovered the picture of the unsuspecting child.

Police found he had been talking about sex with a paedophile hunter, posing as a 12-year-old girl called Izzy, on WhatsApp.

Bryers admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing and two counts of downloading/making indecent images of children.

Bryers, of Castle Walk, Southport, was jailed for three years.

Alex Stormont and Taylor Johnson

Two teenagers plotted for days how to take advantage of a drunken woman before sexually assaulting a vulnerable victim in a hotel room.

Alex Stormont and Taylor Johnson abused their victim while, in the words of the judge who sentenced them, she was "essentially asleep".

Their attack followed days of texts between the pair in which they discussed booking a hotel room and planned how to make the attack possible.

The Wirral men, both aged 19 at the time, struck on a night out in Liverpool city centre in March 2018, bringing a woman who "could barely stand up or walk" back to a room they booked at a Travelodge.

The pair performed sexual acts on the woman when she was incapable of giving consent, before she later reported the attacks.

Stormont, now 23, of Woodchurch Road in Oxton, and Johnson, now 23, of Edgbaston Way in Bidston, were both found guilty of two counts of assault by penetration after a trial.

They were jailed for three and a half years each.

Ian Heyes, Connor Higgins and James Douglas

Clockwise from left; Ian Gerrard Heyes, James Douglas and Connor Higgins were jailed for a combined nine years after flooding hard drugs in Connah's Quay (North Wales Police)

Three men were jailed for their role in a County Lines drug operation involving a phone number nicknamed "Scouse Mick".

The gang flooded parts of North Wales with heroin and cocaine, which was delivered directly to the homes of their customers.

A judge said their exploits would have had "a devastating effect on local communities", feeding addiction and misery.

Ian Heyes, Connor Higgins and James Douglas targeted addicts in Flintshire with their Class A drugs business.

It is believed they dealt heroin and cocaine with a value of around £90,000, before North Wales Police brought them down through Operation Blue Annex.

Heyes, 32, from Tuebrook; Higgins, 30, from Litherland; and Douglas, 28, from Woolton; each admitted conspiring to supply crack cocaine and heroin.

Heyes was jailed for two years, consecutive to an unrelated sentence he is already serving.

Higgins and Douglas were each jailed for three years and four months.

Jamal Adam-Neale

A 16-year-old shouted "do you want to get sliced up?" before plunging a huge chunk of glass into a dad's stomach.

Jamal Adam-Neale stabbed Steven Cartwright in an alleyway off Scarisbrick Avenue in Southport on August 23 last year.

Mr Cartwright required life-saving surgery to remove part of his small bowel after the brutal attack and has been left permanently scarred.

Prosecutors said it wasn't clear what started an argument between a group containing Jamal Adam-Neale and a group containing Mr Cartwright and his friend Steven Johnson.

Adam-Neale punched the two men, breaking Mr Cartwright's elbow and injuring Mr Johnson's head, before he ran off and picked up a large piece of glass.

The teenager, of Falkner Street, Liverpool city centre, then stabbed Mr Cartwright once in the stomach and twice in the back, before he fled.

Adam-Neale, who admitted wounding with intent and two counts of common assault, was locked up for four years and four months.

Grace Smith

A woman suffocated her own nan with a pillow and dragged her by the hair in a desperate bid to steal her money.

A judge said Grace Smith's attack on Mary Smith, 73, in Anfield last July saw the 20-year-old "suffocate her into submission".

It was the culmination of a campaign of theft and harassment against family members, which went on for years.

Smith stole thousands from her nan through credit card fraud and also tried to pawn a ring her mum inherited from her late father.

She began stealing from her nan in February 2019, using her credit card details to place more than £500 in food orders.

She then went further, using details of a different card to make just under £3,500 of orders on Amazon, Uber Eats and Netflix.

Smith, of no fixed address, admitted offences including robbery, theft, fraud and numerous breaches of a restraining order.

She was jailed for six years and two months.

Dean Colquhoun

Convicted gun thug Dean Colquhoun was found hiding in a garden after escaping a police escort guarding him in hospital.

He helped burgle a home in Lancashire in January 2020, only to be caught by police at the wheel of a £50,000 Audi RS3 taken in the raid just nine days later.

Colquhoun was released on bail, before officers raided his home that July and found almost 90g of cannabis, £2,010 in cash, plus designer watches and shoes.

The 26-year-old wasn't present but was spotted in the back of a taxi on October 27, 2020, when he was arrested after a violent struggle and sustained injuries.

The crook was taken to hospital for treatment, however, when a police guard took a phone call, he fled to a residential garden, when he was caught again.

Colquhoun, of no fixed address, admitted burglary, possessing cannabis with intent to supply, escape from lawful custody and possessing criminal property.

He was jailed for four years and one month.

John Joseph Khan and Robert Osu

John Joseph Khan, 50, of High Street, Wavertree (left) and Robert Osu, 43, of Botanic Road, Kensington both pleaded guilty to a burglary (Merseyside Police)

John Joseph Khan and Robert Osu took laptops, keys and bank cards from a student house.

Khan, 50, of High Street, Wavertree, and Osu, 43, of Botanic Road, Kensington, broke into the house in Jamieson Road on December 7, 2021.

They also admitted an attempted burglary at another house, in Langdale Road, Wavertree, after throwing a brick at a window there, on the same date.

Both men admitted burglary and attempted burglary.

Khan was jailed for three years and Osu was locked up for three years and three months.

Michael Lynch

Michael Lynch, 38, of Wordsworth Avenue, Widnes (Merseyside Police)

"Rogue trader" Michael Lynch forced an elderly woman to cut down on food and heating bills as he conned her out of nearly £33,000.

Lynch, 38, of Wordsworth Avenue, Widnes, befriended his 75-year-old victim in 2019 and used to tell her she was like "family" and "a second mother".

He started charging her for shoddy or non-existent building repairs and got her to stand as a guarantor for a £6,000 loan, purportedly for his business.

Lynch took phone contracts out in her name costing around £7,000 and falsely said he would repay her; used her credit card to withdraw cash and buy items in JD Sports and off licences; and "borrowed" electrical items from her, while claiming he had a £2m building contract lined up.

Lynch admitted four counts of fraud and one count of theft.

He was jailed for three years and seven months.

Joseph Robinson

Joseph Robinson had a bike seat converted to hide a shotgun stashed in his home.

The audacious contraption was recovered after police caught him riding an electric bike while carrying a pistol in Kensington.

Officers went to the 22-year-old's home in nearby Hampstead Road after arresting him at around midnight on October 10, 2021.

There they found the adapted bike seat loaded with a shotgun, ammunition, cocaine and cannabis.

Robinson admitted possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing ammunition - 9mm rounds - without a certificate, possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply, driving without a licence, and using a vehicle without insurance.

He was jailed for 11 years.

Chelsea Russell

"Out of control" Chelsea Russell waved a knife at a car window a three-year-old child was sitting behind screaming in fear.

Russell said she "lost her head" when dad-of-three David Law intervened in an argument she was having with her girlfriend.

Mr Law and his wife Amy stopped their car when they saw Shauna Aston distressed in Stonebridge Lane, Croxteth, on September 25, 2021.

But when Mr Law prevented Russell from grabbing her partner, the 23-year-old went home and returned with a five to six inch knife.

She slashed the blade towards the victim in front of his terrified children - aged three, seven and eight - then attacked their car.

Russell, of Stonedale Crescent, Croxteth, admitted affray, possessing a bladed article in public and criminal damage.

She was jailed for 12 months.

Nathan Frazer

Nathan Frazer, 27, of no fixed address (Cheshire Police)

Nathan Frazer threatened a couple with a machete and attacked one of them with a hammer in their own home.

The 27-year-old was one of three men who broke into a flat on Whitethroat Walk in Birchwood, Warrington, on Friday, December 3, 2021.

The balaclava-clad men attacked one of the victims with a hammer and also threatened the couple with a machete, then fled with a handful of computer games.

But detectives found CCTV footage of Frazer with his balaclava lifted as he was smoking a cigarette and waving a hammer just moments before the incident.

They also recovered text messages in which he admitted committing the burglary and he later pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary.

Frazer was jailed for seven years and a half years.

Wesley Kavanagh and Lee Taylor

Wesley Kavanagh was busted over messages from an EncroChat device activated after the network had already been hacked.

The drug dealer had picked up a phone enabled with the software from a side street in Oldham in a £1,400 deal in May 2020.

By that time the system had already been compromised by an international operation that allowed texts to be obtained by police.

Kavanagh, 36, sourced his EncroChat-enabled phone through his friend Lee Taylor, with whom he dealt cocaine and cannabis.

Taylor, 34, was already trading under the handle MuscialSalmon and Kavanagh started using the name MysticBlade.

Texts showed the Warrington dealers used an adulterant nicknamed 'marshmallow' to bulk up cocaine before flogging it to customers.

Kavanagh, of Stockport Road in Thelwall, and Taylor, of Longshaw Street in Dallam, both admitted conspiring to supply Class A and B drugs, said to be at least six kilos of cocaine and at least nine kilos of cannabis.

They were both jailed for 12 years.

Joshua McLaughlan

Joshua McLaughlan, 26, of Hawkshead Drive, Bolton (Merseyside Police)

Joshua McLaughlan viciously attacked a student while photographing or filming the helpless victim.

The 26-year-old repeatedly punched Joshua Ormrod in the head and body, before coming back to attack him for a second and third time.

The thug left his victim lying unconscious in the middle of Fleet Street in Liverpool City Centre at around 4.30am on June 17, 2021.

But the IT network engineer - captured on CCTV cameras - was detained by nearby door staff, while other security staff gave first aid.

McLaughlan, of Hawkshead Drive, Bolton, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm.

He was jailed for 16 months.

Michael Smith

Michael Smith "looked like a zombie" as he smashed through a mum's front door with an axe before pulling her arm onto the broken glass.

Catherine McLoughlin suffered cuts to her arm when Smith struck at her Walton home last November, as part of a wider incident when he also smashed up her sister's house and even his own car.

Ms McLoughlin told police that Smith - her sister Donna Payne's ex partner - "looked like a character from The Walking Dead" in the drunken attack on November 20, 2021.

Smith, 36, of Avis Walk, Fazakerley, admitted wounding, possessing a bladed article in public and two counts of criminal damage.

He was jailed for 16 months.

Edward Mullins

Edward Mullins, 47, of no fixed address (ECHO)

Alcoholic Edward Mullins threatened to stab his housemates and repeatedly hurled homophobic insults.

Police were twice called to the address in Belle Vale - once by Mullins himself - on August 22 last year.

After police arrived for the second time, he made other offensive remarks to one of the arresting officers.

Mullins, 47, now of no fixed address, admitted affray over the incident.

He was jailed for 20 months.

Craig Ford

Craig Ford, 28, of no fixed address (ECHO)

Craig Ford was caught trying to break into a home on a Ring doorbell and tried to flee the scene on a little girl's pink bike.

The 28-year-old convicted burglar struck at a property in Capricorn Crescent, Huyton, at around 2.40am on January 20 this year.

But his victim was woken by the doorbell and saw Ford fiddling with the front door lock, so ran downstairs and chased him away.

Ford, who was accompanied by another man hiding behind a nearby car, jumped on the bike to flee, but then abandoned it and ran off.

The burglar, of no fixed address, admitted attempted burglary.

Ford was jailed for two years.

Michael and Peter Moogan

Two brothers once named among the UK's 'most wanted' ran a drug dealing operation busted by happy birthday messages.

Michael and Peter Moogan shared an EncroChat handle "PaleFlame" but were caught out in part by a flurry of congratulations on Peter's big day.

The convicted gun crooks, from Huyton, were linked to the dealing of eight kilos of cocaine and one kilo of cannabis, plus nearly £90,000 in dirty cash.

Michael also admitted affray, relating to threats over alleged missing cash made to his partner's sister in August 2020, which caused her to flee Huyton.

The court heard the two men both have previous convictions for guns, when they fled to Spain to try and evade justice.

Michael, 33, of Boundary Road, and Peter, 39, of Salerno Drive, admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and cannabis.

They were each jailed for 11 years and three months.

Thomas Broadhurst, Terence Bennett, Kevin Nethercote and Kevin Condliffe

Thomas Broadhurst killed his friend of 20 years Thomas Edmunds after targeting him in a brutal gang robbery.

Broadhurst put Mr Edmunds in a fatal chokehold as Terence Bennett, Kevin Nethercote and Kevin Condliffe helped rob the victim's cash.

The drunken gang were caught on recordings talking about their plan to violently attack Mr Edmunds, and even celebrated after they left him for dead.

The men struck at the house the 36-year-old victim shared with his father Alan Edmunds, in Clorain Road, Kirkby, at around 10pm on May 9 last year.

Bennett waited outside in the car while Broadhurst, Nethercote and Condliffe knocked on the front door, before they were let in by Mr Edmunds senior.

Broadhurst and Condliffe attacked the victim, with Broadhurst putting him in a "chicken hold", and Condliffe stealing cash he had saved from his job as a labourer.

The group then fled in a car, blowing the money on alcohol and drugs, before the victim died in hospital the following day, after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Broadhurst, 32, of Regal Road, Croxteth, was jailed for 10 years and eight months after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.

Bennett, 34, of Sovereign Hey; Nethercote, 48, of Regal Road; and Condliffe, 17, of Carr Lane East; all in Croxteth, were locked up for eight years, nine years and four months, and five years respectively, after they all admitted conspiracy to rob.

Michael Hoy aka Michael Brown, Patrick Murray and Phillip Moran

A murderer released early from a life sentence became a cocaine dealer trying to trade in guns and grenades.

Michael Brown changed his name and went into landscaping work in an apparent bid to escape his shocking past.

He was one of two doormen who stabbed to death innocent Colin McGinty after mistaking the 21-year-old for a gangland rival.

In 2001, he was sentenced to life with a recommended minimum term of 18 years, after his victim was stabbed 15 times on a Bootle street.

However, Brown was released in 2017 after serving just 16 years behind bars, changed his name to Michael Hoy, and got an EncroChat phone.

He used the codename TimelyBeta and worked with Patrick Murray - aka WeirdGun - to try and broker deals for grenades and guns, including AK47s and Uzis.

Phillip Moran - Murray's uncle - whose handle was KeptHawk, was also linked to their gun plot, while all three men were involved in drug dealing.

Murray, 25, of Gloucester Road, Huyton, admitted conspiring to possess explosives; to possess, purchase or acquire prohibited firearms and ammunition; and to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of five and a half years for the explosives and guns charges, and a further 11 and a half years for his drug offences.

Hoy, 42, of Cranford Road, Garston, was found guilty of those offences after a trial, plus conspiring to supply ketamine and amphetamine.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of six years for the explosive and gun offences, plus an additional 14 years for the drugs crimes.

Moran, 51, of Alder Road in Newton-le-Willows, was found guilty of conspiring to possess, purchase or acquire prohibited firearms and ammunition; and to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis. He was jailed for 12 years.

Lauren Walsh

Lauren Walsh, 22, of Packenham Road, West Derby (Liverpool ECHO)

No one will ever know why a woman stabbed her best friend 18 times for no apparent reason.

Lauren Walsh, 22, repeatedly knifed young mum Kelsey Gielinck after accusing her of killing her nan - who is still alive.

When the attack was interrupted by Miss Gielinck's boyfriend, Wesley Pemberton, Walsh also stabbed him three times.

Walsh had previously stolen Miss Gielinck's debit card, which was flagged to the victim by her bank, when her friend used it in a shopping spree at Home Bargains and Tesco.

Later on that same day, Walsh went to her friend's home in Old Swan, seemingly to console her about the fact her debit card had been taken.

Miss Gielinck suffered wounds to her face, chest, body, stomach and hands, while Mr Pemberton was stabbed in the chest, back and one hand.

Walsh, of Packenham Road, West Derby, admitted theft and two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

However, she was found guilty after a trial of two counts of attempted murder.

She was jailed for life with a minimum of 14 years and eight months behind bars.

Lee Cunliffe

Lee Cunliffe, 37, of St Helens was jailed for 17 years plus five on extended licence (Liverpool ECHO)

A "despicable" rapist who forced his victim to go through her ordeal again in court was handed a lengthy jail sentence.

Lee Cunliffe, 37, appeared before Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced on charges including three counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and false imprisonment.

After denying the charges, Cunliffe was found guilty following a trial on Wednesday, November 10.

Now Cunliffe, of St Helens, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison, plus five on extended licence.

Danny Hanley, Eric McKevitt, Kevin Cooney, Paul Hoban, Liam Morris, Paul Wright, Mason Si Gill, Jodie Gill and Paul McEwan

Nine members of an organised gang were jailed after a police sting into drugs and firearms trafficking.

The group sold large amounts of cocaine and heroin throughout Merseyside and on the south coast of England but were caught as a result of police operation named ‘Casino’.

Prosecutors said Daniel Hanley relied on Eric McKevitt, Kevin Cooney, Paul Hoban and Liam Morris to assist him in obtaining and storing cocaine, heroin and cannabis.

Hoban’s father Paul Wright also assisted in moving drugs after being asked by his son, while Mason Si and Jodie Gill, who are from Liverpool originally, would pick up drugs from Hanley and sell them close to where they lived in Eastbourne in Sussex.

All eight were jailed for a total of 56 years after an investigation which went on for more than a 12 months.

As well as the drugs offences, Hanley, McKevitt, Hoban and Wright were all found guilty of firearms offences linked to a shotgun found by police in Wright’s house and a silencer found at McKevitt’s mother’s home address.

Hanley, 30, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A controlled drugs heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to possess firearms and was sentenced to 13 years.

Hoban, 27, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A controlled drugs heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to possess firearms and was sentenced to 11 years.

McKevitt, 41, of Hazeldale Road, Walton, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A controlled drugs (heroin and cocaine) and conspiracy to possess firearms and was sentenced to five years eight months.

Morris, 26, of Lindisfarne Drive, West Derby, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A controlled drugs (heroin and cocaine) and was sentenced to five years nine months.

Wright, 56, of Thursby Crescent, Southdene, Kirkby, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of heroin and possession of a firearm and was sentenced to eight years two months.

Cooney, 47, of Muirhead Avenue, West Derby, pleaded guilty to supply Class A controlled drugs (cocaine) and was sentenced to five years eight months.

Jodie Gill, 37, of Leslie Street, Eastbourne, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and was sentenced to three years four months.

Mason Si Gill, 47, of Leslie Street, Eastbourne, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and was sentenced to four years three months.

Paul McEwan, 30, of Dwerryhouse Lane, Norris Green, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin and was sentenced at an earlier hearing to four years in prison.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Danny Hanley, the police’s main target, organised the sale of drugs across Liverpool until his arrest last year.

Thomas Davies and Siyabonga Konze

Thomas Davies, 27, and Siyabonga Konze, 30 years, both from South Wales (Merseyside Police)

Two county lines drug dealers were caught after being stopped with 5.5kg of heroin in a car.

Officers pulled over the dealers on Cullen Street, in Toxteth and found drugs with a street value of £220,000 to £330,000 in September 2021.

Thomas Davies, 27, and Siyabonga Konze, 30 years, both from South Wales were busted by detectives on Project Medusa, and investigation into County Lines drug dealing.

Davies was jailed for 10 years and two months after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin.

While Konze was sentenced to seven years and two months for the same offences.

Keith Russell and Paul Wharton

A professional burglar hit 88 homes while being employed by a gang that stole cars with a combined value of £2.6m.

Keith Russell was paid wages to break into properties to steal BMWs and Audis, some of which were sold on to other criminals.

He used one of the stolen vehicles to carry out an armed robbery in which a Post Office worker was threatened with a crowbar.

Russell was part of a gang known to have been behind 160 thefts across Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire.

He was today locked up for his exploits alongside fellow burglar Paul Wharton.

Russell, who had already served a three year sentence for some of the burglaries linked to the gang, was sentenced to a further four years and six months for the conspiracies to burgle and steal. He was handed three years and six months for the robbery, to run consecutively.

This means he was handed a total sentenced of eight years.

Wharton was sentenced to seven years and three months.

Stephen Frail

A pregnant mum was attacked in her own home by a violent ex-partner.

Stephen Frail, 35, called at the home of the victim, his former partner, at around 8.30pm on October 28, 2020.

Liverpool Crown Court was told Frail and his victim had been seeing each other casually since November 2019 and the victim was five months pregnant at the time of the attack.

The court was told he has five previous convictions for nine offences including common assault on a woman in August 2013 and breaching a non-molestation order in April 2016 for which he was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment.

As well as battery and drug offences he was jailed for 18 months for three assaults and a common assault, all against women, in August 2016.

Frail, of Simonswood Lane, Northwood, Kirkby, pleaded guilty to common assault.

He was jailed for five months and made the subject of a 10 year restraining order to keep away from his victim.

Ben Duffy

A thug sped through residential roads before trying to drive the wrong way up the M57.

Ben Duffy was out on licence from a previous dangerous driving conviction when he went on a reckless rampage around Merseyside last October.

He went through red lights, travelled the wrong way up roads and drove at 70 miles per hour in a 40 zone during his 20-minute high speed chase.

The 29-year-old was only stopped when a police officer rammed his car as it was about to drive the wrong way on to the M57.

Duffy, of Wigan Road, Leigh, was jailed for 16 months, with credit given for his guilty plea.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years.

Michael Laffey

A burglar stole designer watches, bikes, cans of Coca Cola and loose change in a spree lasting weeks.

Michael Laffey counted a gym, a solicitor’s office, and a pub among his targets during a series of burglaries and thefts around Liverpool city centre last year.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the offences took place across September, October and November, with the 25-year-old targeting properties in the vicinity of Dale Street, Tithebarn Street and Crosshall Street.

He was eventually caught after numerous sightings on CCTV and was also recorded entering an apartment building on Crosshall Street to burgle one of the flats there.

That was by far his biggest target, with Laffey taking close to £20,000 worth of goods.

Laffey, of Crosshall Street, Liverpool, was jailed for a total of three years and eight months after pleading guilty to multiple counts of theft and burglary and one count of attempted burglary.

Elsa Frost

A TikTok celebrity threw paint at reality TV star Chelsey Harwood's house as a feud escalated between the pair.

Elsa Frost amassed thousands of views as “Banter Queen” but was jailed after sending a series of abusive messages to Ms Harwood, who first rose to fame on TV show Desperate Scousewives.

Sefton Magistrates' Court heard Frost posted a series of offensive videos on her TikTok account between January 1 and February 23 last year.

The pair had been involved in an escalating feud over an extended period, with both posting videos criticising each other.

Ms Harwood is transgender and in a number of the videos, which have now been removed, 39-year-old Frost used transphobic language towards her.

The court heard she also went round to an address where Harwood lived and threw paint at the door.

Frost, of Whitefield Close in Woodchurch, Wirral, was jailed for a total of 18 weeks.

Kieron Gill

A drug addict repeatedly kicked a vulnerable pensioner in the face as he abused his victim to fund his habit.

Kieron Gill left David Bell cowering under a blanket on the sofa of his own Anfield flat - an address that had been taken over by crack cocaine users.

When arrested the bully revealed his abuse extended to marching his victim to a cash point.

Gill was locked up after admitting the robbery of Mr Bell, who is in his 70s, just before Christmas 2020.

The 31 year old was sentenced to five years and three months in jail.

Alex Boston

A stalker bombarded TV star Steph Davis with cards and flowers as part of a sustained crusade of harassment.

Alex Boston began messaging the star on Instagram during the first coronavirus lockdown but his behaviour soon escalated.

The 43-year-old, from Moreton, soon started turning up at her home and leaving presents for former Hollyoaks actress Ms Davis, leaving her so worried she moved out to live with a family member.

She later said she didn’t feel secure at home and that “her safe haven had been violated”.

Boston, of Lyons Road, was jailed for 28 weeks on Friday.

Ian Watson

A 59-year-old man planned to travel to Cheshire to have sex with a nine-year-old boy,

Ian Watson, 56, of Churchfields in St Helens, started speaking to another adult online to make arrangements to meet a nine-year-old boy in Cheshire with the intention of engaging in sexual activity.

But Watson didn't know that he had actually been speaking to officers from North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).

On March 30, 2020 he was arrested at his home address and appeared in Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, January 28 charged with child sexual offences.

A judge sentenced him to five years in prison after he was found guilty of arranging and facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence.

Alan McDonald

Liverpool Crown Court (Liverpool Echo)

A paedophile who repeatedly sexually abused a young girl 'for his own perverted gratification' has been jailed.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Alan McDonald, 57, told the child, who was of primary school age, that he wanted a relationship with her.

He told her not to tell anyone about his behaviour which lasted several months until the girl confided in a friend who told a teacher and social services became involved.

Imprisoning him for six years, nine months, Judge Garrett Byrne said: “You cynically abused her for your own perverted sexual gratification.

“You gave no thought to the short and long term psychological affects it would have upon her.”

He told grey-haired McDonald that a pre-sentence report showed “you feel not so much remorse rather self-pity and victim blaming.”

Judge Byrne imposed an extended 12 month licence and ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life. He also imposed a ten year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

McDonald, of Shrewton Road, Belle Vale, had pleaded guilty to four offences of sexual touching and one of assault by penetration.

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