Every year, scores of criminals are locked up at Liverpool Crown Court, and the ECHO is often there when it happens.
More often than not, sentences handed down range from a handful of months to half a dozen years - but jail terms north of 20 years are reserved for only the most serious offences. Those facing justice in the last 12 months include murderers, rapists and paedophiles - often brought to justice thanks to the bravery of their victims.
Here are 18 criminals given long stretches by the city's courts during 2022.
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Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood raped a child nearly 40 times during abuse lasting more than a decade.
When the now adult woman went to police to report her ordeal, Wood claimed she instigated his "vile" attacks. He denied any sexual activity between them when she was underage and claimed any sexual contact after that was consensual.
But a search of his home revealed camcorder cassettes hidden in the loft - including one that appeared to have been destroyed. And when a detective managed to repair the old cassette, it showed Wood had filmed himself raping and molesting the child.
Wood, 67, of Bark Road, Litherland, claimed the activity was consensual and admitted only two offences - counts of making indecent photographs of a child - claiming the videos were of her when she was aged 16 or 17. But evidence showed she was in fact under 16 at the time and he was found guilty of 11 counts of rape and three counts of indecent assault.
Wood was jailed for 24 years with an extended one year on licence.
Lewis Fitzpatrick
Lewis Fitzpatrick helped organise a gangland hit when an innocent man was gunned down by a fake pizza delivery driver.
The victim was shot in the leg by a thug who knocked on his front door and shouted "pizza delivery" while holding fast food boxes. Norris Green "fixer" Fitzpatrick arranged the hit in Warrington on the evening of April 24, 2020, as part of an underworld war.
Afterwards, he helped facilitate those behind the shooting to acquire another gun, which had been stored in a shed in Croxteth. The 27-year-old, of Eldersfield Road, was also EncroChat drug dealer "LimeEagle", plotting to supply kilos of ketamine and cannabis.
He was convicted of conspiracies to cause grievous bodily harm, to supply firearms and ammunition, and to supply both drugs. Fitzpatrick was jailed for 26 years, with an extended five years on licence.
Francis Ward
Francis Ward looked stunned as he was jailed for 25 years for sexually assaulting two teenage girls.
The 36-year-old refused to accept he raped one of the teenagers and sexually assaulted the other, even after being found guilty after a trial in March. The two girls and their families faced him down in court and celebrated as the sex attacker was led to the cells.
Ward, from Fox Street, Everton, committed his first attacks on one girl, before then targeting the second girl. One of the girls addressed the court, explaining how his attack had made her contemplate taking her own life. A statement from the second girl outlined similar psychological trauma.
Ward called the girls "liars" but a judge said he was satisfied he inflicted serious harm on them. Judge Robert Trevor-Jones jailed Ward for 18 years for the rape and sexual assault of one of the girls and for seven years for the sexual assault on the other.
Jonathan McKeown
Rolex watches, designer clothes and £70,000 in cash was seized when police raided the homes of three EncroChat dealers.
Ashley Moorcroft, aka "RustyPalace", was involved in importing cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamine, then supplying it across the UK. He worked closely with Jonathan McKeown, aka "BushTern", who brokered deals for the drugs up and down the country, and kept a "meticulously recorded" ledger, showing more than £1m in cash changing hands.
Painter and decorator Craig Murray, aka "MicroBlue" and formerly "ZanyForce", transported drugs and cash in vehicles with concealed "slots" or "hides". But the EncroChat hack of 2020 stopped them spreading "abject misery" for significant profits.
Moorcroft, 33, was arrested at his home in Halsnead, Wavertree on May 6, 2021, when his partner and children were present. Police seized an Audi, £8,925 in cash, four Rolex watches, one Kenevo specialised electric bike and charger, and designer clothing and shoes.
McKeown, 36, was arrested when officers raided his home in Marlborough Road, Waterloo that same day. They recovered £12,750 in cash.
Murray, 41, was twice arrested, firstly on June 17, 2020, when £36,710 was found at his Simonscroft, Netherton home. On May 6, 2021, officers struck again, when a further £14,000 in cash was seized.
All three men admitted conspiring to supply cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine. Moorcroft and McKeown also admitted conspiring to supply heroin.
Moorcroft was jailed for 19 and a half years, McKeown for 20 years, and Murray for eight and a half years.
Gareth Davis
Gareth Davis filmed himself raping a baby in sex attacks a judge said were the worst he had ever seen.
The 43-year-old, of Ashridge Street, Runcorn, was arrested after the National Crime Agency (NCA) discovered indecent photographs had been uploaded to a Google account in his name. NCA investigators had suspicions Davis featured among the 512 child abuse images and raided his home.
He was arrested and his Samsung phone seized. Enquiries established some of the images were of Davis himself abusing a baby.
He had shared some of his depraved collection online with other paedophiles and simulated strangulation with a child doll. He admitted rape of a child under 13, sexual assault by penetration of a child under 13, and three counts of making indecent images: 36 of the most heinous type Category A, 382 Category B, and 94 Category C.
Judge Steven Everett, the Recorder of Chester, jailed him for life with a minimum of 27 years.
Jonathan Gordon
A dangerous and ruthless hitman behind a string of shootings was jailed for life after launching a bottle of acid into a dad's face for money - leaving him with permanent injuries.
Known Deli Mob gang member Jonathan Gordon, 34, offered his services on the encrypted EncroChat phone network using the handle 'ValuedBridge', and was hired by an unidentified gang boss behind the handle 'AceProspect' to carry out sickening attacks on several enemies. The messages revealed how Kirkdale based Gordon charged £6,000 for an acid attack, rising to £10,000 to permanently blind the victim.
Gordon was identified as the man behind a devastating attack on Lee Deakin, from St Helens, who was targeted on April 14, 2019 as he stepped outside his home to get a phone charger from his car. Mr Deakin remains in a constant battle to keep his sight, and even required emergency surgery this week due to complications from the attack three years on.
Liverpool Crown Court heard as well as being convicted of the near-blinding of Mr Deakin, Gordon was also convicted of two plots to carry out similar attacks that were aborted at the last stage, plus a spate of shootings including two running gun battles on the streets of Liverpool.
Judge Aubrey said Gordon's "extreme dangerousness" and lack of remorse meant a life-sentence was needed to protect the public. Gordon was handed a minimum term of 24 years and eight months before any possibility of being released by a Parole Board.
Gordon’s accomplice, Dylan Johnston, was handed a lengthy extended sentence of 27 years in prison with an additional four on licence. Stephen Wissett, who drove the car during the attack, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, of which he must serve two thirds before being released on licence.
John Digweed
A "proud dad" was unmasked as Encrochat dealer "Diorpaw" who moved 40kgs of Class A drugs in just a few months.
John Digweed used the Encrochat services to organise the supply cocaine and heroin during the spring of 2020. The 33-year-old tried to deny he was behind the handle “DiorPaw” but a jury saw through his lies in December.
A judge told him his messages about his children played a significant role in police being able to identify him.
Henry Riding, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court Digweed was convicted of conspiracy to supply a range of Class A and Class B drugs including cocaine, heroin, amphetamine, ketamine, cannabis and ecstasy. He said Digweed mainly appeared to trade drugs to other dealers in Devon and Cornwall, though other locations across Britain were mentioned in his messages to other criminals.
Digweed was jailed for 25 years.
Rueben Murphy
The killer launched a rant at a judge as he was jailed for life over the street execution of a young dad.
Rueben Murphy, 26, called the High Court judge a "fat paedophile" and screamed "f*** the system" as he was led to the cells at Liverpool Crown Court. Murphy, formerly of Barkbeth Road in Huyton, was convicted of murder after pumping two 9mm bullets into the chest of 26-year-old Patrick Boyle on July 1, 2021.
Mr Boyle, living in Kirkdale at the time, was the dad of a three-year-old boy and was expecting a second child with his pregnant partner, hospital ward manager Ashleigh Deans, at the time he was killed. He was standing outside an address in Newway, off Lordens Road in Huyton, at around 5.55pm when Murphy approached on an electric bike and opened fire.
Two rounds hit him on the left side of his chest and he was pronounced dead at Whiston Hospital less than 30 minutes later. Murphy denied he was in the street at the time, claiming he was "off me head" on ketamine and cannabis in a garden in another area of Huyton.
But he was faced with overwhelming evidence, including a pair of black gloves, bearing traces of gunshot residue and his DNA profile, found on top of a kitchen cupboard in his home. CCTV evidence also put him in the area of the killing at the time.
Murphy was convicted of murder after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court alongside his close friend Ben Doyle, now 25, who rode the electric bike, carrying Murphy on the back, to within minutes of the murder scene. Another friend, 21-year-old Thomas Walker, was cleared of murder but admitted handling one of the bullets used to kill Mr Boyle on a date prior to the day of the shooting.
Murphy will serve life in prison with a minimum of 31 years.
Doyle, of Lyme Grove in Huyton, was jailed for life with a 27-year minimum term while Walker, of no fixed address but from Clubmoor, was handed two years behind bars.
Darren Owens, Anthony Saunderson and Paul Mount
A Merseyside gang who produced hundreds of kilograms of drugs were jailed for more than 187 years.
The men shipped large quantities of their injectable amphetamines across England, Scotland and Wales as part of a multi-million pound scheme. They were also involved in dealing cocaine, heroin, ketamine and other drugs, while two of the gang’s ringleaders made attempts to get hold of weapons in the months before they were brought to justice.
A judge at Liverpool Crown Court said that the gang’s leaders, who got 93 years in jail between them, were characterised by their rock solid commitment to producing huge quantities of illegal drugs and trading them across Britain. Nicola Daley, prosecuting, told the court earlier this week that the gang’s huge drug production operation was initially discovered after the Encrochat messaging service was breached by investigators in 2020.
The National Crime Agency then discovered a slew of messages alluding to a drugs lab on the outskirts of Chester, which appeared to be used to produce amphetamine.
Officers from Merseyside Police and North Wales Police later discovered the cottage, on Deeside Lane, was being used by a gang to produce drugs there on a massive scale.
The North Wales factory was eventually closed down and another one opened elsewhere but the gang were caught after police raids in June 2020.
They were sentenced as follows:
- Anthony Saunderson, 42, of Formby, was jailed for 35 years after being convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply Class A and Class B amphetamine, conspiracy to supply other Class A drugs, conspiracy to supply other Class B drugs and conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon.
- Paul Mount, 38, of Halsall, was jailed for 34 years after being convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply Class A and Class B amphetamine, conspiracy to supply other Class A drugs, conspiracy to supply other Class B drugs and conspiracy to purchase a prohibited weapon.
- Darren Owens, 48, of Huyton, was jailed for 24 years after being convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply Class A and Class B amphetamine and conspiracy to supply other Class B drugs.
- Kieron Hartley, 32, of Knotty Ash, was jailed for 23 years after being convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply Class A and Class B amphetamine and conspiracy to supply other Class B drugs.
- Steffon Beeby, 42, of Halifax, West Yorkshire, was jailed for 15 years and six months after being convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply Class A and Class B amphetamine.
- Lee Eccles, 33, of Maghull, was jailed for eight years and nine month after being convicted of conspiracy to produce and supply Class B amphetamine.
- Stephen Shearwood, 38, of Maghull, was jailed for 14 years and four months after being convicted of conspiracy to produce Class B amphetamine, supply Class A and Class B amphetamine and to supply other Class A and Class B drugs.
- David Kelly, 44, of Ormskirk, was jailed for 15 years and three months after being convicted of conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B amphetamine and conspiracy to supply other Class A and Class B drugs.
- Michael Pope, 35, of Maghull, was jailed for 17 years and six months after being convicted of conspiracy to supply Class B amphetamine and conspiracy to supply other Class A and Class B drugs.
Michael Moon
A man stabbed his ex's mum in the street 22 times before trying to run the critically-injured 67-year-old over with his car.
The grandma's arm was partially-amputated during a sickening and unprovoked assault by cocaine and vodka-fuelled Michael Moon, but she managed to roll out of the way of the oncoming vehicle - despite laying stricken on the ground with grave and life-changing injuries and still having the eight-inch knife lodged in her shoulder. Carmel Ratcliffe only survived the attack thanks to vital treatment from a neighbour, who happened to be a recently retired paramedic.
Moon was jailed for 22 years after admitting attempted murder. The incident came after he blamed his victim for the breakdown of his relationship with her daughter and subsequent difficulties with child contact.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the 39-year-old's relationship with Leanne Finnegan, with whom he shares a nine-year-old daughter, ended around three years ago. Issues began to arise while she was pregnant with their child, including an incident which saw him barge past the expectant mother - who at the time was holding another child, then aged one - and slash a sofa and a mattress with a blade.
There were numerous other disputes in the run up to his violent attack on Ms Finnegan’s mum, including Moon falsely reporting Ms Finnegan for child neglect.
Shortly after 9pm on June 4 last year, he drove to Ms Ratcliffe’s neighbourhood after consuming nearly two litres of vodka and more than half a gram of cocaine and spotted her walking along Tabley Avenue. Moon honked his horn and pulled up next to her, briefly speaking to her out of the window but then getting out of the car armed with a large 13in kitchen knife with an 8in blade.
He then stabbed Ms Ratcliffe eight times to the head and upper body, then knifed her a further 14 times after she fell to the floor. The knifeman "backed off" after neighbours ran to her aid.
Moon threw the knife at the pensioner from a distance of 4ft, causing it to became lodged under her shoulder blade. Ms Ratcliffe began crawling away in a desperate attempt to escape, but he told her he would "run her over" and mounted the curb as he drove away and veered towards her.
Miraculously, she was able to avoid being run over by rolling into bushes. Kenneth Reid, her neighbour and a former paramedic with nearly 30 years of experience, administered life-saving first aid at the roadside alongside Ms Ratcliffe's husband Alan.
Doctors later said Ms Ratcliffe likely would have died quickly had she received that medical help. Moon later admitted attempted murder and possession of a bladed article.
Adam Fletcher
A murderer who stabbed a dad-of-two through the heart was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years.
Adam Fletcher killed 30-year-old Paul Stenson on Princess Drive, West Derby, less than a week before Christmas last year after the pair had an argument at a house party. Fletcher, 28, had denied murder but was found guilty by a jury after a six-week trial earlier this year.
Fletcher murdered Stenson after a disagreement at a house party was escalated by Fletcher.
Jurors heard Mr Stenson’s murder occurred minutes after the fight broke out between him and Fletcher. Mr Pratt said the atmosphere at the party Fletcher and Mr Stenson were attending was good until a disagreement between them over whether Fletcher had been trying to flirt with Mr Stenson’s partner, Samantha Rosser.
The court heard Mr Stenson punched Fletcher and then the two started to scuffle before agreeing to go outside to finish the fight. Mr Pratt said there was no indication to Mr Stenson or anyone else that the fight would involve knives but that Fletcher decided to run and grab a kitchen knife from inside the house before stabbing Mr Stenson with it.
Robert Massey
The murderer strangled his girlfriend to death and stabbed her dead body before scrawling abuse over her skin with a felt tip pen.
Robert Massey also dressed his deceased partner in designer gear before leaving her lying dead in her flat as he plotted to kill two men with whom he believed she had been unfaithful. The 43-year-old knifed one of them with the same weapon he had used to kill Jacqueline Forest after luring him to the apartment before taking a taxi to his former friend's workplace and attacking him with a pair of scissors.
He had walked free from court two weeks earlier for assaulting the same victim, pouring vodka over her and threatening to set it on fire. Then, after scrolling through her phone and finding suspicious texts, Massey flew into rage - battering and throttling her until she was dead, then knifing her in the womb after finding a pregnancy test.
The killer remained at large for another 24 hours - during which time he went drinking using her debit card, lured one of the men to Ms Forest's apartment and tried to cut his ears off then travelled to the other's workplace and chased him down the street with the scissors. Massey admitted murder and two counts of attempted murder and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years.
Thomas Goodier
Thomas Goodier, 25, from St Helens appeared in Caernarfon Crown Court on Wednesday, December 14, where he was found guilty of two counts of rape committed in North Wales. One of those counts referred to multiple offences committed over a period of time.
Goodier was jailed for 20 years, with an extended license of seven years. He was also made the subject of an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order, as well as having notification requirements for life.
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