A dad and daughter, a former Everton star and ‘the Big Fella’ were amongst those locked up
From left; Ryan Woolsey, Brian Sheridan and Lyndsey Goulding(Image: Merseyside Police)
A dad and daughter, a former Everton FC star and the ‘Big Fella’ were among the criminals from across Merseyside who were jailed this month. Also locked up was a thug who went viral on social media after being hit in the groin with a brick.
Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that tracking device on a stolen motorbike led to police discovering a loaded firearm hidden in a North Face man bag wrapped inside a Moncler coat. A taxi driver ran his own “one stop shop” for drugs which was open for business from “dusk till dawn” was also jailed. Here are the faces of 44 criminals from our region who were imprisoned during December:
Paul Green, Russell Leonard and Alan Cumming
Ringleader Paul Green, 59, from Widnes was convicted of: conspiracy to import amphetamine x2; conspiracy to import cocaine; conspiracy to import amphetamine; fraud by false representation; conspiracy to import cocaine and or diamorphine x2; and conspiracy to import cannabis or cannabis resin x2. He was handed a 32 year prison sentence(Image: National Crime Agency)
A drug boss who led an international crime group that saw billions of pounds of drugs smuggled into the UK has been sentenced to 32 years in prison. Paul Green was convicted along with 17 other members of the organised crime group following the National Crime Agency’s investigation into the UK’s biggest detected drugs conspiracy.
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Known by his accomplices as ‘the Big Fella’, he was locked up alongside Russell Leonard, a 47-year-old “foot soldier” who spoke fluent Dutch and was caught with 57kgs of amphetamine in a van. He was handed 24 years.
Russell Leonard, from Kirkby, was jailed for 24 years(Image: National Crime Agency)
Alan Cumming meanwhile played an “administrative role” in helping to organise drugs shipments. He was sentenced to 21 years behind bars.
Alan Cumming, 54, of Litherland Road, Bootle, was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to import amphetamine. He was sentenced to 21 years in prison.(Image: NCA)
Joseph Warren
Joseph Warren(Image: Cheshire Police)
A thug battered a member of staff at a garage with a metal pole. Joseph Warren subjected one worker to an unprovoked assault then returned an hour later and attacked another, knocking him to the floor before subjecting him to a flurry of punches and kicks as he lay defenceless on the ground.
He then delivered one final blow with the weapon and warned of reprisals should the police be contacted. The dad-of-two was now been locked up over the incident on the eve of his daughter’s third birthday.
Warren admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault and making threats to kill. He was jailed for 18 months.
Ahnad Karamian
Ahnad Karamian(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man resorted to a violent rampage because he was “always hungry” before going on hunger strike. Ahnad Karamian trashed a communal area in the accommodation where he was being housed while seeking asylum and hurled objects from a fourth storey window.
He later told the police that he had done so to “get people’s attention” due to his frustration at a perceived lack of progress in his application to remain in the UK, pledging that he would “keep doing it on a grander scale if he must”. He has now told a judge: “I think it will never happen again.”
Karamian admitted one count of criminal damage. Appearing via video link to the prison, he was jailed for 10 months.
William Redmond
William Redmond(Image: Merseyside Police)
A “callous” fraudster claimed to be collecting donations for a cancer charity as he stole £20,000 from a vulnerable man and a pensioner. William Redmond repeatedly marched his victims to cash machines in order to make withdrawals which he then pocketed, often calling at their homes in the early hours before whisking them away to ATMs in taxis.
His “wicked, manipulative and predatory” crimes even continued after he was rumbled following a visit to the bank and recalled to prison on licence. It is not the first time he has concocted such a scam however, having previously claimed to be staging a football match to raise funds for Marie Curie but instead spending the proceeds on drugs.
Redmond admitted two counts of fraud and asked for three further fraud offences to be taken into account. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 54 months.
Edward Marshman
Edward Marshman(Image: Merseyside Police)
A taxi driver ran his own “one stop shop” for drugs which was open for business from “dusk till dawn”. Edward Marshman turned to dealing after building up debts from using cocaine in order to stay awake during his late night shifts.
The 49-year-old admitted possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply. He was jailed for four years and 10 months.
Rhys Allen
Rhys Allen(Image: Merseyside Police)
A prison inmate escaped by scaling a fence before being found hiding near to a bakery more than two weeks later. Rhys Allen was said to have walked out of jail then travelled 75 miles across the country to Merseyside, where he was ultimately apprehended, after becoming “frustrated by the progress of his application for parole”.
The 29-year-old admitted escaping from lawful custody. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was locked up for a further 28 days.
Shaun Harold
Shaun Harold(Image: Merseyside Police)
A burglar was caught with “bloods on his hands” after he broke into an Asda supermarket. Shaun Harold embarked upon a crime spree which also saw him pinch items from the staff room of a branch of McDonald’s and attempt to steal cash by ripping open an ATM.
The serial offender confessed to the police that he was “probably off his head” during the latter incident. He has now been hauled before the courts more than 100 times for committing in excess of 200 crimes.
Harold admitted two counts of burglary, criminal damage, attempted theft, three charges of theft and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a black Adidas tracksuit top, he was jailed for 30 months.
Brian Sheridan
Brian Sheridan(Image: Merseyside Police)
A paedophile is expecting to die in prison after subjecting a young girl to years of abuse. Brian Sheridan paid his victim to perform vile acts and forced her to have sex with another man.
The pensioner was also said to have exhibited an array of sickening behaviour towards other children, including encouraging them to dress in “sexualised costumes”. A judge told him that he had shown “no shred of regret, remorse or empathy”.
Sheridan was convicted of a total of 18 child sex offences by a jury. Appearing in the dock wearing a black Adidas coat over a beige cardigan and sporting glasses and white hair, he was jailed for 16 years and handed an additional year on licence.
Paul Wilson
Paul Wilson(Image: Merseyside Police)
A serial rapist who sexually abused three women remained emotionless as he was put behind bars for decades. Paul Wilson repeatedly raped one woman over the course of years then targeted a second victim as she slept.
He also subjected another complainant to a further horrific sex attack until she was able to fight him off with a candle. When asked why he had assaulted her, the dad-of-two replied: “Because my head’s up my a**e.”
Wilson was found guilty of offences including four counts of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury following two trials. He showed no reaction in the dock as he was jailed for 21 years and handed an additional five years on licence.
Lyndsey Goulding
Lyndsey Goulding(Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealing nan launched a table at her ex-boyfriend’s head then told the police “I should have killed him”. Lyndsey Goulding whacked her victim with the item of furniture “because she’d had enough of him”.
It came a matter of months after she had been caught red handed flogging heroin and crack cocaine on the streets at a time when he had apparently “left her with nothing”. She then subjected him to an “unhappy opportunistic attack” as he lay defenceless on the floor, having been assaulted by his brother amid a heated row over a SIM card.
Goulding admitted unlawful wounding and possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. She nodded as she was jailed for 32 months before waving to a woman in the public gallery while being led down to the cells.
Ryan Woolsey
Ryan Woolsey, 25 years, of Withensfield, Liscard has been jailed for 13 years and eight months(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man has been jailed after sexually assaulting a girl and taking and sharing indecent images of her. Ryan Woolsey was put behind bars for 13 years and eight months after being convicted of two counts of sexual assault, taking indecent images of children, distributing indecent images, possession of indecent images and two counts of making indecent images.
Kieran Hannon
Kieran Hannon(Image: Merseyside Police)
A dad hid behind a pseudonym inspired by a former Everton FC star as he smuggled huge quantities of drugs into the UK. Kieran Hannon called on contacts in Spain and the Netherlands as he arranged the importation of more than 100kg of cannabis.
The “well respected” community volunteer also acted as a “broker” in the trafficking of cocaine while using the handle “Alex Iwobi” on encrypted communications platform EncroChat. But his secret dealings were ultimately exposed thanks to his love of pigeon racing.
Hannon admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, cannabis and cannabis resin and conspiracy to import cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for eight years and eight months.
Dylan Jones
Dylan Jones(Image: Merseyside Police)
A dad says he is “extremely surprised” that he began selling heroin. Dylan Jones led police officers on a “dangerous and outrageous” 70mph chase around residential streets before crashing into a central reservation.
He was then caught in possession of hundreds of pounds of class A drugs while acting as the “boots on the ground” in a street dealing operation. Having later spent six months on the run, he is now facing the prospect of missing the birth of his second child due to being behind bars.
Jones admitted possession of heroin with intent to supply, dangerous driving, driving without a licence and insurance, failing to provide a specimen for analysis and possession of MDMA. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Montirex t-shirt, he nodded as he was jailed for three years and 10 months and banned from driving for two years.
Carl McConville
Carl McConville(Image: Merseyside Police)
A vile sex offender invited young girls to play on his PlayStation but had much more sinister “games” in mind. Carl McConville raped and abused a total of four victims when he was a teenager.
Now, years later, he has finally been brought to justice and exposed as “vindictive monster” and a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. The dad-of-three hung his head in shame as he was locked up for his appalling crimes.
McConville was found guilty of a total of 18 sexual offences. He was jailed for a total of nine years, reduced from what would otherwise have been a 17-year term due to his age at the time of his crimes.
Kirk Davies
Kirk Davies(Image: Merseyside Police)
A tracking device on a stolen motorbike led to police discovering a loaded firearm hidden in a North Face man bag wrapped inside a Moncler coat. Officers investigating the theft raided a house expecting to recover the vehicle, but instead found a self-loading pistol and ammunition.
Kirk Davies’ DNA was subsequently located on the gun, leading to tears in court as he was locked up over the surprise seizure. He claims that he was minding the lethal weapon on behalf of other criminals whom he refuses to name as he is “afraid of repercussions”.
Davies admitted possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of ammunition without a certificate. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for five years.
Darren Schofield, Stephen Martland, Paul Mockett, Neil Maguire, Paul O’Shea and David Jones
Darren Schofield(Image: National Crime Agency)
A gang led by a drug importer known as “Thor” attempted to smuggle £140m of cocaine into the UK from Sierra Leone. The huge stash of illicit class A substances was hidden inside a shipment of flour which was transported from West Africa by boat before its seizure at the border.
Members of the Merseyside-based organised crime group behind the plot have been locked up for a combined total of more than 75 years. They included a pensioner who was sentence to decades behind bars on his 70th birthday.
Neil Maguire(Image: National Crime Agency)
Darren Schofield admitted conspiracy to import cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Manchester, he was jailed for 20 years – reduced from 30 years for his guilty plea.
Stephen Martland(Image: National Crime Agency)
Stephen Martland was convicted of the same offence after trial, while Paul Mockett pleaded guilty to the charge. Appearing remotely from HMP Liverpool and HMP Preston, they were imprisoned for 21 and 13-and-a-half years respectively.
Paul Mockett(Image: National Crime Agency)
Neil Maguire admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and was handed 11 years and four months. Paul O’Shea pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was given six years.
Paul O’Shea(Image: National Crime Agency)
David Jones, also appearing on the link from Walton prison, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years. Darren Wetton pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and received a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
David Jones(Image: National Crime Agency)
Li Tie
Li Tie playing for Everton in 2002(Image: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Ex-Everton FC footballer Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for bribery, Chinese state media have reported. The 47-year-old, who was the head coach of the China national team from January 2020 to December 2021, pleaded guilty to taking more than $16 million in bribes.
The midfielder was found guilty of “leveraging his positions” during his tenure as manager by a court in the city of Xianning. This reportedly ran from 2015, when he was an assistant coach at Hebei China Fortune, until 2021, when he quit as head coach of the national team.
Colin Wright
Colin Wright has been convicted (Image: National Crime Agency )
An EncroChat dealer who supplied cocaine and heroin and set up a secret amphetamine lab fled to Spain after the encrypted messaging platform was hacked by police. Colin Wright played a leading role in a UK-wide conspiracy that saw him work with Merseyside cousins Terence and Stephen Earle to import class A drugs before distributing them across their extensive networks.
The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to five drug offences after being extradited back to this country. He was jailed for a total of 13 years and four months.
Charlotte and Connor McQuade
Dad and daughter Conor McQuade, of Appleby Walk, Widnes, and Charlotte McQuade, of Lancaster Road, Widnes(Image: Cheshire police)
A dad and daughter who carried out a bloody “revenge attack” outside a nightclub tearfully hugged each other as they were jailed. Conor McQuade and his daughter Charlotte cried as they said goodbye to their family after being sent down at Liverpool Crown Court.
It came after a violent incident outside the Hub in Widnes on New Year’s Day. The 44-year-old father repeatedly stabbed victim Lewis Reed, saying “this is what you deserve”, while his 21-year-old child watched and laughed.
Conor McQuade pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and two counts of possession of a bladed article in a public place and was jailed for six years. Charlotte McQuade denied the same charge but was found guilty following a trial and received five years in prison.
Alex Stevens
Alex Stevens groomed a young boy into a depraved threesome with an unknown man(Image: Merseyside Police)
An ambulance worker exploited a teenage boy and drove him to meet another man to have a “dehumanising” threesome. Alex Stevens was jailed for six years after grooming the youngster over WhatsApp and Snapchat and drove the then 13-year-old to meet another man.
Darren Spencer
Darren Spencer(Image: Merseyside Police)
A thug continued his established “pattern of knife crime” and left a man “lucky to be alive”. Darren Spencer stabbed and slashed his victim 15 times after they had “bickered over a £25 debt and a broken window”.
He was brutally knifed in the face, back and chest outside his own flat. The vicious assault left him with a punctured lung and a permanent scar on his face.
Spencer admitted wounding with intent and making threats with a bladed article. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for seven years and three months, a term which he must serve at least two thirds of behind bars before becoming eligible for release on parole, and handed an additional four years on licence.
John Lester
John Lester(Image: Merseyside Police)
A Range Rover driver hid from the police in his loft after leading officers on a chase along one of the city’s busiest roads at rush hour. John Lester’s passenger was sent flying from his car onto Queens Drive as he made a desperate bid to avoid arrest.
A judge told him that it was “through good fortune” that he had not caused a “serious accident”, having created a “significant risk of injury or worse”. He then put his head in his hands as he was put behind bars.
Lester admitted dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he also shook his head as he was jailed for 11 months.
Carl Lee
Carl Lee, 44, of Liverpool Road in St Helens has been jailed for 3 years(Image: Merseyside Police)
A man has been jailed after being convicted of sharing sexual images online and affray. Carl Lee pleaded guilty to disclosure of private sexual images and affray.
It came after the 44-year-old had secretly filmed himself having sex with another person which they did not consent to then shared the footage with another person online. When police attended his home, he began stabbing a door with a knife and threatened to stab the officers.
Lee also issued threats to kill members of the public from his bedroom while brandishing two blades before being detained following a stand-off lasting several hours. He was locked up for three years.
Jack Roach
Jack Roach was jailed for 16 weeks(Image: Merseyside Police )
A man climbed on a roof after he spotted police officers walking towards him. Jack Roach was jailed for 16 weeks for breaching a criminal behaviour order.
Calvin Elliott
Calvin Elliott, of Dane Court, Rainhill, Liverpool(Image: Merseyside police)
A racist thug repeatedly kicked a taxi driver before calling up his workplace and threatening him with “a bottle of acid”. Calvin Elliott pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault and three counts of sending malicious communications intending to cause distress and was jailed for a year.
Jaime Coggins, Martin Wilson and Connor Smith
Martin Wilson convicted of the murder of Nyle Corrigan(Image: Merseyside Police)
Two men have been found guilty of murdering a teenage boy who was shot once in the back in a “targeted and planned attack.” Nyle Corrigan was fatally shot in the back aged 19 when two gunmen ambushed him by the side of Boode Croft in Stockbridge Village at around 6.30pm on November 12 2020.
Jamie Coggins, Martin Wilson, Connor Smith and Anthony Llewellyn had been on trial accused of murder and conspiracy to possess a 9mm Glock self-loading pistol with intent to endanger life. Wilson and Smith were found guilty following 12 hours and eight minutes of deliberations by a jury and sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum terms of 32 years.
Connor Smith convicted of the murder of Nyle Corrigan(Image: Merseyside Police)
Coggins was found not guilty of murder but was convicted by the jury of assisting an offender and handed four years. Llewellyn was cleared of all charges.
Jamie Coggins was sentenced to four years in prison for assisting an offender(Image: Merseyside Police)
Barry Hart
Barry Hart(Image: Merseyside Police)
A paedophile whispered “shh” in a little girl’s ear as he subjected her to a sickening sexual assault. Barry Hart remains remorseless over his crimes and continues to maintain his innocence.
He was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury following a trial. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for seven years and handed an additional 12 months on licence.
Simon Wilson
Simon Wilson(Image: Merseyside Police)
A paedophile warned a girl “you can’t tell anyone what I have just done” after he sexually assaulted her. Simon Wilson used the teenager “as a sex toy” during a campaign of sickening abuse and rape over the course of several years.
But, when confronted over his sickening actions, the “selfish and cruel” child rapist stated that his victim “wasn’t innocent”. She meanwhile says that she “felt trapped” after his assaults “became normal” to her, but he now “can’t hurt her any more”.
Wilson admitted two counts of rape and three charges of sexual activity with a child. Appearing in the dock wearing a blue Under Armour tracksuit top, he was jailed for 10 years and four months.
Awad Mohammad and Ibrahim Azaryoon
Awad Mohammad (left) and Ibrahim Azaryoon (right)(Image: Merseyside police)
Machete-wielding burglars forced their way into a family home and attacked a man as two children slept upstairs. The victim was slashed across the arm and wrist after he confronted the burglars, who were attempting to steal a safe.
Awad Mohammad and Ibrahim Azaryoon were convicted of aggravated burglary. They were jailed for 10 years and 12 years respectively.
Mason Hodgson
Mason Hodgson, of Glen Road, Morley(Image: Cheshire police)
A “boy racer” killed an innocent by-stander while speeding at 90mph in a 30mph zone. Mason Hodgson crashed into pedestrian Samuel Harding as he zoomed around an industrial estate in his Audi.
They were among several hundred people who had gathered at a car meet. The 23-year-old motorist admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Jason Singh
Jason Singh(Image: Merseyside Police)
A woman’s night out ended in tears when she was sexually assaulted outside a takeaway. Jason Singh was arrested in Concert Square for slapping the complete stranger on the backside, leaving her “shocked, distressed and humiliated”.
It came after the dad brandished a machete during a fight which saw his girlfriend square off with two other women outside a block of flats. This “warped attempt to protect his partner” was apparently set against the background of an ongoing feud which had seen him attacked and left requiring plastic surgery previously.
Singh admitted sexual assault, possession of a bladed article in a public place and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for two years and told to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
Liam MacDonald
Liam MacDonald was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court after admitting driving offences and possession of an imitation firearm(Image: Merseyside Police )
An “inept” criminal was found with a “gun” wrapped in a plastic bag after police shot out the tyres of a car. Drug addict Liam MacDonald had taken possession of the revolver earlier in the evening, but further investigations by police revealed it to be an imitation firearm due to its obstructed barrel.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified, driving with no insurance, drug driving and possession of an imitation firearm. The 37-year-old was jailed for two years.
Brian Spencer
Brian Spencer, 40, of Lytham Road in Southport
A thug who went viral on social media when a video of him being hit by a brick in the privates while rioting in Southport has been jailed. Brian Spencer drank 10 pints and a litre of rum before taunting police during violent scenes on St Luke’s Road in the summer.
The 40-year-old admitted violent disorder. He was locked up for a total of two-and-a-half years.