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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Neil Docking

Faces of 25 people jailed in Liverpool this week

This list includes 25 people locked up for crimes linked to Merseyside this past week.

One judge sentenced a robbery gang including a man who killed a friend of 20 years out of his desperation for drink and drugs.

Courts heard about a woman who stabbed her best friend 18 times for no apparent reason and a wicked granddaughter who attacked her own nan and stole her money to fund takeaways.

READ MORE: Vile 'Bro code' texts sent by sex attack teens

A judge sentenced a pair of brothers who flogged drugs on EncroChat, but were identified by happy birthday messages and the photos of their children they shared.

One court heard about a despicable rogue trader who conned an elderly woman, while another was told about a yob who had a bike seat converted to hide a shotgun.

And a judge had to sentence a convicted murderer who was trying to trade in guns and grenades on EncroChat.

Here is an overview of some of the most serious cases to have concluded this past week.

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 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.

Anthony Lonergan

EncroChat drug dealer Anthony Lonergan attacked a man outside Anfield before a Liverpool match.

Lonergan was jailed for more than nine years earlier this month for trading cocaine, cannabis and ketamine on the secret phone network.

The 25-year-old, of Lewis Walk, Kirkby, who went by the handle "PalacePuma", used his work as a private hire driver as a cover for his dealing.

He was back in court after admitting affray over an attack on Arkles Lane, on October 3 last year, ahead of a game against Manchester City.

Police said they saw Lonergan pull an unidentified man to the ground and kick him numerous times, in front of children and elderly fans.

Lonergan was jailed for 12 weeks and given an eight-year football banning order.

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.

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