Birmingham Crown Court Sentencing Results

Aaron Nubie was involved in a shooting outside FJ Lounge on Bickford Road in Aston on March 23. Following a disagreement inside the club, he left and returned armed with a gun, firing at Kimani Durrell-Smith as he left the venue. Durrell-Smith fired back, and an innocent bystander working at a food stall was caught in the crossfire, though his injuries were not life-changing. Nubie was arrested after arriving at hospital with a gunshot wound and initially telling officers he could not remember how it happened. He was found guilty of wounding with intent following a trial.

Claire McCullough was one of a group of couriers involved in an attempt to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK. The cannabis was packed into 22 suitcases arriving on flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Border Force found the drugs at Birmingham Airport in August 2024. The couriers each had two suitcases packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, totalling 460 kilograms. Some suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers linked to the same Apple ID. She also received a consecutive sentence for assaulting a shop worker.

Paige Crisp was one of a group of couriers involved in an attempt to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK. The cannabis was packed into 22 suitcases arriving on flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Border Force found the drugs at Birmingham Airport in August 2024. The couriers each had two suitcases packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, totalling 460 kilograms. Some suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers linked to the same Apple ID.

Ryan Boachie was one of a group of couriers involved in an attempt to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK. The cannabis was packed into 22 suitcases arriving on flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Border Force found the drugs at Birmingham Airport in August 2024. The couriers each had two suitcases packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, totalling 460 kilograms. Some suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers linked to the same Apple ID.

Gideon Oluwasetemi Olumoyegun was one of a group of couriers involved in an attempt to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK. The cannabis was packed into 22 suitcases arriving on flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Border Force found the drugs at Birmingham Airport in August 2024. The couriers each had two suitcases packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, totalling 460 kilograms. Some suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers linked to the same Apple ID.

Jaden Ramen was one of a group of couriers involved in an attempt to import cannabis worth £13.8 million into the UK. The cannabis was packed into 22 suitcases arriving on flights from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. Border Force found the drugs at Birmingham Airport in August 2024. The couriers each had two suitcases packed with 20 kilos of cannabis, totalling 460 kilograms. Some suitcases contained Apple AirTag trackers linked to the same Apple ID.

Kimani Durrell-Smith was involved in a shooting outside FJ Lounge on Bickford Road in Aston on March 23. He was armed when Aaron Nubie fired at him and fired several shots back. An innocent bystander working at a food stall outside the club was caught in the crossfire, though his injuries were not life-changing. Durrell-Smith attempted to evade capture but was later arrested following a firearms warrant. He was found guilty of wounding with intent following a trial.

Michael Crehan persistently turned up at his parents' home over five months to ask for money, sometimes returning on the same day, and climbed through a window. His parents said they were scared to leave their home and his father did not feel safe cutting the grass. He had fallen back into drug addiction following the death of the grandmother who raised him.

Dumitru Marin was arrested at Birmingham Airport on 18 July after flying in from Belfast and attempting to walk past officers without providing his passport. The 49-year-old had 49 previous offences. His defence lawyer said he had returned to set up a house for his family, not for any nefarious purpose.

Jake Newman posted a threatening Facebook comment about setting fire to a woman's home, saying: "Time to treat her house the way she wanted hotels treated, just make sure she's in it and not able to get out." The comment was posted on 22 August last year beneath a social media post about the woman's release from prison. It was reported and police attended Newman's address the same day and arrested him. He initially denied the charge but later changed his plea to guilty. The judge described the post as a "dangerous, potentially very risky, criminal act" and said Newman had been reckless as to whether someone would fear the threat of death.

Hamza Sharif first encountered a child in the street in the early hours after she left her home. He suggested she go to a house with him and was the initial contact and driving force in the child abduction. The victim was deliberately isolated at the house, declined an offer of cocaine, and suffered lasting harm including nightmares and flashbacks.

Kozlowska was convicted of assisting an offender after helping him avoid detection by police following the 2019 kidnap and killing of a man who was doused in petrol and set alight. She received a suspended prison sentence for her role.

A former prison custody officer at HMP Long Lartin engaged in a relationship with an inmate, exchanging thousands of Snapchat messages between July 2022 and January 2023. The contact came to light in October 2022 when a mobile phone was found after being thrown from a prison window. Morris was convicted of misconduct in a public office and assisting or encouraging the commission of a Prison Act offence.

Jerome Nunes was an inmate at HMP Long Lartin serving a 12-year sentence imposed in 2019 for his part in a gang that distributed about £2 million of cocaine in Newport, South Wales. He had a six-month secret relationship with prison officer Jade Morris, exchanging around 5,000 messages and explicit images over multiple phones. When his cell was searched he threw a sock containing a mobile phone out of the window. He pleaded guilty to possessing and using an unauthorised mobile phone in prison.

Kexie Liu was involved in a £17 million money laundering operation, processing criminal cash through businesses to appear legitimate. He was initially arrested in September 2025 after £49,000 in cash was found in a vehicle, and further cash was discovered in subsequent searches. While on bail he attempted to board a flight from Heathrow to Beijing. He pleaded guilty to possessing and transferring criminal property.

Carsten Kyei was part of a drugs smuggling gang involved in a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8m into the UK. Border Force officers arrested Kyei and other couriers in August 2024 after class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases. He arrived in the UK on a flight from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The court heard that he had two suitcases containing around 20 kilos of vacuum-packed cannabis hidden under a thin layer of clothing.

Bradley Lloyd was part of a drugs smuggling gang involved in a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8m into the UK. Border Force officers arrested Lloyd and other couriers in August 2024 after class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases. He arrived in the UK on a flight from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The court heard that he had two suitcases containing around 20 kilos of vacuum-packed cannabis concealed under a thin layer of clothing.

Nathan Vitorino was part of a drugs smuggling gang involved in a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8m into the UK. Border Force officers arrested Vitorino and other couriers in August 2024 after class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases. He arrived in the UK on a flight from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The court heard that he had two suitcases containing around 20 kilos of vacuum-packed cannabis hidden under a thin layer of clothing.

Lewis Ross was part of a drugs smuggling gang involved in a plot to import cannabis worth £13.8m into the UK. Border Force officers arrested Ross and other couriers in August 2024 after class B drugs were found packed into 22 suitcases. He arrived in the UK on a flight from Thailand via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. The court heard that he had two suitcases containing around 20 kilos of vacuum-packed cannabis concealed under a thin layer of clothing.

Saleh Hassan drove a Toyota Corolla onto a pavement in Sutton Coldfield shortly before midnight, striking a woman and her friend. The woman died at the scene and her friend suffered serious leg injuries. Hassan had been driving uninsured and making circuits around the town centre before losing control at about 45mph. Members of the public attempted to help before emergency crews arrived. He was arrested at the scene.

Mahmoud Taha Hassan Saleh pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, causing serious injury by dangerous driving and causing death while driving uninsured in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, on 22 August 2025.

Zain Hussain converted blank-firing weapons into live-firing firearms. The National Crime Agency placed him under surveillance after intelligence indicated he was involved in the conversion and sale of weapons, with converted pistols estimated to sell for up to £3,000. Officers followed him along the Grand Union Canal in Birmingham and arrested him in a wooded area where he had been digging a hole; three firearms and ammunition were found there, along with a large carving knife and ball bearings. Forensic tests found his DNA on a converted blank-firing pistol that matched a weapon purchased two days earlier. Messages on his phone showed him discussing the sale and progress of weapons, referring to 'two Lucys' being sold and describing expected profits.

Mark Joyce was one of a group of six who attacked a house in Birmingham at night on February 25, 2026. He led the way, charging at the front door and swinging an axe at it while two adults and two children were inside. Another member of the group fired a shotgun into the property. Mark Joyce was also separately convicted of burgling an elderly man's home in the early morning of November 30, 2023, smashing a front window to gain entry, searching the property, entering the victim's bedroom and fleeing with a phone after the victim woke.

Jason Joyce was one of a group of six who attacked a house in Birmingham at night on February 25, 2026. He followed another member of the group, brandishing an axe or machete-like weapon, and struck the front window five times while two adults and two children were inside. A shotgun was fired into the property. He also carried out a shoplifting rampage between August 2024 and February 2025, stealing alcohol, chocolate, bedding, baby items and other goods from supermarkets on 30 occasions, often with others. He was additionally convicted of dangerous driving in relation to a police pursuit in June 2023, during which he ran red lights, swerved through traffic, exceeded speed limits, went on the wrong side of the road and crashed before attempting to flee.

Jayden Adams was driving a Seat Leon at more than double the 30mph speed limit on Heath Way in Hodge Hill when he collided with a cyclist on April 26, 2025. The cyclist, aged 29 and a father of one, suffered fatal injuries and died in hospital three days later. Adams drove off after the collision, abandoned the vehicle, then returned later that day to retrieve and burn it. He initially lied claiming to be a passenger in the vehicle.

Shanise Hussain was driving an Audi A3 on Great Hampton Street in Birmingham on 21 July 2024 when she lost control after driving at 48mph in a 30mph zone. She mounted the pavement and struck two pedestrians, causing fatal injuries to one and minor head and hand injuries to the other. She remained at the scene and was later charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

In December 2023 Rebecca Cooper posted on Facebook under an alias expressing that she liked children, culminating in a live video directed at children in which she was seen touching herself sexually in the reflection of a television. In separate incidents she threatened to kill a doctor and was caught waving a knife in public.

Nigel Barwell managed cannabis cultivation farms across at least five properties in Coventry, using extensive lighting, heat and ventilation set-ups. Police raided a property in Willenhall and found 40 mature cannabis plants in one bedroom. A tampered electricity meter yielded Barwell's fingerprints, and his DNA was recovered from a cigarette butt. More plants and growing equipment were found at other properties, and forensic evidence linked him to cannabis production.