Liverpool Crown Court Sentencing Results

Liam Pickstock harassed six women over a six-year period between 2020 and 2026, using a social media account under the alias 'Joe Price', as well as phone calls, voicemails, emails and handwritten letters. Many of the messages were explicit, degrading and threatening, and he sent explicit photos. He also attended the homes of some victims. His offending escalated in the March and April before his arrest in May. Victim personal statements described severe anxiety, fear and loss of confidence.

Paula Lister permitted her paedophile partner to rape two young girls, the youngest of whom was six, over approximately two and a half years. Much of the abuse was recorded on video, and one clip showed Lister in the background while one of the girls performed a sex act on her partner. She was convicted on two charges of child cruelty.

Glyn Holland attacked a 62-year-old wheelchair user near the Co-op on Hoole Road in Woodchurch at around 3:30pm on June 25. The victim, who used an electric wheelchair after a previous stroke, did not know Holland. Holland was said to be extremely drunk when he approached the man and stabbed him repeatedly with a large kitchen knife without provocation. The victim suffered three stab wounds and internal bleeding after the blade ruptured his spleen, narrowly missing his heart and lungs, and was left in critical care. Holland was arrested later that afternoon in Moreton covered in the victim's blood. He told the court he had no memory of the attack due to intoxication.

Jack Haddow was driving a 44-tonne HGV on the M6 northbound between junction 22 at Winwick, Warrington, and junction 23 at Haydock shortly before 2am on April 1 last year. He had used his iPhone repeatedly during the journey, and the TikTok app was active in the eight minutes immediately before the collision. The smart motorway speed limit was 40mph, and the victims' Jaguar was travelling at that speed in the first lane when Haddow's lorry struck the rear of the car at around 50 to 53mph, sending it across the carriageway into the central reservation. The two occupants were seriously injured: the passenger suffered displaced open fractures to her ankle and wrist and broken ribs, later undergoing a nine-hour operation and remaining in a wheelchair, while the driver sustained rib fractures, a broken sternum and a fractured spinal vertebra. Haddow initially claimed the car had slowed in front of him and said he had not touched his phone, but analysis showed the device had been unlocked 21 times in the two hours before the crash.

Stefan Meek pleaded guilty to child sex offences in multiple locations.

Scott Lewis was investigated after police received intelligence and executed a search warrant at his home in Wallasey on May 7, 2025. Officers seized electronic devices, three of which contained indecent images of children: 346 Category A images including 39 videos, 324 Category B images including 11 videos, and 600 Category C images including eight videos, with some Category A material showing children as young as three. He also possessed 20 prohibited cartoon images of children and 26 extreme pornographic images of bestiality. Evidence showed he had been actively searching for child pornography.

Tubah Hamid, a former Greater Manchester Police officer, exploited restricted police intelligence systems between December 2021 and June 2022 to assist her partner, a drug dealer linked to a Rochdale-based organised crime group. She carried out unauthorised computer searches on four individuals and disclosed sensitive operational information. On 16 June 2022 she reported sick but was seen entering her partner's vehicle before a cocaine transaction; during a later raid she concealed her identity as a police officer and tried to alert other members of the criminal network.

Quang Nguyen was linked to a package seized in France containing 22 Vietnamese passports. When arrested in Birmingham, he discarded car keys; a search of the car found more than £16,700 in cash, 220 Vietnamese passports, handwritten notes and receipts. He was involved in moving migrants to the UK and in the debt bondage scheme that used passports to control them.

Quang Van Nguyen was involved in a people-smuggling conspiracy that charged Vietnamese migrants about $20,000 for illegal entry into the UK. His car was found to contain more than £16,700 in cash and 220 Vietnamese passports bundled with handwritten notes and transfer receipts. His phone showed messages about moving migrants referred to as 'chickens', discussions about being underpaid, and details of nail salon placements used for debt bondage. He helped collect cash and send payments to Vietnam through Post Offices and money transfer bureaus.

Van Huy Nguyen was involved in a people-smuggling operation that moved Vietnamese migrants to the UK and laundered over £1,600,000. He communicated with the group about routes and the movement of people, and was involved in collecting cash across the UK to send onwards to Vietnam through Post Offices and money transfer bureaus. Migrants were placed in debt bondage and made to work in businesses such as nail salons to pay off their passage.

The defendant was a leader of an organised crime group that facilitated illegal entry to the UK for Vietnamese migrants and laundered more than £1.6m. Passports were taken from migrants in France before they travelled to the UK by small boats and lorries, then used as debt bondage. The defendant was arrested in Coventry in October 2025 with more than £13,400 and eight Vietnamese passports; his phone contained conversations about moving migrants through Hungary and searches for weather mapping data including the English Channel. He was convicted by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court.

Sy Trai Ho was involved in a people-smuggling operation that moved Vietnamese migrants to the UK and laundered money through transfers to Vietnam. He helped collect cash from locations across the UK, including from a nail bar, and was present when an attempt was made to transfer cash via Western Union. He was arrested with approximately £4,000 in cash. The group used debt bondage and withheld passports from migrants.

Lia-Chien Trong was involved in a people-smuggling conspiracy that charged Vietnamese migrants about $20,000 for passage to the UK and laundered more than £1,600,000. He was linked to the conspiracy after forensic analysis of a bag containing passports wrapped in a bloodstained football shirt bearing his DNA. His phone contained notes detailing monetary amounts, Post Office locations and banking details, and he described sending papers to Vietnam as money laundering. The group used debt bondage and withheld passports from migrants.

Ian Griffin attacked his 83-year-old father in the family home in May 2025 after drinking in a local pub. He repeatedly punched and kicked the victim, dragged him to the floor, stamped on his legs, and forced him to sign a document giving half of his earnings to Griffin's mother. Police found the victim with a bloodied face and severe facial injury. Griffin had a previous conviction in France for murdering his fiancée, and the judge treated him as posing a high risk of further violent offending against his father.

Philip Aryeetey was stopped by officers on the M57 near junction 5 on 24 October 2025. A search of his car revealed £299,440 in cash hidden inside a padlocked suitcase beneath the driver's seat. A subsequent search of his home uncovered a further £2,000 in cash, 65g of cocaine and a Taser. He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing criminal property, possession of cocaine with intent to supply and possession of a prohibited firearm.

Joel Carrol rode an electric dirt bike on pavements and on the wrong side of the road during a police pursuit in Upton on 8 September 2026. He failed to stop when instructed by police, mounted a kerb, lost control and fell. Officers arrested him nearby and seized the bike.

On 8 September 2026, Joel Carroll rode an electric bike on pavements and on the wrong side of the road while attempting to evade Merseyside Police officers who had instructed him to stop. During the pursuit he mounted a kerb, lost control of the bike and fell, and was later arrested on Hambledon Drive. The e-bike was seized.

Mark Jacobson raped children and forced them to watch sexual acts. He was convicted of 16 serious sexual offences against children, including two counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape, causing a child to watch a sexual act and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child.

Kieran Scholes was involved in a violent confrontation outside Tower Stores on Seabank Road in New Brighton, Wirral, on 19 December 2025. He and another male chased a man who was armed with a baton and wearing a balaclava, and a fight broke out in the street. Scholes forced the man to the ground and bit his ear, severing part of it, while another person punched and stamped on the man. The victim was left with permanent disfigurement, with about 3cm of his left ear missing and cartilage exposed.

Laurence Tchapong, a registered mental health nurse, failed to carry out required checks every five minutes on a vulnerable inpatient during her evening shift on 30 June 2022. She later falsely completed records to suggest the checks had taken place. CCTV footage showed she failed to check the patient for 24 minutes despite falsified records stating otherwise. The patient was found by another nurse, but died four days later. Tchapong told police she had been dealing with competing demands due to staff shortages and denied wilful neglect.