Liverpool Crown Court Sentencing Results

Former Premier League footballer Joey Barton was convicted of sending grossly offensive electronic communications with intent to cause distress or anxiety. Following a televised FA Cup tie in January 2024, he posted on X comparing two female football pundits to notorious serial murderers and superimposed their faces onto an image of those murderers. He also suggested one pundit had been appointed as a diversity hire, used an offensive term implying a television presenter had a sexual interest in children, and suggested that presenter had known a deceased sex offender. The offending posts were sent between January and March 2024.

On September 20, 2025, in the early hours on Seel Street in Liverpool city centre, Ryan Cahill, who was out for a friend's hen do and heavily intoxicated, approached a group including student the victim and made crude references to raping one of the victim's friends. After being challenged, Cahill walked away, smashed a glass bottle on railings to create an improvised weapon, returned, and slashed the victim across the face, causing deep cuts to the bridge of his nose and forehead requiring stitches and resulting in permanent scarring.

On December 20, 2024, Dylan Dellot, 37, of Kirkby, was involved in an altercation outside the Black Horse pub on County Road, Liverpool. After a verbal exchange with the victim, 24, Dellot struck him in the face with a Carling pint glass, causing it to break, and then punched him at least seven times, knocking him unconscious. Dellot had been drinking and taking drugs, including crack cocaine, throughout the day without sleep. The victim initially refused medical attention but collapsed at home hours later due to a severe brain injury from an internal bleed, requiring life-saving surgery at the Walton Centre. He remains under specialist neurological care with ongoing speech difficulties, tube feeding, wheelchair use, and severe long-term disability.

On September 8, 2025, Merseyside Police executed a drugs warrant at the home of Ryan Dawson's partner on Fieldton Road in Croxteth, recovering a small quantity of cannabis from a car outside. A loaded self-loading P80 pistol with eight rounds of 9mm ammunition in a magazine was found buried in a black bag under a pile of rubble next to the property. The firearm was test-fired successfully, and Dawson's DNA was detected on the hand grip, side catch, slide grips, and rear sight. Dawson, aged 29, from Steers Croft in Stockbridge Village, claimed he was given the firearm to mind due to a drug debt but did not intend to use it. This incident occurred nearly 10 years after he was shot for an unknown reason around 2016, contributing to his PTSD, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety.

Gary Williams, 45, of Newton-le-Willows, engaged in vile chats on Skype and Telegram revealing sexual interest in girls aged five and younger. He downloaded 542 indecent images of children (130 category A images, 193 category A videos including babies being restrained and raped; 114 category B images including 40 films; 75 category C images including 23 videos), three prohibited cartoon or CGI images of child abuse, 352 images of bestiality, and two images showing sexual interference with a corpse. Devices seized on September 18, 2024, following intelligence about sharing on social media.

On August 27, 2023, William Treacy posted a parcel from a Post Office in Toxteth to his son Aaron Donohoe at HMP Swinfen Hall. The parcel contained a pair of grey slippers with 94g of cannabis resin hidden in the foot beds, valued at £940 to £1,410 on the street and more inside prison. Treacy and Donohoe discussed preparing the package, including spraying it with Lynx deodorant to mask the smell, during phone calls in August and September 2023. The scheme was detected by a sniffer dog on August 29, 2023. Treacy handed himself in on October 2, 2023, initially denying knowledge but later admitting the offence. The cannabis was intended to help Donohoe settle a drug debt and make money inside the prison.

On April 4, 2025, shortly before 1am, police spotted three Sur-Ron electric bikes travelling eastbound on Edge Lane in Liverpool. The riders, dressed in black, failed to stop, leading to a pursuit. Thomas Williams, riding one bike, was tailed to the junction of East Prescot Road and Eaton Road in West Derby. He failed to slow at a roundabout and collided with a Vauxhall Zafira car, performing a full somersault before landing on the ground. The car was damaged but its four occupants were uninjured. Williams was taken to Aintree Hospital, refused blood tests, and a small quantity of cannabis was found in his jacket. He admitted getting scared upon seeing police, driving too fast, and the bike belonged to a friend. He expressed remorse and apologised.

On May 26, 2025, shortly after midnight, Michael Waring entered his housemate’s bedroom in Marsh House Lane, Warrington, and ordered him to drive him to ‘The Pool’. When refused, Waring threatened him with a knife, stole his car keys and mobile, attempted to drive off but crashed into another car. Police attended, and while being removed from the vehicle, Waring bit one officer's finger and assaulted another to avoid arrest. He was under the influence of drink.

On September 7, 2023, in broad daylight on West Derby Road, Liverpool, Leon Headey chased a man down the street, stabbing him repeatedly with a large kitchen knife after an argument involving three men. The victim sustained one stab wound to his upper chest and two to his back, bleeding profusely, and escaped by jumping into a passing car to reach the hospital. Headey also kicked the victim while he was on the ground. This was the first in a series of violent crimes, including an aggravated assault on October 25, 2023, in Alness, Scotland, and the murder of another victim on November 11, 2023, in Inverness, Scotland.

On September 27, 2025, at around 7am, following a row between the Brazilian couple in their flat in Liverpool city centre, William de Castro Rodrigues emerged wielding two kitchen knives and chased his boyfriend, the victim, who was wearing only sliders. Rodrigues swiped at him with a knife, narrowly missing, pursued him down the street until the victim slipped and fell, then lashed out again while he was on the ground. The assault ended when passing police officers intervened and arrested Rodrigues. He claimed self-defence in interview but was in a rage. The victim had to fend off the attack to avoid serious injury.

Charlie Clark, aged 18 and 19 at the time, embarked on a 10-month campaign from November 2022 to September 2023, posting indecent and grossly offensive material relating to eight young women on an online forum using the pseudonym 'John Smith'. He uploaded pictures taken from social media, including one from a hacked Snapchat account showing a victim in her bra at age 16, requested rape fantasies, edited images to make victims appear naked using AI and software, and posted to threads like 'mega sluts' and 'post sluts who have been raped'. Notes on his phone included chilling plans to rape 14-17-year-olds and stalk victims. He was arrested on September 5, 2023, after confessing to a victim.

Mohammed Ali, a student residing at Cambridge Court in Liverpool city centre, was summoned for jury service at Liverpool Crown Court for two weeks starting September 29, 2025, but failed to attend. He did not respond to follow-up communications, including letters and phone calls, despite indications he might seek a deferral for his studies. Ordered to appear before Judge Andrew Menary KC to show cause why he should not be held in contempt, he again failed to show up.

On August 18, 2024, in the Garston area of Liverpool, Kayleigh Maylor, after a two-day alcohol and cocaine binge, argued with her sister over a previously smashed window. Maylor became aggressive, attempted to fight her sister on the floor, put her hand on her throat, struck her over the head with a bottle of Bacardi (which did not shatter), and then smashed a mug over her head, causing a superficial laceration that bled profusely and briefly knocked the victim out. Maylor then issued threats to kill from outside, smashed the front window, and shouted abusive language captured on a neighbour's Ring doorbell camera, including hoping her sister bled to death. The victim barricaded herself in the kitchen and later received hospital treatment where the wound was glued shut. Maylor handed herself in on September 16, 2024.

Christopher Randles subjected his girlfriend to months of constant mental and physical abuse starting in spring 2023. Incidents included allegedly knocking out her front teeth (retracted complaint), swilling her with bleach causing eye swelling in autumn 2024, punching and kicking her unconscious in January 2025 after she caught him watching pornography, and on Valentine's Day 2025, punching her head and eye then strangling her after a disastrous restaurant meal. In the same month, he wielded a machete at the door causing her to flee. The victim described lasting physical injuries, chronic pain, anxiety, and being left a 'shell of a woman'.

Colin Cooper, aged 35, of Bolton, developed a grudge against the pizzeria owner following a Facebook argument about comments on the Southport Food Forum. Between March and December 2024, he conducted a campaign of harassment including unwanted phone calls, damaging the 600 Degrees pizzeria on Sandon Road in Southport by smashing a window with a brick on November 11, 2024, spray painting graffiti on three occasions in December 2024, attacking the frontage with a tool on August 12, 2024 (repairs £600), and with a hammer on September 4, 2024. He slashed the victim's car tyres on September 29, 2024, outside the victim's home, ordered eight uncollected pizzas in September 2024 using a linked phone number, posted fake negative reviews under the name Stephen Hall accusing the victim of being a sex offender, and followed the victim's van as captured in a photo on his phone. Additionally, after eviction by the landlord in May 2024 for leaving the property in disrepair requiring fumigation, Cooper damaged the landlord's vehicle tyres in September 2024, and after bail, punctured tyres of a Mercedes C Class and slashed the roof of a BMW 430d on October 8, 2025, causing £3,400 damage. He also damaged all four tyres of a Ford Transit van belonging to a second ex-landlord over a withheld £750 deposit. The harassment caused significant impact on the victim's business, state of mind, and family, leaving him living in fear.

On May 15, 2025, James Fitzpatrick, aged 35, of Tuebrook, was found unconscious on electrified tracks at Maghull North Station after acting erratically and attempting to lie down, having taken MDMA and ketamine. He became irate and abusive when woken by British Transport Police, resisted escorting, and was found in possession of stolen bank cards, Costco card, and Tesco Clubcard from an InPost delivery driver's van in Warrington. This caused train cancellations, part cancellations, and 576 minutes of delays, resulting in £8,292.38 losses to Network Rail. Released under investigation, on October 7, 2025, he stole a Ford Ranger pickup truck from Burnie Avenue in Bootle. Later that day in Netherton, he led police on a chase, reaching 70mph in a 20mph zone, mounting kerbs, running a red light, driving on the wrong side, becoming airborne over a grass verge by 8ft, colliding with two parked cars, smashing through a garden fence, and crashing into a house in Netherton. He admitted being under the influence of alcohol and crack cocaine, confessed to nearly crashing multiple times, and stated he had never driven before.

On May 7, 2025, Alexandru-Cristian Mihai, aged 37, assaulted his girlfriend in a violent incident at his bedsit in the Widnes area. After becoming jealous when she spoke to a waiter at a restaurant in Warrington, he slapped her in the car, then at home struck her to the face multiple times, pinned her down, strangled her with force causing an internal carotid artery dissection, threatened to stab and kill her, and held a shoehorn to her face. The victim believed she would die and suffered permanent damage, leading to constant anxiety and health risks.

Bryan Southern, aged 55, of St Helens, arranged to meet the victim in the car park beside the Taco Bell drive-thru in Kirkby at around 12.30pm on July 20, 2025, to resolve amicably an issue of his son being bullied by the victim's sons. The meeting escalated into a fist fight where Southern was knocked unconscious. He then got into his car and drove at speed at the victim, knocking him down and nearly pinning him under the front wheel. The car crashed into a lamppost, stopping it. Southern reversed and attempted a second go. He fled the scene, leading police on a chase at 50mph in a 30mph zone through two red lights. The victim sustained abrasions to his legs. CCTV captured the incident.