Liverpool Crown Court Sentencing Results

Alex Hughes, from Poulton-le-Fylde, engaged in sexual activity with underage girls in the late 2000s and early 2010s in St Helens. He met one victim, Girl A, when she was 11 and he was 16, escalating to serious sexual acts including making her touch him inappropriately. He also had a relationship with another victim, Girl B, when she was 14. The relationships involved grooming and manipulation, with Hughes using his age advantage to exploit vulnerable children.

Daniel Ford, from St Helens, engaged in sexual activity with a child, specifically Girl A, when she was 14 and he was 21. He used his age advantage to provide alcohol and abuse her, as part of a group of youngsters in St Helens town centre in the late 2000s and early 2010s. The offences involved grooming and exploitation of a vulnerable minor.

Kerry Rutledge, of Everton, laundered £24,975 for an organised crime gang by allowing multiple payments into her bank account and transferring funds as directed, assisting Terence Clarke's county lines drug supply chains across England and Wales.

Paul Robinson, a 38-year-old former care worker from Stockbridge Village, confessed to his wife about engaging in sexual activity with a teenage girl, describing it as normal. He groomed the victim through explicit messages, provided her with cannabis, and had sex with her on multiple occasions. The victim was initially afraid to speak but later detailed the inappropriate touching and offences to the police. His actions were discovered after his wife reported him, leading to the revelation of messages where he expressed sexual desires.

Barry Burke was involved in setting up an industrial-scale ecstasy production operation at a unit on Cleveland Street in Birkenhead. His fingerprints were found on the tablet press machinery, and his vehicle was tracked near the site. The operation involved 3kg of MDMA powder capable of producing up to 23,400 ecstasy tablets valued at £234,000, which was discovered after bailiffs repossessed the unit due to unpaid rent.

Ihtiandr Maciulevicius was involved in an industrial-scale ecstasy production operation at a rented unit on Cleveland Street in Birkenhead. He was seen on CCTV attending the premises, handling packages, and sleeping there overnight. His fingerprints and DNA were found on machinery, a mirror, and other items, indicating his active role in the operation, which utilised equipment to produce up to 23,400 ecstasy tablets from 3kg of MDMA powder.

Hawest Karimpoori attended a Betfred shop on Dale Street in Liverpool city centre on April 23, 2025, where he placed several £10 bets that lost, leading him to become angry and irate. He punched a gambling machine, threatened to smash and burn the shop, threw a chair at a machine, ripped up the carpet, and set fire to a newspaper, which caused damage to the flooring. This prompted a staff member to activate the panic button, and he was later identified and arrested via CCTV.

Jack Spencer, from Southport, used TikTok under the username 'Jack47' to contact a 15-year-old girl in January 2024, making lewd comments about her body, inquiring about her sexual experience, and offering her £500 for sexual acts. Police discovered 198 category A indecent images of children as young as four on his phone, along with other images and evidence of further inappropriate online conversations. He has a prior sexual risk order from 2015 for similar behaviour.

Terrance Maughan, aged 40, entered a café while intoxicated, hit a woman on the hand, threatened to punch her and burn her alive, and punched a man who tried to help her. He returned shortly after with a screwdriver, attempting to stab the same man.

Anne Lunt, a 59-year-old woman, subjected a teenage boy to two separate sexual assaults, including performing sex acts on him despite his protests, calling him a 'dirty b******', and hitting him. The victim endured years of silence due to fear, experiencing ongoing flashbacks, anger, and suicidal thoughts as a result of the abuse. Lunt's actions stemmed from her controlling and predatory nature, and she was described as a community café volunteer with a history of mental health issues and marital breakdown.

Raymond Beckett, a 65-year-old convicted sex offender, breached his sexual harm prevention order by approaching and communicating with children while intoxicated in Southport on June 20 and 21, 2025. He knocked on a grandmother's door, claimed he had been assaulted, and later approached the children while shirtless and aggressive, asking a granddaughter to come over. This incident caused considerable distress, especially after the grandmother learned of his prior convictions through news reports. Beckett has a history of sexual offences, including assaulting a teenage girl on a train in 2024 and indecently assaulting a girl under 14 in 1996.

Joel Maloney, in a relationship with the victim for five years and sharing a child, strangled her during an argument over a takeaway on May 9, 2024, laughing when she begged for her life. He strangled her again on April 17, 2025, despite a court ban on contact, leaving her fearing for her life and too scared to report it immediately. He also threatened to damage her and her mother's property and was found in possession of cannabis with intent to supply, valued between £300 and £470.

Suren Krishnan, aged 36, of Leasowe, Wirral, attacked the victim, a shopkeeper, at a Go Local convenience store on Twickenham Drive in Leasowe, Wirral, on December 7, 8, and 9, 2024. The attacks stemmed from a dispute over being refused store credit and perceived disrespectful language. On December 8, he swung a belt at the victim, striking him on the shoulder and leg. On December 9, while under the influence of alcohol, he entered the shop, pulled out a claw hammer from his backpack, and struck the victim on the knuckle during an altercation, shouting threats. The victim defended himself, and a member of the public helped eject Krishnan from the store. The incidents involved verbal threats, physical assault, and wrestling in the aisles, leaving the victim feeling scared.

Dana Mustapha breached his Sexual Harm Prevention Order by repeatedly failing to keep his GPS tag charged, which was required to monitor his movements after his release from HMP Altcourse on June 12, 2025. This order was imposed in August 2024 following previous convictions for offences including indecent exposure. Despite demonstrations and efforts from his offender manager, he dismissed the requirement as 'not a big deal', leading to his second breach.

Karl Grocott communicated online with undercover police officers posing as a 12-year-old boy named 'Kade' and an adult named 'John'. He falsely claimed to be a 27-year-old STEM teacher who only taught boys and bragged about abusing boys in various locations. He sent explicit messages, including a picture of the Simpsons character Mr. Burns to suggest his plan was progressing, and arranged to meet 'Kade' at a McDonald's in Liverpool on May 10, 2025, intending to take him to a hotel for sexual activity, including penetrative acts. Police arrested him near the location and found condoms, lubricant, and chocolate in his hotel room. The offences occurred over several weeks leading up to the attempted meeting.

Saimir Gjoniku was caught tending to 359 cannabis plants with an estimated value of up to £452,000 in a derelict former bank on Bridge Street, Newton-le-Willows. The plants were discovered by police on May 19, and he was arrested at the scene. He had been living in the building and admitted to being in debt and forced to work for an organised crime group. This was not his first involvement in cannabis farms.

Michael Harper, a 21-year-old former scout leader, began contacting a 14-year-old girl on Instagram when he was 17. He pressured her into a relationship primarily for sexual purposes, leading to kissing and intercourse starting when he was 18. They met in Birchwood Forest Park after school, where sexual activity occurred despite her reluctance and physical pain. He sent nude pictures and requested some in return, asking her to keep it secret. The victim felt obligated, experienced bleeding after intercourse, worried about pregnancy due to lack of contraception, and suffered mental health issues including self-harm, isolation from friends and family, nightmares, and academic disruptions.

Trevor Leach groomed and sexually abused a 12-year-old schoolboy in the early 1990s after meeting him while working at a former petrol station. He regularly took the victim out in his car and to his home in Winnington, where he committed the abuses. Leach also took the boy to a picnic area and abused him in front of other men. The victim witnessed other young boys being abused at Leach's home. The abuses had a lasting impact on the victim, who reported the incidents in 2022 following a chance encounter with Leach.

Liam Shaw sent two threatening and offensive emails containing racist death threats to the victim, the then-Prime Minister and MP for Richmond and Northallerton, via a public email address on the evening of June 15, 2024. The emails were reported by the victim's personal assistant to the police, who traced them to Shaw's email address and mobile phone at a hostel in Birkenhead. Shaw was arrested on September 3, 2024, and charged with the offences. He claimed during interview that he did not remember sending the emails due to being drunk.

On 14 July 2025, around 4am, Daniel Byrne, 38, of no fixed abode, approached a bin full of rubbish at the side of the Liverpool Beatles Museum in Matthew Street and made several attempts to set fire to it with his lighter. He stood back to watch the flames take hold before walking away, looking back several times. The incident was captured on CCTV by City Watch, a Liverpool City Council system. The fire caused damage to the doors of the museum. Byrne was arrested shortly after in the city centre, admitted to the offence during questioning, and was sentenced at a hearing on 12 August 2025.

Robert Forshaw, after a five-week relationship ended due to his controlling behaviour, began a campaign of harassment in December 2023. He made numerous withheld calls, sent abusive emails, contacted her workplace with false accusations, and created fake social media accounts to publish content targeting her. He sent messages between these accounts making false allegations and emailed screenshots to the victim. In late January 2024, he attended a sporting event where she was present and used a fake account to message that he was only 50 yards away, causing serious alarm and distress. Despite attempts to conceal his devices, police linked the accounts to him through digital evidence.

On 27 December 2023, police were managing the scene of a hit-and-run involving a cyclist on Northway, Maghull, with emergency lights flashing. Richard Ainscough's Ford Kuga swerved over the central reservation from the southbound to northbound lanes and struck a police officer who was leaning into a car window. The officer suffered a dislocated shoulder and fractured elbow, both requiring extensive surgery. Ainscough was arrested at the scene and faced charges including causing serious injury by dangerous driving, driving while unfit through drug use, and driving with eyesight below legal standards.

Jack Roach, of Birkenhead, breached his criminal behaviour order by entering the Woodchurch Estate on February 14, 2025, which he was prohibited from doing. He also failed to attend required office visits on July 3, 2025, and July 10, 2025, at Wirral Probation Centre and did not provide evidence for his absences within the specified time frame.