Liverpool Crown Court Sentencing Results

Barbara Peters, a 57-year-old prison officer at HMP Altcourse, smuggled illicit items including alcohol, tobacco, mobile phones, and other contraband into the prison on at least 15 occasions between March and June 2023. She was paid approximately £9,000 and acted under threats and blackmail from inmates. The smuggling involved hiding items in her bra and meeting associates outside the prison, such as in car parks, to receive the contraband. She was arrested on June 6, 2023, at her new workplace and provided detailed admissions during interviews.

Daniel Williams attacked his cellmate, the victim, at HMP Liverpool on September 8, 2023, by pouring boiling sugar water over him while he slept and then repeatedly punching him in the face and body. The attack stemmed from a dispute over milk rations and television choices, leaving the victim with burns covering nine per cent of his body, permanent scarring, damaged skin pigment, and issues with hearing, vision, flashbacks, and nightmares.

Lee Nichols attacked a 72-year-old deaf man in retribution after being told to 'f*** off' when begging in a pub. The incident began around 9pm on October 28, 2024, in the Clairville pub on Wallasey Road, Liscard, Wirral. Nichols became aggressive, took a picture on the victim's phone as an intimidation tactic, and later punched the victim at a bus stop, breaking his glasses and causing him to fall. He then stamped on and repeatedly kicked the victim to the legs and ribs, resulting in injuries including a broken finger. The victim required two days of hospital treatment at Arrowe Park Hospital.

Michael Flanagan began a short-term relationship with the victim in October 2024, but it ended due to his paranoid and jealous behaviour. On November 23, 2024, he entered her home uninvited while armed with a knife and threatened to stab her and others, believing she was seeing another man. The following day, during an argument in his car, he drove erratically at high speed, ignored her pleas to stop, and deliberately crashed into a tree on Kirklake Road near Formby, intending to cause serious injury. She escaped with minor injuries despite the crash occurring at around 60mph in a 30mph zone.

In 2018, Callum Hesketh contacted a 15-year-old girl via social media, proposing a threesome which she declined. He persisted with calls and messages, video calling her to request sexual poses while he masturbated. Later, he picked up the victim and her friend in a van, drove to Rivington, and recorded sex acts on his phone during the assault, broadcasting them with the caption 'GANG BANG OUT HERE'. Three more men arrived, and the incident involved multiple perpetrators.

Peter Melia engaged in a pattern of domestic abuse against his girlfriend starting in July 2021, involving control over her social media, clothing, and social interactions. Incidents included striking her during sex refusals around Christmas 2022, punching her on holiday, backhanding her in Poland over a Facebook like, and on January 7, 2024, grabbing her throat, punching her, strangling her, and attempting to bite her nose after discovering she was vaping. He has prior convictions for similar offences against another partner.

In 2018, Michael Linfoot, along with Callum Hesketh, picked up a 15-year-old girl and her friend in a white van in exchange for alcoholic drinks. They drove to Rivington and parked, where Linfoot raped the victim while Hesketh recorded the acts. Afterwards, the girls were returned to Adlington.

In 2018, Thomas Rae arrived at the scene in Rivington on a motorbike after being summoned by Callum Hesketh. He approached the van and orally raped the 15-year-old victim during the ongoing assault.

Keiron Pickett, a 24-year-old teaching assistant, secretly filmed upskirt videos of Year 7 girls at his school between September 2023 and January 2024. He stored six such videos on his iPhone, along with 62 indecent images (including category A material), 28 category B images, 192 category C images, and handwritten notes about his students. His account was flagged on Instagram on September 9, 2024, leading to his arrest. He panicked during arrest and threatened self-harm but provided his phone password. The crimes involved abusing his position of trust with vulnerable children who had complex learning needs.

Michael Oakes was part of a 1,000-strong mob involved in violent disorder in Southport on July 30, 2024, the day after three children were murdered. He threw missiles at unprotected police officers, who were deployed near a mosque, resulting in injuries to 50 officers. He was seen on CCTV throwing objects, searching for more missiles, and attempting to break a paving slab while under the influence of alcohol.

Matthew Bushell, a 52-year-old convicted sex offender subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order from 2014, breached the order by deleting his internet history on 356 occasions on his phone and 125 times on his tablet. He searched for terms related to online sex chats, pornographic websites, and escort services on Viva Street. This occurred shortly after his release from prison on June 3, 2024, at his home in Southport. He confessed during police interview that he deleted the history because he was scared and thought he could get away with it, and he has been recalled on licence from a previous 16-month sentence for similar breaches.

Graham Patterson, 37, created fake profiles on a social media messaging platform, pretending to be a male and female teenager, to groom and extort vulnerable children aged 11-16 into sending indecent photos. He blackmailed victims by threatening to share images with their friends and family unless they sent more. In November 2024, he boasted about coercing children during a conversation with someone sharing similar interests. Arrested on December 11, 2024, at his address where he was living in his car; multiple undisclosed electronic devices were seized. Evidence showed he incited children to engage in sexual activity, caused them to watch sexual acts, and made/distributed indecent images.

Phillip Neill, amid a toxic relationship with his father, created a petrol bomb from a Peroni bottle and threw it at his father's van on March 12, 2025, in Warrington. This followed a series of angry messages and a reconnaissance drive past the property. The device bounced off the van, causing minor damage to the road, and was motivated by a grudge stemming from family estrangement and a recent falling out over work attendance. Neill was arrested shortly after, with evidence including the bottle cap and an air rifle found in his car. His father reported significant psychological impact, including panic attacks and safety concerns.

On January 17, 2025, Kabairathan Santhurukanthan, recently released from prison, racially abused a shopkeeper in Liverpool city centre. When confronted by a disabled man, the victim, who has learning difficulties and cerebral palsy, Santhurukanthan smashed a bottle of Desperados over the victim's head and repeatedly jabbed the broken glass into his face and neck, causing permanent facial scarring. He continued the assault until stopped by members of the public and later admitted he intended to kill the victim if not restrained. He was heavily intoxicated at the time.

On August 14, 2023, at approximately 9:05 pm, Ashworth was driving his vehicle down Thornton Common Road in Wirral when he crossed over the central white lines and collided head-on with a Ford Fiesta travelling in the opposite direction. The driver of the Fiesta, an 81-year-old man, and his passenger, 68-year-old victim, were seriously injured. The man recovered after a lengthy hospital stay, but the victim died from her injuries a few days later.

Curtis Morrison, 31, of Walton, conspired with others to steal 81 high-value keyless cars worth almost £1.5 million from residential addresses in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales from April to October 2022. The gang used automatic key programmers to clone keys and steal vehicles at night from driveways, which were then dismantled in chop shops for parts sold on the black market. Morrison organised thefts in North Wales in September 2022, leaving a bag with 45 car keys, a key programming device, car battery and cannabis in a Rhyl coffee shop, leading to police involvement. He was arrested after a search of his girlfriend's house in Walton following a report of a stolen car nearby, where gang equipment including cloned keys, false number plates and a knuckle duster were found.

Sean Fagan, 31, of Woolton, conspired with others to steal 81 high-value keyless cars worth almost £1.5 million from residential addresses in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales from April to October 2022. The gang used automatic key programmers to clone keys and steal vehicles at night from driveways, which were then dismantled in chop shops for parts sold on the black market. Fagan was arrested in October 2022 near a stolen car in Fazakerley, carrying two cloned car keys and black gloves.

Daniel Johnston, 37, of Walton, conspired with others to steal 81 high-value keyless cars worth almost £1.5 million from residential addresses in Merseyside, Cheshire, Lancashire and North Wales from July to October 2022. The gang used automatic key programmers to clone keys and steal vehicles at night from driveways, which were then dismantled in chop shops for parts sold on the black market. Johnston joined the operation in July 2022 and was arrested ten days after Fagan in October 2022 near the scene of a crashed stolen car in Fazakerley, Liverpool.

Ross Corley was involved in the grooming and sexual exploitation of girls known to be under 16 in the Greater Manchester area. He was convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child.

Elliott Turner engaged in sexual activity with girls under 16, using coercive and manipulative behaviours to exploit them. He abused the same girls as part of the group exploitation.

Harvie Aspden engaged in sexual activity with girls under 16, using manipulative behaviours to exploit them. He participated in the abuse as part of the group that targeted the same victims.

Rahim Mottley, 28, had a physical relationship with corrupt officer Choni Kenny, who accessed and passed police intelligence to him, including details of investigations and planned raids. He tasked her with monitoring police informants while under investigation.

Josh Whelan, 31, from Purley Avenue, Wythenshawe, Manchester, a committed criminal, had a casual sexual relationship with corrupt officer Choni Kenny, who provided him with 20 mobile phones in prison (2021-2023) for communication and passed confidential police information, including victim statements from his violence case.