Wolverhampton Crown Court Sentencing Results

Philip Walter ran an illegal lending operation over approximately six years from his home in Beeches Road, West Bromwich, lending more than £375,000 to 58 financially vulnerable people and receiving over £515,000 in repayments without authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority. He charged exorbitant interest rates, trapping borrowers in cycles of debt; examples include one borrower repaying £450 on a £300 loan and others feeling scared and intimidated by missed payment penalties. Arrested in October 2023 following a warrant executed by the England Illegal Money Lending Team, Sandwell Trading Standards, and West Midlands Police.

Daniel Clarke, a teaching assistant at a special needs school in Solihull, groomed and sexually abused vulnerable boys with special needs between 2013 and 2024. He met victims through his roles at the school, as an out-of-hours personal assistant, and via a Midlands charity organising activities for children with special educational needs. Clarke played twisted 'truth or dare' sex games, filmed the abuse, kept a list of victims, plied boys with alcohol, forced them to listen to adult content, and manipulated situations like sleepovers and water fights to facilitate the abuse, involving at least six victims.

Bladen Roper encouraged or assisted the group's fake medicines production of counterfeit Xanax in makeshift Black Country facilities with Chinese ingredients. The operation sold over £4 million on the Dark Web to US customers via Bitcoin. Separately convicted of aggravated vehicle taking. Intercepted packages and digital evidence linked him to the enterprise.

Jordan Pitts was found guilty of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence connected to a large-scale counterfeit medicines operation. The group produced fake Xanax tablets in the Black Country and sold them on the Dark Web, mainly to the USA, with payment in Bitcoin.

Alexander Westwood, a 24-year-old actor from Albrighton in Shropshire, sexually abused five victims, four of whom were children, over an 11-year period. He exploited his minor celebrity status from roles in Netflix's Sex Education and BBC's Doctors to target impressionable young girls during acting lessons. Abuses included touching victims' breasts and vagina, making them watch pornography, encouraging a young boy to touch himself, raping at least one victim on multiple occasions, and forcing victims to act out sexualised scenes. He manipulated victims by threatening to inform their principals and used contracts to continue the abuse, starting from when he was 10 years old with his first victim who was six.

Martin Gordon, 64, brandished a pistol in the street during a heated family argument in Dudley. Police were called to reports of a man pulling a gun on a woman and found him at a nearby industrial estate approximately 40 minutes later. He was discovered with a magazine containing two bullets in his pocket and the gun in his car.

Kimberley Bethell and Davinder Singh Chall, directors of Wolverhampton-based Phoenix Supported Housing CIC, promised to support a vulnerable tenant with her financial, physical and mental health but failed to do so. They provided misleading information, including not informing the tenant she would have to pay council tax when moving flats, and entered her into utilities contracts without her knowledge, transferring an existing contract into her name without permission. This caused the tenant to fall into debt, leading to her illegal eviction with 14 days' notice.

Davinder Singh Chall and Kimberley Bethell, directors of Wolverhampton-based Phoenix Supported Housing CIC, promised to support a vulnerable tenant with her financial, physical and mental health but failed to do so. They provided misleading information, including not informing the tenant she would have to pay council tax when moving flats, and entered her into utilities contracts without her knowledge, transferring an existing contract into her name without permission. This caused the tenant to fall into debt, leading to her illegal eviction with 14 days' notice.

Luigi Cucu, aged 46, from Smethwick, Sandwell, was involved in human trafficking and modern slavery from January 2018 until March 2023, affecting 14 women forced into prostitution across the country. Victims endured physical and verbal abuse, drug abuse leading to debts, financial control, coercive control, denial of medical help, and extreme working hours up to 20 hours a day. One victim was severely malnourished with bones protruding from her skin. The operation generated at least £734,400 from sexual exploitation.

Costela Soare, aged 37, from Smethwick, Sandwell, alongside Luigi Cucu, trafficked and exploited 14 women in modern slavery from January 2018 until March 2023, forcing them into prostitution nationwide. Victims suffered physical and verbal abuse, drug addiction resulting in debts, financial control, coercive control, lack of medical access, and grueling shifts up to 20 hours daily. One victim was so malnourished her bones were visible through her skin. The couple earned at least £734,400 from the exploitation.

Simon Harris, as an employee of J & J Roofing, participated in cold-calling three properties in Stourbridge in May 2019, persuading owners to have unnecessary roofing work done, such as cleaning and painting roof tiles, without providing information on cancellation rights. He was involved in targeting elderly and vulnerable residents as part of the operation.

On May 1, 2024, at 11.40am, Adyan Hussain, 22, of Salisbury Road, West Bromwich, drove a black Vauxhall Mokka in High Street, West Bromwich, and fired two shotgun rounds at a white Volkswagen Golf driven by the victim, who was waiting to turn right at the junction with Trinity Way. The first shot missed, but the second shattered the rear windscreen, causing multiple oozing wounds to the back of the victim's head, puncture wounds, and pellet wounds to his body. The incident occurred in broad daylight in a queue of traffic and was witnessed by a police officer. Hussain had been dropped off earlier by co-defendant Naveed Hussain, used a black holdall to hide the shotgun and false registration plates on the vehicle, abandoned the car in Oldbury after the shooting, and later collected it with changed plates. The victim, in his 20s, sought treatment at Midland Met Hospital but did not require major intervention. CCTV footage aided identification by West Midlands Police.

On 13 March 2023, Cameron Hancel, a former West Midlands Fire Service firefighter, was a first responder at the scene of a fatal road traffic collision. He took three photos of the deceased on his personal mobile phone and shared them with friends on WhatsApp, while also downplaying the tragic event that claimed the deceased’s life. The offence was discovered after West Midlands Police reviewed a mobile phone that had received his message.

Sarwat Raouf was involved in an organised crime group that sold illegal tobacco worth an estimated £700,000 from European Food Express on Dudley High Street between August 2016 and December 2018. The group possessed and sold counterfeit and illicit cigarettes and tobacco products, with authorities discovering hidden compartments containing thousands of untaxed cigarettes during searches.

Julie Atkins received fraudulent payments into her account from Laurna Porter, who defrauded over £634,000 from the estates of 23 deceased individuals over 13 years. A portion of the money was later transferred back to Porter. The fraud involved money intended for beneficiaries including life-saving charities such as Cancer Research and Great Ormond Street Hospital. The offences were uncovered during an audit following a discrepancy in a will involving a £5,000 payment to Atkins.

Chadney Ferguson stabbed another man multiple times in Lahmber Way, West Bromwich on May 9, 2023, causing significant but non-life-threatening injuries. He fled the scene and was later arrested in August 2023 following police appeals. Additionally, he threatened to hurt a woman while carrying a brick in Walsall Road, Stone Cross in July 2023. The incidents involved extreme violence, and he was apprehended through public information and police action.

On Easter Sunday 2024, James Davis, 35, of Croxtalls Avenue, Walsall, was driving an unregistered BMW at 67mph in a 30mph zone in a shopping area of Brownhills, Walsall. While using his phone, he veered over the centre line, collided with an oncoming car, mounted the pavement, and crashed into the pram of a two-week-old baby, who was out for the first time with his parents. The impact caused fatal head and body injuries to the baby, who died in hospital. Davis fled the scene, later admitting to a passer-by that he had killed a baby. He claimed a blackout but the court rejected this, finding phone distraction as the cause. The baby's mother suffered a broken collarbone.

Katie Harlow was involved in laundering money from a gang's counterfeit Xanax operation, which produced and sold fake tablets on the dark net. The scheme included global exports and the use of Bitcoin, with investigations tracing financial flows linked to the gang's activities.

Paul Roberts, 62, of Ashwood Avenue, Wordsley, committed multiple sex offences against children, including gross indecency and indecent assaults on boys and girls under 14 and 16, causing children under 13 to watch sexual images, and inciting a boy under 13 to engage in sexual activity. The offences involved manipulation and abuse that the victim carried for years before reporting to police. He was convicted after a trial.

Bladon Roper participated in a gang's multimillion-pound fake Xanax operation, which involved producing counterfeit tablets using pill press machines and distributing them via the dark net. The gang exported tablets internationally and laundered proceeds through Bitcoin, with evidence found during police raids in the Black Country.

Erjon Aliaj, 35, of no fixed address, was behind the wheel of a white Mercedes when he lost control at speed nearing a bend in Thimblemill Road, Smethwick, on August 28, 2023. The car mounted the kerb and smashed into four cars, including the one the victim, 62, was stepping out of after being dropped off at home by a colleague. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene despite paramedics' efforts. Aliaj was arrested at the scene.

Tyrone Moran, a 19-year-old from Holcroft Road, Oldswinford, hit pedestrian the victim, aged 27, as she was crossing the road on a pedestrian crossing on Thorns Road in Quarry Bank on September 29, 2023, at around 8pm. He fled the scene, leaving her for dead, and the car was found abandoned nearby. Moran handed himself in at a police station later that evening, and the victim was declared dead at the scene.