£1m thief, killer arsonists and murdering boyfriend among 18 criminals jailed this week
A motorist who was caught with £10,000 of cocaine when he was pulled over on a motorway, two arsonists who killed a grandad when they set fire to the "wrong house" in a "retaliatory attack" and a murdering boyfriend were among the Merseyside criminals jailed over the past week.
Also locked up was a woman who stole nearly £1million from the solicitors firm for whom she worked after falling victim to a "romance fraud". Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a gang smuggled £2million of cannabis into the country through Seaforth Docks on a shipment of broccoli, lettuce and kale.
Here are the faces of 18 criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:
Manjit Singh
Manjit Singh (Image: Merseyside Police)
A woman stole nearly £1million from her employer and gave it to a man who did not exist.
Manjit Singh pinched the huge sum from the solicitors' firm[2] for whom she worked and transferred the monies into the bank account of a supposed lover she had met on a dating website. But, unbeknown to her, she herself was falling victim to a "romance fraud", as this new boyfriend was in fact entirely fictitious and to date has not been traced by the police.
Singh admitted eight counts of fraud by abuse of position. The 60-year-old was jailed for two years.
Daniel Doyle
Daniel Martin Doyle, of Cotsford Close in Page Moss, appeared at Mold Crown Court (Image: North Wales Police)
A dad went back to drug dealing due to owing money to people "you can't say no to".
Daniel Doyle, of Cotsford Close in Page Moss, came to the attention of police as part of the 'Operation Toxic' investigation into county lines dealing. Detectives found a number which sent out numerous "flare messages" - texts advertising drugs for sale - by a Liverpool-based ringing supplying drugs in the Rhyl area.
The 21-year-old was previously convicted for being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin last October and was handed a 21-month suspended sentence. Judge Rhys Rowlands jailed Doyle for a total of four-and-a-half years after he pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin.
Dean Critchley and Jay Young
Jay Young, 29, of Lower Breck Road, in Liverpool
Police can now stop and search two men whenever they wish after securing serious violence reduction orders against them.
Dean Critchley, 29, of Pennine Drive, St Helens, was arrested on Friday, June 9 2023 when he was in possession of two kitchen knives and threatened someone at a venue on Broad Oak Road. He was later charged with affray, threatening a person with a bladed article in a public place and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
Critchley was sentenced to two years in prison and also handed a two-year SVRO. This means that once he is released from prison, police will have the power to stop and search him in public to check whether he has a dangerous weapon.
Dean Critchley, 29, of Pennine Drive, St Helens
In a separate case, Jay Young, 29, of Lower Breck Road in Anfield, was arrested on Tuesday, June 20 2023 after being found in possession of a lock knife at the junction of Sheil Road and Molyneux Road, Kensington. He was jailed for four months for possession of a bladed article in a public place and also handed a two-year SVRO.
David Hunter, Stephen Quigley, Gary McEvatt, Gary Sarson, John Ianson and Andrew Unsworth
David Hunter, 51, who organised the shipment of cannabis worth £2million into Seaforth docks (Image: National Crime Agency)
A "highly organised" crime ring with links throughout Europe were caught red-handed after shipping £2million of cannabis into Seaforth docks stashed in pallets of broccoli, kale and lettuce.
The "professional" firm took careful steps to hide their plot, setting up a business under false names, hiring warehouse units in Malaga and the UK and even getting t-shirts printed bearing the logo of the front company - LB Wholesale. The group also organised a "dummy run", sending an innocent shipment of broccoli, aubergines and lettuce around a month before the illicit load.
Liverpool Crown Court heard David Hunter, 51, was at the head of the conspiracy, closely supported by his trusted associates, 48-year-old Stephen Quigley and Gary McEvatt, 38. The leaders of the group, described as "professionals" by a top judge, all have other convictions for high-level drug trafficking.
Surveillance photos of Stephen Quigley, part of a gang who smuggled £2million of cannabis into Seaforth docks (Image: National Crime Agency)
Also involved in the conspiracy were Gary Sarson, 61; who played a "significant role", and John Ianson, 58, and Andrew Unsworth, 41, both described as minions paid to do the "heavy lifting". All six men appeared for sentence on Wednesday, more than five years after the shipment was intercepted.
Gary Sarson, left, and Gary McKevatt, part of a gang who smuggled £2million of cannabis into Seaforth docks (Image: NCA)
Hunter, of HMP Buckley Hall, was jailed for four years and eight months, to run consecutively to his existing nine years and seven months sentence. Quigley, of no fixed address, was jailed for five years and two months. Sarson, of Wigeon Row, Lytham St Annes, was jailed for five years.
John Ianson, 58 (Image: NCA)
McKevatt, of Harefinch Green, Speke, was jailed for four years and 10 months. Ianson, of Prenton Green, Speke, was jailed for 25 months, while Unsworth, of North Street, St Helens, was jailed for two and a half years.
Gheorghe Lupu
Gheorghe Lupu (Image: Merseyside Police)
A delivery driver had an affair with a woman then went on to send an explicit video of them together to her husband and elderly mum.
The was left "broken" after Gheorghe Lupu recorded them engaged in sexual activity before sending the explicit materials to her partner and mother on Christmas Eve. The married dad was said to have become "obsessed" with her, with his crimes apparently being an attempt to strongarm her into continuing their relationship.
Lupu admitted disclosing a private sexual image and was found guilty of theft by a jury following a trial. He was jailed for 12 months and handed a five-year restraining order.
Louis Griffiths
Louis Griffiths (Image: Cheshire Police)
A woman woke up after a night out to find a stranger sexually assaulting her.
Louis Griffiths invited his victim and her friends back to his home after befriending them in a takeaway in the early hours. But the 21-year-old performed a sex act on her after she had fallen asleep, then flew into a rage when he was confronted over his predatory behaviour.
Griffiths admitted sexual assault. He was jailed for 12 months and told to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.
Jonathan Jackson
Jonathan Jackson, 34, and his girlfriend Katie Jones, 26, were caught with 250g of cocaine after being stopped on the M4 (Image: South Wales Police)
A couple claimed they were "visiting family'" when they were stopped on a motorway with £10k of cocaine.
Jonathan Jackson, 34, and Katie Jones, 26, were pulled over by police on the M4 motorway when they were on their way back from Liverpool on May 23 2023. The car was searched and 250g of cocaine was found in a central console.
Jones initially claimed she had travelled to Liverpool to see her family but they weren't in. Recorder Andrew Hammond sentenced Jackson to a total of 33 months imprisonment and Jones to 18 months imprisonment suspended for 24 months.
Liam Carson
Liam Carson (Image: Merseyside Police)
A drug dealer's little brother was stabbed in the face outside McDonald's while his mum's house was petrol bombed after he racked up a £10,000 debt.
Liam Carson allegedly came under threat from those higher up the chain and put to work in the "Curly" and "JJ" county lines heroin and cocaine rings. This saw the 22-year-old and his associates unsuccessfully attempt to hide from the police under a tree on one occasion.
Carson admitted supplying heroin and cocaine, two counts of being concerned in the supply of heroin, two charges of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and possession of cannabis. He was jailed for four years and eight months.
Joseph Triggs
Joseph Triggs, of Ashton Square, Woolton (Image: Merseyside Police)
A 23-year-old drug dealer was taken to jail with his head in his hands as his heartbroken mother and girlfriend sobbed.
Joseph Triggs, of Ashton Square, Woolton, was found "passed out" in the back of a car with his nose covered in cocaine in the early hours of March 25 2022. The 23-year-old had multiple bags of cocaine and ketamine on him, with a total estimated value of up to £2,610.
Large quantities of drugs were found in Triggs' house, including a 30.07g of cocaine, 37.g of crack cocaine, 26.48g of heroin, and 32.45g of ketamine with a total estimated value of up to £4,760. Scales and machete were also found, and he was jailed for 31 months.
Fraser Dolman and Wayne Hepburn
Fraser Dolman (Image: Merseyside Police)
The two men admitted manslaughter after a grandad died in a fire.
George Redmond was killed aged 76 after his house on Dorien Road in Old Swan was set alight in the early hours of September 1 last year. Liverpool Crown Court heard that the arsonists "targeted the wrong house" in what was intended as a "retaliatory attack".
Fraser Dolman, of Richmond Drive in Leigh, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy to commit arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered in connection with the incident. The 37-year-old who also admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine, was jailed for 16 years and three months.
Wayne Hepburn, of Kingsley Avenue in Salford, admitted manslaughter and arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. The 47-year-old was handed 15 years.
Wayne Hepburn (Image: Merseyside Police)
Henry Riding, prosecuting, told the court: "This appears to have been an arson attack because of some drugs problem. They were not intending to burn down the house of the occupant.
"It was a warning of some description, a retaliatory attack as far as the supposed occupants were concerned. Mr Hepburn, in effect, targeted the wrong house."
Liam Cain
Liam Cain murdered his girlfriend Courtney Boorne by strangling her to death aged 20 at the couple's flat on Quarry Green Heights in Kirkby (Image: Merseyside Police)
Liam Cain has been locked up for life with a minimum term of 17 years for the murder of Courtney Bourne.
The 19-year-old was found unanimously guilty of murdering his girlfriend by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court after one hour and nine minutes of deliberations. She was heard screaming out of the window of the couple's 14th storey flat on Quarry Green Heights in Kirkby moments before police discovered her lifeless body on a bed inside, having been strangled to death aged 20.
Cain's trial heard that a neighbour had rang 999 on December 23 last year reporting that she could see a woman in an apartment opposite "screaming and climbing onto the window ledge". Gordon Cole KC added during the prosecution's opening: "She said that the female appeared to be shouting at someone inside the flat.
"Courtney Boorne was heard to shout 'please'. She was crying and she was shouting, 'he has all the doors locked and he won't let me out'."
Another witness also called the police to "report a female shouting out of the window, screaming, shouting 'call the police, he's choking me'". Mr Cole said: "She was described as screaming, and the window was then closed."
Officers then attended the top floor property "very quickly" and had to force entry upon their arrival shortly before 5pm. They discovered Ms Boorne unconscious in the bedroom with "visible marks to her neck".
She was rushed to Aintree Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 7.02pm. A post-mortem investigation later found that she had suffered a cardiac arrest "because of the asphyxia, the strangulation, the smothering of her by this defendant".
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References
- ^ 'Teenage tearaway' walks free after battering pensioner in own home (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ Manjit Singh pinched the huge sum from the solicitors' firm (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)