HERE is a look at 10 court cases the Globe has covered during 2023 which shocked readers.
Richard Weild
A Wirral drug boss who boasted he could make £30,000 a week and specialised in adulterating cocaine for organised crime groups (OCGs) across the country was jailed for 19 years and six months.
Richard Weild, 39, of Mount Pleasant Road, Wallasey, was known for his expertise in bulking out multi-kilo deals of cocaine with 'brand' labels stamped into individual blocks.
Weild, whose clothing and watch collection was worth at least £70,000, operated on the encrypted communications platform EncroChat under the name Blacklable.
Weild was sentenced on the basis that he admitted supplying five kilos of heroin, 176 kilos of cocaine and 200 kilos of cannabis - although investigators believe he may have supplied hundreds more to his own customers over a number of years.
You can read the full report here.
Paul McKee
A former children’s entertainer from Wirral was jailed for 30 years for multiple sex offences involving children.
Paul McKee, 57, who was known professionally as Professor Paulos, was found guilty of 13 offences involving seven children over a period of nearly 25 years.
McKee, originally from Wallasey Village, was located and arrested in Thailand in September 2022 by the Royal Thai Police before being extradited to stand trial in Liverpool.
He was found guilty after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court last month and jailed for 30 years with a further four years on extended licence on July 24.
You can read the full report here.
Rory Pearson and Chelsea Mighall
A terrifying road rage incident, involving a lengthy pursuit and culminating in a machete attack, landed a Wirral couple behind bars.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the incident began after Chelsea Mighall lost her temper following a confrontation having pulled into a stream of traffic.
While pursuing the other car- in which there was a nine-year-old child - in a “bullying” manner she made 16 calls to her partner Rory Pearson who eventually turned up armed with the lethal weapon.
The other driver, Peter Hamlet, tried to flee across a car park but was cornered by Pearson who caused a long gaping wound to his left arm with the machete.
Pearson, of Arley Close, Beechwood, Birkenhead, 33, was jailed for five years and as the judge ruled that he is a dangerous offender he imposed an extended two year licence.
Mighall, a 35-year-old mum of two, of Worcester Road, Bidston, Wirral, sat with her face in her hands as she was jailed for two years and banned from driving for 26 months.
You can read the full report here.
Shaun Chapple
A Wirral dad who threatened to cut his ex-partner open like a “can of beans” was jailed in September.
Shaun Chapple, 26, from Tranmere, appeared via video link at Liverpool Crown Court for breaching a restraining order six times and causing criminal damage.
The breaches occurred between December 2022 and January and March 2023 with Chapple repeatedly contacting and visiting his ex-partner who he had been banned from doing so by a court order.
The defendant, who has a four-year-old daughter with the woman, had been in a relationship with her for 10 years before they separated two years ago.
Chapple was sentenced to two years in prison and handed a 10-year restraining order.
You can read the full report here.
Connor Griffiths
A drug dealer was jailed for six years for his role in a terrifying home invasion during which a couple were attacked with a machete and a pick axe.
Connor Griffiths, 22, wept in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court as the horrific details of the incident which took place in Rock Ferry last year were recounted by prosecutor Will Beardmore.
Mr Beardmore described how at around 10am on April 7 2022, George Thompson-Murray was visiting Sayers to buy some breakfast when he encountered a neighbour, Joseph Westbury.
An ongoing feud between the two resulted in an argument during which Mr Westbury issued a number of threats and said: "watch what happens now" before CCTV captured him sprinting home.
You can read the full report here.
Anthony Shackleton
A burglar who sexually assaulted a frail 81-year-old woman in her own home has "blighted her twilight years", a court heard.
As well as molesting his terrified victim and placing a ball in her mouth to keep her quiet, Anthony Shackleton stole her purse containing an irreplaceable gold bracelet - the last present given to her by her son before he was murdered.
A judge ruled that the defendant, who was high on drink and drugs when he raided the sheltered accommodation complex on the Wirral, is a dangerous offender and put him behind bars for five years and ten months and imposed a four year extended licence.
“The burglary of a dwelling home would have been despicable enough in the circumstances but you went on in the course of the burglary to commit a sexual assault on the victim.
“What dark deviant impulse led you to do that is hard to glean,” said Judge Robert Trevor-Jones.
You can read the full report here.
Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy
Two thugs, whose brutal daytime attack on a man was captured on a doorbell camera, were jailed.
Kieran Salkeld, 28, and Jake Duffy, 22, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing following the incident on the junction of Bedford Road and Highfield Road, Rock Ferry, on December 23 last year.
Katy Appleton, prosecuting, described how at around 11.45am in the morning, Salkeld and Duffy were driving along Highfield Road when their vehicle approached the victim, named in court as Sam Searson, who was riding a bicycle.
In footage shown to the court taken from a Ring video doorbell camera, Mr Searson can be seen running before Salkeld confronts him and pushes him through a gate and into the front garden of a house.
Duffy then joins the attack and the pair can be seen repeatedly punching and stamping on Mr Searson's head after he is pushed to the ground.
At one point Mr Searson manages to clamber to his feet but Salkeld and Duffy continue to rain down punches. One of the men says "leave it lad you're going to get nicked". The other replies "You think I give a s*** about getting nicked?".
Ms Appleton said: "During the assault, several bystanders witness the events and at one point a female is heard on the footage, shouting to the defendants to stop the assault, stating that there were children present."
Salkeld was sentenced to 27 months in prison and Duffy to two years.
You can read the full report here.
Ellis Price and Jordan Hawkes
Two men were jailed for their involvement in a street brawl in Birkenhead last year.
On Sunday, November 6, 2022 at around 4am, it was reported that a group of people were involved in a fight on Conway Street.
The incident is thought to have started outside a bar when a group of men gathered outside while two other people were fighting.
According to witnesses, the incident escalated into a "large-scale" fight between several men and one woman, who was punched and knocked unconscious as the fighting continued onto nearby Argyle Street.
On Monday, December 18 at Liverpool Crown Court, both Ellis Price, 26, and Jordan Hawkes, 27, pleaded guilty to affray and were sentenced.
Price, of Pennine Road, Prenton, was jailed for 18 months while Hawkins, of Autumn Grove, Rock Ferry was jailed for nine months.
You can read the report here.
Dominic Jordan
A man who attacked two police officers during an incident at a Wirral hostel for the homeless was jailed.
Dominic Jordan, 37, of no fixed abode, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday, September 13 and pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker and assault.
On Wednesday, August 9 this year, Jordan locked himself inside a toilet in the reception area of the YMCA, on Whetstone Lane in Birkenhead and was abusive towards staff.
Police officers attended and Jordan became aggressive, biting an officer on his arm, which caused a significant puncture wound.
He also kicked another officer in the face, but thankfully this didn’t cause a serious injury.
He was jailed for two years and four months.
You can read the full report here.
Jwamer Saygul
A predator was jailed for nine years after raping a Ukrainian refugee in a Neston park last year.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that Jwamer Saygul, 24, of Ringway in Neston, raped the woman in a park in Neston on October, 3 2022.
He had met the woman, who had fled to this country from the ongoing war in Ukraine, on a bus from Chester City centre.
He said he was keen to get to know her better and arranged to meet her in Neston. They went to a park and he tried to initiate sexual contact.
When she rejected him, he grabbed her by the neck, threw her to the floor and raped her. She managed to run away and rang a friend who called the Police.
Saygul was arrested. He told officers in an interview that sexual intercourse had been initiated by the victim and it was consensual.
He was charged with rape but pleaded not guilty at Chester Crown Court on 3 November 2022. A trial began on 3 April 2023. The jury went out on Thursday, April 5 2023. They took just 25 minutes to return a guilty verdict.
He was sentenced to nine years in custody the same day. He has been placed on the Sexual Offenders Register for life.
You can read the full report here.
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