Dozens of huge prison sentences were handed down to Merseyside crooks this year.
Jail terms north of 20 years are reserved for only the most serious of cases. And those given two decades or more behind bars over the past 12 months included killers, sex offenders and dealers who trafficked drugs and guns on encrypted communications platform EncroChat.
The heaviest sentences were handed down killers of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Elle Edwards and Ashley Dale. These are 28 criminals who were locked up for 20 years or more by the courts during 2023.
READ MORE: These are the faces of 505 Merseyside criminals who were jailed during 2023
David O'Brien
A man said "I don't like bullies" as he was jailed for life for attempted murder.
David O'Brien attacked a fellow patient at Ashworth Hospital with a metal bar as they worked out in the facility's gym, striking him twice over the head with the makeshift weapon. Afterwards, he told doctors that he "had been hearing voices in his head telling him to kill his victim" – whom he wanted to "stab in the eyes".
The 45-year-old admitted attempted murder in relation to the incident at the high security psychiatric hospital in Maghull on November 29, 2021, but claimed that the target of his savage attack was a "bully". O'Brien was handed a lifetime imprisonment for a third time at Liverpool Crown Court, with each being imposed for the same offence.
His latest life sentence came with a minimum term of 21 years and seven months.
Read the full story here.
Carl MacDowall and Carlton Mullen
A man was kidnapped and shot by a gang who demanded a ransom after his relative scooped a £50,000 jackpot.
The victim was blasted in the leg with a shotgun and abandoned on a dark and secluded country lane, having been held against his will for hours by masked men Carl MacDowall, Carlton Mullen and Kieran Kristensen. The thugs laughed and joked as they were handed lengthy prison terms at Liverpool Crown Court.
They were found guilty of kidnapping, wounding with intent and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence by a jury. MacDowall and Mullen previously admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply and were handed 20 years plus an extended three-year licence period while Kristensen was jailed for 16 years and given an additional three years on licence.
Read the full story here.
Erland Spahiu, Curtis Balbas, Martin Smith, Razgar Mohammed, Alan Jaf, Khalil Awla, Dean O'Neill-Davey, and Erion Voja
Eight men were jailed for life after abducting and brutally murdering a former boxer.
Christopher Hughes' mutilated body was discovered on a country road on the outskirts of Skelmersdale by a dogwalker after he was bundled into the back of an Audi by and viciously attacked. The 37-year-old suffered nearly 100 separate injuries, having been hunted down by a vigilante gang who wrongly believed the dad had raped a teenager.
Erland Spahiu, of White Moss Road in Skelmersdale, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 34-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 35 years.
Curtis Balbas, of Matheson Drive in Wigan, pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping. The 30-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 34 years.
Martin Smith, of Greenwood Avenue in Wigan, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 34-year-old shook his head, took a sip of water then threw his plastic cup to the floor after he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years.
Razgar Mohammed, of Plane Avenue in Wigan, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 40-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years.
Alan Jaf, of Ridyard Street in Wigan, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 52-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years.
Khalil Awla, of Greenwood Avenue in Wigan, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 48-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 26 years.
Dean O’Neill-Davey, of Conrad Close in Wigan, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 30-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years.
Erion Voja, of Peall Road in Croydon, was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. The 21-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years.
He ranted at the judge after learning his sentence, saying: "I know myself, I'm no murderer. I'll get my justice one day you t***."
Voja continued his outburst after being led into the cells, where he reportedly began punching walls. He added: "I don't give a f*** any more."
Andrius Uzkuraitis, of Holly Road in Wigan, was acquitted of murder and kidnapping but convicted of assisting an offender. The 27-year-old was jailed for six years.
Read the full story here.
Thomas Cashman
Thomas Cashman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
The 34-year-old, of Grenadier Drive in West Derby, was unanimously found guilty of murdering the nine-year-old schoolgirl by a jury. She was shot dead in her own home on Kingsheath Avenue in Dovecot in one of the most horrific crimes in Merseyside's history.
Cashman, who had been pursuing and shooting at his intended target Joseph Nee, refused to appear in the dock to learn his sentence. Trial judge Mrs Justice Yip described his actions as "disrespectful to the family of the deceased".
Gasps were heard among Olivia's family as the sentence was passed, with one man heard to say "yes", while her mum Cheryl was seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
Sentencing, Justice Yip said: "The killing of Olivia Pratt-Korbel is an offence that shocked not only the city of Liverpool, but the nation. Olivia’s name is likely to be remembered for many years.
"She should not be remembered only for her dreadful last moments. Her family have spoken of Olivia in life and of the hopes and dreams for her future, which were so cruelly snatched away.
"It is plain that Olivia was a lovely little girl, who cared for others and brightened the lives of her family and friends. They have suffered an unimaginable loss which they must carry for the rest of their lives."
Read the full story here.
Graham Minards
A dad used an international network of criminal contacts in countries such as Colombia, Brazil and Dubai as he flooded the UK with tens of millions of pounds of cocaine and heroin.
Importer Graham Minards, who used the secret pseudonym "Calm Tea" on EncroChat as he traded in more than 1,300kg of class A drugs, is now beginning a lengthy jail term. Described as a "leading player nationally" and being "in the higher echelons" of organised crime, he and his business partner Peter Bradshaw – aka "Stocky Giant" armed themselves with hand grenades and were ready to recruit "lads who blow any c***'s head off" in order to fend off serious threats after falling into large sums of debt.
Minards admitted conspiracy to import heroin and cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ketamine, amphetamine and cannabis. He was jailed for 21 years.
Bradshaw admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamine and cannabis. He was jailed for 19 years.
Read the full story here.
Callen Chandler-Jones
A vile rapist repeatedly sexually abused a vulnerable woman as she slept.
Callen Chandler-Jones' sickening assaults left her "completely broken" and feeling as though she had been "treated like an object". He admitted two counts of rape and was jailed for 20 years, as well as being handed an additional eight-year licence period.
Read the full story here.
Liam Chung
A cocaine dealing kickboxer supplied a semi-automatic firearm as part of a secret plot to shoot two brothers.
Liam Chung also directed the trafficking of huge, multi-kilo quantities of heroin, cannabis and amphetamine in the Merseyside area from his base hundreds of miles away in Spain. The thug who planned the shooting claimed that he "wouldn't stop" until his target had been shot.
Chung admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and cannabis, conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon and possession of criminal property. Wearing a white shirt and a sky blue shirt in the dock, he nodded as he was jailed for 20 years.
Read the full story here.
Connor Chapman
Connor Chapman was jailed for life with a minimum term of 48 years after being found guilty of the murder of Elle Edwards.
The popular beautician was shot dead aged 26 outside the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey, Wirral, on Christmas Eve last year. She was described as the "wholly innocent" victim of the culmination of a violent feud between rival gangs based on the Woodchurch and Beechwood estates.
Chapman opened fire 12 times with a military grade Skorpion submachine gun in a bid to kill Kieran Salkeld and Jake Duffy, members of the latter organised crime group, shortly before midnight on December 24. But Elle was struck by three of these bullets and was killed almost instantly.
Three other men – Liam Carr, Harry Loughran and Nicholas Speed – were also shot during the incident. Chapman was convicted of murder after three hours and 48 minutes of deliberations by the jury.
He was also found guilty of attempting to murder Salkeld and Duffy, wounding with intent against Mr Carr and Mr Loughran, assault occasioning actual bodily harm against Mr Speed and possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life. The 23-year-old, of Houghton Road in Woodchurch, previously admitted handling stolen goods in relation to a Mercedes A Class used by the gunman.
Read the full story here.
Paul McKee
A children's entertainer known as "Professor Paulos" could spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was unmasked as a "predatory paedophile" who treated young girls "like little sex slaves".
Magician Paul McKee, who was well-known in the Wirral area, subjected seven victims to a catalogue of sickening abuse over the course of nearly 25 years. The 57-year-old had to be extradited back to the UK from Thailand in order to face justice over his horrific crimes.
McKee was convicted of 13 child sexual offences, including rape and sexual assault, after a trial as well as being cleared of two further counts. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 30 years – a term of which he must serve at least two thirds before becoming eligible for release – and handed an additional four-year licence period.
Read the full story here.
Craig Gallagher
A pair of brothers called on contacts in Brazil, the Netherlands and Spain as they plotted to import cocaine and supply firearms on a "breathtaking" scale.
Craig and Ashley Gallagher had ambitions to flood the UK with hundreds of kilograms of class A drugs every week while arranging the sale of a frightening arsenal of guns, including AK-47 assault rifles and semi-automatic AR-15s. While the former was handed a lengthy prison sentence over their multi-million pound operation, his older sibling remains on the run from the law and is believed to be in hiding abroad.
Craig Gallagher admitted conspiracy to import cocaine, conspiracy to supply cannabis, conspiracy to convert criminal property and assisting an offence of conspiracy to transfer firearms. Appearing remotely from HMP Liverpool, he shook his head after being jailed for 24 years before leaving the video link booth.
Read the full story here.
Darren Ablett
A cocaine trafficker was rumbled thanks in part to a picture showing him with his feet up watching Spider-Man.
The infiltration of EncroChat by law enforcement authorities in 2020 saw a light shone on the criminal underworld, with those using the network to trade in drugs and illegal weapons having their previously secret discussions laid bare for the world to see. And when investigators combed through the communications of the service user behind the monikers "HonestMallet" and "IvyHound", who had been connected to the supply of 27.5kg of cocaine, they discovered a whole host of clues which led them straight to the door of Darren Ablett's home in Melling.
This trail of breadcrumbs included chatter about Hollyoaks, luxury cars, "making millions" and previous spells spent behind bars. He had also spoke of supposed warnings made to one of his debtors, in which he was said to have threatened that he was "gonna blow his and his dad's wigs off".
Ablett was found unanimously guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine by a jury after only an hour of deliberations. He was jailed for 20 years.
Read the full story here.
Brian Taylor
A rapist who portrayed himself as "hard-working" to the outside world was actually a "manipulator and a monster".
Brian Taylor, from Wallasey, sexually abused several young victims over a period of more than 30 years. After raping one girl, the 73-year-old told her he would buy her "a bag of chips to shut her up" and on another occasion "hit her across the face".
He admitted rape and sexual assault. Taylor was jailed for 24 years and given an additional two years on licence.
Read the full story here.
John Lewis
A gang of would-be hitmen hunted a rival “in a pack” and pumped bullets into his car outside a busy primary school.
John Lewis, now 23, who went by the street name ‘Stitch’, was one of four men on two stolen motorbikes who chased a Ford Fiesta, containing victim Jack Hayes, and cornered it at the entrance to the Shell garage on Borough Road, Birkenhead, on November 26, 2019.
As Mr Hayes’ then girlfriend, who was driving the car, desperately tried to do a U-turn, a gunman hopped off one of the bikes and fired six shots into the passenger side of the vehicle using a self-loading handgun. A seventh stray bullet missed.
The attack is believed to be related to the ongoing feud between wild, dangerous and ruthless organised crime groups based around the Woodchurch estate and the Beechwood or Ford estate in Wirral. Mr Hayes, from the Beechwood area, was hit in the thigh, arm and shoulder but underwent surgery and survived the attack. He refused to co-operate with police when he was spoken to in hospital. Lewis, from Home Farm Road in Woodchurch, was convicted of involvement in the shooting in June last year after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
Alongside him in the dock during that case was fellow Woodchurch gang thug Connor Chapman, who was found not guilty and released from custody. However less than six months later, on Christmas Eve, Chapman killed "wholly innocent" 26-year-old beautician Elle Edwards in another botched gang hit outside the Lighthouse Pub in Wallasey Village.
Lewis appeared for sentence on Thursday over the shooting, as well as a conspiracy to sell drugs and firearms using EncroChat encrypted phones. He was jailed for a total of 24 years with an extended five years on licence.
Read the full story here.
John Barton
Two EncroChat dealers involved in separate multi-million pound drug supply plots were linked together through the brokering of a handgun.
John Barton admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis and conspiracy to sell or transfer a prohibited weapon. He was jailed for 21 years.
Daniel Rushworth, pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to supply cocaine and cannabis, possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis and money laundering. He was jailed for 16 years and four months.
Read the full story here.
Michael McGrane
A "depraved, evil" paedophile repeatedly raped a little girl years before he would go on to sexually assault and murder a pregnant woman while playing doctor in Australia.
Michael McGrane, 62, systematically abused the young girl throughout the 1970s and 80s, grooming her with presents and sweets while sexually assaulting and raping her "hundreds of times". The predator later qualified as a doctor and moved to Brisbane, where he drugged and molested multiple female patients, including seven months pregnant Yuen Ling Chan, who reported what he had done to the Australian Health Rights Commission.
Two months later, McGrane murdered her by injecting her with a fatal dose of morphine. He was jailed for life in 2001, four years after the killing, and in 2003 he admitted sexually abusing nine other women, at least four of whom were drugged.
Despite his life sentence, he was later released and deported to the UK in 2013. In December 2022, he landed in the docks once again after being caught with nearly 1,600 indecent images of children. Now the "depraved" killer is back behind bars, being given 23 years after being found guilty of rape, buggery and indecent assault in relation to historic offences.
Read the full story here.
Niall Barry, James Witham, Joseph Peers and Sean Zeisz
Ashley Dale's killers were jailed for a combined total of 173 years.
The 28-year-old council worker was shot dead in her own home on Leinster Road in Old Swan in the early hours of August 21 last year. James Witham, Joseph Peers, Niall Barry and Sean Zeisz were unanimously convicted of her murder following a seven-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
They were also found guilty of conspiracy to murder Ms Dale's boyfriend Lee Harrison and conspiracy to possess a prohibited weapon, namely a Skorpion submachine gun, and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Ian Fitzgibbon was cleared of these three charges while a sixth defendant, Kallum Radford, was acquitted of assisting an offender.
The verdicts were delivered on Monday afternoon after nine hours and 22 minutes of deliberations by a jury of five men and seven women. All three returned to the same court to be sentenced on Wednesday.
Gunman Witham was imprisoned for life with a minimum term of 43 years, and getaway driver Peers was told he must serve at least 41 years behind bars before he will become eligible for release. "Organisers" Barry and Zeisz were also handed life sentences with 47 and 42 year tariffs.
Read the full story here.
John Madden
A drug gang hid millions of pounds worth of class A drugs in a lorry full of raspberry sorbet.
The huge haul of cocaine and heroin was imported into the UK from Belgium before being discovered by police at a frozen food warehouse unit in Bilsthorpe, Nottinghamshire. The drugs were found stowed in 26 pallets of raspberry sorbet on a lorry trailer.
John Madden, from Kirkby, pleaded guilty to conspiring to fraudulently evade a prohibition on the importation of a class A drug and was jailed for 21 years.
Read the full story here.
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