From a coffee jar of drugs being left in a pub to burglars who left their own blood at a crime scene, these are the criminal who made the job of police very easy.
Courts up and down the country have heard how people from Merseyside have left behind huge clues that have led to police finding out exactly who they are.
One court heard how a drug gang, with two members from Liverpool, left behind coffee jars of drugs in a Cornish pub, meanwhile another bumbling crook used a prison phone in HMP Wrexham to openly discuss drug dealing, which led to the downfall of a gang.
READ MORE: Don't miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here
READ MORE: Win a £250 Buyagift voucher and make treasured memories this Christmas
Here are some of the criminals The Liverpool ECHO has reported on in 2023.
Adrian Julienne – AJ drug line
The gang, who ran the AJ Line, were responsible for selling multi-kilos of Class A and B drugs across North Wales. They even conspired to sell cannabis in HMP Berwyn in Wrexham.
They were jailed for a total of 53 years and seven months at Mold Crown Court on Friday, December 1, 2023. The court was told one conspirator "foolishly” discussed drug dealing on an approved prison phone, and was recorded by authorities, NorthWales Live reports.
Police stopped the conspirators’ cars on the M6 and M53 motorways and found heroin and cocaine during an investigation called Operation Arch. Eight members were jailed for various Class A and Class B drug offences today, with the remainder of the gang set to face justice at a later date.
Prosecutor John Philpotts said hard drugs were sources in Liverpool and distributed to the so called "AJ Line" – named after conspirator Adrian Julienne – via courier Rebecca Brockhurst.
The court heard Adrian Julienne, 25, of Stockbridge Village, was recorded discussing drug deals on an approved prison phone while in HMP Berwyn – which the judge branded "foolish" – and made "unwitting admissions". He had at least one illicit phone while in custody too.
Richard McLean, Kieron Ellis and Kevin Condliffe
An organised drug crime ring that saw Class A drugs sent between Cornwall and Merseyside was exposed after the gang's pub mistake.
The operation saw around 140 packages sent back up north containing more than £500,000 cash. Half a kilo of heroin and cutting agent was also seized during a string of raids.
However the enterprise came tumbling down when police caught a break when coffee jars of drugs were accidentally left behind in a Cornish pub. Devon and Cornwall Police has now released mugshots of Kevin Condliffe, Richard McLean and Kieron Ellis who are all now serving considerable stretches behind bars, for their part in the organisation.
Condliffe and McLean, from Liverpool, were higher up the chain performing organisational roles, whereas Ellis from Cornwall was involved in the onward supply of the drugs once they arrived in Cornwall, Cornwall Live reports.
The three men were jailed, in April 2023, for a large-scale drugs conspiracy that saw drugs transported to Cornwall and proceeds from sales sent back to Liverpool from post offices on The Lizard peninsula. Around 140 packages were sent back up north containing more than £500,000 cash.
Alex Rigby
Alex Rigby was linked to a number of burglaries in Merseyside, North Wales and Manchester. The 41-year-old was initially arrested in April by Lancashire Constabulary in relation to a number of burglary and driving offences which occurred between April 12 to April 16.
An investigation led by Greater Manchester Police and arrested Rigby a month later in May after his blood had been found inside the address of one of his victims. Rigby was found responsible for seven burglary offences in the Greater Manchester area between February and March.
It was found he targeted his victims’ homes during the day when he was satisfied that they had left. Using the tactic of smashing the rear glass door, stealing valuable and sentimental items.
But by smashing the glass, Rigby ended up leaving his own blood at a crime scene. Rigby of Stonesteads Way, Bolton, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Friday, October 13, 2023 to seven years in prison and disqualified from driving for a period totalling three years and six months.
Bobby Allen
A "middle man" in the supply of heroin and cocaine was caught after sending pictures of his girlfriend's dog to other drug dealers.
Police discovered the "Little Book of Dennis", a photo album containing countless shots of the pet dachshund, in Bobby Allen's bedroom when they raided his grandmother's home. This ultimately identified the 27-year-old as the EncroChat user "AcidGlove", who had secretly been trading in huge quantities of class A and B illicit substances.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that messages on the encrypted communications platform evidenced that he had been involved in trafficking at least 14kg of heroin, 10kg of cocaine, 13kg of cannabis, 5kg of ketamine and 5,000 ecstasy tablets.
Allen – of no fixed address, but "born and bred" in Garston – had 76 other handles stored on his device and had been in contact with 47 of them. He was described as a "middle man through whom other EncroChat users were able to source drugs".
He was jailed for 13 years in February 2023.
Kurtis Bolton
Detectives worked out the identity of a multi-kilo cocaine trafficker using the EncroChat handle 'Ladbrookes' when a contact gave away his name in a message.
Kurtis Bolton, 26, was involved in the supply of more than 23kg of the Class A drug between March 27 and June 5, 2020, but police noted the device had been used as far back as October, 2019.
Nicola Daley, prosecuting, told the court the first clue to his identity came after he arranged for another crook, using the handle 'TastefulScooter', to come and collect some cash. Ms Daley said: "Tastefulscooter’ later indicated to another handle, 'PoundCake' that he had sorted ‘da dow’, i.e the money, with 'Kurt'.
"In another conversation, ‘Ladbrookes’ spoke about having to climb over the back into ‘Hoblyn’ and then ‘over the backs into to the allots’. At that time, the defendant lived in Collin Road in Bidston, which backed onto Hoblyn Road, which, in turn, backs onto some allotments."
Bolton, of Hoblyn Road, Bidston, was jailed for nine years and eight months, in January 2023.
Sign up to our dedicated court and crime newsletters to receive the latest news straight to your inbox.
Sign up to our crime newsletter here
Sign up to our court newsletter here
You can receive the latest court and crime news straight to your phone by joining our dedicated WhatsApp community.
Join our court and crime Facebook group here.
You can follow our court reporter Adam Everett on X, formerly known as Twitter here and our crime reporter Jonathan Humphries here.