A murderer who stabbed a man to death after an afternoon in the pub, a £700,000 cocaine courier who led police on a 130mph chase in his Range Rover and a sex offending father and son were among the Merseyside criminals jailed over the past week.
Also locked up was a burglar who was caught red-handed after tunnelling his way into a phone shop in order to steal £15,000 of stock. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that stunned pensioner discovered a loaded revolver stashed inside an Armani man bag behind his garden shed while he was chasing a cat.
Here are the faces of nine criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:
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Dylan Maher
A stunned pensioner discovered a loaded revolver stashed inside an Armani bag behind his garden shed while he was chasing a cat.
The antique gun was loaded with four bullets in the chamber and was found to have been fired previously. Convicted drug dealer Dylan Maher would later be linked forensically to the potentially deadly weapon, but unsuccessfully tried to claim that it had been forced into his mouth by a gang of thugs.
Maher was unanimously found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon and ammunition and possession of a firearm and ammunition when prohibited for life by a jury after around 45 minutes of deliberations. He was jailed for eight years.
Patrick Holt
A drugs courier carrying nearly £700,000 of cocaine tore through a farmer's field in his Range Rover as he desperately attempted to flee from police.
Officers chased Patrick Holt over a distance of more than 30 miles at up to 130mph before he was finally stopped, at which point a suitcase full of illicit class A substances was found stashed in the boot of his car. A judge told the dad that it was "amazing" that he had not seriously injured or killed innocent members of the public during the high speed pursuit, which lasted for nearly half an hour.
Holt admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply and dangerous driving. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for six years and banned from driving for four-and-a-half years.
Mark Allen
A dad wanted to do a favour for a friend but ended up behind bars with him.
Mark Allen visited HMP Risley in Warrington with drugs stashed down his trousers. He then claimed that he had only attempted to smuggle the cannabis into the jail "to be a good mate" to prisoner Damon Barnes.
The forklift truck driver admitted conveying a prohibited article into a prison. Appearing in the dock wearing a light purple shirt and a tie, Allen was jailed for eight months.
Callum Ashes
A thug who repeatedly stabbed an undercover police officer has been put back behind bars after a Sunday morning street brawl.
Callum Ashes armed himself with a bottle as the violence unfolded in front of shocked onlookers in Liverpool city centre, with one woman pleading with the participants to "pack it in". The dad was said to have "taken positive steps to turn his life around" following his previous serious conviction, but his drunken night out has landed him back inside a prison cell.
Ashes, who was recalled to prison on licence following this latest incident, admitted affray. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 10 months.
Gary Lindop
A burglar tunnelled his way into a phone shop but was caught red-handed by a stunned worker.
Despite being rumbled, an unperturbed Gary Lindop nonchalantly warned the staff member "don't you f***ing do anything" before clambering back through a hole in a wall he had fashioned in order to help himself to thousands of pounds of goods. The serial offender has now amassed a shocking criminal record consisting of more than 150 offences.
Lindop admitted burglary. He was jailed for 16 months.
Liam Worthington
A man who was attacked by a stranger after chatting to him in a bar believes he is "lucky he wasn't killed".
Neil Warnock was seriously injured during a mass brawl at the Allotment in Birkdale, being left with a broken cheekbone and medial ligament damage in his knee while his girlfriend was heavily pregnant at home. The altercation was sparked when Liam Worthington struck the father-to-be in the face with a brutal unprovoked punch, which came only moments after the victim had had his arm around his attacker in a warm embrace.
The 36-year-old admitted wounding without intent. He was jailed for 20 months.
Terrence Brown
A father and son subjected two young girls to a catalogue of horrifying abuse.
Terrence and Lee Brown sexually assaulted and raped the same victims over the course of several years. But they were apparently unaware of one another's heinous crimes.
The dad was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault, three of engaging in sexual activity with a child, four charges of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child by a jury after a trial. He appeared to be crying and shaking his head in the dock as he was jailed for six-and-a-half years on Friday.
His 21-year-old son admitted two counts of rape, two charges of sexual assault, two of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and two of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. He was locked up for four years and four months in May.
Michael Martin
An EncroChat dealer who used the handle "Lucozade" named his price for guns and drugs to "criminal contacts".
Michael Martin, of Dover Road in Maghull, used the EncroChat handle between March and May 2020. The 39-year-old also discussed the sale of firearms including an AR15 laser firearm with 50 bullets available for £11,500.
He admitted conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs, conspiracy to possess a firearm without a certificate, possession of criminal property and possession of a controlled drug. Martin was jailed for 18 years and five months.
Learose Cheng
A woman who stabbed a man to death after an afternoon in the pub has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years.
Learose Cheng was unanimously convicted of murdering Dylan Bacon by a jury of four men and eight women on Monday. The 27-year-old returned to Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced on Friday and showed no reaction as she was told she must remain behind bars until at least 2038.
Mr Bacon died aged 39 on March 14 last year after being found collapsed in a pool of his own blood outside a block of flats on Rock Grove in Old Swan. A trail of blood led police back to Cheng's apartment, after which she told officers that Mr Bacon had knifed her then "killed himself because he didn't want to go to prison".
She later accepted that she had been responsible for inflicting his fatal wounds. However, the defendant claimed that she did not remember doing so and claimed that Mr Bacon had "stalked and preyed" on her in allegedly following her home from the pub in her intoxicated state.
Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC said: "I do not accept that you have no recollection of the events inside your flat. In my view, it is far more likely that your asserted loss of memory is a device to avoid explaining the circumstances in which you stabbed Dylan Bacon.
"During the trial, you did your best to paint Dylan Bacon in a bad light. I have no doubt that you exaggerated Dylan Bacon’s faults to support the suggestion, made on your behalf, that you stabbed him in order to defend yourself from an actual or threatened physical or sexual assault.
"You gave no evidence to support that suggestion and, like the jury, I reject it. I strongly suspect, although only you know, that something happened in that flat to cause you to lose your temper, probably affected by the alcohol that you had drunk, and then to pick up a knife and repeatedly stab Dylan Bacon.
"Further, I am satisfied that, after stabbing Dylan Bacon, you stabbed yourself and then pressed the panic alarm. To that extent, you were thinking and acting rationally and in a manner calculated to cover up or to justify what you had done.
"It must have added significantly to his family's grief to hear you blacken his character in an attempt to avoid responsibility for what you had done. Apart from your evidence, which the jury clearly rejected, I have heard nothing to contradict your own grandfather’s assertion that Dylan Bacon was a very likeable lad.
"I have no doubt that he will be greatly missed by all those who knew and loved him. I regret to say that I have not seen any indication of any genuine remorse for your actions in causing the death of Dylan Bacon.
"Rather, I have formed the view that you are concerned only for yourself and that you are dominated by self pity. In particular, you seem unable to take any responsibility for your own situation, preferring to blame others for your difficulties."
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