These are the faces of 40 Merseyside criminals who were jailed in May

Five killers who stabbed "Pablo" to death in a robbery gone wrong, a smiling thug who went to the pub in his slippers and glassed a man, and a director of a luxury city centre restaurant were among the Merseyside criminals jailed this month. Also locked up was a paedophile who told his mum: "I've messed up, I've done it again and I'm going to jail".

Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a former soldier drove 200 miles to torch the front door of a house after being offered £1,500 by a shadowy figure called "Noah" but targeted the wrong address. Here are the faces of 40 defendants from our region who were imprisoned during May. A paedophile has been jailed for three years for sexually abusing four children over the course of several decades. Kenneth Shaw pleaded guilty to three counts of indecent assault, three charges of indecency with a child and two of indecent assault of a male.

A gang of burglars broke into fire stations and stole equipment which they then used to smash into cash machines at Asda , Tesco and Sainsbury's supermarkets. Identical twins Carl and Lee Kettle joined forces with getaway driver Barry Dillon as they embarked upon a five-year crime spree across the north west and beyond. The "extremely audacious" £1.3m plot also saw the three-man team steal "high powered" Audis and BMWs from the driveways of homes, vehicles which they then used to speed away from the scenes of their crimes.

This resulted in an innocent member of the public being injured in a head-on crash. All three defendants admitted conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to steal cash. The Kettle brothers were each handed six years and eight months behind bars, while Dillon was jailed for three years and eight months. A drug dealer concealed his cocaine stash in his own faeces after he was caught in the act outside a pub.

Warren Roberts pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and breaching a suspended sentence order and was jailed for four years and three months. A paedophile told his mum "I've messed up, I've done it again and I'm going to jail" when police came knocking at his door. Jay Coleman continued to download depraved child abuse images within weeks of being spared prison for identical offences.

This led to him being arrested again exactly a year on from the day when he was handed the second chance which he ultimately spurned. Despite pledging to no longer own any electronic devices in order to "remove the temptation from himself" his solemn prediction to his mother has now been proved right. Coleman admitted possession of indecent images of children, two counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children, breaching a sexual harm prevention order and breaching a suspended sentence. Appearing in the dock wearing a white shirt and black tie underneath a grey jacket, he was jailed for 14 months.

A depraved pervert called himself "Paedo Daddy" as he chatted to an undercover police officer online. Phillip Norris spent months exchanging a series of vile sexualised messages with what he believed to be a 12-year-old girl, telling her that he would travel more than 200 miles in order to meet up with her.

However, unbeknown to him, he was actually being ensnared in a sting by a decoy account on the internet chatrooms. Despite being banned from having contact with children as a result, he continued to stay at his partner's home along with her six-year-old daughter, even picking her up and dropping her off at school at times. Norris admitted attempted sexual communications with a child, attempting to cause a child to watch sexual activity, possession of indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children, possession of an extreme pornographic image and two counts of failing to comply with notification requirements. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for two-and-a-half years.

A drug dealer threw a bag full of cannabis and cash into his next door neighbour's back garden before his dad claimed that the stash belonged to him. Father and son team Bernard and Mason McLean were said to have worked together in what was described as a "busy drug supply operation".

But a raid on their home also led to another of the former's children, teenager Reece McLean, appearing in the dock. While a judge told the dad that his claims to be responsible for the cannabis "may have been motivated by trying to protect his sons", he was ultimately spared an immediate prison sentence as he appeared in court the day before his birthday. Bernard McLean admitted possession of cannabis with intent to supply and possession of criminal property. He was handed a 15-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

Mason McLean pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis. He was handed an additional two months behind bars, reduced from a 10-month sentence he would have otherwise received but for an existing jail term of six years and eight months which he is currently serving. Reece McLean admitted possession of cannabis and asked for a second offence of possession of cannabis to be taken into consideration in sentencing. Appearing in the dock wearing a blue OEX tracksuit top, he was fined £100.

Two mums fought floods of tears in court as they labelled the depraved paedophile who sexually abused their daughters a "monster". Steven Andrews groomed his victims with money, gifts from Amazon and a Lego set. The armed forces veteran subjected one girl to a catalogue of abuse over a period of around two years before targeting a second in another sickening sexual assault. He was told by one of their mothers as he was locked up: "My family is shattered into pieces.

I will never forgive this man." Andrews admitted five counts of sexual assault and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity. Wearing a blue shirt and tie and glasses in the dock and sporting short grey hair, he was jailed for six-and-a-half years. A dad began working for the "Lil T" drugs line when dealers threatened to burn his mum's house down. Kieran McKechnie was allegedly made to supply heroin and crack cocaine on behalf of the operation, selling to around a dozen customers a day, after racking up a debt of more than £1,000 as a result of his own habit.

But his involvement in the scheme was rumbled after police stopped his car and found an incriminating mobile phone sitting in his lap. While he now says that he is clean of drugs and "not even vaping", he was left shaking his head as he was locked up. McKechnie admitted being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he sighed and shook his head as he was jailed for two years.

A sex offender called the police to confess years after an investigation into his crime had been closed. John Bailey lured a group of schoolchildren into his flat by promising them vapes and alcohol. The pervert then told the kids to turn the lights out and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl.

While she subsequently dropped her complaint, her abuser contacted the police more than six years on and, apparently racked with guilt, admitted what he had done. Bailey admitted one charge of assaulting a girl aged under 13 by touching and was jailed for 20 months. Having asked "how long am I doing then?" and been told that he would serve in the region of half of his sentence behind bars before being released on licence, he replied: "Sound." A drink driver sped "like a maniac" during a 40-minute pursuit with police after collecting his girlfriend from a night out. Nathan O'Malia said that he had "panicked" when officers attempted to pull him over, after which he reached up to 100mph, drove on the hard shoulder of the motorway and crashed into a taxi.

One of his passengers even "considered jumping out of the car to save her life" as a lift home from her birthday celebrations descended into a terrifying high speed chase. A judge told him as he was locked up: "It could only have been worse if you had caused very significant injury to somebody. It is, frankly, a miracle that nobody was seriously harmed." O'Malia admitted dangerous driving and drink driving. Appearing in the dock wearing a Burberry shirt, he waved goodbye to his girlfriend in the public gallery as he was led to the cells after being jailed for 18 months.

A teenager raped a girl then began playing video games "as if nothing had happened". Samuel Carney subjected his victim to the harrowing attack as she slept, leaving her "horrified" and "frozen" in terror.

But she was ultimately able to bring her abuser to justice after secretly recording him confessing to his crime and telling her that he "regretted it every day and would regret it until the day he died". A judge praised her "extraordinary courage" while telling the once aspiring mental health nurse who subjected her to the traumatic ordeal that the "path back to a meaningful life was not closed", but warned: "The denial you have maintained will not serve you well." Carney was found guilty of one count of rape by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a beige short sleeved shirt, he was jailed for five years and told to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely. A thief has been banned from every Home Bargains and Sainsburys in Merseyside.

Colin Poole was handed a two-year criminal behaviour order and a 12-week prison sentence after he targeted shops across south Liverpool. A drug dealer who was due to be freed from prison next week will remain behind bars after he was caught with more than £1,000 of cocaine in the back of an Uber. Four-time convicted trafficker Stephen McGee claimed to police following his arrest that he would have snorted the whole of this haul in two days. The 50-year-old admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply.

Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Monterrain tracksuit, was handed a further 18 months behind bars. A smiling thug went to the pub in his slippers and glassed a man. Joseph McClean-Evans responded by pulling a knife from his pocket and swiping at his enemy's ear after he was punched to the floor and kicked on the ground. The dad then went on to subject the mother of his children to a barrage of "truly disgusting and unacceptable" violence and abuse, even threatening to shoot and rape members of her family.

Having told her that he was "going to go to jail" as a result of his vile behaviour, he remained absent from court as his prediction came true. McClean-Evans admitted unlawful wounding, possession of a bladed article in a public place and harassment. He failed to attend his sentencing hearing after declining to board transport from the prison where he has been held on remand, with the dock remaining empty he was jailed for four years and banned from contacting his former partner for 10 years under a restraining order. A man was caught with nearly £500,000 of cocaine and cannabis stashed in his house a matter of months after he had been spared prison.

Jonathon Holmes was said to have been tasked with taking charge of the massive haul after he was "billed" by those higher up the chain as a result of a seizure of drugs which led to his earlier conviction. A judge warned him that he could "expect a sentence well into double figures" if he returned to such offending again and said: "You need to have a think about the life that you lead. Please do not waste your life." Holmes admitted possession of cocaine and cannabis resin with intent to supply, possession of criminal property and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse wearing a grey Under Armour t-shirt, he was jailed for seven years and four months.

A drug gang smuggled hundreds of kilos of cocaine packed into suitcases through Manchester Airport. Offenders based in America and Mexico masterminded the conspiracy to import at least 800kg of high-purity cocaine into the country in suitcases on flights from Cancun and the Caribbean. US citizens would travel to the UK without any luggage and wait for the suitcases to arrive from Mexico before collecting the bags, each holding around 20kg of cocaine at a time, before handing them on to traffickers during illicit meetings at the airport's Holiday Inn. Two of those who took ownership of the goods were Albanian nationals Elton Hallaci , both based in North Liverpool, who would then transport the drugs around the country and sell them at wholesale to other criminals.

Hallaci took boastful pictures of himself surrounded with piles of cash and drove an expensive Jaguar car, which had a hidden compartment between the rear seats and the boot to smuggle drugs. He and Iseberi pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine and possession of cocaine with intent to supply and were handed sentenced of 21 years and seven months and 18 years respectively. A shameless fraudster deliberately tampered with her bank statements to claim she was just an innocent employee when payments were actually for her monthly rent. Magdalena Tuczapska was being investigated as part of an online money laundering scheme that was taking payments for items advertised through Facebook Marketplace.

The 46-year-old was also involved in an illegal subletting plot carried out at a number of locations, where she would ask potential customers to provide cash deposits to reserve the property because of other interest. She admitted fraud and perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 25 months. A pervert who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl then asked how old she was was jailed for 26 weeks. Md Muhon was found guilty of the charge by magistrates following a trial.

A former soldier drove 200 miles to torch the front door of a house after being offered £1,500 by a shadowy figure called "Noah". Jonathan Harmer was desperate for money and was in the midst of issues with drugs and alcohol following his discharge from the armed forces. The 46-year-old had driven from his home in Essex to Merseyside to carry out the arson after being told the occupant had racked up a drug debt but he targeted the wrong house and ended up setting alight the front door of a Merseyside Police staff member. He admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered and was jailed for three years and four months.

The restaurant director at luxury city centre steakhouse Gaucho abused his ex-partner before strangling her to the point she believed she was going to die. Dimitri Prassinos called his former girlfriend a "daddy's princess" after turning up at her house drunk demanding to see his children.

But, when she asked him to leave, the 41-year-old struck her around the face before straddling her and strangling her to the point that she temporarily lost consciousness. When she managed to fight back and staggered to her feet, he was said to have been left visibly shocked by the extent of his attack and meekly asked for his glasses back. Prassinos pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Wearing a black suit and tie, he was handed three years in prison and a seven-year restraining order.

A drug dealer plotted to flood the north of England with large amounts of cocaine and heroin. Carl Currie used the Signal encrypted messaging service to conspire with others to transport multiple kilos of class A substances around the country. The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. He was sentenced to a total of eight years and four months in prison.

A dad "behaved like a pig" after his ex-girlfriend returned home from a child's birthday party to find him drinking gin in her bed. Peter Cavanagh battered his former partner after being confronted over his drunken antics, leaving her with a broken nose. To add insult to injury, he then stole her Range Rover while making his escape, crashing into a neighbour's BMW as he did so. Now claiming to be intent on changing his ways, a judge told him "the choice is yours" as he was locked up and warned him: "The women in your life are not there so that you can bash them about." Cavanagh admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, aggravated vehicle taking and failing to stop after an accident.

Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a navy blue Asics tracksuit top, he was jailed for 32 months, banned from driving for two years and handed a 10-year restraining order. A paedophile got high on crystal meth and bragged about sexually abusing children while chatting to a fellow depraved pervert on Snapchat. Nathaniel Johnson claimed that he had raped a 13-year-old child and said he was plotting further assaults as he shared his vile stash of indecent images over the social media platform. With his crimes having apparently been "fuelled" by his drug addiction and mental health issues, he is now said to be "disgusted, ashamed and embarrassed" of his warped behaviour.

But a judge "entirely rejected" most of his assertions as he was locked up. Johnson admitted three counts of distributing indecent images of children, three charges of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children, possession of extreme pornographic images and possession of methylamphetamine. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 32 months. A thug "violently" assaulted another man with a wine bottle during a two-day rampage.

Jonathan Hughes headbutted his victim then hit him over the head with the implement, after which he attempted to push the smashed bottleneck into his throat. The following day, he then returned to the same address and smashed several windows with a shovel. He was sentenced to one year and four months in prison. Five killers have been jailed for 111 years after a man was stabbed to death by a balaclava clad "mob".

Paul Foster, who was known as "Pablo", died aged 47 after suffering a single stab wound to the back during a "taxing" at a flat on Muirhead Avenue in West Derby . His attackers were said to have been "tooled up" with a knife and an imitation firearm at the time of the robbery in the early hours of October 15 2024, stealing a quantity of drugs and cash before fleeing. Elsadig Abrahim, Zayd Alasaly, Dylan Blundell, Michael Fields and Sarah Kasseum stood trial over the course of the past six weeks accused of his murder. Both Alasaly and Fields were found guilty by a jury and were handed life sentences with minimum terms of 30 years.

Members of Mr Foster's family were heard to tell them "go die in jail you little rat" and "good luck in there" as they were led to the cells. Abrahim, Blundell and Kasseum were all cleared of Mr Foster's murder but found guilty of manslaughter. They were imprisoned for 18, 16 and 17 years respectively , with the latter's term including a consecutive two year-sentence for for drugs offences. Sentencing, Judge Simon Medland KC told them: "Drug dealer and criminal though he was, he had exactly the same right to life as anyone else.

You had no right to deprive him of his life. It is clear that he had done nothing against either of you. He never threatened you or interfered with you in any way. "The circumstances of Paul Foster's death are appalling.

They show that severe force was used to stab him. The single stab wound to his back penetrated approximately 10cm. The knife completely cut through the sixth rib, penetrated the left lung and cut his aorta, the main artery of the body. He bled out onto the floor of the hallway of the flat.

"Paul Foster had done neither of you any harm. It is characteristic of the fundamental cowardice of criminals who carry knives that he was stabbed in the back. He never saw it coming. As Paul Foster lay dying, you and your accomplices went about the business of robbing him of his drugs and money, then escaped to your car." A thug with more than 200 offences on his criminal record hurled a radiator at his girlfriend after taking a cocktail of cider and crack cocaine.

Stuart Ogilvie left his victim permanently scarred and fearing that she was going to die during the "appalling" assault. This also saw the former roofer subject his partner to a barrage of blows as she curled up in a ball on the floor and screamed for him to stop. A judge told him that he had "completely lost control of himself" as he was sent back to prison. Ogilvie admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for two years and handed a five-year restraining order. A disqualified driver who led police on a high speed chase in a stolen car admitted he was "bang to rights" after being arrested. Lee Groves had already been banned from the roads for more than eight years after injuring nine people during an earlier joyriding escapade.

But, following his release from prison, he was then caught behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle yet again, driving at three times the speed limit and coming excruciatingly close to causing what could have been catastrophic collisions as he sought to evade arrest. But, having later been found hiding in a bush, a judge told him that it was "pure good luck that nobody was injured or killed" as he was put back behind bars. Groves admitted aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to provide a specimen for analysis. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a navy blue Montirex t-shirt, he was jailed for 16 months.

A balaclava-clad teenager hid from police in a wheelie bin after crashing a stolen BMW into a house. Sabian Allert drove at speeds of up to 100mph as he sought to evade arrest, with officers having traced his whereabouts due to the high performance car being fitted with a tracker. The dad-to-be now says that he wants to put his life of crime behind him and "become a responsible father".

But a judge told him that it was "a matter of luck rather than design" that nobody was seriously injured as a result of his reckless actions. Allert admitted burglary, theft, dangerous driving and taking a motor vehicle without consent. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse wearing a grey Nike jumper, he was handed 26 months in a young offenders' institute, banned from driving for 25 months and ordered to pass an extended retest. A dad who was caught transporting soil to a cannabis farm claimed that he wanted to earn "pocket money" in order to buy his son a birthday present.

Armando Lesi's involvement as a "significant player" in the £190,000 grow was rumbled when police pulled over his Mercedes. This resulted in his second conviction relating to the production of cannabis in the space of only five years. His accomplice Aristid Ndoka was meanwhile said to have moved to the UK "with the intention of working legitimately" but instead "fell into errors" and accepted a £500 wage to become embroiled in the operation. Lesi admitted a single count of production of cannabis.

Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a black Ellesse t-shirt, he was jailed for 54 months. Ndoka pleaded guilty to production of cannabis and possession of cannabis with intent to supply.

Also appearing remotely from Walton prison, he was handed 22 months behind bars. A 17-year-old boy told his childhood friend he would "happily do 20 years to life" before stabbing and slashing him with a knife during a horrific seven-hour ordeal. Kai Ashcroft also whipped his victim with a belt and forced him to take hallucinogenic drugs while holding him hostage and threatening to "cut him up". It came after he blamed the other teenager for an unspecified incident a decade earlier, which he claimed had "ruined his life".

While being arrested, he then alarmingly confessed to police that he planned to "hunt him down" and "execute" him in a manner which he said would be "bloody as f***". Ashcroft admitted wounding with intent and false imprisonment. Appearing via video link to HMYOI Wetherby wearing a grey Under Armour jumper and with his long dark hair tied in a ponytail, he was handed three years in a young offenders' institute and a lifelong restraining order. A teenager took a boy to visit her nan after a trip to McDonald's but was actually luring him into a trap.

Faith Smyth enticed the 17-year-old victim down an alleyway, where Callum Smith and her ex-boyfriend John McCormick were laying in wait . There, he was threatened with a knife and battered with a frying pan in apparent retribution for the youth having been talking to the latter's on-off girlfriend. The thug was even said to have threatened to set fire to her family home in order to recruit her to her central role in the plot. Smith was found guilty of robbery by a jury following a trial, having admitted possession of a bladed article in a public place.

Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for five-and-a-half years. McCormick pleaded guilty to robbery and was handed four years and 11 months behind bars. Smyth similarly admitted robbery and was given a 22-month imprisonment suspended for two years with 120 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days and a 12-month mental health treatment requirement.