These are the defendants from our region who were locked up over the past seven days
A taxi driver who ran a “one stop shop” for drugs, a burglar who targeted Asda and McDonald’s and an escaped prison inmate were among the Merseyside criminals jailed over the past week. Also locked up was a gang boss who ran a multi-billion pound international drug trafficking operation.
Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a fraudster claimed to be collecting donations for a cancer charity in order to steal £20,000 from vulnerable victims. A paedophile was also jailed after subjecting a young girl to years of abuse. Here are the faces of 10 defendants from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:
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Paul Green
A drug boss who led an international crime group that saw billions of pounds of drugs smuggled into the UK has been sentenced to 32 years in prison. Paul Green was convicted along with 17 other members of the organised crime group following the National Crime Agency’s investigation into the UK’s biggest detected drugs conspiracy.
Known by his accomplices as ‘the Big Fella’, he was locked up alongside Russell Leonard, a 47-year-old “foot soldier” who spoke fluent Dutch and was caught with 57kgs of amphetamine in a van. He was handed 24 years.
Alan Cumming meanwhile played an “administrative role” in helping to organise drugs shipments. He was sentenced to 21 years behind bars.
Joseph Warren
A thug battered a member of staff at a garage with a metal pole. Joseph Warren subjected one worker to an unprovoked assault then returned an hour later and attacked another, knocking him to the floor before subjecting him to a flurry of punches and kicks as he lay defenceless on the ground.
He then delivered one final blow with the weapon and warned of reprisals should the police be contacted. The dad-of-two was now been locked up over the incident on the eve of his daughter’s third birthday.
Warren admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault and making threats to kill. He was jailed for 18 months.
Ahnad Karamian
A man resorted to a violent rampage because he was “always hungry” before going on hunger strike. Ahnad Karamian trashed a communal area in the accommodation where he was being housed while seeking asylum and hurled objects from a fourth storey window.
He later told the police that he had done so to “get people’s attention” due to his frustration at a perceived lack of progress in his application to remain in the UK, pledging that he would “keep doing it on a grander scale if he must”. He has now told a judge: “I think it will never happen again.”
Karamian admitted one count of criminal damage. Appearing via video link to the prison, he was jailed for 10 months.
William Redmond
A “callous” fraudster claimed to be collecting donations for a cancer charity as he stole £20,000 from a vulnerable man and a pensioner. William Redmond repeatedly marched his victims to cash machines in order to make withdrawals which he then pocketed, often calling at their homes in the early hours before whisking them away to ATMs in taxis.
His “wicked, manipulative and predatory” crimes even continued after he was rumbled following a visit to the bank and recalled to prison on licence. It is not the first time he has concocted such a scam however, having previously claimed to be staging a football match to raise funds for Marie Curie but instead spending the proceeds on drugs.
Redmond admitted two counts of fraud and asked for three further fraud offences to be taken into account. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for 54 months.
Edward Marshman
A taxi driver ran his own “one stop shop” for drugs which was open for business from “dusk till dawn”. Edward Marshman turned to dealing after building up debts from using cocaine in order to stay awake during his late night shifts.
The 49-year-old admitted possession of class A and B drugs with intent to supply. He was jailed for four years and 10 months.
Rhys Allen
A prison inmate escaped by scaling a fence before being found hiding near to a bakery more than two weeks later. Rhys Allen was said to have walked out of jail then travelled 75 miles across the country to Merseyside, where he was ultimately apprehended, after becoming “frustrated by the progress of his application for parole”.
The 29-year-old admitted escaping from lawful custody. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was locked up for a further 28 days.
Shaun Harold
A burglar was caught with “bloods on his hands” after he broke into an Asda supermarket. Shaun Harold embarked upon a crime spree which also saw him pinch items from the staff room of a branch of McDonald’s and attempt to steal cash by ripping open an ATM.
The serial offender confessed to the police that he was “probably off his head” during the latter incident. He has now been hauled before the courts more than 100 times for committing in excess of 200 crimes.
Harold admitted two counts of burglary, criminal damage, attempted theft, three charges of theft and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a black Adidas tracksuit top, he was jailed for 30 months.
Brian Sheridan
A paedophile is expecting to die in prison after subjecting a young girl to years of abuse. Brian Sheridan paid his victim to perform vile acts and forced her to have sex with another man.
The pensioner was also said to have exhibited an array of sickening behaviour towards other children, including encouraging them to dress in “sexualised costumes”. A judge told him that he had shown “no shred of regret, remorse or empathy”.
Sheridan was convicted of a total of 18 child sex offences by a jury. Appearing in the dock wearing a black Adidas coat over a beige cardigan and sporting glasses and white hair, he was jailed for 16 years and handed an additional year on licence.
