These are the defendants from our region who were locked up over the past seven days
A drug dealing nan, members of a £140million cocaine gang and a cannabis importer who hid behind the EncroChat handle “Alex Iwobi” were among the Merseyside criminals jailed over the past week.
Also locked up was a sex offender who said he raped a woman “because his head was up his a**e”. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a man’s DNA was found on a loaded gun after the weapon was discovered by police officers investigating the theft of a motorbike.
Here are the faces of 14 defendants connected to our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:
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Paul Wilson
A serial rapist who sexually abused three women remained emotionless as he was put behind bars for decades. Paul Wilson repeatedly raped one woman over the course of years then targeted a second victim as she slept.
He also subjected another complainant to a further horrific sex attack until she was able to fight him off with a candle. When asked why he had assaulted her, the dad-of-two replied: “Because my head’s up my a**e.”
Wilson was found guilty of offences including four counts of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm by a jury following two trials. He showed no reaction in the dock as he was jailed for 21 years and handed an additional five years on licence.
Lyndsey Goulding
A drug dealing nan launched a table at her ex-boyfriend’s head then told the police “I should have killed him”. Lyndsey Goulding whacked her victim with the item of furniture “because she’d had enough of him”.
It came a matter of months after she had been caught red handed flogging heroin and crack cocaine on the streets at a time when he had apparently “left her with nothing”. She then subjected him to an “unhappy opportunistic attack” as he lay defenceless on the floor, having been assaulted by his brother amid a heated row over a SIM card.
Goulding admitted unlawful wounding and possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply. She nodded as she was jailed for 32 months before waving to a woman in the public gallery while being led down to the cells.
Ryan Woolsey
A man has been jailed after sexually assaulting a girl and taking and sharing indecent images of her. Ryan Woolsey was put behind bars for 13 years and eight months after being convicted of two counts of sexual assault, taking indecent images of children, distributing indecent images, possession of indecent images and two counts of making indecent images.
Kieran Hannon
A dad hid behind a pseudonym inspired by a former Everton FC star as he smuggled huge quantities of drugs into the UK. Kieran Hannon called on contacts in Spain and the Netherlands as he arranged the importation of more than 100kg of cannabis.
The “well respected” community volunteer also acted as a “broker” in the trafficking of cocaine while using the handle “Alex Iwobi” on encrypted communications platform EncroChat. But his secret dealings were ultimately exposed thanks to his love of pigeon racing.
Hannon admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine, cannabis and cannabis resin and conspiracy to import cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for eight years and eight months.
Dylan Jones
A dad says he is “extremely surprised” that he began selling heroin. Dylan Jones led police officers on a “dangerous and outrageous” 70mph chase around residential streets before crashing into a central reservation.
He was then caught in possession of hundreds of pounds of class A drugs while acting as the “boots on the ground” in a street dealing operation. Having later spent six months on the run, he is now facing the prospect of missing the birth of his second child due to being behind bars.
Jones admitted possession of heroin with intent to supply, dangerous driving, driving without a licence and insurance, failing to provide a specimen for analysis and possession of MDMA. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Montirex t-shirt, he nodded as he was jailed for three years and 10 months and banned from driving for two years.
Carl McConville
A vile sex offender invited young girls to play on his PlayStation but had much more sinister “games” in mind. Carl McConville raped and abused a total of four victims when he was a teenager.
Now, years later, he has finally been brought to justice and exposed as “vindictive monster” and a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”. The dad-of-three hung his head in shame as he was locked up for his appalling crimes.
McConville was found guilty of a total of 18 sexual offences. He was jailed for a total of nine years, reduced from what would otherwise have been a 17-year term due to his age at the time of his crimes.
Kirk Davies
A tracking device on a stolen motorbike led to police discovering a loaded firearm hidden in a North Face man bag wrapped inside a Moncler coat. Officers investigating the theft raided a house expecting to recover the vehicle, but instead found a self-loading pistol and ammunition.
Kirk Davies’ DNA was subsequently located on the gun, leading to tears in court as he was locked up over the surprise seizure. He claims that he was minding the lethal weapon on behalf of other criminals whom he refuses to name as he is “afraid of repercussions”.
Davies admitted possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of ammunition without a certificate. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for five years.
Darren Schofield, Stephen Martland, Paul Mockett, Neil Maguire, Paul O’Shea and David Jones
A gang led by a drug importer known as “Thor” attempted to smuggle £140m of cocaine into the UK from Sierra Leone. The huge stash of illicit class A substances was hidden inside a shipment of flour which was transported from West Africa by boat before its seizure at the border.
Members of the Merseyside-based organised crime group behind the plot have been locked up for a combined total of more than 75 years. They included a pensioner who was sentence to decades behind bars on his 70th birthday.
Darren Schofield admitted conspiracy to import cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Manchester, he was jailed for 20 years – reduced from 30 years for his guilty plea.
Stephen Martland was convicted of the same offence after trial, while Paul Mockett pleaded guilty to the charge. Appearing remotely from HMP Liverpool and HMP Preston, they were imprisoned for 21 and 13-and-a-half years respectively.
Neil Maguire admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply cocaine and was handed 11 years and four months. Paul O’Shea pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and was given six years.
David Jones, also appearing on the link from Walton prison, admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years. Darren Wetton pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis and received a 12-month imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
Li Tie
Ex-Everton FC footballer Li Tie has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for bribery, Chinese state media have reported. The 47-year-old, who was the head coach of the China national team from January 2020 to December 2021, pleaded guilty to taking more than $16 million in bribes.
The midfielder was found guilty of “leveraging his positions” during his tenure as manager by a court in the city of Xianning. This reportedly ran from 2015, when he was an assistant coach at Hebei China Fortune, until 2021, when he quit as head coach of the national team.
