Messaging service WhatsApp caught out a bungling crook who robbed two delivery drivers at gunpoint to steal a motorbike.

Hazar Mahamet, 20, pretended that he wanted to buy the Honda bike after it was advertised for sale on the website Gumtree.

He was tracked by police to his home in Kelvin Grove, Toxteth, where officers found a gold Rolex watch in his bedroom.

But bungling Mahamet had been wearing the same watch in a picture he sent to the seller on WhatsApp, showing him holding a fistful of cash with which he said he would buy the bike.

And even after robbing the two drivers he tried to escape on the bike – only to find there was no fuel in the tank.

He was forced to push the £1,000 bike away and was captured on CCTV cameras.

Steven Robson, from Darlington, advertised the bike for sale in July last year.

He was contacted by Mahamet on WhatsApp, who said he would buy it as long as Mr Robson arranged for its delivery at 3pm on July 14.

Mahamet gave an address of Brahms Close, Toxteth and provided a second mobile phone number.

The Honda motorbike Hazar Mahamet robbed at gunpoint

Delivery drivers Michael Lang and his nephew Paul Baveridge, of BNS Recoveries, contacted the defendant as they travelled to Liverpool.

When they arrived Mahamet asked for the bike to be taken off the van so he could sit on it.

Mr Baveridge became suspicious when Mahamet said he could not use his toilet as he did not have keys for his house.

The victim asked for the cash, at which point a second man appeared, who has never been identified.

Kevin Slack, prosecuting, said “The defendant unzipped his jacket, put his hand inside and removed what the victims described as a black revolver with a silver tip.

“Mr Baveridge could see the barrel was loaded, although the Crown accepts the gun was an imitation.

“That of course was not the impression Mr Baveridge was left with. The defendant pointed the gun at him and said ‘give me the bike’.

“The victim immediately stepped away, put his hands in the air and said ‘take it’.

“There was no fuel in the bike so within 10 metres it ran out of petrol.”

The pictures of cash Hazar Mahamet sent the seller of the motorbike showing him wearing a gold Rolex watch discovered in his bedroom

Two days before a trial Mahamet admitted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.

Julian Nutter, defending, said his client was “young and immature”.

He said: “He has shown remorse. He is sorry he was stupid back then.”

Judge Anil Murray said Mahamet lured the delivery drivers to the scene and produced a “very realistic imitation firearm”.

He said: “That must have been a terrifying ordeal.”

Jailing Mahamet for five years, the judge added: “You say you are remorseful – I am not sure that is genuine.”

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

A drunk Anfield groper who assaulted two Eastern European women complained “you come to my city and then tell me you’re offended?” when they told him to stop.

Roy Lee Johnson, 57, was living in shared accommodation in the Anfield area when he approached the women in a communal kitchen.

He pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court today.

Amanda Cullen, prosecuting, told the court one of the victims went into the kitchen to prepare food at 10pm on Tuesday November 3.

Ms Cullen said: “Roy Johnson was in the kitchen eating. He made some light conversation and she continued to prepare her supper.

“While she had her front to the kitchen cabinet, he walked around a table and touched her.”

The court heard Johnson made lewd comments about her husband and when the woman shouted at him to stop, he complained about her being offended.

Johnson, who appeared drunk, was arrested after the woman called the police.

When the offence was reported another resident in the property also made an allegation that she had been groped by Johnson.

The court heard Johnson had previous convictions for possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis, but had never been convicted of a sexual offence.

Johnson, with short grey hair and wearing a black Barbour jacket, was remanded in custody after he was unable to provide the court with a suitable address away from his victims.

The case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared and Johnson will be sentenced on November 24.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

A man appeared in court today charged with multiple offences including assault, attacking police officers and making threats to kill.

John Paul McCoy, of Old Swan, appeared in South Sefton Magistrates Court , Bootle , on Saturday to face a number of charges.

These included burglary of dwelling, unlawful wounding, assaults against two police officers, six counts of breaching a restraining order, threats to kill and assault by beating.

He stood in the dock wearing a blue jacket and a blue Nike T-shirt while Esther Leach, defending, and Sara Drysdale, prosecuting, addressed Chairman of the Bench, magistrate Alan Hughes.

The case was passed to Liverpool Crown Court, where McCoy is due to appear on December 7.

The 28-year-old was not granted bail and has been remanded in custody until his next appearance.

For more breaking news throughout the day follow our live news blog here.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Nathan Matthews barrister told a jury that the stepbrother of Becky Watts treated her body with "a lack of compassion and humanity" but that does not make him guilty of murder.

Nathan Matthews, 28, allegedly suffocated his 16-year-old stepsister in a sexually motivated kidnap plot with girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, on February 19.

Becky’s body was moved from her home in Crown Hill, Bristol, and dismembered in the couple’s bath in Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, with a circular saw.

Her remains, packed into suitcases and a blue plastic storage box, were discovered in a garden shed 80 metres away by police on March 3.

A jury of 10 women and one man heard the closing speech of Matthews’s case in Becky’s murder trial, following 21 days of evidence.

Adam Vaitilingam QC, for Matthews, asked the jury to consider the evidence in the case instead of their emotions towards his client.

"A man who has shown himself to be capable of killing a 16-year-old and then treating her body with such a lack of compassion and humanity," he said.

"I do not ask for sympathy for Nathan Matthews. He deserves none.

"I ask that you approach his case in the same fair way you would approach any defendant charged with any crime.

"His right to a fair trial from an independent jury hasn’t disappeared because of what he has done."

Mr Vaitilingam said Matthews went to Becky’s home on February 19 with the plan to kidnap his stepsister to teach her a lesson.

But he accidentally killed her after trying to make her unconscious during a struggle to put her inside a red suitcase.

"I am sure you will feel nothing but contempt and loathing for Nathan Matthews, you will feel nothing but sympathy and pity for Becky and her family," Mr Vaitilingam said.

"You promised to try this case on the evidence, not on emotion and all I can ask of you is that you keep that promise."

Mr Vaitilingam told the jury Matthews admitted he plotted to kidnap Becky but denied he had done so with Hoare, his partner of six years.

That "badly conceived, bone headed, extreme and frankly absurd" kidnap plan resulted in Becky’s death, the barrister said.

A view of 18 Crown Hill, St George, Bristol, the home of murdered teenager Becky Watts, where she was allegedly murdered in her bedroom by her stepbrother Nathan Matthews, 28, and his girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21

The former TA soldier was not motivated by a sexual attraction to Becky but rather her behaviour towards his mother, Anjie Galsworthy, he insisted.

"There is no evidence to suggest that he had a sexual interest in Becky," Mr Vaitilingam said.

"Nothing anyone noticed, nothing he said, nothing he put in a text or on Facebook in an unguarded moment."

In a police interview, Becky’s father Darren Galsworthy said she was "was rude, abusive and disrespectful to Anjie" and Matthews did not like it.

Jurors previously heard how Becky’s body was dismembered into eight parts with a £80 Mac Allister circular saw bought by Matthews at B&Q on February 20.

The body parts were moved into a garden shed in Barton Court in the early hours of February 24 by Matthews and two men.

Matthews, of Hazelbury Drive, Warmley, South Gloucestershire, denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

He admits killing Becky, perverting the course of justice, preventing the burial of a corpse and possessing a prohibited weapon.

Hoare, of Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, denies murder, conspiracy to kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing burial of a corpse and possessing a prohibited weapon.

Karl Demetrius, 30, and his partner Jaydene Parsons, 23, the occupants of the Barton Court property, admit assisting an offender.

Donovan Demetrius, of Marsh Lane, Bristol, and James Ireland, 23, of Richmond Villas, Avonmouth, deny the charge.

Mr Vaitilingam told the jury: "What Nathan Matthews did to Becky’s body afterwards will haunt all of us.

"It is grim evidence and it will stay with us for some time. It is not the actions of a rational man.

"He was hardly rational in that first interview with the police – that bizarre account and a rant about being a metrosexual and a Neanderthal.

"You have heard a lot about the way that Nathan Matthews’s mind works and perhaps when he takes a decision about something – disposing of Becky’s body to protect Becky’s family from the consequences of the discovery – he does it.

"A sort of extreme logic which is true, as well, in his planned kidnap."

Mr Vaitilingam questioned whether his client had the "small voice of calm" most people have to protect them from doing something dangerous or extreme.

Undated handout file photo issued by Avon and Somerset Police of Rebecca Watts, 16

He said his client had a "black and white way of looking at the world" and could get upset or lash out if things were not going as he expected.

Matthews had no previous convictions before the start of this trial, he added.

"He is criticised for not showing sorrow, for not looking at the family when he was giving his evidence," Mr Vaitilingam said.

"You might say that he was hanging his head in shame for the terrible things he has done, in front of his own mother, in front of the man at whose wedding he was best man.

"Did he ever really intend to kill Becky and take her away from those two people? Did he mean to do it?"

Andrew Langdon QC, for Hoare, told the jury the case featured "the ghastly subject of the brutal killing and dismembering of a 16-year-old girl".

"Let’s consider the Galsworthy and the Watts family and friends because their suffering and anguish is probably unimaginable for any of us," he said.

"Any mother, father, brother of a girl whose life is cruelly ended and whose body is desecrated suffers and continues to suffer whatever anyone does or says, whatever your verdicts – forever."

He said his client had a troubled upbringing, met Matthews as a young teenager while at school and lost contact with friends and family.

"Never mind who is responsible for that isolation, the fact is that unless Nathan allowed it she had very little contact with anyone else," Mr Langdon said.

Forensic officers search a property in Wilton Close, Bristol, in connection with missing Rebecca Watts, after her family said they were “prepared for the worst” as searches for the quiet 16-year-old continue

Hoare was able to stand up for herself occasionally and consented to threesomes with Matthews and a female friend, he added.

"She was able to sent highly inappropriate texts to excite or to please Nathan," he said. "To appeal to his toilet humour as he inadequately termed it.

"Those text exchanges are shameful and she lied about them when confronted with them.

"Sex fiend Shauna Hoare? Her sexuality has moved centre stage in this trial. It is the motive advanced, the reason given for why she was involved in the kidnap plot."

The jury was read extracts of a police interview in which Hoare described her sex life with Matthews.

"It’s not exactly Lady Macbeth is it?" Mr Langdon asked.

Mr Langdon said his client was provided with a council house because of her background and lived there with Matthews.

"She had to deal with a man who was not straight forward and was also moody and who would, when angry, assault her," he added.

"Not all victims of abuse are easy to sympathise with. It doesn’t mean they are not being abused."

He said Hoare had low self esteem, was ashamed of her home and did not have any independence.

"The council gives her material things, a house, but the council can’t give the love that turns a house into a proud home," Mr Langdon said.

"Her life and her house is filled both literally and metaphorically by Nathan Matthews – filled with his junk and his issues."

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Dozens of dangerous criminals were taken off the streets of Merseyside after being jailed at Liverpool Crown Court in October.

They included a man who stabbed his mum in an alcohol and cocaine-fuelled attack at their Wirral home; a thug with a record of violence against women; and a man who carried out a racially aggravated attack in which he held a knife to an Iraqi shopkeeper’s throat.

Also put behind bars were a dad who battered his little girl and her mum in a violent attack; a man who sent a “revenge porn” video of his ex girlfriend to her 10 year old brother; and a woman who carried out a “wicked fraud” by swindling a disabled man out of thousands of pounds by claiming to be related to former Reds star Steven Gerrard.

Meanwhile, 12 members of a £5.6m Liverpool drugs ring which was smashed after a 12-month police operation were given a total of 60 years behind bars, while three teenagers were locked up for a total of 25 years after a 16-year-old boy was found stabbed in the heart in Halewood after a “straightener."

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

A couple of Knowsley benefit fraudsters who swindled thousands of pounds have been ordered to pay back the money they owe – or else face jail.

Edward Durkin, 45, and his partner Joan Bennett, 42, pleaded guilty to offences associated with false housing benefit and council tax benefit claims over a period of eight years.

Mr Durkin also pleaded guilty to money laundering offences since the false benefit was paid into a bank account in his name.

He had claimed to be the landlord of a property in Thistley Hey Road, Kirkby , where Joan Bennett lived.

But an investigation by Knowsley council found the couple had been living together at the address.

A financial investigation also found that between them, the couple had sufficient assets to be able to repay the money that had been falsely claimed.

At a confiscation hearing a judge at Liverpool Crown Court agreed that both Durkin and Bennett had benefitted from their criminal conduct and awarded a Confiscation Order of £20,660.32 against Durkin and £4,850.32 against Bennett with a direction that any contribution by one defendant will be taken off the amount owed by the other.

Both have been given three months to repay the full amount to Knowsley council or face imprisonment and still be required to repay the money.

A Knowsley council spokeswoman said: “This is an excellent result for Knowsley council and also sends out the clear message that we will actively pursue anybody who falsely claims benefits they are not entitled to in order for us to recover the money.

“We rely on our communities to tell us when they suspect someone is committing benefit fraud and we will always investigate those claims.

“If a person who claims benefits has a change in their circumstances which affects those benefits, they should tell the council as soon as possible. Anyone who suspects somebody is committing benefit fraud in Knowsley should inform the council anonymously on 0800 073 0532.”

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

A drug addict caught minding almost £200,000 of heroin in a locked safe in his bedroom was jailed for more than five years.

Anthony Simpson, 41, said he agreed to look after nearly two kilos of heroin in return for a small quantity of drugs to use himself.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how police raided his home in Thackeray Road, St Helens, at around 4.50pm on August 10 this year.

Chris Taylor, prosecuting, said officers were actually looking for firearms – although none were recovered at the property.

When Simpson was questioned about the safe, he said it might have belonged to his late mum, from whom he inherited the house.

He said he did not have a key and after no key was found, a locksmith was called to force it open.

Mr Taylor said police discovered packages containing 1.9kg of heroin, at around 60% purity.

When interviewed Simpson said other men had been accessing his home for the last couple of months.

He said his DNA or fingerprints would not be found inside the safe, which was confirmed by forensic experts.

Simpson pleaded guilty on the basis that the drugs belonged to someone else.

He said: “I am not willing to name this person for fear of reprisals.”

Simpson pleaded guilty to possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.

He has four previous convictions for 15 offences and was jailed for 33 months in 2012 for supplying Class A drugs.

Katy Appleton, defending, said Simpson had been a full-time carer for his mum for 15 years before she died in April.

She said: “The house was then used by others to take drugs. He has been addicted to heroin and crack cocaine for the last 25 years.”

Judge David Aubrey, QC, accepted that Simpson may not have ever opened the safe, but said he would have known it contained a large quantity of drugs.

He jailed Simpson for five years and four months, telling him: “By minding these drugs you were perpetuating the circulation of Class A controlled drugs within the community.”

Merseyside Police neighbourhood inspector Martin Earl said: “This was part of a coordinated operation utilising officers from specialist departments and a substantial quantity of drugs has been prevented from reaching the streets of St Helens.

“Such a positive result was made possible as a result of community intelligence and we would like to reassure the public that we will respond diligently to any information we receive.”

Anyone with information on drug supply can call officers via the 101 number or Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

News updates throughout the day in our live feed here

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

A depraved Wirral paedophile who abused victims as young as two was today locked up for more than 13 years.

Karl Bromley, 37, left a trail of devastation over a 16-year period in which nine victims, both male and female, were assaulted.

Bromley, from Wallasey, was today jailed after admitting 22 sexual assaults on nine victims, both male and female, in the Moreton area between 1998 and 2014.

They led to one victim attempting suicide later in life.

In a witness statement read out at Liverpool Crown Court, one victim spoke candidly of the lasting impact Bromley’s actions had upon her.

She said: “The effect Karl Bromley had on my life is far reaching and insidious.

“His actions had consequences I am still suffering. For years I have struggled with depression and severe anxiety.

“Karl Bromley harmed me at a time and place I was supposed to be safe. His violation left me frightened of people.

“I was too afraid to open my own front door, even when I knew who was on the other side. I was wary of my family and panicked when people touched me without warning. Karl Bromley has left me almost completely incapable of trusting anyone and subsequently incapable of forming lasting relationships.

“There is no scale to reliably measure the damage that man did. I can never fix the damage done to my education. I cannot get back the years spent trapped in my home completely unable to face my family and friends and terrified of going outside.

“It is only recently and with the help of therapy that I have begun to come to terms with what Karl Bromley did to me, but I will never truly repair the damage he did to my life.”

Detective Constable Karen Mallan, from the Wirral child protection unit, said parental intervention had helped bring Bromley to justice.

She said: “Thankfully in some cases, parents recognised the warning signs and called the police when they realised something serious had happened.

“Karl Bromley is a determined sex offender who pursued boys and girls as young as two, abusing his position of trust for his own sexual gratification.”

Bromley, whose address in court was given as HMP Liverpool, was also ordered to sign the sex offender register for life and made subject of a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), banning him from having any contact with children under 16 for the rest of his life.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Gayle Newland, who tricked her female friend into sex using a fake penis, was today jailed for eight years.

Newland, 25, concocted the online male persona of Kye Fortune to seduce her victim – before convincing her to wear a blindfold whenever they were together.

The victim claimed she never suspected her friend Gayle and “boyfriend” Kye were the same person, until she ripped off her blindfold during sex and discovered “the evil truth” in June 2013.

Newland, of Hooton Road in Willaston, Neston, was convicted of three counts of sexual assault by a jury at Chester Crown Court on September 15.

She was today sentenced at the same court.

Gayle Newland trial Jury told: be ‘unemotional’

Lawyers involved in the trial told the ECHO it was the strangest case they had dealt with “by some way” while Judge Roger Dutton described it as “extraordinary” in his legal directions to the jury.

Speaking in court, the victim said: “It may look ridiculous, I had no idea, I was desperate for love. I wasn’t closing my eyes to what was happening, I wouldn’t have gone along with it.”

Throughout the case, Newland always accepted she had a sexual relationship with the woman, but claimed her accuser knew “from the word go” that Kye Fortune was make-believe.

‘Role play’ claim

She claimed the persona was part of a “role play” and that her victim wanted her to act as a man because she was awkward about her sexuality.

The victim first came into contact with Newland, hiding behind the persona of Kye Fortune, on Facebook in 2011 and the pair became a couple.

The court heard former creative writing student Newland devised an intricate back story to the character of Kye, and admitted first using the fake profile when she was 13 as a way of talking to girls.

The victim said over the next year Kye would make excuses as to why they could not meet, claiming he had suffered from cancer and was involved in a car crash, and that the treatment had left him embarrassed about his body.

As their relationship progressed, Kye suggested the victim meet “his friend” Gayle Newland.

The court heard the victim would hold long conversations with Kye before calling another number to talk to Newland, unaware she was speaking to the same person using different mobile phones.

Watch: Newland leaves court on a previous occasion

Kye eventually agreed to meet the victim, under strict “rules” that she must wear a blindfold and a mask at all times.

The court heard the pair would lie on Newland’s bed watching television, even though the victim was wearing a mask and could not see the screen.

The final time they had sex, on June 30, 2013, the victim claimed she removed her blindfold to find Newland sat on her bed.

She told police officers in interview: “Something just didn’t feel right, so I sat up on the bed. Something in my mind said pull it (the blindfold) off, pull it off.

“I pulled it off and Gayle was standing their with a strap-on prosthetic penis. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Five youths appeared in court yesterday accused of harassment against four victims.

The teenagers, aged between 14 and 16, were arrested in connection with allegations of problems on Castle Rise between June 17 and October 1.

Each boy faces between two and four counts of harassment without violence.

The eldest is also charged with causing damaging worth less than £5,000 to a complainant’s car.

They appeared at North Cheshire Youth Court in Runcorn.

Their case was re-listed to fix a trial date on December 9.

The harassment charges carry a maximum punishment of six months in custody and an unlimited fine.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

The family of “scheming” Gayle Newland cried out in shock as she was jailed for eight years after duping her female friend into sex using a fake penis.

Newland, 25, of Willaston, Neston, had to be carried to the cells at Chester Crown Court after collapsing in the dock, while relatives broke down in the public gallery.

During an eight day trial the court heard she had created the fake online profile of Kye Fortune, seducing the victim before convincing her to wear a mask and blindfold whenever they were together.

Newland then used a strap-on prosthetic penis to sexually assault the victim, who thought she was having sex with a man.

Gayle Newland the accused in the strap-on sex attack court case Chester Crown Court, leaving Wednesday after day three of the trial. Picture by: Andy Stenning

Judge Roger Dutton, sentencing Newland for three counts of sexual assault, said he found the victim in the case to be vulnerable and described the offence as a “callous breach of your friend’s trust.”

He said: “At 25 years-of-age you are an intelligent, obsessional, highly manipulative, deceitful, scheming and thoroughly determined young woman.”

The court heard how the victim in the case felt Newland had stolen her “youth and vitality.”

In a victim personal statement, read to the court by prosecution counsel Matthew Corbett-Jones, she said: “Socially I feel trapped. Still living in this invisible prison Gayle has made.”

She claimed she had been forced to move away from her home and felt she could not visit her friends.

Judge Dutton said: “You pursued this course of conduct over a lengthy period during which you played with her affections acting entirely for your own sexual satisfaction and choosing to ignore the devastating impact the eventual discovery of the truth would have on her.”

Nigel Power, QC, representing Newland, told the court his client had been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, generalised anxiety disorder, major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and had symptoms of an eating disorder.

Gayle Newland arrives at Chester Crown Court where she denies five counts of sexual assault between February and June 2013. Photo: Andy Kelvin/PA Wire

He called for Judge Dutton to suspend any prison sentence, saying: “I say this for two reasons. The offending had real and obvious triggers that will never arise again, and secondly because the offending is so clearly linked to the psychiatric problems the defendant has suffered for so long.”

The court heard issues with her sexuality and her psychiatric difficulties were a “two way street”, with one exacerbating the other.

Mr Power said: “It is possible she became so reliant on the virtual world to form relationships it blurred out into the real world, in certain situations, she became Kye Fortune.

“The lines became blurred in part or wholly because of the psychiatric problems.”

But Judge Dutton said: “The victim spoke of the manipulation, grooming and deception of her by you.

“It is important to observe that the impact of these events has been most profound for her. She lost employment and I am quite sure that the psychological impact of her experience has been severe and will be long lasting. She speaks of the damage done to her spirit, person and life.”

Newland, who shouted “I’m scared” before her sentence was passed down, will serve approximately four years behind bars before being released on license.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

This is fake penis attacker Gayle Newland, who was today jailed after tricking her female friend into having sex.

Newland, 25, of Willaston, near Neston, disguised her appearance and voice as she persuaded the other woman to put on a blindfold when they met up.

The pair had sex about 10 times until the complainant finally ripped off her mask and in disbelief saw Newland wearing a prosthetic penis.

Sentencing Newland to eight years in prison , Judge Roger Dutton labelled her “an intelligent, obsessional, highly manipulative, deceitful, scheming and thoroughly determined young woman”.

Newland concocted the online male persona of Kye Fortune for two years to seduce her victim.

The victim claimed she never suspected her friend Gayle and “boyfriend” Kye were the same person, until she ripped off her blindfold during sex and discovered “the evil truth” in June 2013.

Newland, of Hooton Road, was convicted of three counts of sexual assault by a jury at Chester Crown Court on September 15.

She was today sentenced at the same court.

Lawyers involved in the trial told the ECHO it was the strangest case they had dealt with “by some way” while Judge Roger Dutton described it as “extraordinary” in his legal directions to the jury.

The court heard the pair would lie on Newland’s bed watching television, even though the victim was wearing a mask and could not see the screen.

The final time they had sex, on June 30, 2013, the victim claimed she removed her blindfold to find Newland sat on her bed.

She told police officers in interview: “Something just didn’t feel right, so I sat up on the bed. Something in my mind said pull it (the blindfold) off, pull it off.

“I pulled it off and Gayle was standing their with a strap-on prosthetic penis. I just couldn’t believe it.”

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Five members of a drug gang which blighted the streets of Liverpool with an arsenal of automatic weapons were jailed for nearly 100 years.

Police discovered the guns, plus thousands of pounds of Class A drugs, in raids carried out during Operation Camaro.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how officers targeted the Toxteth and Dingle based group between September 2013 and June 2014.

They found a Kommando sub-machine gun, a 12 gauge sawn-off pump action shotgun and a .45 calibre Norinco self-loading pistol in Upper Parliament Street, Toxteth on November 22, 2013.

Ammunition, balaclavas and body armour plus nearly £30,000 of heroin and cocaine and adulterant was also recovered from two flats belonging to the mum and sister of under pressure “warehouse man” Che Serrano, 25.

Dan Travers, prosecuting, said police descended on the flats after a shooting involving Aden Quartey, 25, and Curtis Ojapah, 25, who collected the Norinco earlier that day at around 1pm.

The masked pair on bikes encountered three men in nearby Rosebery Street, while Quartey was carrying the gun in a man bag.

One of the men pulled out a gun and shot at them seven times and they fled.

A terrified witness saw Quartey pull out his gun and return, intending to fire back at them, but the group had disappeared.

A week later undeterred Kwame Terry, 31, who prosecutors say was the gang’s ringleader, travelled to Manchester to get a replacement gun with his alleged deputy, Jordan Barber, 24, and Ojapah.

They returned to Liverpool in the early hours of November 29 and Terry visited his dad Alan Marriott’s home in Alexandra Green, Aigburth.

A raid later that day uncovered a 9mm Ruger self-loading pistol and bullets along with more heroin, cocaine and cutting agents.

Prosecutors say Barber then acted on behalf of Terry when he went to Mill Lane in Old Swan on March 20, 2014 to collect an Ingram MAC-11 sub-machine gun.

Barber was tracked by police helicopter and caught red handed after dumping the gun in Mystery Park, Wavertree, while talking to Terry on the phone.

Mr Travers said Barber was also organising the distribution of around two kilos of cannabis.

In total 1.2kg of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, 8.5kg of adulterant and 2.4kg of cannabis were attributed to the group.

Terry, of Leeds Street, and Barber, of Old Hall Street, both in Liverpool city centre, were convicted of conspiring to possess firearms and conspiring to supply Class A drugs. Barber also admitted conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.

Serrano, of Upper Parliament Street; Quartey, of Selbourne Close; and Curtis Ojapah, 25, of Peel Street; all Toxteth, were found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life.

Quartey was also found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms, which Serrano admitted, along with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Terry and Barber faced three trials in total, after the first one collapsed last December.

The jury were unable to reach a verdict in March on the intent to endanger life charge and they were cleared of this offence again when retried last month.

Barristers defending Terry and Barber disputed that they were the leaders of the gang, arguing that the jury rejected this by finding them not guilty of the most serious charge.

But Judge Alan Conrad, QC, said he was satisfied that Terry was at “the top of the hierarchy” with Barber his “second-in-command”.

The judge said they were a “highly determined and dangerous” gang, who dealt in banned guns and drugs on a “very considerable scale”.

He said: “All too regularly the streets of this great city are blighted by the activities of such gangs, by the use of such weapons to kill or to maim or to terrify, by the distribution of controlled drugs resulting in addiction, acquisitive crime to fund addiction and in violence between rival gangs for ownership of the turf.

“Those who have become involved in such activities must be aware that severe punishment awaits.”

Judge Conrad jailed Terry for 25 years and Barber for 21 years.

He gave Quartey and Ojapah extended sentences of 21 years and 20 years respectively, consisting of 16 and 15-year custodial periods and an extended five years on licence.

The judge sentenced Serrano – who he said had been taken advantage of – to 11 years behind bars.

News updates throughout the day in our live feed here

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

The news that Gayle Newland has been jailed for eight years after tricking her friend into having sex with her by pretending to be a boy has been met with incredulity by some people and satisfaction by others.

It’s been an incredibly divisive case for those people paying attention to it – and thanks to the live nature of how reporters cover court cases nowadays that’s a lot of people.

Lawyers who were involved in what has become known as the fake penis case have already remarked how unusual it was and that’s something of an understatement.

File photo dated 09/09/15 of Gayle Newland, who will be sentenced today after she duped a female friend into having sex by pretending to be a man

But leaving aside the bizarre nature of her offending and whatever you think of her or her victim’s character, as they emerged from the evidence in the trial, the fact remains she was found guilty by a jury.

That’s 12 men and women drawn from the Chester area who are just like you and me – and just like the people posting on the ECHO’s Facebook page or tweeting the case.

They found her guilty of three charges of sexual assault after hearing all the evidence.

Poll loading …

Once that happened no matter what the judge’s personal opinion may have been his job then became to sentence her according to laws created by Parliament, using sentencing guidelines handed down to him.

Judges often take a lot of flack on social media or in the papers when people don’t like their sentences, either because they’re too high or too low, but increasingly their hands are becoming more tied than they have ever been.

The eight year jail term which Judge Roger Dutton handed down is the starting point for a category two seriousness, category A culpabliity case of sexual assault which this case fits squarely into.

In other words he went right down the line according to the sentencing guidelines, although he could have reduced it to as low as five years or as high as thirteen years.

But to do either there would have had to have been specific evidence to justify that alteration.

Photo issued by Cheshire Police of Gayle Newland, who has been jailed for 8 years after she duped her female friend into having sex by pretending to be a man for two years. Photo by Cheshire Police/PA Wire

In fact the judge thought there were more aggravating factors than mitigating ones, meaning if anything he would have increased the sentence but said as an “aspect of mercy” he was not going to do that.

Gayle Newland’s barrister Nigel Power QC tried to persuade the judge that this was a case where he could take an “exceptional course” and depart from the sentencing guidelines but, despite a lot of psychiatric evidence on her behalf, the judge was not convinced and handed out the sentence that he did.

For her to have avoided a jail term he would have had to have reduced her sentence to a maximum of two years in order to be able to suspend it. Given the seriousness of the charges that was always going to be an incredibly unlikely scenario.

If you want to see the judge’s thought process in his own words click here.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Five members of a drug gang which blighted the streets of Liverpool with an arsenal of automatic weapons were jailed for nearly 100 years.

Police discovered the guns, plus thousands of pounds of Class A drugs, in raids carried out during Operation Camaro.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how officers targeted the Toxteth and Dingle based group between September 2013 and June 2014.

They found a Kommando sub-machine gun, a 12 gauge sawn-off pump action shotgun and a .45 calibre Norinco self-loading pistol in Upper Parliament Street, Toxteth on November 22, 2013.

Ammunition, balaclavas and body armour plus nearly £30,000 of heroin and cocaine and adulterant was also recovered from two flats belonging to the mum and sister of under pressure “warehouse man” Che Serrano, 25.

Dan Travers, prosecuting, said police descended on the flats after a shooting involving Aden Quartey, 25, and Curtis Ojapah, 25, who collected the Norinco earlier that day at around 1pm.

The masked pair on bikes encountered three men in nearby Rosebery Street, while Quartey was carrying the gun in a man bag.

One of the men pulled out a gun and shot at them seven times and they fled.

A terrified witness saw Quartey pull out his gun and return, intending to fire back at them, but the group had disappeared.

A week later undeterred Kwame Terry, 31, who prosecutors say was the gang’s ringleader, travelled to Manchester to get a replacement gun with his alleged deputy, Jordan Barber, 24, and Ojapah.

Kwame Terry (left) and his father Alan Marriott

They returned to Liverpool in the early hours of November 29 and Terry visited his dad Alan Marriott’s home in Alexandra Green, Aigburth.

A raid later that day uncovered a 9mm Ruger self-loading pistol and bullets along with more heroin, cocaine and cutting agents.

Prosecutors say Barber then acted on behalf of Terry when he went to Mill Lane in Old Swan on March 20, 2014 to collect an Ingram MAC-11 sub-machine gun.

Barber was tracked by police helicopter and caught red handed after dumping the gun in Mystery Park, Wavertree, while talking to Terry on the phone.

Mr Travers said Barber was also organising the distribution of around two kilos of cannabis.

In total 1.2kg of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, 8.5kg of adulterant and 2.4kg of cannabis were attributed to the group.

Terry, of Leeds Street, and Barber, of Old Hall Street, both in Liverpool city centre, were convicted of conspiring to possess firearms and conspiring to supply Class A drugs. Barber also admitted conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.

Serrano, of Upper Parliament Street; Quartey, of Selbourne Close; and Curtis Ojapah, 25, of Peel Street; all Toxteth, were found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life.

Quartey was also found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms, which Serrano admitted, along with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Terry and Barber faced three trials in total, after the first one collapsed last December.

The jury were unable to reach a verdict in March on the intent to endanger life charge and they were cleared of this offence again when retried last month.

Barristers defending Terry and Barber disputed that they were the leaders of the gang, arguing that the jury rejected this by finding them not guilty of the most serious charge.

But Judge Alan Conrad, QC, said he was satisfied that Terry was at “the top of the hierarchy” with Barber his “second-in-command”.

The judge said they were a “highly determined and dangerous” gang, who dealt in banned guns and drugs on a “very considerable scale”.

He said: “All too regularly the streets of this great city are blighted by the activities of such gangs, by the use of such weapons to kill or to maim or to terrify, by the distribution of controlled drugs resulting in addiction, acquisitive crime to fund addiction and in violence between rival gangs for ownership of the turf.

“Those who have become involved in such activities must be aware that severe punishment awaits.”

Judge Conrad jailed Terry for 25 years and Barber for 21 years.

He gave Quartey and Ojapah extended sentences of 21 years and 20 years respectively, consisting of 16 and 15-year custodial periods and an extended five years on licence.

The judge sentenced Serrano – who he said had been taken advantage of – to 11 years behind bars.

News updates throughout the day in our live feed here

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Five members of a drug gang which blighted the streets of Liverpool with an arsenal of automatic weapons were jailed for nearly 100 years.

Police discovered the guns, plus thousands of pounds of Class A drugs, in raids carried out during Operation Camaro.

Liverpool Crown Court heard how officers targeted the Toxteth and Dingle based group between September 2013 and June 2014.

They found a Kommando sub-machine gun, a 12 gauge sawn-off pump action shotgun and a .45 calibre Norinco self-loading pistol in Upper Parliament Street, Toxteth on November 22, 2013.

Ammunition, balaclavas and body armour plus nearly £30,000 of heroin and cocaine and adulterant was also recovered from two flats belonging to the mum and sister of under pressure “warehouse man” Che Serrano, 25.

Dan Travers, prosecuting, said police descended on the flats after a shooting involving Aden Quartey, 25, and Curtis Ojapah, 25, who collected the Norinco earlier that day at around 1pm.

The masked pair on bikes encountered three men in nearby Rosebery Street, while Quartey was carrying the gun in a man bag.

One of the men pulled out a gun and shot at them seven times and they fled.

A terrified witness saw Quartey pull out his gun and return, intending to fire back at them, but the group had disappeared.

A week later undeterred Kwame Terry, 31, who prosecutors say was the gang’s ringleader, travelled to Manchester to get a replacement gun with his alleged deputy, Jordan Barber, 24, and Ojapah.

Kwame Terry (left) and his father Alan Marriott

They returned to Liverpool in the early hours of November 29 and Terry visited his dad Alan Marriott’s home in Alexandra Green, Aigburth.

A raid later that day uncovered a 9mm Ruger self-loading pistol and bullets along with more heroin, cocaine and cutting agents.

Prosecutors say Barber then acted on behalf of Terry when he went to Mill Lane in Old Swan on March 20, 2014 to collect an Ingram MAC-11 sub-machine gun.

Barber was tracked by police helicopter and caught red handed after dumping the gun in Mystery Park, Wavertree, while talking to Terry on the phone.

Mr Travers said Barber was also organising the distribution of around two kilos of cannabis.

In total 1.2kg of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, 8.5kg of adulterant and 2.4kg of cannabis were attributed to the group.

Terry, of Leeds Street, and Barber, of Old Hall Street, both in Liverpool city centre, were convicted of conspiring to possess firearms and conspiring to supply Class A drugs. Barber also admitted conspiracy to supply Class B drugs.

Serrano, of Upper Parliament Street; Quartey, of Selbourne Close; and Curtis Ojapah, 25, of Peel Street; all Toxteth, were found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms with intent to endanger life.

Quartey was also found guilty of conspiracy to possess firearms, which Serrano admitted, along with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs.

Terry and Barber faced three trials in total, after the first one collapsed last December.

The jury were unable to reach a verdict in March on the intent to endanger life charge and they were cleared of this offence again when retried last month.

Barristers defending Terry and Barber disputed that they were the leaders of the gang, arguing that the jury rejected this by finding them not guilty of the most serious charge.

But Judge Alan Conrad, QC, said he was satisfied that Terry was at “the top of the hierarchy” with Barber his “second-in-command”.

The judge said they were a “highly determined and dangerous” gang, who dealt in banned guns and drugs on a “very considerable scale”.

He said: “All too regularly the streets of this great city are blighted by the activities of such gangs, by the use of such weapons to kill or to maim or to terrify, by the distribution of controlled drugs resulting in addiction, acquisitive crime to fund addiction and in violence between rival gangs for ownership of the turf.

“Those who have become involved in such activities must be aware that severe punishment awaits.”

Judge Conrad jailed Terry for 25 years and Barber for 21 years.

He gave Quartey and Ojapah extended sentences of 21 years and 20 years respectively, consisting of 16 and 15-year custodial periods and an extended five years on licence.

The judge sentenced Serrano – who he said had been taken advantage of – to 11 years behind bars.

News updates throughout the day in our live feed here

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Gayle Newland was described by Judge Roger Dutton as “deceitful, “callous” and “highly manipulative.”

But to me, as I sat in court, it seemed her distress at receiving eight years behind bars was genuine and overwhelming.

Newland, and her highly supportive family and friends sat in the public gallery, were clearly not prepared for such a heavy sentence.

The bizarre, lurid, and occasionally comical details which emerged during the trial have captivated what must be approaching millions of people.

As Nigel Power, QC, noted during the sentencing hearing, the case has made headlines in the local, national and international media.

Photo issued by Cheshire Police of Gayle Newland, who has been jailed for 8 years after she duped her female friend into having sex by pretending to be a man for two years. Photo by Cheshire Police/PA Wire

No-one watching the case could quite get to grips with the dynamic of the relationship between defendant and victim, and I found myself utterly astonished on more than one occasion.

Watching professional, serious barristers and judges discussing the features of a particular brand of prosthetic, strap-on penis was a surreal experience.

No doubt the 12 jurors, probably somewhat excited by the prospect of jury service, were completely unprepared for the extraordinary deeply personal evidence they would have to consider. But when the details are stripped away, the case revolved around two troubled, broken young women.

Gayle Newland jailed for 8 years

Today’s hearing was deeply unpleasant, with court professionals used to dealing with hardened criminals forced to drag a terrified and hysterical young woman to the cells, screaming for her family.

Court reporting does inevitably lead to a sense of detachment from the often strange, sinister and distressing nature of criminal cases,

But sometimes real-life bursts into the artificial setting of a courtroom and reminds us what is at stake.

The sheer devastation of Newland and her family was difficult to watch and there will be many people disturbed by the seeming harshness of her punishment.

Gayle Newland the accused in the strap-on sex attack court case Chester Crown Court, leaving Wednesday after day three of the trial. Picture by: Andy Stenning

Last week, I covered the case of predatory Wallasey paedophile Karl Bromley, who was jailed for 13 years at Liverpool Crown Court for 21 sexual assaults on nine boys and girls as young as four.

Bromley’s actions were truly sickening, and left more than one family in pieces.

But with most prisoners serving half of their sentences before being considered for release, it is likely that Bromley will serve only two more years behind bars than Newland.

In another shocking case, Anthony Sherlock, from Edge Hill, could be released in just over six years after repeatedly battering his girlfriend around the head with an iron in a drunken rage, leaving her in a pool of blood.

This in no way should take away from the huge impact Newland’s actions had on the victim, who says she feels trapped in an “invisible prison” of social isolation by Newland’s deceit.

She was found guilty of a serious, devastating crime and the law is the law, but Newland is no monster and many will find it difficult to understand what has happened to her.

Whether Newland will appeal her sentence remains to be seen, but there were no winners today and I doubt these will be the last words written on her sad fate.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

This is the moment fake penis trickster Gayle Newland was led to a prison van after being jailed for eight years.

Gayle Newland, 25, disguised her appearance and voice as she persuaded the other woman to put on a blindfold when they met up.

The pair had sex about 10 times until the victim ripped off her mask and in disbelief saw Newland wearing a prosthetic penis.

Newland, of Hooton Road, Willaston, near Neston, was found guilty on three charges of sexual assault following a trial.

She wept uncontrollably as she was jailed for eight years by Judge Roger Dutton at Chester Crown Court today.

Newland was so distraught she was unable to stand and had to be physically carried down to the cells where her shouts and cries could still be heard in the courtroom.

Gayle Newland jailed for 8 years

Her family were left visibly stunned by the lengthy sentence, with one heard to say “That did not f***ing just happen” .

Before she was sent down, they shouted “we are here for you” from the public gallery.

Judge Roger Dutton described Newland as ‘scheming’, ‘deceitful’ and ‘highly manipulative’.

He said the crime was so unusual he could depart from normal sentencing guidelines.

He told Newland: “You were so convincing in your cruel deception of [the victim] she thought she had finally found a man she could love and be with.”

Photo issued by Cheshire Police of Gayle Newland, who has been jailed for 8 years after she duped her female friend into having sex by pretending to be a man for two years. Photo by Cheshire Police/PA Wire

Newland acted for her own “sexual gratification” and ignored the “devastating” impact on the victim, he added.

During the trial, Newland claimed her accuser, also aged 25, always knew she was pretending to be a man as they engaged in role play while struggling with their sexuality.

She said no blindfold was used and she did not strap bandages to her chest or wear a woollen hat and swimsuit.

But in September, a jury at Chester Crown Court convicted the marketing manager of three counts of sexual assault at the complainant’s flat in Chester.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

Two fraudsters who masterminded a £100,000 Liverpool FC forged ticket scam which hoodwinked fans across the world were jailed today for a total of seven-and-a-half years.

Craig O’Donohue, 29, and Paul Murgatroyd, 28, conned hundreds of victims who paid hugely-inflated prices to watch the Reds play at Anfield .

But when supporters tried to gain entry to the stadium, their tickets were revealed to be fake, leaving them thousands of pounds out of pocket.

Many of those tricked were Liverpool fans from abroad who’d also spent large sums of money on flights to Merseyside and booked hotel stays.

Ringleaders O’Donohue and Murgatroyd advertised tickets for high-profile games including fixtures against Real Madrid and Tottenham on the website Craiglist.

The pair would meet their victims in the city centre , sometimes on the steps of Lime Street Station or outside Schhu store on Church Street, and carry out the bogus transactions.

Fans desperate to get inside Anfield paid as much as £260 for tickets as the gang placed 1,315 website adverts during their spree between September, last year, and April, this year.

Victims who flew to Liverpool from countries including Italy and Iceland were caught up in the fraud, but Merseyside Police only got involved when a lawyer from Florida complained he’d been duped when buying a game for a Reds’ match against West Brom.

Detectives launched an undercover operation to catch O’Donohue and Murgatroyd, putting them under surveillance, and sending disguised detectives to buy fake tickets.

The ringleaders used nine other accomplices to complete their scam, whose bank accounts were used to initially obtain the cash, before the sums were almost immediately withdrawn from ATM machines by the two men in charge.

This was the money-laundering phase of the scam, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

After getting Liverpool fans’ money, O’Donohue, of Harrow Road, Anfield, and Murgatroyd, of Richmond Park, Anfield, were watched by police going into a series of bookies, playing on the casino machines to ‘put in cash and launder it through,’ prosecutors said.

When officers searched Murgatroyd’s house they seized forged tickets, including ones for Everton matches, and Hewlett Packard printers.

The fraudsters used blank ticket books which they’d intercepted and stolen from Liverpool FC as they were being transported to the shredder.

The crime was ‘sophisticated’, the court was told, with unregistered pay-as-you-go mobile phones and computers in internet cafes used to avoid detection.

Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said: “The defendants are to be sentenced for their part in a fraud concerning football tickets in relation to Liverpool Football Club. One victim travelled from Italy with friends, at a cost of £90 a ticket, each paying £500 for flights and accommodation.

“This was typical of a number of the victims who’d come to Liverpool to watch a game. The offences were sophisticated and required serious planning and there a large number of victims.

“The loss to them was significant.”

Referring to the nine accomplices, who allowed their bank accounts to be used in the scam, Mr Gibson added: “Money laundering is an essential ingredient in fraud. The motive for allowing their accounts to be used was for financial gain.

The Queen Elizabeth II Law Courts, Liverpool Crown Court

“They must have had a limited understanding of the true extent of the fraud. Without their association, the fraud could not have taken place at all.”

Judge Denis Watson, QC, jailed Murgatroyd for three and a half years and O’Donohue for four years.

The judge added that Alexandra Kirby, of Richmond Park – Murgatroyd’s girlfriend – knew what was going on, but accepted she was used by her boyfriend.

He handed her a 14-weeks in jail, suspended for 18 months, plus 160 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Watson said the other defendants were unaware of the true extent of the fraud but took a decision to ‘make easy money’, before handing them all one-year community orders.

Kercher, 19, of Frampton Road, Walton ; Clarke, 18, of Afton, Widnes and Wright, 19, of Havergal Street, Runcorn , were found guilty at trial.

Kercher received a three-month home curfew and was told to pay £500 costs.

Clarke was given 160 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £250 costs.

Wright received 180 hours of unpaid work and was told to pay £500 costs.

O’Donohue’s girlfriend Frances Ellicott, 23, of Farrow Road, Walton, was told to complete 60 hours of unpaid work.

Laura Green, 22, of Batley Street, Old Swan, was given 60 hours of unpaid work.

Emily Bakewell, 20, of Fulbeck, Widnes, must carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.

Siobhan Gazeley, 25, of Frank Street, Widnes, was handed 60 hours of unpaid work.

Kieran King, 22, of Snowberry Road, West Derby , must complete 160 hours of unpaid work.

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/

ECHO readers have voted overwhelmingly against the eight year jail sentence given to a woman who posed as a man to trick her female friend into having sex with her.

Gayle Newland, 25, of Willaston, Neston, was jailed for eight years today after being found guilty of three counts of sexual assault.

Newland tricked her female friend into sex using a fake penis over a two year period.

An overwhelming 86% of readers who voted in an online poll said the length of sentence was “too high”.

A mere 2% thought the prison term was “too low” and just over 10% thought Judge Roger Dutton imposed a sentence that they agreed with.

Scores of readers have posted their opinions about the sentence, which left Newland reeling and having to be carried to the cells, suggesting paedophiles and heroin dealers spend less time behind bars.

An overwhelming 86 per cent of pollsters said they thought Gayle Newland’s eight year prison sentence was “too high”

Carolyn Hunter posted: “The judicial system and sentencing seriously need to be reviewed, even if you didn’t know the bizarre facts of this case and just looked at it as a female who committed a sexual offence, her sentence is still excessive when compared to a male who committed a first time sexual offence.

“Although I’m not even certain this case should have ever come to court.”

Gemma Hills wrote: “I was a juror on a murder trial and they only got five years for manslaughter. Doesn’t make sense our justice system.”

Mark Rowland said: “Eight years is beyond belief.” He added he hoped the sentence will be reduced if and when it is appealed.

Melissa Mensah thought today’s sentence was “very harsh”. She said: “Men seem to get much less for rape and even manslaughter cases get less.”

Sallyann Lawrenson said: “No matter what you think of this story that sentence is shocking.”

Gayle Newland jailed for 8 years

Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/