Some of the most bizarre and shocking criminal cases in Merseyside this year were dealt with by the county’s lower courts.
Every alleged offender charged with a criminal offence passes through magistrates’ court, whether alleged murderers bound for Crown court or petty thieves dealt with there and then.
The Echo counts down 10 of the most strange and shocking cases heard in 2015.
1. The Five anti-capitalist ‘Love Activists’ locked up after illegally occupying the old Bank of England building in Liverpool city centre.
Five ‘Love Activists’ to appeal against custodial sentences for occupying former Bank of England building. Pictured (l to r, clockwise): James Allanson, James Jones, John David Rice, John Thomas Hall, Chelsea Stafford
The sentences led to chaotic scenes in and outside the court building in Derby Square, as supporters barricaded the main entrance and clashed with police.
The court heard the total policing cost of the occupation in Castle Street – part of a protest over lack of support for the homeless and government austerity – was nearly £120,000.
John Hall, 50; John Rice, 23; Chelsea Stafford, 19; and James Jones, 20, all of no-fixed address, were handed 10 weeks behind bars at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after admitting trespass.
James Allanson, 20, of Wetstone Drive in Birkenhead, was also sentenced over an incident in Everton Park and jailed for 13 weeks.
Stafford was later freed after having her sentence reduced and suspended on appeal.
2. The Wallasey man jailed for a “monstrous breach of trust” in the first ever case brought in Merseyside under new “revenge porn” laws.
David Jones has become the first person in Merseyside to be sentenced under a law to tackle the problem of revenge porn 
David Jones, 53, of Mockbeggar Drive, was locked up for three months at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after posting intimate pictures online of a former partner taken nearly 20 years ago.
He had pleaded guilty to five charges of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, under new laws brought in at the start of the year.
3. The ex-nurse who pleaded guilty to stealing £65,000 from her elderly mother who had dementia.
Gillian Hillier, 54, of Hansby Drive, Hunts Cross was jailed for 20 months
Gillian Hillier, 54, of Hansby Drive in Hunts Cross, pleaded guilty to theft at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court, and was later sentenced to 20 months in prison.
Hillier registered a Lasting Power of Attorney over her 88-year-old victim’s financial affairs before draining her account.
She was rumbled after care home staff realised their client could not pay her fees.
4. The Kirkby dad jailed for beating his former business partner around the head with a child’s scooter in front of terrified school pupils.
Gary Wade, 34 from Kirkby was jailed for 12 weeks
Gary Wade, 34, of Wood Close, was jailed for 12 weeks at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after the attack on David Thomas near the grounds of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, in Cedar Road, Walton Vale.
The court heard Mr Thomas could hear children screaming during the attack, until Wade stopped and ran off in the direction of Cedar Road.
5. The Liverpool primary school teacher handed a suspended prison sentence for neglecting her dog to the point he smelled of “rotting flesh.”
Primary school headteacher Susan Horncastle, of Brookthorpe Close, Wallasey, who admitted neglecting 17-year-old West Highland terrier Snowy
Susan Horncastle, 60, of Brookthorpe Close,Wallasey, left West Highland terrier Snowy “suffering on numerous levels” until the dog had to be put down.
Horncastle was sacked as headteacher at Our Lady of Good Help in Wavertree after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at Wirral Magistrates Court.
6. The Wavertree man who caused roads chaos by threatening to hang himself from a motorway flyover in revenge for police killing his parrot.
Allan Clarke threatened to hang himself over death of pet parrot
Allan Clarke, 54, of Sandhead Street, was given a 12 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to wasting police time and causing danger to other road users.
Clarke had sat on Queen’s Drive flyover with a rope around his neck, prompting the closure of the M62 and a massive emergency response.
He later said he had no intention of harming himself.
The court heard Clarke wanted to get revenge after police placed his parrot in a small cage a few weeks earlier when he had been arrested for a driving offence, which he blamed for it getting “stressed out” and dying.
7. The 14-year-old boy handed a youth referral order after stabbing a Liverpool schoolgirl with a steak knife “for a dare.”
Walton Hall Park on Walton Hall Avenue
The boy, who cannot be named, slashed and stabbed the 13-year-old girl in the legs at Walton Hall Park after a challenge from friends that he was “too scared to stab a girl.”
He pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Liverpool Youth Court in a case described by presiding magistrate David Tasker as the “most bizarre” in recent memory.
8. The 64-year-old passenger who tried to choke the driver of a moving bus before ignoring CS gas spray to floor a policewoman.
Raymond Barry, 64, of Parkside Drive, West Derby
Raymond Barry, of Bishops Court in West Derby, was handed a 12 week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months , after pleading guilty to assault and two charges of assaulting a police constable at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.
The court heard Barry put driver of the bus Mark Byrne in a chokehold before punching and pushing PC Andrea Austin to the floor, leaving her “screaming in pain.”
9. The West Derby nightmare neighbour who left an eight year old boy traumatised after a harassment campaign involving malicious and false accusations against his parents.
James Connor, 30, of Dwerryhouse Lane, West Derby, made malicious and false reports that a family had been physically abusing their 8-year-old son.
James Connor, 30, of Dwerryhouse Lane in West Derby, was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months after pleading guilty to harassment at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court.
Connor made numerous unfounded reports of child cruelty to social services, Merseyside Police and the NSPCC against a family living nearby between January 2014 and January this year, resulting in the boy needing counselling.
10. The Kirkby takeaway owner whose fast food restaurant infected 54 people with potentially deadly bug salmonella.
Hidayet Tayar
Hidayet Tayar, 54, of Ness Grove, Kirkby was ordered to pay £12,000 in fines and costs at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after admitting health and safety breaches.
The court heard the outbreak, which left two patients in intensive care, was traced to Wok’s Cooking, in Richard Hesketh Drive, Westvale by Environmental Health officers.
The bacteria was believed to have been introduced to the takeaway by eggs from a European supplier and contaminated other food due to inadequate safety procedures. The business is now under new managment.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/