These are the faces of criminals put behind bars at Liverpool’s courts this week.
They include two OAPs who were charged with handling £108k worth of stolen goods as well as a "stupid" young gangster who was caught after posing for a picture with a shotgun and spelling out his own name in bullets.
One of the most high profile cases this week was that of James Gradwell, a 24-year-old ‘high-level’ drug smuggler who took part in a plot to sneak in a secret haul of Class A drugs using a ‘Trojan Horse’ car.
Joshua Caldwell
Joshua Caldwell, 24, of Hillview, in Aigburth, jailed for 15 years after posing with a shotgun. He was also jailed over drugs offences.
This "stupid" young gangster was jailed for 15 years after being pictured posing with a shotgun – while wearing bright yellow marigolds.
Joshua Caldwell, 24, was also linked to a major drugs conspiracy which involved the seizure of £118,308’s worth of heroin and cocaine.
Caldwell, of Hillview, in Aigburth, was linked to at least two sawn-off shotguns and a handgun after police investigated a drugs and firearms ring based in Garston and Mossley Hill.
Joshua Caldwell, 24, of Hillview, in Aigburth, jailed for 15 years after posing with a shotgun. He was also jailed over drugs offences
Caldwell was arrested in Mossley Hill on January 25 last year, and two Blackberry mobile phones were seized containing incriminating pictures of him holding a shotgun, as well as his initials spelled out in bullets.
A phone belonging to a co-conspirator was also recovered containing a picture of shotguns, Remington handguns and an antique French pistol next to the “chilling” threat “F*** Dingle rats” spelled out in bullet casings.
Judge Jonathan-Rowe Foster, QC, passing sentence, found Caldwell was a “leading light” in the conspiracy and described the operation as “sophisticated”.
George Whitelock and Leon Bresnahan
A Walton pensioner was locked up for four years this week after handling over £100k worth of stolen goods including a tractor, sweets and shampoo.
George Whitelock, 67, was jailed alongside prolific offender Leon Bresnahan, 39 after police found a tractor and two trainers containing £27k worth of confectionary and £69k worth of cosmetics at a lock up in Bootle which was rented by Whitelock.
Whitelock, of Hampden Street, Walton, pleaded guilty to three counts of handling stolen goods while Bresnahan, of Little Heyes, Everton, who has 64 convictions for 166 offences including burglary, was jailed for 12 months after admitting two counts.
Judge Alan Conrad, QC said: “These offences reflect handling of stolen goods on a commercial scale.”
No-one has been convicted of carrying out the thefts.
James Gradwell
James Gradwell, 24, jailed for 13 years and seven months for drug importation
This is the face of a high-level cocaine smuggler who was jailed for more than 13 years after helping smuggle a secret haul of Class A drugs into the UK.
James Gradwell, 24, of no fixed abode, went with an accomplice to collect a 6kg package from suppliers on the border of France and Belgium and drove a Seat Leon with the stash hidden inside.
Images show how the ‘hide’ was in a constructed box within the transmission tunnel.
An expert who examined the car said: “I removed screws from a plastic panel beneath the dash in the front nearside footwell… the trim covering the transmission tunnel in the centre of the vehicle came loose."
A Seat Leon used by James Gradwell to smuggle drugs from the continent. The car was adapted to store cocaine in the transmission.
Read more: Images inside the ‘Trojan Horse’ car
Four of the gang are already behind bars for 35 years. The first consignment was intercepted in Crosby.
Gradwell, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to supplying Class A drugs, was a major player in that gang, prosecutors said, who boasted of quaffing champagne and sniffing ‘Charlie’ on a ferry as he journeyed to the continent on a drugs trip.
Judge Wright jailed Gradwell to 13 years and seven months, telling how cocaine "brought misery, dependency and sometimes death" to users.
Daniel James Fair
Daniel Fair cyber stalked his ex girlfriend making her life a misery, before battering his sister and her partner while on bail for that offence.
A ‘violent cyber stalker’ was locked up for 26 weeks at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court after making his pregnant ex girlfriend’s life a misery as well as beating up his own sister.
Daniel James Fair, 26 battered his sister, Donna Fair and her partner Jemma Ako-Parker as well as hacking his ex-girlfriend Georgina Brennan’s Facebook, e-mail and Snapchat accounts.
The court heard how he bombarded Georgina and her family with unwanted messages – including a picture of a revolver and the words "game over you evil b****"
He pleaded guilty to harassment and three charges under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 but was also convicted of the two assaults after a trial.
Chairman of the bench, Philip Howley, also gave Fair restraining orders banning all contact with Miss Brennan for five years and with Miss Fair and Miss Ako-Parker for two years.
Michael Halsall
Michael Halsall, 49, of Poulton Road, Southport, jailed for six years
A man who thrust a broken bottle into a teenager’s face – leaving him scarred for life – was handed a six-year jail sentence.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Michael Halsall attacked his partner’s 18-year-old son, Cameron Williams, after getting drunk at a family party.
Chris Hopkins, prosecuting, said: "He hit [Cameron Williams] on the head with the bottle which smashed but did not cause any injury at that stage except perhaps a lump to the side of his head.
“But while scuffling Mr Williams felt the defendant push the glass into the side of his face once and felt the bottle dig into him.”
Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, said Halsall was “capable of acting in a violent way” while under the influence of alcohol. Craig Tennant, Johnathan Kenney and Paul Jensen
From left to right: Craig Tennant, Johnathan Kenney and Paul Jensen
A gang of cannabis growers with five different farms across Merseyside were jailed for a total of six years and eight months.
Three of the men were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court while two people were given suspended sentences for their part in the conspiracy which saw 74 plants, worth £66,000, recovered from one farm alone.
They also bypassed electricity meters to avoid paying around £35k in bills for power used to grow their drugs.
Johnathan Kenney, aged 28, of St Domingo Vale, Everton , was jailed for two years for his role at two Allerton cannabis farms – one on Streatham Avenue and the other on Alverstone Road.
Craig Tennant, 40, of East Float Quay in Wallasey, had Jensen’s number stored under “dude” on his mobile phone, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He has seven previous convictions for 10 offences, none drug-related.
Jensen, of St Mary’s Road, Garston , the "go to electrician" for the gang has 27 previous convictions for 45 offences including possession of cannabis and was sentenced to three years and two months behind bars.
Judge Nicholls told the group that cannabis is “not a harmless substance” and said it “prevents the user from engaging with society in any meaningful way.”
Other stories from the courts
Ex-nurse swindled from dementia sufferer Paedophile jailed for 1980s crimes Cab driver jailed after cocaine found Man tried to buy deadly ricin poison 
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/