Jailed in June 2023 – The worst monthly list of criminals we have ever compiled
From the Primark pickpocket to the child killer mum and boyfriend – these are the latest criminals to be sent to prison. This is our roundup of the main court cases we covered in June this year which resulted in immediate custody.
It is quite possibly the worst monthly collection of criminals we have ever compiled. Our list features:
- An evil boyfriend who murdered his girlfriend and dumped her body in a ditch
- ‘Professional hitmen’ who bungled a £100,000 shooting
- A delirious woman who killed a gran in hospital by bashing her head off the floor
- A knifeman who stabbed to death a father-of-eight outside a shisha bar
- A jealous husband who murdered his wife and left her naked body in the garden
There’s also no shortage of right wing extremists, drug dealers, child sex abusers and thieves. Scroll though our full list below which is made up of the court cases we covered in Birmingham[2], Solihull[3], Sutton Coldfield[4], the Black Country[5], Staffordshire[6] and Worcestershire[7].
John Griffiths, Natasha Webb, Violet Griffiths and Matthew Evans
(Image: West Midlands Police)
John Griffiths, Natasha Webb, Violet Griffiths and Matthew Evans[8] were part of a large child sex abuse ring which operated in Walsall[9] and abused seven victims over a decade. They were the last four to be sentenced after a six-year investigation thought to be the largest of its kind in the history of West Midlands Police[10].
In total 21 offenders were convicted as part of Operation Satchel[11] resulting in nearly 190 years of jail-time. Webb, aged 37, admitted multiple child sex offences and was sentenced to nine years. Evans, 32, was found guilty of a number of offences including child rape, and was jailed for 17 years, six months.
John Griffiths, 66, was similarly convicted of child rape and other offences and received 17 years, six months. Violet Griffiths, 66, was convicted of child sex offences and was jailed for 15 years.
Nicholas Stallard and Paul Hayles
(Image: WMP)
Nicholas Stallard and Paul Hayles[12] were part of a plot to rob a rival drug dealer which ended in the target’s ‘runner’ Richard Hopley being killed in the process. They both took part in the ambush attack in Underwood Close in Harborne in September last year when another man got into Mr Hopley’s car and stabbed him in the chest as a struggle ensued.
Stallard and Hayles, both class A drug users, remained outside the vehicle but tried to assist their accomplice who has since fled to Pakistan. They were found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob.
Stallard, aged 41, from of Metchley Drive, Harborne[13] was sentenced to 13 years. Hayles, aged 64, of Malins Road, Harborne, received ten years.
David Biddell-Portman
(Image: WMP)
David Biddell-Portman[14] made guns using a 3D printer. Police conducted a routine visit to his home in Kitts Green after he bought a blank firing pistol.
They found two assault rifles in a wardrobe while the printing machine used to make them was stored in a cupboard. Biddell-Portman, aged 30, of Neachley Grove, admitted two counts of manufacturing a firearm. He was sentenced to five years.
David Molloy
(Image: Coventry Telegraph)
David Molloy[15] took part in a vicious group attack on a man in a lift at Bedford House in Smith’s Wood in October 2020. His brother Adrian Molloy had instigated the ambush on Melvyn Grayson after he had been accused of stealing money from the victim’s girlfriend.
The siblings, along with three other men, pounced on the then 58-year-old as he left his flat and used the lift to get to the ground floor under the illusion he was about to receive his cash back. Adrian Molloy stabbed him multiple times while others whacked him with golf clubs.
David Molloy joined in the attack but did manage to pull his brother off the victim at one point. The 46-year-old, of Balsall Mews, Balsall Common, was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was sentenced to seven years. Adrian Molloy, aged 53, of Brownfield Road, Shard End[16] had been sentenced earlier in 2022 to 25 years for attempted murder and possession of a knife. Three other men convicted of unlawful wounding were also jailed.
Connor Palmer, Craig Miller and Elijah Stokes
(Image: WMP)
Connor Palmer, Craig Miller and Elijah Stokes[17] were involved in a bungled plot to kill a Birmingham man on the orders of a drug dealer in Dubai who paid £100,000 for the hit. The shooter, who has not been identified, turned up at the victim’s home in Sheldon wearing a ski mask and Tesco[18] jacket.
He opened fire and hit him with five bullets but the man survived and has gone on to make a full recovery. Stokes, aged 38, from Coventry was said to be a ‘loyal and trusted lieutenant’ of the Dubai dealer and introduced him to ‘professional hitmen’ Palmer, 40, from London, and Miller, 37, from Surrey. They in-turn subcontracted the job to the shooter.
All three were branded ‘very dangerous’ after being convicted of conspiracy to murder. Palmer was sentenced to life with a minimum of 23 years. Miller, who was convicted of a second identical count for agreeing to kill another man, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 30 years. Stokes received a determinate sentence of 27 years, of which he will serve at least two thirds in custody.
Adrian Nica
(Image: Home Office)
Adrian Nica[19] was involved in a gang which used ‘barbaric’ and ‘coffin-style’ wardrobes to smuggle Afghan nationals into the UK. He was a passenger in a Mercedes Sprinter van which travelled to France from London packed with furniture from the British Heart Foundation.
The 36-year-old came back separately from the vehicle for the return trip when it was stopped at the Dover border with seven illegal immigrants packed into the wardrobes, behind crudely fitted false panels. Nica, from Walsall, admitted conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration and failing to surrender to court. He was sentenced to three years and two months.
Paul Langford
(Image: BBC)
Serial fraudster Paul Langford[20] was caught after being featured on BBC[21]‘s Crimewatch. He conned more than 20 people claiming to be a window fitter for a firm where he had previously worked, using his ‘gift of the gab’ to secure cash deposits but never return to carry out any work.
In one incident he burgled a home and stole £230 cash while the victim, who he had spoken to the previous day, was in hospital. On another occasion he stole a woman’s purse as she turned around.
The 38-year-old of Hessian Close, Bilston, Wolverhampton[22] claimed he was funding a £5,000-a-week cocaine habit. He admitted 21 counts of fraud by false representation and one offence of burglary while the court also ‘took into consideration’ four further frauds and one burglary offence. Langford was sentenced to four years and ten months.
Subaan Rafiq
(Image: Staffs Police)
Subaan Rafiq[23] was caught with class A drugs and two mobile phones in Cannock. The 21-year-old from Hodge Hill, Birmingham admitted offering to supply heroin and cocaine. He was sentenced to two years.
Laura Preston
(Image: WMP)
Laura Preston[24] mowed down a man in Willenhall whilst drink driving and speeding. She drove off and left the 55-year-old victim for dead.
Preston was travelling at more than 50mph in her Citroen C3 on the 30mph Walsall Street. The 36-year-old from Mount Road, Stourbridge, admitted causing serious injury through dangerous driving.
She was sentenced to two years, four months as well as banned from the roads for seven years and four months.
Christopher Hollis
Christopher Hollis[25] was caught on a bus carrying knives a year after he had stabbed someone in the back in an unprovoked attack. He randomly let himself into two homes in Bartley Green claiming he was trying to get help because he was in a drug induced psychosis.
But later that day Hollis stabbed a man as he left his house and walked past him. Police arrested him the same night in possession of knives and had to taser him. The 40-year-old was put on a drug rehabilitation order but a year later was found carrying a kitchen knife on a bus.
Hollis, of Woodcock Lane, Bartley Green admitted grievous bodily harm with intent, threats with a bladed article and two counts of possession of a knife in a public place. He was sentenced to nine years.
Richard Osborne
(Image: West Midlands Police)
Right-wing extremist Richard Osborne[26] stirred up racial hatred on the internet posting content indicating his support for white supremacy and neo-Nazi views. Police also found a shotgun under a bed and a baton in his car.
Osborne, aged 53, from Marston Green in Solihull, was convicted of two counts of publishing material intended to provoke racial hatred and homophobia, as well as possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a shotgun without a licence. He was sentenced to three years and 10 months.
Wilbert Mukori
(Image: WMP)
Wilbert Mukori[27] squirted semen and fake semen onto the behinds of around a dozen lone women in Birmingham. The 26-year-old typically targeted ‘young looking’ females walking the streets in gym-wear and used replica sperm in a burger sauce bottle, although on one occasion he used his own semen.
He preyed on some of the victims twice as he carried out 16 sexual assaults across six years. Mukori, of Elswick Grove, Kingstanding, was sentenced to four years and six months.
Cairo Williams
(Image: Staffordshire Police)
County Lines drug dealer Cairo Williams[28] was caught in Tamworth carrying a handgun as well as £10,000 worth of cocaine and heroin. Police spotted him riding a bike in the Wolseley area and stopped him after he tried to get away.
He was also carrying three mobile phones he was using to sell drugs and £400 in cash. Williams, from Kings Heath, Birmingham was convicted of possession of a firearm, possession of firearm ammunition, possession with intent to supply heroin and crack cocaine and possession of criminal property. He was sentenced to five years and four months.
Darren Pritchard
(Image: PA)
Darren Pritchard[29] owned two American bulldogs which were responsible for killing 85-year-old Lucille Downer at her home in Rowley Regis. A family member and neighbour rushed to the great gran’s aid but she was pronounced dead at the scene in her garden.
Pritchard, aged 44, from Merrivale Road, Smethwick[30], admitted being the owner or a person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control causing injury resulting in death as well as possession with intent to supply and production of cannabis. He was sentenced to four years and nine months.
Ravi Talware, Kevin Waldron and Scott Garrington
(Image: West Midlands Police)
Ravi Talware[31] shot dead John Jones in his own home because the victim owed him a £180 drug debt. He led a gang of masked men to the property in Caslon Crescent, Stoubridge and opened fire with a shotgun.
Mr Jones’ brother was stabbed multiple times as he tried to escape while Talware shouted: “If anyone comes down the stairs, they are getting shot. If anyone rings the police, they are dead.”
The 33-year-old of Cavalier Circus, Wolverhampton, was found guilty of murder, possession of a shotgun, possession of bladed articles and perverting the course of justice. He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 34 years.
Kevin Waldron, aged 41, of Leonard Road, Wollaston, waited in the getaway car and then drove the gang away. He was convicted of the same charges and was jailed for life with a minimum of 24 years.
Garrington, aged 52, of Bridgnorth Road, was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years for the same offences. Three youths, now aged 17, were jailed for manslaughter and other offences.
Carla Scott and Dirk Howell
(Image: West Mercia Police)
Carla Scott[32] and her boyfriend Dirk Howell[33] killed her nine-year-old son Alfie Steele at her home in Droitwich. The schoolboy suffered fatal injuries in the bath, likely from being beaten and drowned by Howell.
Alfie had dozens of bruises to his body. He had been regularly struck with belts and sliders as well as subjected to sinister punishments, such as being dunked under water and woken up in the middle of the night and made to stand outside.
Howell was not permitted to stay overnight at the home by social services but Scott repeatedly lied to them and to the police about him being there. Howell, aged 41, from Birmingham, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 32 years after being convicted of murder and child cruelty sentences. Scott received 27 years after being found guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty offences.
Mohammed Adam
Mohammed Adam[34] stabbed to death father-of-eight Fuaad Xuseen outside Relax Cafe shisha bar on Stratford Road, Sparkbrook. The 46-year-old had been forced out of the venue for harassing a lone woman and came across the victim, who was a complete stranger, as he was arriving.
They ended up in a confrontation before Adam stabbed 45-year-old Mr Xuseen in the chest. The 46-year-old, from Stratford Road, Sparkbrook, was found guilty of murder and possession of a bladed article. He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 23 years.
Mark Harrison, Matthew Stokes and Craig Everitt
Mark Harrison, Matthew Stokes and Craig Everitt[35] were part of a gang that tried to blow up cashpoints around the Black Country and stole cars. They targeted six ATMs causing more than £80,000 worth of damage but left some of the sites empty-handed.
Everitt, 44, of Daley Road, Wolverhampton, was jailed for three years and six months. Stokes, 34, of Old End Lane, Coseley, was locked up for six years and two months.
Harrison, 41, of Stanbury Avenue, Walsall[36], was sentenced to four years and two months in prison. Three other men involved were handed suspended prison sentences.
Gina Brown
(Image: WMP)
Gina Brown[37] ran over her boyfriend in revenge. They had been at the Village Green pub in Erdington earlier in the night and seemingly on good terms but something ‘soured’ the occasion.
They left separately and Brown followed him in her Volkswagen T-Roc before mounting the kerb on Reservoir Road and mowing him down. The victim was thrown into the air and suffered a significant brain injury. His condition was life-threatening at the time but he has since gone on to make a good recovery.
Brown, aged 46, of Osprey Road was cleared of attempted murder but convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. She was sentenced to four years.
Hassan Kazmi and Sanjeev Virdi
(Image: WMP)
Hassan Kazmi and Sanjeev Virdi[38] supplied heroin to hundreds of users in Wolverhampton through their ‘H line’. Police raided a flat in Grafton Court in November 2020 and found £2,000 worth of class A drugs and the same amount in cash.
Kazmi, of Fawdry Street, Whitmore Reans ran the line from phones which had received more than 70,000 calls or texts in three months. He was jailed for 11 years for conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.
Virdi, aged 48, of Maxwell Road, Wolverhampton, was a street runner and received four years and eight months for the same offence.
Boby Angel and Donka Eftimova
(Image: WMP)
Boby Angel[39] scammed a Selfridges cashier out of hundreds of pounds while Donka Eftimova[40] pickpocketed two female customers in H&M. Both operated in Birmingham city centre.
Angel used a technique called ‘ringing the changes’ by counting out cash to the Selfridges shop worker while using sleight of hand skills to remove large portions of the notes, which he kept himself. The 43-year-old admitted theft and was sentenced to four and a half months as well as ordered to pay £400 compensation.
Eftimova targeted two women at H&M on separate occasions using an item of clothing to conceal her hand as it reached into their bags, stealing a purse from one victim and a phone from the other. The 22-year-old admitted two offences of theft and was sentenced to four months as well as ordered to pay £300 compensation.
Legitte Reid
(Image: WMP)
Legitte Reid[41] murdered his wife Cynthia Turner at their home in Hilton Road, Tividale on December 8 last year. The ‘jealous’ 55-year-old chased her into the garden and dragged her clothes off as she tried to escape over a fence.
He then stabbed her eight times, including deadly blows to the heart, and left her naked body outside. Afterwards Reid called her daughter to say he had ‘killed her mother’.
On the day she was killed Ms Turner, also 55, had just returned from a holiday with a friend in Portugal. She had disclosed to her that Reid had threatened to kill her.
He was also described as being violent and controlling during their relationship which had turned sour. Reid admitted murder and possession of a bladed article. He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 15 years.
West Bromwich drugs gang
A drugs gang[42] based in West Bromwich supplied cocaine and heroin across the West Midlands and made £1.5 million during the Covid pandemic in 2020. One of them even used a ‘Thank You NHS’ van to transport class A substances.
The gang, led by Kamaljit Chahal, 52, from Sutton Coldfield, and his nephew Bhipon Chahal, 25, from Great Barr, communicated over encrypted devices and used a network of couriers including Miguel Lewin Miller, 41, and Mathias Tulloch, 43.
Kamaljit Chalal and accomplice Robert Wesley, 39, also secured ‘Covid loans’ which they reinvested into their drugs trade. Five other men were also involved; Sandeep Johal, 32, Aaron Williams, 43, Alan Moore-Caswell, 42, Sandeep Singh, 25, and Hitesh Salhotra, 26. The gang were jailed for nearly 100 years combined.
Nicole Thompson-Brown
Birmingham care home manager Nicole Thompson-Brown[43] groomed and sexually abused a 16-year-old girl who was living there in 2022. She was exposed after the victim’s friend came forward and revealed they were in a relationship.
Thompson-Brown fled with the girl to a friend’s house in Portsmouth but was arrested. Police found inappropriate messages on her phone and discovered Thompson-Brown had provided the victim with drugs and alcohol as well as had her stay at her home.
The 26-year-old from Kelvin Way, Birmingham, was sentenced to two years and three months.
Jack Kabeya
(Image: WMP)
Jack Kabeya[44] was caught with a lock knife in James Samuel Place, Highgate near Birmingham city centre. Two days later the 20-year-old was jailed for six months after admitting possession of a bladed article.
Melania Urmuz
(Image: WMP)
Melania Urmuz[45] tried to pickpocket 13 different shoppers in Primark’s flagship Birmingham store in 45 minutes. Despite nearly being caught in the act multiple times the ‘professional’ thief casually walked on to the next target.
The 51-year-old, of no fixed address, was convicted of 13 counts of attempted theft and sentenced to nine and a half months.
Elliot Kennedy
(Image: WMP)
Elliot Kennedy[46] disguised drugs as sweets and chocolates as he sent them to users in the post. He dressed up cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and MDMA from an address in Witton Lodge Road, Erdington.
Police found psychedelic drug Mescaline disguised as tortilla chips, along with packaging, postage labels and international declaration stickers which indicated he had shipped illegal substances abroard. The address had been reinforced with a metal security door as well as a wooden door inside blocked off and braced with wooden bars. Around £121,000 worth of drugs were seized.
Kennedy, of Plants Brook Road, Sutton Coldfield, admitted 23 counts of drugs possession and was jailed for seven years, six months.
Ross O’Riely
(Image: WMP)
Ross O’Riely[47] robbed a cash box from a security guard outside Sainsbury’s petrol station in Turner Road, Brierley Hill. The 38-year-old got into a scuffle with the guard, who pulled off his glove, before breaking free and escaping on a motorbike.
A month later he was arrested in Warwickshire for dangerous driving on false plates thought to be linked to the robbery, which he was connected to himself due to DNA obtained from the glove. O’Riely, of Marans Croft, Birmingham, admitted robbery and dangerous driving. He was sentenced to four years and eight months as well as banned from driving.
Mohammed Sajad
(Image: Nick Wilkinson/Birmingham Live)
Conman car dealer Mohammed Sajad[48] ripped off people all over the country selling ‘death trap’ vehicles. He flooded websites such as eBay and Auto Trader with misleading adverts for supposedly ‘stunning’ motors which he shifted with forged MoTs and service histories.
The vehicles themselves were nothing like their descriptions while many were dangerous and unroadworthy. One customer was told he was ‘lucky to be alive’ after driving back home to Lancashire in a newly purchased Ford Ka described as a ‘time bomb on wheels’ due to a problem with the fuel tank.
Sajad played a leading role in the three-year racket, which was said to involve others. The 24-year-old of Vibart Road, Yardley, admitted conspiracy to defraud, conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime and entering into a money laundering arrangement. He was sentenced to two years and 11 months.
Stewart Homer and Susan Scott
(Image: WMP)
Stewart Homer and Susan Scott[49] were part of a masked gang that robbed a pensioner in his own home in Oldbury. The 71-year-old victim was stabbed and hit in the face with a hammer, while his wife was threatened and had a necklace ripped from her.
A seven-year-old boy also had a knife held to his throat. The gang fled with cash and jewellery. CCTV evidence helped identify Homer, aged 43, of Bluebell Road, Dudley and Scott, 45, of Hollywell Close, Coseley.
They were both convicted of robbery, wounding and possession of an offensive weapon. Homer was jailed for 16 years while Scott received 14 years.
Alan Edney
(Image: WMP)
Evil boyfriend Alan Edney[50] murdered girlfriend Kerry Owen and dumped her body in a ditch. He strangled and viciously attacked the 35-year-old breaking her nose, knocking out her teeth and damaging a bone in her neck.
Edney, tried to hide her body beneath foliage in Wast Hills Lane, Hopwood, but she was found by a dog walker the next day. He later lied to her family that she had been killed in a hit-and-run road traffic collision.
Edney, 32, of Kenilworth Road, Birmingham was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years.
Philomena Wilson
(Image: West Midlands Police/SWNS)
Philomena Wilson[51] killed frail 83-year-old Vidya Kaur at City Hospital by repeatedly bashing her head off the floor in a ‘vicious’ unprovoked attack. During the early hours of June 22, 2021 she noticed a nurse helping the slightly built grandmother to the toilet and yelled ‘get your f***ing hands off her’.
Wilson got off her bed and shoved the nurse before pushing Ms Kaur face-first to the floor and striking her head off the hard surface up to six times. The 56-year-old lashed out at others that came to her aid before security took her away. Ms Kaur died from her head injuries three weeks later.
Wilson had been taken to the hospital having been arrested by police two days previously on suspicion of assault and wounding. Psychiatrics concluded she was suffering from an ‘acute mental disorder’ at the time of the attack likely caused by long-term drink and drug abuse. Although she was not intoxicated when she targeted Ms Kaur.
Wilson, of Radnor Road, Handsworth, admitted manslaughter by way of diminished responsibility and was sentenced to seven years with an extended licence period of five years.
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References
- ^ Predatory cops had sexual activity with same vulnerable woman’ – trial (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Birmingham (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Solihull (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Sutton Coldfield (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Black Country (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Staffordshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Worcestershire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ John Griffiths, Natasha Webb, Violet Griffiths and Matthew Evans (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Walsall (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ West Midlands Police (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Operation Satchel (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Nicholas Stallard and Paul Hayles (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Harborne (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ David Biddell-Portman (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ David Molloy (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Shard End (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Connor Palmer, Craig Miller and Elijah Stokes (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Tesco (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Adrian Nica (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Paul Langford (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ BBC (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Wolverhampton (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Subaan Rafiq (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Laura Preston (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Christopher Hollis (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Richard Osborne (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Wilbert Mukori (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Cairo Williams (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Darren Pritchard (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Smethwick (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Ravi Talware (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Carla Scott (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Dirk Howell (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Mohammed Adam (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Mark Harrison, Matthew Stokes and Craig Everitt (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Walsall (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Gina Brown (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Hassan Kazmi and Sanjeev Virdi (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Boby Angel (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Donka Eftimova (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Legitte Reid (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ drugs gang (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Nicole Thompson-Brown (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Jack Kabeya (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Melania Urmuz (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Elliot Kennedy (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Ross O’Riely (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Mohammed Sajad (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Stewart Homer and Susan Scott (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Alan Edney (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ Philomena Wilson (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
- ^ link (data.reachplc.com)