These are the faces of 6 Merseyside criminals who were jailed this week

A killer driver, a man who set up a cannabis grow on a secluded farm and a drug dealer who hid cocaine in a roll of carpet were among the Merseyside criminals jailed over the past week. Also locked up was an insurance company worker who sold customers’ details to cold callers. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court[1] heard the EncroChat user “Butterfly Sea” used a horse box to transport drugs during lockdown.

Here are the faces of six criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days: MacCauley Smith

MacCauley Smith, 27, from Raby Court Ellesmere Port, sentenced at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs (cocaine) (Image: Cheshire Police)

A drug dealer tried to hide wraps of cocaine in a roll of carpet in his bedroom. Police seized a plastic bag which contained a total of 43 smaller bags of white powder when they raided MacCauley Smith’s home.

Drug experts concluded that the value of the cocaine was between GBP1,590 to GBP3,750 and that it was intended for onward supply. Smith pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs. He was jailed for four years. Read the story here.[3]

Karl Yates

Karl Yates, 40, was jailed for 28 months at Liverpool Crown Court (Image: City of London of Police)

An insurance worker stole and sold customer details to cold callers who pressurised drivers to make claims. Karl Yates was employed by insurance company Royal Sun Alliance but accessed customer data associated with non-fault road traffic claims when he was not authorised to do so. He then passed the details on to claims management companies, which used the information to cold-call the drivers involved and pressurise them into making personal injury and damage claims against the insurance industry.

Yates was found guilty of fraud by abuse of position and computer misuse. He was sentenced to 28 months. Read the story here[4]. Daniel Thompson

Daniel Francis Thompson, 36, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis (Image: North Wales Police)

A man hid a huge secret behind hay bales on a secluded farm.

Daniel Thompson leased a silage shed on the farmland then used it to grow cannabis. Police discovered a total of 474 plants – which had a potential yield of nearly GBP400,000 – when they searched the site, with Thompson being found in a nearby caravan. He admitted production of cannabis and was jailed for 28 months. Read the story here.[5]

Sean Probert

Sean Probert, 38, of Crosby Street, Rochdale (Image: Merseyside Police)

A mum-of-two “thought she was going to die” after she was battered in her own home by a violent thug when she asked him to get her phone charger. Sean Probert, 38, had returned to “the dating game” – and his former alcohol habit – and inflicted “monstrous savagery” on his new partner. The violence flared when the unnamed woman asked the thug to get her phone charger, to which he replied “What am I, your f****** butler?”.

Probert pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm. He was jailed for two-and-a-half years. Read the story here[6]. Dillon Cain

Dillon Cain, 24, of William Jessop Way, Liverpool, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to 11 years and six months after pleading guilty to various drugs offences (Image: Merseyside Police)

An EncroChat dealer used a horse box to travel and transfer drugs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dillon Cain, 24, of William Jessop Way, was linked to his EncroChat handle “ButterflySea” after he was stopped by police when he was the passenger in a horse box vehicle and was fined for breaching Covid-19[7] regulations. Messages on the platform which police were able to hack revealed the user had previously discussed using a horse box in order to travel around and transport drugs. Cain was arrested in October 2022 and later pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply 18kg of cocaine, 6kg of heroin, 100kg of amphetamine and 163kg of cannabis, as well as intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence between March and June 2020.

He was jailed for 11 years and six months. Read the story here.[8] Kieran Cooney

Kieran Cooney, of Blackrod Avenue in Speke, was jailed for three years (Image: Merseyside Police)

A Ryanair flight attendant was killed by a dangerous driver after he sent a one-word text message. Cinzia Ceravolo, 36, died on Friday, August 26, 2022, four days after she was hit by a Ford Focus being driven by Kieran Cooney, 31.

The Ryanair cabin crew member was returning home after two days away with work and had arrived back into Liverpool John Lennon Airport[9] on a flight from Dublin. Moments before the crash, Cooney had received two text messages from his partner, one regarding their child’s nappy, and he had sent a one-word reply saying “really”. He was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. Read the story here.[10]

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References

1. ^ Liverpool Crown Court (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
2. ^ Everything heard in court during the third week of Brianna Ghey murder trial (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
3. ^ Read the story here. (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
4. ^ Read the story here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
5. ^ Read the story here. (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
6. ^ Read the story here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
7. ^ Covid-19 (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
8. ^ Read the story here. (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
9. ^ John Lennon Airport (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
10. ^ Read the story here. (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
11. ^ Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the Echo Daily newsletter here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)