Sent down in February – Illegal streamer headteacher and funeral worker jailed

From the killer machete gang to the shoplifter who struck over 500 times, these are the latest criminals to be sent to prison. This is our roundup of lawbreakers sentenced to immediate custody in February.

The month features a number of county lines drug dealers, rapists and dreadful drivers. Also look out for:

• The school headteacher who ran an illegal streaming business
• The fraudulent funeral worker who went on the run for a decade
• The children’s hospital manager who sexually assaulted a woman
• The jealous thug who blinded his girlfriend in one eye with a punch

Our roundup is made up of the court cases we covered in Birmingham^[1], Solihull^[2], Sutton Coldfield^[3], the Black Country^[4], Staffordshire^[5] and Worcestershire^[6].

Get the latest court and crime news direct via our WhatsApp community here^[7]

Are you worried about knife crime in Birmingham?^[8]

Jack Evans

Jack Evans

County lines drug dealer Jack Evans^[9] was caught on camera trying to jump from a third-floor window when police raided the property he was in. Officers swooped on an address in the St John’s area of Worcester^[10] and found class A drugs, phones, scales, a knife and £740.

Evans leapt out the window but police grabbed on to him and arrested him. The 24-year-old of Ploughman’s Way, Droitwich, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply heroin, being concerned in the supply of heroin and cocaine and possession of criminal property. He was jailed for three years and four months.

Christopher Brand

Christopher Brand

Christopher Brand intended to rape the children of a woman he was messaging online. But the 62-year-old from Birmingham^[11] was unaware he was actually speaking to a police officer.

After being arrested he was found guilty of two counts of attempting/facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, and for obscene publication. He was jailed for 15 years.

Albert Okyere

Albert Okyere (Image: WMP)

Albert Okyere^[12] raped a stranger and sexually assaulted her friend following a night out in The Arcadian in Birmingham. The 37-year-old Dutch national fled to his homeland but was eventually extradited to the UK and locked up nearly a decade after the attacks.

He took advantage of two ‘heavily intoxicated’ women by posing as a nice stranger offering them a lift home. But he pulled over into a dark industrial site and attacked them. The predator even locked one of the women inside the car while he raped the other outside.

Okyere, of Ash-Lea Drive, Donnington, Telford, was convicted of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. He was jailed for 12 years with a further two years extended licence period.

Paul Merrell

Paul Merrell (Image: Birmingham Mail)

School headteacher Paul Merrell^[13] ran an illegal online streaming business which ripped off the likes of Sky TV and BT. He was estimated to have around 2,000 customers and made £240,000 in profit.

Th 43-year-old operated the racket between January 2017 and January 2021 before he became the headteacher of Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School in Stourbridge^[14], which he was credited with turning around following years of financial difficulty.

Merrell, of Boldmere Road, Sutton Coldfield^[15], admitted two offences under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. He was jailed for 12 months.

Thomas O’Brien-Wood

Thomas O’Brien-Wood (Image: Warwickshire Police)

Thomas O’Brien-Wood^[16] caused the death of his passenger 20-year-old Harry Smart after crashing into another vehicle head-on as he was entering the M42.^[17] He tested positive for alcohol and cocaine when detained by police.

Police had pursued him earlier due to the manner of his driving but were forced to abandon the chase and they lost him. The 21-year-old from The Beck in Dudley^[18] admitted causing death by dangerous driving. He was jailed for seven years and six months and banned from the road for eight years and nine months.

Carl Ellitts

Carl Ellitts (Image: West Midlands Police)

Carl Ellitts^[19] murdered a man in Wolverhampton^[20] in a four-day ‘tornado’ of violence in which he raped two women, robbed three victims and assaulted another. He ambushed devoted dad Roy Deeley-Price and carried out four separate attacks on him in the space of 11 minutes.

In the middle of them he made a failed attempt to use his bank card at a petrol station to buy a sandwich. Ellitts, aged 26, was branded a ‘coward and a bully’ by a judge who concluded he ‘enjoyed exercising power’ over his victims. He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 27 years.

Syed Alom, Shakir Ali and Mohammed Islam

Syed Alom, Shakir Ali and Mohammed Islam

Syed Alom, Shakir Ali and Mohammed Islam^[21] were involved in the ‘Kam’ county line supplying drugs into Worcestershire.^[22] Between January 2018 and December 2020 they supplied more than 14kg worth of substances to around 2,000 people.

All were convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Alom, aged 35, from Rowley Regis^[23] and Ali, also 35, from Wednesbury^[24] were both sentenced to ten years. Islam, aged 30, from Birmingham received eight years and six months.

Adam Evans

Adam Evans (Image: Staffordshire Police)

Drug dealer Adam Evans^[25] was arrested in a car park in Cannock^[26]. Police seized a mobile phone, cash, bank receipts and six wraps of cocaine from him.

They found further drug wraps along with £1,640 during a raid on a property. Evans, aged 39, from Cannock admitted drug offences and was sentenced to three years.

Marshall Robinson

Marshall Robinson

Marshall Robinson^[27] stabbed two people in separate attacks but both miraculously survived. The 45-year-old attacked an off-duty officer enjoying a night out with friends in Digbeth^[28] by knifing him in the chest.

Six months later he visited a former business colleague at his home in Tipton where he stabbed him in the neck, causing nerve damage. Robinson, from Sparkhill, admitted two counts of wounding and possession of cannabis. He was jailed for seven years and six months.

Steven Drinkwater

Steven Drinkwater (Image: WMP)

Funeral worker Steven Drinkwater^[29] tricked grieving families out of nearly £10,000 which he gambled away. The 47-year-old, who worked at Hopcraft Funeral Services in Wolverhampton, went on the run for almost a decade.

Victims included a mother whose daughter was stillborn, bereaved spouses and parents who had lost children. Drinkwater pocketed payments for funeral services and headstones for two years between 2013 and 2015 by convincing people to pay in cash.

He conned eight victims out of £9,920 in total. Drinkwater, formerly of Wolverhampton but now of Devon, admitted eight counts of fraud and was jailed for 20 months.

Kwame Giwa

Kwame Giwa

Drug dealer Kwame Giwa^[30] was caught after fleeing an Audi in Stafford and jumping over garden fences to try and get away from police. He threw a phone during the failed escape attempt.

Police stopped the Audi again in Stoke-on-Trent and found cocaine, heroin and cash. Giwa previously shot to notoriety for being a member of Newtown’s Get Money Gang and making grime videos on YouTube.

The 34-year-old admitted drug supply offences and was sentenced to three years and three months.

Ross Wheeler

Ross Wheeler (Image: WMP)

Birmingham Children’s Hospital manager Ross Wheeler sexually attacked a woman as she slept in her bedroom. After the victim, who was not a patient, woke up and told him to leave he sent her WhatsApp messages apologising and saying he ‘fully deserved to be sacked’.

The 57-year-old from Dudley later claimed she had been ‘encouraging’. He was found guilty of assault by penetration. Wheeler was sentenced to five years.

Akram Ikbar

Akram Ibrar

Akram Ikbar^[31] carjacked someone in Northfield^[32] after posing as a helpful mechanic only to pull out a knife on the victim. The 42-year-old jumped behind the wheel and drove off but then used one the motorist’s bank cards which proved to be his downfall because he was caught on CCTV.

Ikbar, from Small Heath^[33] admitted robbery and was jailed for five years and ten months.

Colin Dawson

Colin Dawson

Colin Dawson^[34] shared hundreds of vile messages with his partner Annette Punter about sexually abusing young girls. Police raided the 61-year-old’s home in Wolverhampton and found phones and a laptop which had an app installed to access the dark web.

The device’s contained indecent images of children as young as four as well as hundreds of sick messages between him an Punter, aged 65, who claimed she had been ‘manipulated’ by him. Both admitted indecent images offences.

Dawson was sentenced to two years and two months. Punter was handed a suspended 20-month term.

Dalvir Singh

Dalvir Singh

Dalvir Singh^[35] raped a woman then claimed he was forced to have sex with her under duress. The brave young victim visited her GP surgery and told staff about the attacks.

She then gave key evidence in a recorded interview. Singh, aged 48 and from West Bromwich,^[36] was found guilty of rape and sexual assault. He was jailed for 15 years,

Samad Ali

Samad Ali (Image: WMP)

Samad Ali^[37] stole from shops more than 500 times and then drove into a security guard on the last raid. He racked up £18,000 worth of goods in seven months as he targeted 40 stores in Birmingham, the Black Country, Staffordshire, Coventry and West Mercia.

Ali, aged 26 and from Lozells,^[38] admitted 64 counts of theft and asked for a further 447 similar offences to be taken into consideration. He was jailed for two years.

Joshua Edgington, Dray Simmonds, Leroy Robinson and Corey Burkitt

(Clockwise from top left) Joshua Edgington, Dray Simmonds, Leroy Robinson and Corey Burkitt.

Joshua Edgington, Dray Simmonds, Leroy Robinson and Corey Burkitt^[39] hunted down and killed Joseph Riches in Stourbridge^[40] after the 16-year-old had come at them with a screwdriver. Simmonds, aged 20, fatally stabbed him in the chest with a machete while Edgington, also 20, filmed the dying victim.

The footage was callously played at a party the killers went to later that night. Meanwhile Joseph scrambled into a car with his friends but later on his lifeless body was found in the vehicle which was abandoned in Rowley Regis.

All four, who were teenagers at the time, were sentenced to life after being convicted of murder and possession of a machete. Simmonds, from Dudley, and Edgington, from Birmingham, were handed minimum terms of 21 years.

Burkitt, aged 17, from Smethwick^[41] was handed 15 years minimum while Robinson, aged 16, of Dudley was told to serve 15 years, six months minimum.

Rhys Buchanan

Rhys Buchanan (Image: WMP)

Rhys Buchanan^[42] blinded his girlfriend in one eye with a single punch after accusing her of cheating. The 23-year-old from Selly Oak^[43], admitted causing grievous bodily harm and was jailed for three years and three months.

Joshua Smith and Theo Kelly

Joshua Smith and Theo Kelly (Image: WMP)

Joshua Smith and Theo Kelly^[44] ran the ‘Q’ county drugs line peddling heroin and cocaine between Birmingham and Warwickshire^[45]. Police found large amounts of illegal substances and phones linked to the network when they raided a tower block flat in Erdington^[46].

It is estimated around £170,000 worth of drugs were supplied through the line. The pair both admitted drug offences. Kelly, from Birmingham was jailed for six years and ten months while Smith, from Erdington, received four years and six months.

Ethan Holness and Frederick Rogers

Ethan Holness and Frederick Rogers

Two dangerous drivers and complete strangers caused a severe crash with each other in Walsall^[47] which killed James Sheridan. The 20-year-old victim was a backseat passenger in a stolen Ford Fiesta driven by Ethan Holness who was pelting along at 72mph on the 30mph route in Pelsall.

Travelling from the opposite direction was Frederick Rogers who was doing double the limit, drink-driving and ran a red light leading to the smash. Both men were convicted of causing death by dangerous driving and banned from the road.

Holness, aged 20, from Wolverhampton was jailed for seven years and six months. Rogers, aged 34, of Cheslyn Hay, was sentenced to ten years.

Sajid Mahmood, Mohammed Akub and Nomaan Shahid

Sajid Mahmood, Mohammed Akub and Nomaan Shahid (Image: WMP)

Sajid Mahmood, Mohammed Akub and Nomaan Shahid^[48] were involved in running a county lines drugs operation between Birmingham and Warwickshire. The first two men were described as being ‘at the heart of the drugs line’ while the latter was a runner.

All three admitted drug supply offences. Akub, aged 29, and Mahmood, 51, both from Small Heath, were each jailed for nine years and six months. Shahid, 29, also from Small Heath, received six years and four months.

Ann Deakin

Ann Deakin (Image: Staffordshire Police)

Ann Deakin^[49] was caught dealing drugs in Cannock on three separate occasions. Police seized crack cocaine and amphetamine, cash, mobile phones and offensive weapons.

Deakin, aged 53, from Cannock admitted drug supply offences and was jailed for three years and four months.

Sukvinder Mannan

Sukvinder Mannan (Image: WMP)

Sukvinder Mannan breached his driving ban which had been imposed after he killed a student while racing. He had been travelling at 101mph when he smashed his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution into a bus stop in Quinton^[50] in 2014, killing Rebecca McManus and causing life-changing injuries to her friend Harriet Barnsley.

The incident was compared to a Fast and Furious film. Mannan was jailed for eight years but following his release he was caught driving a Mercedes in Rubery despite his disqualification running until next year.

The 42-year-old was jailed for 12 weeks and had his ban extended.^[51]

Jonathon Baker

Jonathon Baker (Image: WMP)

Jonathon Baker^[52] raped two women including drugging one of them before he sexually attacked her. He struck up relationships with the victims and initially made them ‘feel like the most important women in the world’ before he became violent.

After they bravely came forward he claimed everything had been consensual before he changed his account to say they were making up the accusations. He also laughed off the drugging allegation.

Following a trial the 46-year-old from Wolverhampton was found guilty of rape, sexual assault and administering a substance to enable sexual activity. He was sentenced to 22 years.

Kyiem Dormer and Pharez Atkinson-Scott

Kyiem Dormer and Pharez Atkinson-Scott (Image: WMP)

Kyiem Dormer and Pharez Atkinson-Scott^[53] were involved in two separate county lines drug operations supplying into Redditch^[54] from Birmingham. Police arrested Dormer at an address in the town as part of a probe into the ‘Marlow’ line. The 22-year-old from Birmingham admitted drug supply offences and was jailed for three years and one month.

Atkinson-Scott was caught inside a vehicle which was stopped near a Sainsbury’s^[55] petrol, as police investigated another line referred to as ‘Jumbo’. The 22-year-old from Birmingham received three years and six months for drug dealing offences.

References

1. ^{^} Birmingham (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Solihull (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Sutton Coldfield (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Black Country (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Staffordshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Worcestershire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
7. ^{^} here (chat.whatsapp.com)
8. ^{^} Are you worried about knife crime in Birmingham? (xd.wayin.com)
9. ^{^} Jack Evans (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
10. ^{^} Worcester (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
11. ^{^} Birmingham (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
12. ^{^} Albert Okyere (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
13. ^{^} Paul Merrell (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
14. ^{^} Stourbridge (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
15. ^{^} Sutton Coldfield (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
16. ^{^} Thomas O’Brien-Wood (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
17. ^{^} M42. (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
18. ^{^} Dudley (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
19. ^{^} Carl Ellitts (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
20. ^{^} Wolverhampton (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
21. ^{^} Syed Alom, Shakir Ali and Mohammed Islam (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
22. ^{^} Worcestershire. (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
23. ^{^} Rowley Regis (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
24. ^{^} Wednesbury (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
25. ^{^} Adam Evans (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
26. ^{^} Cannock (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
27. ^{^} Marshall Robinson (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
28. ^{^} Digbeth (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
29. ^{^} Steven Drinkwater (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
30. ^{^} Kwame Giwa (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
31. ^{^} Akram Ikbar (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
32. ^{^} Northfield (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
33. ^{^} Small Heath (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
34. ^{^} Colin Dawson (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
35. ^{^} Dalvir Singh (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
36. ^{^} West Bromwich, (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
37. ^{^} Samad Ali (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
38. ^{^} Lozells, (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
39. ^{^} Joshua Edgington, Dray Simmonds, Leroy Robinson and Corey Burkitt (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
40. ^{^} Stourbridge (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
41. ^{^} Smethwick (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
42. ^{^} Rhys Buchanan (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
43. ^{^} Selly Oak (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
44. ^{^} Joshua Smith and Theo Kelly (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
45. ^{^} Warwickshire (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
46. ^{^} Erdington (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
47. ^{^} Walsall (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
48. ^{^} Sajid Mahmood, Mohammed Akub and Nomaan Shahid (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
49. ^{^} Ann Deakin (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
50. ^{^} Quinton (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
51. ^{^} The 42-year-old was jailed for 12 weeks and had his ban extended. (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
52. ^{^} Jonathon Baker (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
53. ^{^} Kyiem Dormer and Pharez Atkinson-Scott (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
54. ^{^} Redditch (www.birminghammail.co.uk)
55. ^{^} Sainsbury’s (www.birminghammail.co.uk)