St Helens: 12 court cases that shocked readers during 2025
Jack Mason
In an email sent to the Force's deputy chief constable he wrote, " There's something so beautiful and natural in blood, pain and suffering. Something so simple and pure." When he was arrested and his home in Grasmere Avenue, Haresfinch, was searched on September 18 last year seized items included a noose, a rope in a bag, a knife, stickers saying 'white lives matter; 'n....r" and a drawing of a swastika.
Mason, 31, wrote other menacing emails to the police using the name of 1960s police killer Harry Roberts and said in one how he would not hesitate to slice a particular officer's throat open. Unknown to him he was actually contacting an officer who had taken over the collar number of the constable that Mason was targeting after he left the force. Mason, who pleaded guilty to five offences of sending a communication threatening death or serious injury between February and August last year, possessing cannabis and violent disorder was jailed for a total of four years and four months.
Adam Williams
During a four-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court, it was heard how a balaclava-clad man, riding an electric bike fired four shots at Rikki Berry, outside a property on Quarryside Drive, Kirkby. The gunman was later identified as Michael Smith, 27, of Marbury Road, Kirkby, while 26-year-old Adam Williams, of Hamblett Crescent, Haresfinch, was identified as the driver of a car which travelled behind the bike in convoy. Connor Walsh, 26, of Simonswood Lane, Kirkby, was identified as the third individual involved in the murder as a passenger in the car.
With telephone evidence proving that the three men were in contact with each other in the run-up to the murder, they performed a 'reccee' of the scene before carrying out the shocking daylight attack. Four shots were fired at Mr Berry, who was at home with his partner and young children. Three of the shots struck him and despite the best efforts of paramedics, he died a short time later.
After fleeing the scene back in July, St Helens man Williams was arrested at a rural property in Shropshire after being found hiding in the undergrowth. All three men were found guilty of murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life at the conclusion of the trial on February 14. Williams received a life sentence with a minimum of 31 years in prison.
Smith also received a life sentence with a minimum of 31 years in prison, while Walsh received received a life sentence of 30 years in prison. Read the full report here.[3]
Mark Ferguson
The wounding took place in the early hours of May 23 last year. Police were flagged down by a member of the public in Ormskirk Street, St Helens and found two men had been injured inside Maloney's. Ferguson, a bricklayer, had suddenly approached his victim who was standing at the bar and punched him twice in the face and thrusted the pint glass into his face.
The victim was left in agony with glass fragments embedded in his left eye as the glass smashed on impact and he was seen bleeding profusely outside Maloney's bar in St Helens. Jailing 38-year-old Ferguson a judge said, "His vision is still affected but miraculously he is fortunate not to have suffered permanent injury or loss of sight in the eye." Liverpool Crown Court heard that the defendant, of Halebank Road, Widnes, has a string of previous convictions, including for violence.
Judge Potter ruled that burly Ferguson poses a risk of danger to the public and sentenced him to a total of eight and a half years with an extended licence of three years. Read the full story here.[4]
Anthony Wilcock
Anthony Wilcock subjected the victims to years of abuse - but they bravely came forward and reported his depraved behaviour. The 44-year-old was later charged with eight counts of rape and three of sexual assault. He was unanimously convicted of all counts by a jury - having made the victims revive their ordeal during a trial - and he appeared back before Liverpool Crown Court, via video-link from HM Prison Liverpool, to be sentenced on May 9.
Wilcock abused one girl when she was aged between 12 and 14, and the other when she was aged between nine and 15. The abuse happened "regularly and on multiple occasions", the court heard with one occasion involving him pinning the first girl down and raping her. The second victim was regularly raped and sexually assaulted by Wilcock, one of which was particularly "degrading and humiliating".
Wilcock has a number of previous convictions for dishonest and violent offences. Before sentencing, judge Neil Flewitt described the defendant as someone who 'drank to excess, took drugs, and was aggressive and violent'. He said that his behaviour 'had a profound and lasting impact on all aspects of their lives.'
Wilcock, of Harvey Avenue in Earlestown, was sentenced to 24 years in prison, of which he will serve two-thirds before he can apply for parole. Read the full story here.[5]
Gavin Butters
Gavin Butters, 27, of no fixed address but of Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at Liverpool Crown Court to "courier fraud" against victims, from across the country. Among them was an elderly man from St Helens. At Butters' sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on May 19, prosecuting barrister Christopher Hopkins explained that a caller, who was not Butters, would telephone victims "pretending" to be a police officer and report that they had already been targeted by scammers.
Butters would then visit them to collect their bank cards under the pretence that they needed to be checked for fingerprints. He also took nearly GBP10,000 of jewellery from one couple. A 75-year-old man from St Helens was targeted on January 5 this year and his bank card was used in the same way at Selfridges in the Arndale Centre in Manchester.
The judge said sentenced Butters, who had pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud, to 33 months imprisonment and a restraining order banning him from contacting some of his victims for 10 years was imposed. Read the full report here.[6]
Ghalum Haider
Cliff Tamou died following a crash involving a Toyota Avensis and a white MAN Truck HGV on the M6. The 58-year-old dad-of-six was a popular and respected figure in the area's community rugby league scene[7]. Cliff, who was out of the HGV which he had been driving, as it had broken down, died at the scene.
Police were called to the crash scene at 9.55pm on Thursday, February 27 this year, to reports of the collision, which happened in Staffordshire between junctions 15 and 16 southbound. Ghalum Haider, the driver of the Toyota, was taken to hospital with leg and facial injuries. Haider, of Dudley, was sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on June 20, after he had pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing in May.
Haider, 22, was jailed for nine years and four months on June 20. He was also given a five-year driving ban, which will start when he is released from prison. Read the full report here.[8]
Adam Wilson and David Bowen
TWO men who attempted to steal a Rolex watch from a house as they returned to the scene of a burglary and shot an "entirely innocent" bystander were jailed. Adam Wilson and David Bowen had intended to steal the expensive watch after the box had been found during an initial break-in on Boxwood Gardens, Sutton, three days earlier to fund their drug habit. However, when questioned by a neighbour they mistakenly believed was the owner of the Rolex, they shot him in the thigh.
Bowen, 33, of Herbert Street, in Sutton and Wilson, 29, of Francis Street, Sutton, who pulled the trigger, were both sentenced as they appeared via video link at Liverpool Crown Court on July 21. They had pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence (robbery) and wounding with intent in relation to the shooting that took place last year. In a personal statement read in the court by the prosecution, the victim said he wished to tell the defendants "they have ruined my life" and "he wishes their lives are equally ruined.
"They chose to use that gun, they could have killed me. I hope they spend a lot of time in prison." Wilson was given an extended sentence of 15 years and eight months, including 11 years and eight months' custody and a further four years on licence.
Meanwhile, Bowen was handed a 14-year extended sentence, consisting of a 10-year custodial term and an extra four years on licence. Both men must serve at least two-thirds of the custodial periods of their sentences before being eligible for parole. A lifelong restraining order preventing both men from contacting their victim was also imposed.
Lennox Smith
The offences occurred between May and June 2023 at an address in St Helens. He was jailed for six years and nine months. As well as a prison sentence, Smith was also issued with an indefinite Restraining Order not to contact the victim and is on the Sex Offender register for life.
In a powerful victim personal statement (VPS), the woman said: "This has had a huge impact on my life. My whole life got destroyed. I had no control over my life or my body.
I was disrespected to the highest levels. "Physically I have never felt so weak in my whole life. Even though I have support from family and RASA (Rape and Sexual Abuse Support) and the officers on my case, I have never felt so alone and trapped in my own thoughts.
My family tell me I'm different now and I'm not the same happy person that I used to be. "I'm trying to accept there are parts of me I will never get back and trying my best to focus on each day as it comes. I'm ready to take my life back.
I'm ready to become the best strongest version of myself I possibly can. I'm ready to focus on rebuilding my life properly again and finding myself again. I'm ready to put Lennox Smith in the past."
Thomas Suffler
Judge Ian Harris said that Suffler had caused his victim, who he raped multiple times, to suffer "complex post-traumatic stress disorder" and committed the offences to "satisfy your own sexual urges". The 50-year-old defendant had been found guilty of the offences, committed during the 2000s and 2010s, following a trial. At the sentencing hearing Suffler's victim read out a personal statement to the court which outlined the "emotional rollercoasters" she has suffered due to his offending.
The victim said she had experienced "visions and voices no-one else could hear or see" and said she was almost sectioned. She also spoke of the trauma of being interviewed and how she suffered a "severe panic attack" while going to give evidence for the trial. Suffler, of Fry Street, Parr, was given a sentence of 18 years for one of the rape counts, with concurrent terms of 14 years and 13 years for the others.
Suffler was also sentenced to concurrent terms of seven years, six years, four years and three years for the other sexual offences. The defendant must serve two-thirds of his 18-year sentence in custody. Read the full court report here.[11]
Anthony Dean and William Swann
TWO drug dealers who sent selfies which incriminated themselves in a million-pound cocaine, heroin and cannabis operation were jailed. Anthony James Dean from St Helens, and William James Swann from Maghull, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on October 3 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply 13 kilos of cocaine, 13.5 kilos of heroin, and 62 kilos of cannabis, plus conspiracy to fraudulently evade a prohibition by bringing into the UK a Class B controlled drug, as well as money laundering offences. They were arrested and charged in January, with Swann also being charged with conspiring to purchase a firearm for an unknown person.
In addition, detectives found further evidence that Dean was conspiring to supply at least 100 kilos of Class A drugs between May last year until his arrest in January in a multi-million pound operation. This investigation was part of Merseyside Police's response to Operation Venetic: an international operation targeting criminals who used the EncroChat a mobile encryption service, in an attempt to evade detection. The pair worked together throughout Covid lockdowns in 2020, and at one point celebrated the vast profits of their enterprise.
From the complex investigation, detectives were able to prove the pair operated the handles from messages exchanged on the encrypted devices. In one message Dean sent a selfie to Swann complaining about not being able to get a haircut during lockdown, and Swann replied with his own selfie. At Liverpool Crown Court, 42-year-old Dean, of Villiers Crescent, Eccleston, was given 16 years in prison.
Meanwhile Swann, 39 years, of Harrier Close, Maghull, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Read the full report here.[12]
Karl Wexler
Karl Wexler's terrified partner fled their flat barefoot after he subjected her to the attack after threatening to kill her on the evening of January 21 this year. Liverpool Crown Court heard that Wexler, a long-term cannabis user, had applied his skills in martial arts during the frightening assault on his victim as he was sentenced on Monday. A judge said that only an immediate prison term could be justified as he sentenced the 44-year-old defendant, who appeared via video link from custody.
It was aid the victim relied on him and was "otherwise homeless" and that Wexler had "an interest in martial arts and applied this skill during the course of the attack". Judge Woodhall said the offence was aggravated by its "domestic context" and Wexler's "history of domestic abuse against the same victim" and that it was "committed under the influence of alcohol". He sentenced Wexler on November 24 to six years and two months for attempted GBH, with a nine-month concurrent term for a separate incident of strangulation.
Wexler will spend up to two-thirds of the sentence in custody. Read the full report here.[13]
Declan Pendlebury
Declan Pendlebury told "one lie after another" about his involvement in the "joint-enterprise" attack on the teenage victim in Parr last year. However, a jury unanimously convicted the 21-year-old, who was given a lengthy prison term during his sentencing hearing on December 8. Liverpool Crown Court heard that at around 10pm on Monday, September 2, 2024, the 14-year-old victim had been stabbed repeatedly with a machete by Pendlebury's accomplice.
The victim, who had been playing with his brother and friends, had fled in terror as Pendlebury and his co-attacker , who was armed with the machete, ran at them. The 14-year-old slipped over and in the brutal attack, was stabbed several times, with the first blow, aimed for his chest hitting his back after he rolled over. The judge did not accept the claim from Pendlebury's defence that he only played a secondary role in the attack, due to his accomplice being the one who used the weapon.
The judge stated it was a "joint enterprise" and both were considered as "jointly possessing the weapon".
Pendlebury, of Warwick Avenue, Newton-le-Willows, was given a 19-year jail term.
Read the full report here.[14]
References
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ guilty of the murder of Rikki Berry (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ a popular and respected figure in the area's community rugby league scene (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)
- ^ here. (www.sthelensstar.co.uk)