Thousands of people have been brought to justice and put behind bars at Merseyside's courts this year.

Each month teenagers are among those locked up, as out of control youths find themselves in the dock.

Normally if they are under 18, young offenders cannot be named for legal reasons.

READ MORE: Whopping lies and excuses used by crooks to save their skin

But sometimes their crimes are so serious, or they present such a risk to the public, that judges agree to lift reporting restrictions at the request of the ECHO so they can be named in the public interest.

These young criminals - in one case as young as 15 - include children who have committed terrible crimes such as manslaughter, stabbings and sex attacks.

Others have plagued communities with anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and burglary.

Here are the baby faced Merseyside criminals brought to justice this year.

Steff Jones

Steff Jones, 19, of Marie Curie Avenue, Netherton.
Steff Jones, 19, of Marie Curie Avenue, Netherton

Steff Jones had sexual activity with a schoolgirl and was caught with indecent images of another child.

Police said the "dangerous" 19-year-old, of Marie Curie Avenue, Netherton, preyed on two teenage victims.

He was arrested on October 23, 2020, after one of the girls found the courage to report him to the police.

Jones admitted sexual activity with a child, who police said was 14, and possessing indecent images of another girl.

He was jailed for four years.

Joseph McEwan

Joseph McEwan, 19, of Damsire Close in Fazakerley
Joseph McEwan, 19, of Damsire Close in Fazakerley

The heartbroken family of Robert Beattie, who was set on fire in a brutal drug-related murder, described his killers as "inhumane".

The 48-year-old was squirted with petrol by a hooded gang who knocked on his door in Skelmersdale before setting him ablaze.

Five men - two of whom are still at large - had travelled from Liverpool to West Lancashire to enforce their dominance of the local heroin and crack cocaine trade.

Mr Beattie, who was a drug user, was targeted at his home in Waverley, at around 12.30am, on September 26, 2019.

Ringleader Connah Jenkinson, now 26, of Kremlin Drive, Tuebrook, was found guilty of murder and arson with intent to endanger life, the latter charge in connection with a separate attack earlier that evening.

His accomplices, John O'Brien, now 33, of Ingrave Road, Walton, and Joseph McEwan, now 19, of Damsire Close, Fazakerley, were cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter and the same arson attack.

McEwan was jailed for 13 years.

Gang of youths who shot teenage boy

Merseyside Police scene on Station Road, Prescot after a shooting.
Merseyside Police scene on Station Road, Prescot after a shooting

A gang of boys hunted down and shot a teenager as he tried to escape over a wall.

The victim, 17, climbed onto a wheelie bin when cornered in an alleyway by three youths, including an alleged gunman aged just 16.

But he was hit in the stomach by a bullet that perforated his bowel, fractured one of his vertebrae and narrowly missed his spine, in a suspected "gang related dispute".

Half of his colon was removed as a result of the shooting, off Station Road near Cables Retail Park in Prescot, at around 4.50pm, on January 20, 2020.

Five boys, aged 13 to 16, none of whom can be named for legal reasons, were arrested and all denied attempted murder.

Two of the children were cleared of any wrongdoing, but three were convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on the basis of "joint enterprise".

Prosecutors said Boy A, a 17-year-old from Huyton with no previous convictions, was the gunman. He was locked up for seven years and nine months.

It was alleged Boy B, a 16-year-old from Dovecot, was armed with a knife, which he produced in the alley.

Boy B, who had four convictions for seven offences including assaults and carrying a blade, was locked up for eight years and four months.

Boy C, a 17-year-old from Huyton, who was with them in the alleyway, had nine past convictions for 18 offences, including street robberies and kidnaps.

He was locked up for nine years, with an extended three years on licence.

Corben Bell

Corben Bell, 18
Corben Bell, 18, of no fixed address but formerly of Ellesmere Port

Corben Bell was locked up after a machete attack but has repeatedly been found with weapons in prison including razor blades, a sharpened broom and a metal spike.

He told a guard: "I'll just keep on making more, I'll never go anywhere without a blade."

The 18-year-old was locked up for three years and 10 months in September 2020 for dealing crack cocaine and heroin in Liverpool and for a machete attack on a pizza shop.

In September he called to another inmate and flashed a sharpened metal spike from his trouser pocket, threatening to "poke" him with it, before he "chillingly smirked".

Bell was caught with two other improvised weapons in prison in October and, asked if they were intended for staff, replied: "If they were for staff I'd have used them already."

Bell, of no fixed address but formerly of Ellesmere Port, admitted three counts of possessing an improvised weapon in prison.

He was handed a further 16 months behind bars.

James Foy

James Foy, 19, of Rossini Street in Seaforth
James Foy, 19, of Rossini Street in Seaforth

James and Michael Foy were jailed for life for the murder of Michael Rainsford.

The 20-year-old was shot dead as he stood in the kitchen of his Litherland home on April 7, 2020.

The attack was an act of revenge after bricks had been thrown at their home in Seaforth while their mum was inside alone, but Mr Rainsford had in fact played no role in that incident.

The Foy brothers were found guilty of murder, possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without certificate.

At their sentence hearing, James Foy instructed his barrister to tell the court he was the gunman who pulled the trigger that night.

James Foy, 19, of Rossini Street, was also convicted of possession of a prohibited gun, in relation to a pistol found in a Bootle home in 2019.

He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 28 years.

John Horton

John Horton, 19, of Park Street, Bootle
John Horton, 19, of Park Street, Bootle

John Horton set fire to a flat as he 'sought revenge' on his mum's ex.

The 19-year-old, of Park Street, Bootle, had threatened to stab Darren Irving and burn his flat down after he was told he had threatened his mum.

After making the threats, he went to Mr Irving's Litherland flat and kicked the door before returning later with petrol, pouring it through the letterbox and setting it alight.

Mr Irving wasn't at home when, what would have been his only exit route was set alight, on November 17, 2020.

Horton admitted arson with intent to endanger life and malicious communications.

He was jailed for four and a half years.

Daniel Henderson

Daniel Henderson, 19, of Wheatlands, Runcorn
Daniel Henderson, 19, of Wheatlands, Runcorn

Daniel Henderson terrorised an evil child killer and his new partner.

The 19-year-old, of Wheatlands, Runcorn, threatened Wayne Davenport and his girlfriend on August 27, 2020.

Davenport was jailed for six years for manslaughter in October 2009 after beating two-year-old Joshua Jones to death in 2007.

Armed with a golf club, Henderson went to a home Davenport shared with a new partner, threatened to burn it down, then swung the club over a fence at the "innocent" woman - who had no connection to the manslaughter - instead hitting a window.

He yelled "I'm going to f***ing kill you, you shouldn't be living around here, you f***ing baby killer", which led to the couple leaving Runcorn and separating.

That day, Henderson was due in court over a burglary at Kyujutsu Archery Club, in Castlefields, Runcorn, on April 22, 2019.

Henderson was part of a gang who ransacked the club, smashed into lockers, stole bows and arrows, cash, tools, a bike and a vending machine, before someone set the venue ablaze, costing the owners more than £15,000 in lost items and revenue.

He admitted affray and burglary, and was jailed for two years and three months.

Samuel Brooks

Samuel Brooks, now 18
Samuel Brooks, now 18

Samuel Brooks told his ex-girlfriend there was "money on her head" and he "had a strap to use on her".

The 18-year-old, who has around 50 past convictions, battered the pregnant mum-of-one and threatened her and her daughter, saying he would "light all three of us up'".

The "out of control" scrambler yob was due to be sentenced in December 2020, after leading police on a high speed chase when he crashed through a level crossing in Leasowe, hid in a shed and told a police officer when caught: "You're s*** at driving."

After a judge deferred his sentence to give the teen a chance to change, Brooks punched his former partner and forced her head against a bus stop in January 2021.

Brooks, of Hornby Road, Bromborough, also fell to be sentenced for a separate incident on a scrambler bike last July, when he sped through red lights.

The lout admitted driving while disqualified, two counts of drug driving, dangerous driving, criminal damage, driving without insurance, breach of a non-molestation order, two counts of assault by beating, breaching a criminal behaviour order and riding a motorbike without insurance, while disqualified and without protective headgear.

He was locked up for 20 months.

Liam Clarke

Liam Clark, 19, of Field Street, Islington
Liam Clark, 19, of Field Street, Islington

Cocaine dealing yob Liam Clark crashed a stolen Skoda into a police car during a chase.

The 19-year-old was driving the car, which had false plates, when police tried to stop him and he sped away on January 12, 2019.

But he drove on the wrong side of the road before colliding into a police car.

The serial offender had also been found with £1,200 of cocaine, 11 bags of cannabis and a knife in a separate incident on County Road on October 4, 2019.

Clark, of Field Street, Islington, was wanted for a robbery at the time.

The expectant dad led police on another chase in a stolen Kia, which ended with him writing off the car after crashing into oncoming traffic, on January 14, 2020.

He admitted possessing cannabis, possessing PAVA spray, two counts of dangerous driving, handling stolen goods, two counts of having no insurance or licence, possessing Class A and B drugs with intent to supply, and possessing a knife.

Clark was jailed for three years.

Carl Power

Carl Power, 18, of Wilburn Street, Walton
Carl Power, 18, of Wilburn Street, Walton

Carl Power was locked up after texts on his mobile phone revealed his role in a spate of unsolved burglaries.

Power has blighted north Liverpool since he was a boy, despite his mum once insisting to a judge: "He's a good kid."

The 19-year-old has already amassed 10 previous convictions for 23 offences, dating back to when he was just 14.

Last May, during a 60mph scrambler bike chase involving a police helicopter, he fist-bumped onlookers, because he said he was "bored".

The teen dad was finally caught when he crashed into a police bike and could be seen smiling during his arrest in a photo posted on Instagram.

However, the seizure of his phone that afternoon enabled detectives to link him to eight burglaries between September 2019 and January 2020.

A video on the device also showed him riding another scrambler bike dangerously - while carrying three passengers - on September 18, 2019.

Power, of Wilburn Street, Walton, admitted conspiring to burgle and to steal, and dangerous driving.

He also asked for five burglaries - including a raid on Christmas Day - one attempted burglary and one count of handling stolen goods between December 2020 and January 2021 to be taken into consideration.

Power was locked up for two years and eight months.

James Renshaw

James Renshaw, 19, from Halewood
James Renshaw, 19, from Halewood, but of no fixed address, admitted possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition, and possessing cannabis and cannabis resin with intent to supply. He was locked up for five years and seven months.

James Renshaw was caught with a loaded gun when he cycled towards a primary school as parents arrived to pick up children.

The teenager was on an electric bike as he and three friends approached Holy Family Catholic Primary School in Halewood.

But as they passed Maple Lodge Care Home in Arncliffe Road, they were challenged by two police officers, who smelled cannabis.

CCTV footage showed then 18-year-old Renshaw ditch his bike and run, only to be caught by officers and call out to his friends for help.

They fled when a third officer arrived - one of the group taking the bike - before police searched two manbags Renshaw was wearing.

One revealed a loaded silver semi-automatic Beretta pistol and the other up to £1,300 of cannabis, including edible cannabis sweets.

Renshaw, now 19, admitted possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition, and possessing cannabis and cannabis resin with intent to supply.

He was locked up for five years and seven months.

Liam Ellis

Liam Ellis, then 18, of Manica Crescent, Fazakerley.
Liam Ellis, then 18, of Manica Crescent, Fazakerley

Liam Ellis was caught with a double razor blade shank hidden inside one of his trainers at HMP Altcourse.

The teen was locked up for 10 months after he was spotted boarding a Merseyrail train with a hunting knife down his tracksuit bottoms.

When arrested in May last year, the 18-year-old said he had the "terrifying" 10.5 inch blade for "protection" because "I'm a wanted man".

Just over a month after being sentenced in September, Ellis - nicknamed "Curly" - was caught with a homemade weapon at HMP Altcourse.

He was about to be taken to hospital on October 24 and said he had made the shank to protect himself after being beaten up in prison.

Ellis, now 19, of Manica Crescent, Fazakerley, admitted possessing a bladed article.

He was locked up for 10 months.

Logan Pritchard

Logan Pritchard, 18, of Hillside Avenue, Denton Green, St Helens.
Logan Pritchard, 18, of Hillside Avenue, Denton Green, St Helens

A bus passenger woke up surrounded by smoke with the driver screaming after teen yob Logan Pritchard set fire to one of the seats.

Logan Pritchard, then 17, was "messing around" with a lighter after boarding the 10A Stagecoach bus on Bridge Street in St Helens.

He got off around 20 minutes later in Prescot but had lit one of the seats on the top deck, while a college student slept at the back of the bus.

The bus was evacuated as a result of the blaze, which caused more than £16,000 of damage and cost Stagecoach £30,000 overall due to the loss of the bus.

Pritchard said he had left the bus before the fire broke out and claimed that he didn't realise he had set fire to the seat, at around 11.15am, on January 28, 2020.

The now 18-year-old, of Hillside Avenue, Denton Green, St Helens, admitted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered

Pritchard, who had no previous convictions, was locked up for two years and nine months.

Nathan Batha

Nathan Batha led police on a 150mph motorway chase in an Audi S3.
Nathan Batha led police on a 150mph motorway chase in an Audi S3

Nathan Batha joked about writing off his new Audi before using the M6 as a "race track" in a 150mph police chase.

The teen dad hit traffic cones and drove on the hard shoulder as he tried to "outpace" officers in a "life threatening" pursuit.

The 19-year-old was then caught on a dashcam going through a red light at 100mph on a residential road in Warrington.

Batha said he had decided to go out in the Audi S3 after an argument with his girlfriend - the mum of his six-month-old baby.

And he claimed the reason he initially tested positive for cocaine was because his friends in the car were smoking crack.

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Batha joked with friends on Facebook after buying the Audi, when one said "be a write off in 2 weeks time" and he replied: "Pushing it".

The teenager then responded with a laughing emoji when another pal remarked: "Nice car scary driver"

Batha, of Watkiss Drive, Rugeley, Staffordshire, led police on the chase at around 3.50am, on December 13 last year.

He was locked up for 12 months after he admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop for the police and driving without insurance.

Benjamin Bridgeman

18-year-old Benjamin Bridgeman, of Yardley Avenue in Warrington, apologising for kicking an elderly man into the Mersey outside court after pleading guilty
18-year-old Benjamin Bridgeman, of Yardley Avenue in Warrington, apologising for kicking an elderly man into the Mersey outside court after pleading guilty

Benjamin Bridgeman who kicked an OAP into the River Mersey was slammed by a judge for the "sickening" attack.

The 19-year-old lout admitted kicking the 74-year-old with force as the pensioner was standing by the river in Warrington.

He then ran away, along with a 16-year-old yob who filmed the attack on his phone, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The victim, who thought he had been "pushed very hard from behind", fell into the river and banged his face on something.

He was "just managing to keep his head above water" as he wasn't a strong swimmer and was rescued by two schoolgirls.

Footage shared on Snapchat showed Bridgeman kicking the victim, at around 2.30pm on April 25, alongside laughing emojis.

Bridgeman, of Quebec Road, Orford, Warrington, who handed himself in and admitted assault, was locked up for 10 weeks.

The 16-year-old boy was handed a 12-month Youth Referral Order and told to pay £500 compensation.

Two teen killers

Forensics officers at the scene outside Wigan Parish Church
Forensics officers at the scene outside Wigan Parish Church

Two men and two boys kicked a man to death in a churchyard for his £11,000 gold Rolex watch then ran off "in a state of exhilaration".

Lewis Peake, 29, Michael Wilson, 20, and two youths, aged 14 and 17, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attacked Steven McMyler.

Organiser Peake, 30, recruited a so-called "Liverpool Four", some of them just boys, who had arrived in Wigan by train from Kirkby.

Peake had spent part of the day drinking with Mr McMyler, 34, as he eyed up his expensive jewellery and tried to offer two schoolboys £100 each to batter him.

When they refused, he approached and hired the Merseyside gang of yobs to carry out the beating, in which the dad-of-two's head was kicked repeatedly in the grounds of Wigan Parish Church.

Peake later returned to the scene as Mr McMyler lay unconscious "with his face purple" and made off with his phone and suitcase on August 6 last year.

The four killers were convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob after a trial.

The 14-year-old and 17-year-old, both from Kirkby, were locked up for six years and eight years respectively.

Kyle Arathoon

Kyle Arathoon, 19, of Richard Court, Ellesmere Port.
Kyle Arathoon, 19, of Richard Court, Ellesmere Port

Kyle Arathoon 's drug dealing days came crashing down when police seized his gun and high purity cocaine.

A CCTV operation and damning text messages helped snare the 19-year-old drugs dealer from Ellesmere Port.

Police raided his house in Richard Court on April 9 this year and found £5,000 of cocaine plus £2,000 of ketamine and cannabis.

Officers then recovered "a small firearm that fires blanks and irritant gas cartridges" from the boot of his Volvo S60 car outside.

CCTV showed Arathoon accessing the boot of the car.

He admitted being concerned in the supply of cocaine, ketamine and cannabis, possessing the three drugs with intent to supply and possessing a firearm.

Arathoon was jailed for four years and three months.

Bailey Doyle and Kyle Kearney

Bailey Doyle, 17, attacked two brothers with machetes at Liverpool Lime Street Station
Bailey Doyle, 17, attacked two brothers with machetes at Liverpool Lime Street Station

Bailey Doyle and Kyle Kearney slashed two brothers with machetes at Liverpool Lime Street Station in front of terrified passengers.

Doyle, 17, and Kearney, 18, attacked the 20-year-old and the 16-year-old siblings in a chance meeting during an ongoing "feud".

Shocking CCTV footage showed the pair pull two machetes from an orange shopping bag carried by Kearney on a train from Rock Ferry.

Horrified passengers fled from the train, as did the youngest victim, who shouted "he's trying to kill me!" on Friday, March 19 this year.

Kearney chased the 20-year-old, slashing him, before the victim fell out of the train onto the platform, and Doyle slashed him again.

The 20-year-old victim needed 28 stitches for wounds to his head, arms and body, and suffered fractures to one of his arms.

Kyle Kearney, 18, slashed two brothers on a train at Liverpool Lime Street Station as part of a "feud"
Kyle Kearney, 18, slashed two brothers on a train at Liverpool Lime Street Station as part of a "feud"

His 16-year-old brother also suffered fractures to his arm.

Doyle, of Fletcher Avenue, Rock Ferry, and Kearney, of Old Chester Road, Rock Ferry, both admitted two counts of wounding with intent and having a bladed article.

Doyle was previously locked up for two years and four months for wounding in 2019, after he stabbed a victim in the face with a screwdriver.

He was locked up for nine years and four months, with an extended four years on licence.

Kearney, who confessed to being a County Lines drug courier, has no previous convictions.

He was locked up for eight years.

Teen puppy robber

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A gang armed with machetes and a fake gun stormed a family's home to steal their puppies.

Stephen Prendergast, 43, Lewis Prendergast, 24, Anthony Ainsworth, 22, and a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, burst into the house in Old Swan.

They demanded cash, threatened a couple and their newborn baby, then left with six American Bulldogs and a Volkswagen Golf parked outside.

The car and the dogs were later recovered and the occupants weren't harmed, but they were left "extremely shaken" by the ordeal in Derwent Road West, at around 2.25pm, on Sunday, October 18, 2020.

At around 3.45pm the same day, Matrix armed police were in the area searching for the offenders and spotted their Ford Focus at the junction of Sheil Road and Kensington.

The gang made off towards Newsham Park but the two Prendergasts were caught before Ainsworth and the teenager were also arrested.

The boy, from Old Swan, was locked up for four years and two months for conspiracy to commit robbery and possessing an offensive weapon.

Callum Forbes

Callum Forbes, 19, knocked out a dad who was walking down the street with his family because he told him to stop shouting at his children
Callum Forbes, 19, knocked out a dad who was walking down the street with his family because he told him to stop shouting at his children

Callum Forbes knocked out a dad after "jeering" at his daughters and offering them a lift.

Martyn Corrin was walking back from an 80th birthday party with his family when a group of teens in a silver Vauxhall began shouting "sexualised comments" at his daughters, aged 12 and 16.

After the dad-of-three told them to "do one", Forbes, 17, knocked him unconscious with a punch before another yob kicked him in the head.

The victim's daughters tried to protect their dad from the attack, which left him with a bleed on the brain and fractures to his eye socket.

The males returned to the car "laughing" and one smashed a bottle before they drove off in Brindle Road, Bromborough on October 19, 2019.

Forbes, now 19, of Norley Avenue, Eastham, Birkenhead, was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after a trial.

He was locked up for 18 months.

Neil O'Brien

Neil O’Brien, 19, of Prestwood Crescent, Knotty Ash
Neil O’Brien, 19, of Prestwood Crescent, Knotty Ash

A Liverpool-based crime group stole £2.5m of high performance cars and luxury items from homes across the North West.

The gang used cloned wireless key signals to open car doors on driveways and speed off, without having to enter the home to steal the keys.

But they were targeted and brought to justice as part of Operation Castle, Merseyside Police's response to burglary related crime.

The force raided homes and made a series of arrests in October 2020.

These crooks, who targeted homes across Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire, admitted conspiring to commit burglary and steal cars.

Neil O'Brien, 19, of Prestwood Crescent, Knotty Ash, was jailed for six years.

Tre Freeman

Tre Freeman, 19, of Green Leach Court, St Helens
Tre Freeman, 19, of Green Leach Court, St Helens

Tre Freeman repeatedly tried to hit a police officer with a car then later wrote rap lyrics about it.

Two officers tried to conduct a stop check on a black Vauxhall Astra, parked near Fox Covert Cemetery in Warrington, on October 31, 2020.

One officer went to speak with the driver, but the car "kept edging forward" towards him, and the victim had to jump out of the way.

The Astra then accelerated, striking vehicles before turning around, revving the engine and attempting to drive at the officer once again.

The car then struck a police vehicle and a wall before driving at the officer once more, then sped off, leading to a police chase.

Freeman, 19, of Green Leach Court in St Helens, was arrested after his DNA was later found in the car after it had been abandoned.

His home was raided on January 12, 2021, when notes were found to a rap song he had written about trying to "run down" the officer.

Freeman admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, driving without a license and insurance, and failing to stop.

He was jailed for three years and four months.

Jack Geary

Jack Geary, now 20, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm
Jack Geary, now 20, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm

Jack Geary and Thomas Price battered a man in the street for no reason inflicting a broken skull and a bleed on his brain.

The two teenagers from North Wales set upon James Hansen in Liverpool city centre in the early hours of the morning.

They also broke his nose and eye socket with a flurry of unprovoked punches in Victoria Street, knocking him out cold.

The attack was caught on CCTV and nearly a year later, he has not regained some of his sense of taste and smell.

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Geary, then 19, and Price, then 18, carried out the unprovoked attack on the 21-year-old, at around 4.15am, on August 24 last year.

Both Geary, now 20, of Coast Road, Mostyn, Holywell, and Price, now 19, of Coed Onn Road, Flint, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Geary has five past convictions for eight offences, including an affray in 2019, which at the time of this attack he was being investigated for.

He was locked up for 15 months.

Price, who has one previous conviction for an assault, was given 13 and a half months' detention, suspended for two years.

Kurtis Williams

Kurtis Williams, 16, of Rossett Street, Anfield
Kurtis Williams, 16, of Rossett Street, Anfield

Kurtis Williams slashed a mum's face with a machete in a racist attack in front of her little girl.

The boy, 15, repeatedly used the N-word as he made vile threats to harm Zakiya Janny's ex-boyfriend and their four-year-old daughter.

A witness said Williams' own mum shouted encouragement when the yob returned with a machete and yelled more racist abuse, including the N-word, at the mixed race family.

But when Ms Janny stood between Williams and her former partner, the teenager cut her left cheek open, from her ear to her jaw.

The now 16-year-old boy inflicted a 13cm long wound, which the 36-year-old housing worker said "destroyed" the life she knew.

The attack happened near her partner Francis O'Malley's home in Scorton Street, Anfield, at around 7.15pm, on April 13 this year.

Williams, of Rossett Street, Anfield, denied wounding with intent and possessing a blade, but admitted the charges on the opening day of a trial, accepting that they were motivated by "racial prejudice".

He was locked up for eight years.

Knife teen

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A teenager stabbed two boys when they wouldn't let him and his gang play with their football.

The 14-year-old yob knifed the 15-year-old victims in the buttocks during a brawl on Liverpool's waterfront involving a large group of youths.

Disturbing CCTV footage shared on social media showed the bare chested lout pull a knife out of a bag, then stab one victim from behind.

But the gutless teen was knocked down by a flurry of quick punches from one brave victim - allowing the two older boys to escape to safety.

The attack happened when a brawl broke out at Salthouse Quay, near the Royal Albert Dock, on the afternoon of July 23 this year.

Both victims attended Alder Hey Children's Hospital and received stitches for their wounds.

Neither the boy, from Walton, nor his two victims, can be named because of their age.

The boy admitted two counts of wounding with intent and one count of possessing a knife in public.

He was locked up for two and a half years.

Brandon Mullin

Brandon Mullin, 19, of Kensington Road, Kensington
Brandon Mullin, 19, of Kensington Road, Kensington

Brandon Mullin exploited the failures of a mum as he raped and sexually abused two of her vulnerable children.

The teenager preyed on the youngsters - two siblings a judge said were victims of the worst neglect he had ever seen.

His terrible abuse - including the rape of a boy and abuse of a girl - only ended when the children were taken into care.

Mullin, 19, of Kensington Road, Kensington, was found guilty of 10 sexual offences against his two victims after a trial.

He was a child himself at the time of the abuse, but Judge Garrett Byrne said he was a "cold and calculated individual".

The judge said: "I am satisfied you knew perfectly well what you were doing was wrong."

Mullin was locked up for 13 years, with an extended licence period of three years.

Charlie Dowling

Charlie Dowling, 18, of Skipton Road, Anfield
Charlie Dowling, 18, of Skipton Road, Anfield

Charlie Dowling who turned to street dealing to pay off his drug debt was caught "red handed" by police.

The then 17-year-old was arrested with 43 bags of heroin and 84 bags of crack cocaine at around midnight in Bedford Road, Bootle.

When asked if he had any drugs, Dowling, of Skipton Road, Anfield, replied "yes, a lot", on November 10 last year.

He was also carrying around £200 in cash and his mobile phone contained "flare" adverts for drugs sent out to customers.

The now 18-year-old, already has nine convictions for 27 offences, including robbery, burglary, assault, possessing drugs and motoring offences.

He admitted two offences of possessing drugs with intent to supply and was locked up for two years and two months.

Joshua Dunbavin

Joshua Dunbavin, 19, of Sherlock Lane, Wallasey
Joshua Dunbavin, 19, of Sherlock Lane, Wallasey

Joshua Dunbavin went "berserk" after drinking almost a pint of vodka and hurled a knife at a police officer.

The 19-year-old became "very angry" after a night drinking at his shared home in Sherlock Lane, Wallasey on March 11, 2021.

He attacked his girlfriend Demi Jones by grabbing her by the neck and punching her in the face for no reason, then later grabbed her by the hair.

When two other women dragged him off her, he picked up a TV belonging to one of them and threw it at her, before they locked him out of the room.

CCTV footage showed him in the street, brandishing two kitchen knives at police, and throwing one at an officer, when he narrowly missed the victim.

Dunbavin, who also stabbed a police car tyre, admitted affray, threats with a bladed article, three offences of battery and two offences of criminal damage.

He was locked up for two years.

Barclay Redford

Barclay Redford, of Makin Street, Liverpool, was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court today.
Barclay Redford, of Makin Street, Liverpool, was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court today.

Two men chugged vodka and inhaled laughing gas before one of them crashed a car into a teenager.

Dylan Fryer was in a coma for 11 days after Elliot Watson drove a Vauxhall Astra into the 18-year-old on Battersby Lane in Warrington.

Dylan was taking his 12-year-old brother to a corner shop to get some sweets, but was thrown over the top of the car on October 29 this year.

He suffered "catastrophic injuries" including a "shaken brain", collapsed lung, multiple skull fractures and eight broken ribs.

Watson and his passenger, his girlfriend's son, Barclay Redford, then tried to avoid justice, while Mr Fryers' parents watched him fight for his life.

Redford, 18, of Makin Street, Walton, admitted aggravated vehicle taking and was locked up for 10 months.

Shaun Bennett

Shaun Bennett ranted in a disturbing Snapchat video
Shaun Bennett ranted in a disturbing Snapchat video

Shaun Bennett raped a 13-year-old girl in woodland just weeks after meeting her online.

The 15-year-old later subjected her to a second sex attack, then threatened her on Instagram when she went to the police.

Now aged 18, a judge branded the remorseless sex offender "utterly shameful and wicked" and also "highly dangerous".

Bennett, formerly of Liscard, Wallasey, but now of Bishopgate Street, Wavertree, admitted rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration.

He already had a conviction for sexually abusing a young girl when he was aged just 14, for which he received a 12-month referral order in 2018.

In 2019 he befriended his 13-year-old victim online and raped her in parkland in Wirral, then molested her on a second occasion just days later.

Bennett was locked up for seven and a half years, with an extended five years on licence.

Knife teen

The park at the junction of Town Meadow Lane and Lingham Lane in Moreton
The park at the junction of Town Meadow Lane and Lingham Lane in Moreton


A teenager stabbed a boy with a knife after stepping in during a park "straightener" that wasn't even his fight.

He aimed for his victim's chest but sliced through his coat and pierced his arm in an attack a judge said could have proved fatal.

The stabbing was carried out by the then 15-year-old thug just weeks after he was released from a second stint behind bars for knife crime.

Judge David Aubrey, QC, said the teenager, now 16, who cannot be named for legal reasons due to his age, was a danger to the public.

The teen intervened in a fight between two other boys at Lingham Park in Moreton, at around 4pm, on February 18 this year.

He admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

The boy was locked up for four years, with an extended four years on licence.

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