Liverpool Crown Court handed down some of the longest jail sentences of 2021 to criminals convicted of murder, drug trafficking, and ATM bombings. Among those sentenced were members of a gang that used gas to blow up cash machines, leaving a trail of destruction worth £1.5 million, and a man who directed the torture and murder of a father-of-one over a cannabis importation plot.
Adam Murphy, of no fixed address, was part of a notorious 'hole-in-wall' gang that used gas tanks to break into around 30 ATMs across the North West and Midlands in 2013. He spent nearly seven years on the run after the gang was busted, and was eventually arrested in December 2019. Murphy was found guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions, conspiracy to burgle, aggravated vehicle taking, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Lee Knox, 43, formerly of Canal View, Melling, directed the torture and murder of Joseph McKeever, 54, whose battered body was found in the boot of a stolen Ford Focus set ablaze in Everton in June 2017. Knox fled to Spain but was arrested in Belfast in April 2020. He was convicted of false imprisonment and murder after a 17-day trial, with the judge rejecting his claim that he tried to give the victim CPR.
Other lengthy sentences were handed to drug dealers, rapists, and gun thugs, with judges imposing extended sentences or life imprisonment for the most dangerous offenders. The ECHO's commitment to covering court cases in the public interest continues, with its Liverpool Court Cases Facebook group now followed by more than 56,000 readers.
