Seventeen Merseyside criminals were imprisoned over the past seven days, receiving a combined total of 104 years and 10 months in prison. Among those jailed were members of a £1million-a-year drugs gang, a man who stabbed a stranger after a darts match, and an individual who called a judge a "motherf*****".
Violent assaults and robberies
Valeri Aleksiev, 30, of Windsor Road, was jailed for three years after orchestrating an assault in a McDonald's. He challenged his victim to a "one to one" fight at the gym in a TikTok video, but instead armed himself with a wrench and recruited a 15-year-old boy. The pair chased the man into the restaurant and battered him as families returning from a Liverpool FC game watched. The youth received a 12-month youth referral order, and both were given restraining orders banning contact with the victim and his wife for seven years.
Duane Hilton, 47, of Regent Road, was jailed for three years and two months after threatening a Tesco manager with a wine bottle and stealing 12 packets of Blue Riband biscuits. He admitted robbery, possession of an offensive weapon, and fraud by false representation, and was banned from the store for five years.
Drug gang and fraud cases
Craig Clifton, 40, of no fixed address, headed an organised crime group for seven years that netted around £1million per year. He used his mum's property company to launder profits, and his "right hand man" Sam Murphy, 35, bought art from a Liverpool gallery. Clifton was jailed for 18 years after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin and cannabis, while Murphy received 12 years. Other gang members received sentences ranging from four to eight years.
Alastair Ramage, 44, and Ian Barnes, 53, were jailed for four-and-a-half years and four years and four months respectively for evading nearly £9million in VAT and income tax from a teeth whitening business. They spent extravagantly on Land Rovers, designer goods, and a £16,000 Gucci cap.
Other notable sentences
Bernard Sullivan was jailed for 19 years for rape and other sexual offences. Diaz Paul, 26, received 13 years for stabbing a stranger in a pub after a darts match, leaving the victim in an induced coma. Peter Kennedy, 42, was jailed for two-and-a-half years for controlling and coercive behaviour, and Warren Wright, 54, received two years and three months for theft from vulnerable victims.
Adil Sulamen, 38, was jailed for 13 months for malicious communications and assaulting emergency workers, shouting "you are a motherf*****" as he was led to the cells. Connor Helps, 30, received two years plus an extended licence year for assault and strangling his girlfriend.
