A man who reported being stabbed in a house in St Helens has been jailed for three years after lying to police and fabricating allegations of witness intimidation, leading to the original investigation being discontinued.
Walid Gbeira, 39, of no fixed abode, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, October 23, where he was sentenced for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He had pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial in June.
Investigation into reported attack
Police were called to a house on Sunners Green Close in Parr, St Helens, on Tuesday, November 23, 2021, following reports that a man had been attacked by four men. An investigation into the stabbing was launched, during which several people were identified as suspects.
As the investigation progressed, Gbeira and people connected to him reported multiple incidents of witness intimidation and threatening phone calls. As a result of those reports and statements, a man was charged with witness intimidation and remanded into custody, spending 63 days in prison.
False reports uncovered
Proceedings were eventually discontinued when telecommunications analysis from police showed significant inconsistencies with the allegations, proving the reports to be false. The findings led investigators to suspect that false reports had been submitted to influence the direction of the investigation, prompting a separate investigation into conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
In August 2022, search warrants were carried out at the address of Gbeira and Nicole McMenamy, whose home was where the stabbing was reported to have taken place. Examinations of phones recovered from the search found extensive evidence, including call records, messages, videos and covert recordings.
Sentences handed down
Detectives found evidence of a co-ordinated effort to mislead police, fabricate allegations, falsely implicate people in criminal offences and interfere with the course of justice. As a result, Gbeira, McMenamy and McMenamy's friend Caitlyn Waring were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
McMenamy, 27, of Baltimore Drive in St Helens, pleaded guilty before trial and was sentenced to two years and five months in prison. Waring, 26, of Linear View, Newton-le-Willows, also pleaded guilty before trial and was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years.
No further action was taken relating to the stabbing, as the prosecution found there was no longer a realistic chance of conviction due to concerns around the reliability and credibility of both Gbeira and McMenamy, who were key witnesses.
Detective Chief Inspector Lisa McNaughton said: "Cleary Gbeira and McMenamy thought they would be able to spin a web of lies in an attempt to pervert the course of the investigation and implicate who they wanted. It is only thanks to the hard work and determination of the investigation team that we were able to unpick their lies and successfully convict them and put them behind bars."
