These are the faces of criminals who were jailed this week

From left; Stephen Callery, Aurel Dervishi and Joshua Hoijord-Smith
From left; Stephen Callery, Aurel Dervishi and Joshua Hoijord-Smith -Credit:Merseyside Police


A fraudster who left his own parents penniless, a Range Rover driver who caused an "explosion" and a knife thug who preyed on a pensioner were among the Merseyside criminals who were jailed over the past week.

Also locked up was a crying drug dealer who shoved heroin and cocaine up his bum. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a Chester Zoo worker stole £180,000 from his former employer.

Here are the faces of 22 criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:

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Dionis Margieka, Aurel Dervishi and Aurel Dushku

Aurel Dervishi
Aurel Dervishi -Credit:Merseyside Police

Two cannabis farmers spent hours hiding in a loft after the police discovered a £500,000 grow.

Officers initially believed they had interrupted a burglary in progress at the disused property before coming across the large scale drugs factory. When PCs attended the scene, they found Dionis Margieka leaving the building.

Dionis Margieka
Dionis Margieka -Credit:Merseyside Police

Their searches continued into the following day, at which stage two further defendants - Aurel Dervishi and Aurel Dushku - were located inside the attic. Overall, a total of 430 plants were found growing inside.

Aurel Dushku
Aurel Dushku -Credit:Merseyside Police

Dervishi, Dushku and Margieka admitted production of cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool and assisted by an interpreter, they were jailed for 18 months each.

Anthony Grogan

Anthony Grogan, of Gavel Court, Kendal
Anthony Grogan, of Gavel Court, Kendal -Credit:Merseyside police

A bully boyfriend broke into his ex-girlfriend's house and engaged in a violent 30-minute stand off with police as they rushed to the scene.

Anthony Grogan smashed his way into the address before arming himself with a knife during the terrifying incident. The 32-year-old admitted burglary, affray and three counts of assaulting an emergency services worker and was jailed for three years.

Daniel Remmington

Daniel Remmington
Daniel Remmington stole a total of £186,000 from the car auction company to feed a gambling addiction -Credit:Merseyside Police

A Chester Zoo worker has been caged after stealing more than £180,000 from his former employer.

Daniel Remmington was entrusted to serve as bookkeeper for Tuebrook-based Liverpool Motor Auctions Ltd but instead helped himself to huge sums of cash over the course of more than a year in order to feed his gambling addiction. The business folded and innocent staff members lost their jobs as a result.

Remmington was found guilty of fraud by abuse of position by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was jailed for six years.

Craig Davies

Craig Davies, formerly of Elizabeth Street, Burnley
Craig Davies, formerly of Elizabeth Street, Burnley -Credit:BTP

A racist bully attacked his girlfriend, a taxi driver and a dad picking up his five-year-old son from school in a string of drunken assaults.

Craig Davies admitted inflicted grievous bodily harm, controlling and coercive behaviour and racially aggravated assault. He was jailed for 40 months.

Stephen Callery

Stephen Callery
Stephen Callery -Credit:Merseyside Police

A heroin and crack cocaine dealer wept as he was jailed after being caught with drugs up his bum.

Stephen Callery was found with hidden stashes of class As twice in the space of just six months. He kept the illicit substances in his sock on one occasion, but on another was cycling with the goods in his backside.

Callery admitted possession of heroin and crack cocaine with intent to supply and possession of heroin and cocaine in relation to the earlier incident. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was seen blowing his nose with a tissue and wiping tears from his eyes before he was jailed for 30 months.

Ian Riddell

Ian Riddell, of Rice Lane, Fazakerley
Ian Riddell, of Rice Lane, Fazakerley -Credit:Merseyside police

A callous fraudster plundered his elderly parents and spent their savings on gambling and drugs.

Ian Riddell raided the bank accounts of his parents over a period of two years, stealing a grand total of £31,547.50. The 48-year-old admitted eight counts of fraud and was jailed for three years.

Shane Oliver

Shane Oliver
Shane Oliver -Credit:Merseyside Police

A wall at a pub "exploded" after a Range Rover driver's 90mph chase with police ended in dramatic fashion.

Shane Oliver caused thousands of pounds of damage when he smashed the car into the beer garden of the Weld Blundell in Lydiate. He was yesterday told that he was lucky not to have killed a fellow road user in what a judge branded as "some of the most appalling, dangerous and reckless driving" he had witnessed during his career.

Oliver admitted dangerous driving, criminal damage, drug driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance. He was jailed for a year.

Joshua Hoijord-Smith

Joshua Hoijord-Smith
Joshua Hoijord-Smith -Credit:Merseyside Police

A thug armed with a knife preyed upon an innocent pensioner who was making his way home from the pub late at night.

Joshua Hoijord-Smith threatened to stab the OAP before battering him in the street outside his home. The attack was only halted when the victim's concerned neighbours intervened.

Hoijord-Smith admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of a bladed article in a public place and possession of heroin. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 18 months.

Mark Draper and Dylan Hyams

Mark Draper
Mark Draper -Credit:Merseyside Police

Nearly £100,000 of class A drugs was discovered in a Footasylum bag when police raided a flat near to Sefton Park.

Mark Draper turned his apartment into a base for breaking down and repackaging cocaine and crack cocaine after falling behind on his rent. He and his accomplice Dylan Hyams were linked to the operation after their fingerprints were found on blocks of illicit substances.

Dylan Hyams
Dylan Hyams -Credit:Merseyside Police

Hyams was found guilty of being concerned in the supply of cocaine by a jury following a trial but cleared of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Draper admitted possession of crack cocaine and cocaine with intent to supply and possession of cannabis. He was handed four years and four months behind bars.

Connor Doherty, Khaliel Maxwell and Anthony Sweeney

Connor Doherty, Khaliel Maxwell and Anthony Sweeney
Connor Doherty, Khaliel Maxwell and Anthony Sweeney -Credit:Merseyside Police

Ketamine, cannabis and tobacco was flown into HMP Liverpool dozens of times using drones.

Anthony Sweeney enlisted a host of accomplices as part of the operation, which saw packages delivered through the windows or prisoners' cells. The 28-year-old received six years and four months.

Connor Doherty, who was said to have supplied "at least some" of the drugs placed inside the parcels, was locked up for four-and-a-half years. "Spotter" Khaliel Maxwell was jailed for two years.

Kevin Murphy

Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy -Credit:Merseyside Police

A "popular" dock worker threw away his well paid job and family life in return for "a quid" and ended up with a lengthy stretch behind bars.

Kevin Murphy secretly became embroiled in a plot to smuggle 300kg of cocaine into the UK from Brazil via the Port of Liverpool. The 41-year-old was said to have acted as a "facilitator" between Robert Bennett and Peter McQuade, who hatched the plan using encrypted communications platform EncroChat.

Murphy admitted assisting in the fraudulent evasion on the prohibition on the importation of cocaine. Wearing a white shirt and jeans in the dock, he waved to his supporters in the public gallery as he was led to the cells after being jailed for eight years.

Christian Adams and James Poland

Christian Adams
Christian Adams -Credit:Merseyside Police

A plot to smuggle nearly £5million of heroin into the UK from the Netherlands was foiled by a fake delivery driver and dummy parcels.

Boxes packed full of class A drugs were posted to Christian Adams' home as part of the scheme, but were intercepted following their arrival via air mail. This allowed the National Crime Agency to bug the packages before they were collected by James Poland, who was then ensnared outside his waterfront flat.

James Poland
James Poland -Credit:Merseyside Police

Poland admitted conspiracy to import and supply class A drugs. Appearing via video link wearing a blue Montirex zip-up top, he shook his head and puffed his cheeks out then sat with his arms folded after being jailed for 10 years.

Adams pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Seated beside his co-defendant wearing a black North Face jumper, he was locked up for eight years.

Reece Lowndes

Reece Lowndes
Reece Lowndes -Credit:Merseyside Police

A thug became so enraged after spotting a man riding his stolen bicycle down the street that he stabbed him in the back.

The victim was rammed off the bike by a BMW before Reece Lowndes jumped out of the passenger seat and delivered a flying kick which sent him to the ground. He then knifed the prone casualty as he lay defenceless on the floor, only narrowly missing one of his organs.

Lowndes admitted wounding and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he replied "thank you" after he was jailed for 33 months.

Nadia Gubran and Alya Dahshan

A sinister gang abducted an innocent woman as she strolled through Sefton Park, drove her to a secluded area and attacked her.

Bitterly jealous Nadia Gubran plotted with her best friend Alya Dahshan to kidnap the nursery nurse after she suspected she had been exchanging Snapchat messages with a man she herself was interested in. The gang tracked the 23-year-old victim to her place of work and followed her in a Volkswagen Golf as she made her way down Hartington Road.

They then grabbed her from behind and pulled her hood over her face before dragging her into the car and pinning her to the back seat. They drove her to a secluded wooded area near Sefton Park Palm House, where she was pushed into the bushes and punched and kicked in the head.

Dahshan even filmed the attack in progress using her mobile phone. She was jailed for 16 months, while Gubran received 20 months.

Colin O'Keefe

Colin O'Keefe, 35, from Wallasey
Nadia Gubran outside Liverpool Crown Court.

A drunken punch up in a pub took a potentially deadly turn when a man jumped behind the wheel of his car and deliberately ploughed into a group of people at high speed.

Colin O'Keefe mounted the pavement as he aimed his car at brothers Luke, Craig and Callum Fletcher, their dad Paul and friend Jennifer Beaumont. He had rowed with the at the Rose and Crown pub in Seacombe, Wirral, just minutes before the terrifying incident.

O'Keefe pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and four counts of attempted grievous bodily harm. He was jailed for 12 years and handed an additional two years on licence.

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