Premier Inn pervert, brothel boss and hospital rapist among 18 criminals jailed this week

A bungling brothel boss, EncroChat users known as "Mystic Kangaroo" and "Best Golfer" and a hospital worker who raped a patient were among the Merseyside criminals who were jailed over the past week.

Also locked up was a law student who exchanged indecent images of children with "Crazy Frog". Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a pervert claimed to be suffering from "sexsomnia" after sexually assaulting a teenage girl in a Premier Inn.

Here are the faces of 18 criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:

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Thomas Speed, James Salkeld and Scott Roseau

A man's trip to the chippy led to him being jailed for nearly 30 years.

Thomas Speed was identified as the user of the EncroChat handle "Simple Creek" after his supposedly secret messages showed him referencing a chip shop near to his house, as well as his tarmacking business. He and two other men, James Salkeld and Scott Roseau, were handed a combined total of more than 65 years behind bars, having used the encrypted communications platform to traffic firearms and wholesale quantities of class A drugs.

Speed was found guilty of conspiracy to possession firearms for sale or transfer, conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was imprisoned for 28 years.

Roseau, who used the handle "Mystic Kangaroo", was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to possess firearms, two charges of conspiracy to possess ammunition and conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine. His supporters burst into tears and walked out of the courtroom as he was handed 22 years.

Salkeld, aka "Best Golfer", pleaded guilty to conspiracy possess firearms and ammunition and conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine and cannabis. He was locked up for 15 years and four months.

Andrew Peel

A pervert sexually assaulted a teenage girl at a Premier Inn then claimed to be suffering from "sexsomnia".

Andrew Peel preyed upon his victim after she had passed out through drinking. He then conjured up a "cowardly and pathetic excuse for his abhorrent behaviour", alleging that he had effectively been sleepwalking at the time of the incident.

Peel was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault. Appearing in the dock wearing a black North Face zip-up top in the dock, he was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Gavin Carr

A man targeted a young woman as she took money out from a cash machine.

The incident occurred at an ATM on Brownlow Hill in the city centre, when Gavin Carr pushed the 22-year-old woman’s hand away as she was about to retrieve £100 and snatched the cash. The 26-year-old was convicted of robbery and jailed for two years.

Alexander Laidlaw

A paedophile subjected a young boy to months of sexual abuse.

Alexander Laidlaw appeared to be a respectable and hard working family man whose job took him across the country. But he secretly subjected his victim to repeated assaults and, even now, continues to maintain his innocence and remains remorseless.

Laidlaw was convicted of two counts of sexual assault by a jury. The dad to two teenage children was jailed for two years, as well as being handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and told to sign the sex offenders' register for the next decade.

Robert Porter

A dad led the police on a 110mph car chase then blamed his passengers.

Robert Porter engaged in what one officer described as "one of the most dangerous pursuits he has ever been involved in" over the course of nearly 15 minutes, having been spotted behind the wheel on the M62 while apparently under the influence of drugs late at night. The banned motorist claims that he did so as one of his friends within the vehicle was a wanted man.

Porter admitted dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, driving without a licence and driving without insurance. He was jailed for 16 months and banned for driving for two years and eight months.

Michael Moore, Natalie Devlin and Lauren Jones

Members of the "Jake" county lines drug dealing gang have been locked up.

Michael Moore, Natalie Devlin and Lauren Jones conspired to ship drugs from the Knotty Ash area into Wigan. They were jailed for nine years, six years and four years respectively.

Sidharth Nair

A Whiston Hospital staff member raped and sexually assaulted a patient in her bed.

Sidharth Nair had worked at the site for only a matter of weeks before he subjected his victim to a series of outrageous and "predatory" attacks "for his own sexual gratification". The vile rapist even had sex with her against her will, having told her: "You won't see me again, it doesn't matter."

Nair admitted rape, assault by penetration and two counts of sexual assault. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he sat with his hands held together and appeared to be in tears and sobbing as he was jailed for 13 years.

Lewis Loftus

A man pretended to be a woman online in order to entice customers to the brothel which he ran out of his mould ridden flat.

Lewis Loftus referred to himself as "the boss" and ran a brothel from his own flat in Widnes for more than two years. But his illicit operation, which saw him take control of at least five sex workers, was undone after he clumsily gave police a PIN number that not only opened his current phone, but one that police had already seized as part of their probe.

Loftus admitted controlling prostitution for gain. He was jailed for 27 months.

Gary Cain

An EncroChat drug dealer who operated the handle "StableWorld" was arrested at Liverpool John Lennon Airport attempting to board a flight to Malaga with £8,000 in cash.

Gary Cain was detained while trying to flee to Spain under a false name. He admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin and supplying amphetamine and was jailed for 10-and-a-half years.

Tyler Watling

A law student has been locked up after police discovered his online chats with "Crazy Frog".

Tyler Watling confessed to officers that he "got a buzz" from downloading indecent images and fantasizing about sexual activity with children. The matchday worker at Anfield and Goodison Park then became "addicted" to viewing these scenes of depraved abuse, which he began sharing with fellow perverts on encrypted messaging app Telegram - including one with the username Crazy Frog.

Watling pleaded guilty to encouraging an offence, nine counts of distributing indecent images of children, possession of indecent images, three counts of making indecent images, possession of prohibited images of children and possession of extreme pornographic images. Appearing in the dock wearing a white shirt, he was handed 16 months in a young offenders' institute.

Joshua Benali

A thug left his ex-girlfriend battered at the bottom of the stairs and the walls and ceiling of her bedroom stained with blood.

Joshua Benali's victim was left with a tooth knocked out and broken bones after she was subjected to a brutal assault in her own home following a surprise birthday party. He eventually handed himself into the police after being told to do so by his mum.

Benali admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm. He was jailed for two years and handed a five-year restraining order.

Ethan Kelly

A county lines drug dealer was caught with a large amount of drugs strapped to his thigh.

Ethan Kelly was found with the wraps when stopped by police on Oliver Street in Birkenhead. The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to possession of heroin and supply crack cocaine with intent to supply and was jailed for 37 months.

Momoh-Jimoh Musari

A vile rapist pretended to come to the aid of a woman he found stranded at a bus stop in the early hours but instead sexually abused her.

Momoh-Jimoh Musari's victim blacked out after he gave her a glass of milk, having lured her back to his flat when she was left alone with no phone or bank card following a night out in Liverpool city centre. He tearfully pleaded "I'm innocent your honour" as he was locked up over the horrific attack.

Musari was convicted of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault by a jury following a trial. Appearing in the dock with a walking stick, he was jailed for 12 years.

Salman Ahmed

A family man's life came crashing down when the police stopped his taxi and looked in his jacket pocket.

Salman Ahmed was caught with thousands of pounds of cocaine following the search of his vehicle and home by officers. He was said to have turned to drugs when work "dried up" during the covid pandemic.

Ahmed admitted possession of cocaine with intent to supply. He was jailed for 39 months.

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