A dad who faked a DNA test to avoid paying child support, a former karate champion and a blackmailer who falsely accused a Good Samaritan of rape were among the Merseyside criminals who were jailed over the past week.
Also locked up was a drug trafficker who was identified through pictures from his stag do in Spain. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a grandad and a dock worker hatched plots to smuggle hundreds of kilos of cocaine into the UK from Brazil and the Netherlands via the Port of Liverpool.
Here are the faces of 12 criminals from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days.
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Gary Moffatt
A heroin and cocaine trafficker was unmasked after he saved a man's life and through pictures taken on his stag do in Bilbao.
Gary Moffatt traded wholesale quantities of class A and B drugs using the handle "SmartRoyal" on encrypted communications platform EncroChat. The dad also attempted to trade his antique gun for a modern upgrade, joking that his 19th century firearm was akin to a weapon held by Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry.
Moffatt admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, cocaine, cannabis and cannabis resin, conspiracy to transfer a prohibited weapon and conspiracy to possess ammunition. He was jailed for 21 years and two months.
Shaun McInerney
The man behind the EncroChat handle "TameGun" was identified after sharing the route of his daily run with his criminal associates.
Shaun McInerney sent a screenshot of data from his Strava app using the encrypted communications platform, on which he had traded wholesale quantities of drugs with the likes of "Mr Kipling, Mr Sniff and Trustpilot". He was jailed for nine years and four months.
Stephen Challis
A heartless blackmailer threatened to falsely accuse a Good Samaritan of raping him if he did not hand over £500.
Stephen Challis was offered a place to stay by his victim, but demanded the cash after being told that he could not also take his girlfriend in. He was jailed for two years.
William Boswarva
A fraudster who faked a DNA test in order to avoid paying child support gave a thumbs up as he was jailed.
William Boswarva sent another man to complete the test after the baby's mother fell pregnant following a one-night stand. He blamed inconsistencies in the results on "some kind of mix up".
Appearing in the dock wearing a grey Under Armour zip-up top and carrying two large Sports Direct bags with him, Boswarva was jailed for a year. He gave his supporters in the public gallery a thumbs up before he was led down to the cells.
Robert Bennett and Peter McQuade
A grandad and a dock worker who became embroiled in plots to traffic nearly 400kg of cocaine into the UK from the Netherlands and Brazil have been jailed for nearly 40 years.
Robert Bennett enlisted the services of employee Peter McQuade in order to facilitate the smuggling of millions of pounds of the class A drug through the Port of Liverpool. He also boasted contacts with close links to suppliers in Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica.
Bennett admitted two counts of fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of cocaine. He was handed 19-and-a-half years.
McQuade pleaded guilty to fraudulently evading the prohibition on the importation of cocaine, conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to possess criminal property. He was locked up for 16 years and 10 months.
Andrew Sherry
A karate champion has been jailed for two years after being convicted of sexually assaulting teenagers.
Andrew Sherry, a founder member of the Karate Union of Great Britain (KUGB), was found guilty of indecently assaulting one boy in the mid-1980s and of four counts of sexual assault on an older teenager in 2011 or 2012. The 80-year-old, a ninth dan black belt, founded the Red Triangle karate club in Everton and achieved "prominence and standing" in the sport, before he retired in March 2022 after a police investigation was launched.
Simon Kinsella
A dad who harassed a man for months by turning up at his house, chasing him in his car and sending threatening messages day and night has been jailed.
Simon Kinsella chased Nathan Doyle in his car at high speed through red lights and on the wrong side of the road while the victim's partner and her young children were in the vehicle. He would make phone calls and send threatening messages day and night as well as making him fearful of opening his own front door in case.
Kinsella was jailed for 16 months for aggravated stalking and dangerous driving.
Aaron Quinn
A Facebook romance soured after a man demanded £80 from his online partner while threatening that he would send intimate pictures of her "worldwide".
Aaron Quinn exchanged photos of his "lower half" with his victim before attempting to blackmail her for cash by claiming that he would post images she had shared with him on the internet. He tearfully begged a judge not to send him to jail, saying: "I can't do prison again."
Quinn admitted blackmail, threatening to disclose private images and harassment. He was imprisoned for 10 months.
Christian Foster
A man was caught red-handed with a bag of heroin and crack cocaine after plain clothes police spotted him "acting suspiciously".
The officers noticed Christian Foster pulling a package out of his shirt after being approached by two other men. He was then found in possession of a mobile phone, a small amount of cash and a bag containing drugs valued at approximately £790.
Foster pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of heroin and cocaine with intent to supply. He was sentenced to 28 months in prison.
James Burns
An abusive boyfriend was caught selling "all night power lemo" after his battered girlfriend called the police.
James Burns throttled his partner while shouting at her friend "you're gonna watch her get hurt". When officers went to arrest him later that day, they found cannabis in his possession while a search of his mobile phone revealed the dad-of-one had been sending "flare" messages advertising the sale of cannabis, ketamine and cocaine.
Burns pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation, criminal damage, and three counts of being concerned in the supply of drugs. He was jailed for three years.
Jack Gilmartin
A "dangerous and violent" man has been jailed for 11 years for rape.
Jack Gilmartin was convicted of rape, harassment, assault occasioning ABH, intentional strangulation, and possession of controlled drugs. He was found guilty of the rape, having admitted the other offences.
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