Faces of 53 people who have avoided jail so far in 2022
| Published date | 17 April 2022 |
| Publication title | Liverpool Echo: Web Edition Articles (England) |
Judges take into account a variety of factors when sentencing defendants. These can relate to the offence that they have committed or to the individual circumstances of each defendant.
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A lack of previous convictions, clear remorse and the potential detrimental effect of a jail term on those close to defendants can all be factors in causing a judge to suspend a sentence. But while defendants may keep their liberty they are often subjected to strict measures which mean that, while they don't have to go to jail, they can't just do as they please.
Here are the people handed another chance by judges in Merseyside so far this year.
Ruth Fort
A thieving care worker who blew her stolen money on a luxury Mexico holiday walked free from court after another court appearance at the start of the year. Ruth Fort, who stole £7,220 from a wheelchair-bound woman and splashed out on a luxury trip, was given another chance by a judge last year.
The 37-year-old received a 16 month jail term suspended for 18 months with conditions including attending drug rehabilitation sessions. Liverpool Crown Court was told in January that she has now breached the suspended jail sentence by twice not attending drug rehabilitation sessions and had also missed a meeting with her probation officer.
However, Judge Brian Cummings, QC, said he took into account the impact an immediate sentence would have on her daughter, as well as her multiple health problems, and spared her prison. He said he would give her one last chance and did not activate the suspended sentence.
Arron Croston and June Pickup
A man who neglected his dog so badly that a vet had to put her down her after finding maggots crawling out of her infected ear avoided jail. Vets decided to put down Aaron Croston’s Neapolitan Mastiff, Shy, after she was taken to a surgery in Prenton last year unable to stand on her own and in severe pain.
Croston said he loved Shy "like a daughter" but he and girlfriend June Pickup allowed her condition to deteriorate drastically during the summer of last year. An autopsy later found 13-year-old Shy had a number of untreated conditions, including advanced cancer and deep pressure sores from being left on a hard surface for lengthy periods.
Vets at the University of Liverpool said that she was likely suffering for weeks and that anyone would have been able to tell she needed medical help -yet she received it too late. Both Pickup and Croston were given decade-long bans on owning animals and handed 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.
Drew Matthews
A man who threatened to stab a police officer with a serrated knife while he was drunk and high on cocaine walked free from court. Drew Matthews waved the blade at police on Market Square in Kirkby last month after they chased him through the town centre.
The court heard Matthews pulled out the blade and yelled "get away or I will stab you” before being pepper sprayed. However, despite his crime, a judge said he could be rehabilitated in the community.
Matthews, of Beech Close, Kirkby, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He must also complete rehabilitation and community requirements and pay a statutory surcharge of £156.
Charles George and Jack Nolan
Two teenagers involved in a street brawl that saw one of them stab two men were spared jail. Charles George, 18, and Jack Nolan, 19, went to a home in Bootle to confront another youth, Liam Laird, on May 10 last year.
But he wasn't there and the two yobs instead fought with his family, including his grandad and uncle. Stuart Laird, 63, was knifed in the back, while Anthony Laird, 45, was stabbed in the arm, in shocking scenes captured on CCTV.
But prosecutors said they couldn't say which teenager stabbed the victims, meaning George and Nolan both walked free from court, after admitting affray. George was sentenced to 16 months' detention, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and a 10-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.
Nolan was handed 20 months' detention, suspended for two years, with 120 hours of unpaid work, a "Thinking Skills Programme", and a 25-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement.
Neil Getty and Nicola Fargin
A burglar was allowed to walk free but his location will be tracked via a Global Positioning System GPS tag in a first for one of the region’s judges. Neil Getty, 54, of Linacre Road, Litherland, was made subject to a 'trail monitoring order' as part of a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to burglary.
The three-month requirement was part of a package of measures intended to steer Getty clear of trouble by enabling probation officers to track his movements. Getty and codefendant Nicola Fargin, 42, of Bell House Road, Widnes, both stood to be sentenced for burglary in relation to the theft of a TV and gaming computer from a flat on Frederick Street, Widnes, on June 26.
Fargin was sentenced to 12 months in prison but could leave because she had already served that time on remand. Getty was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.
Richard Moriarty
A man who pretended to be a police officer and used blue lights to pull over another driver walked free back in January. Richard Moriarty turned on the lights after seeing another vehicle driving in a way he didn’t like on the Rainhill Bypass in November last year.
He was found out after the driver he stopped became suspicious and contacted the police themselves. Liverpool Crown Court heard Moriarty took the bizarre action after seeing the car drive in a way that he thought was unacceptable but that he now accepted what he did was wrong.
Moriarty, of Bosworth Road, was handed two consecutive 10 week jail terms, suspended for a year. He was banned from driving for a year, must undertake rehabilitation activities and pay costs and the statutory surcharge.
John Redmond
A married man told a 13-year-old girl he was grooming that she needed to "be careful on the internet because there were paedophiles about on there". Unknown to John Redmond, 50, the girl was actually a decoy whose profile was put online by a paedophile hunting group.
Liverpool Crown Court heard “some grooming took place” by Redmond, who was later snared by the group and admitted attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity and attempted sexual communication with a child. Judge Stuart Driver, QC, sentenced him to two years imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 20 days rehabilitation activities. He ordered him to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for the same length of time.
Jonathon Nolan
A man burgled his ex-boyfriend, sent him a cryptic song reference and then shared explicit videos of the pair with his victim’s mum and brother Jonathon Nolan broke into the home where his former lover was staying in December 2020, stealing clothes and leaving a child witness terrified.
He then messaged his victim with a reference to a vinyl record that may have been stolen in the burglary, before sending intimate footage of the pair to family members. Yet Nolan, who had five previous convictions, was spared jail despite admitting burglary and sending revenge porn after a judge ruled he had also been the victim of domestic abuse during the relationship.
Nolan was handed an 11 month prison term, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 15 days of rehabilitation activity and 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also made the subject of a curfew and a restraining order.
Leslie Lee
A man whose 17-year-old marriage was "falling apart" began "a campaign of unpleasantness" against his estranged wife. HGV driver Leslie Lee, 51, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court for sentencing after being found guilty of controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.
The court heard that Lee repeatedly or continuously engaged in behaviour which was controlling or coercive -namely humiliation, threats, and intimidation -against his wife Julie at the former marital home. The court heard the behaviour carried on over a five month period and Lee, who had no previous convictions, was remorseful.
A judge sentenced him to eight months in jail, suspended for two years. He was also given a rehabilitation activity requirement, and ordered to pay a fine of £2,000.
Lee Bryenton
An assistant store manager at Savers stole £2,930 from the business' safe to pay off his gambling debts. Lee Bryenton, 39, was assistant manager at the Savers store in South Road, Waterloo , when he stole £2,930 from the business' safe.
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard how Bryenton had stolen cash from the business but later called his boss to admit his behaviour and said he had had a breakdown. A judge handed Bryenton, who admitted committing theft by employee, an 18 month community order with 30 days rehabilitation activities and 150 hours unpaid work. He ordered him to pay £1,100 compensation plus £180 costs.
Dominykas Donela
A drunk man on an EasyJet flight threw a bottle and refused to wear a mask while onboard. Dominykas Donela was flying back from Rhodes, Greece with his family when he was considered so drunk he was refused alcohol.
Nastassia McAdam, prosecuting told Liverpool Magistrates Court on Tuesday, February 1, how the 24-year-old refused to wear a mask, became abusive and threw a bottle towards a crew member. Donela, of Vanbrugh Crescent, Anfield, pleaded guilty to being drunk on an aircraft. He was fined £480 and ordered to pay a total of £133 of costs at the rate of £20 a month.
Philip Street
Philip Street, 41, sent sexually explicit messages to a person he believed was a...
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