A callous burglar who targeted a Second World War veteran, a cop who pinched cans of Carling and a man who ran a complex drugs network.
These are just some of the criminals who have been up in front of judges and magistrates in the Midlands this week.
Four men who were involved in the fatal shooting of 24-year-old Dwaine Junior Haughton have been jailed for a total of 94 years.
And a man will serve at least 26 years in jail after murdering father of four Yassir Hussain, who became the innocent victim of a brutal family feud.
Click on the links below to see the offenders and full details of their crimes .
Arturs Nespors, Alexksej Rybnikov and Marius Stancikas
A Midlands gang who smuggled millions of pounds of dirty cash out of the UK have been jailed. Arturs Nespors, 30, and Alexksej Rybnikov, 42, and Marius Stancikas, 40, were part of an international organised crime network involved in cigarette trafficking, drug smuggling and money laundering.
HMRC recovered more than £1 million at a ‘cash safe house’ in Coventry and another £251,000 from the boot of a car in Manchester, during a Europe-wide operation to smash the ring. Nespors and Rybnikov, of no fixed abode, and Stancikas, of Broad Street, Coventry, were today (November 6) jailed for a total of 12 years and nine months at Birmingham Crown Court.
The criminals are believed to have acquired an estimated 680 million Euros between 2017 and 2019. HMRC joined law enforcement agencies across Europe in the co-ordinated operation, which was supported by Europol and Eurojust.
More than 450 police and customs officers, including police and special interventions units carried out raids targeting members of the criminal network on 15 May 2019. HMRC led UK-based investigations into Nespors, Rybnikov and Stancikas, who were involved in moving millions of pounds of criminal money out of the UK. The money is believed to have derived from the sale of illicit tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.
Hannah Wilson
A former West Midlands Police worker who supplied confidential information to family members has been jailed. Hannah Wilson, who worked within Force Contact answering emergency calls from the public, had been employed by West Midlands Police at West Bromwich police station since October 2016 as a civilian contact officer.
She was found to be supplying information to her sister on people they knew by checking their criminal records. She did this as well as giving her sister’s partner details on a court case he was a defendant of. She also gave information to a pub landlady on incidents reported at other pubs, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
She resigned from her position while under investigation and pleaded guilty to the charges, as did her sister Hayley Wilson, 38, of Ely Close, Rowley Regis.
Hayley’s partner Allan Stewardson, 49, also of Ely Close in Rowley Regis, and Jayne Lloyd, who lived at and ran the Knights Quest pub on Rowley Regis High Street, were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office at a trial in September.
Hannah Wilson was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court for 14 months in prison and Hayley Wilson received a 10 month sentence suspended for two years as well as 200 hours community service.
Allan Stewardson was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment suspended for two years and given a three month curfew.
Jayne Lloyd was handed a nine month sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service.
Shylo Thomas
An ex-footballer who ran a County Lines drug operation using teenagers to flood Staffordshire with heroin and crack cocaine has been jailed. Shylo Thomas - described as ‘aggressive and intimidating’ - recruited vulnerable kids as young as 15 as street dealers to travel from Birmingham to Burton and Rugeley, where they were made to deal Class A drugs for cash.
These dealers were cut off from their families, made to stay in the homes of local drug users or squat elsewhere- a process known as ‘cuckooing’ in the County Lines trade. Thomas, together with five other men and a teenager who all hail from Birmingham, pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.
Stafford Crown Court heard that a total of 1.5kg of class-A drugs was moved from August 2017 to February 2018. Thomas - who played for Walsall FC as a youngster - ran the network of street dealers in Burton upon Trent and Rugeley, detailing their income, rent payments and shift patterns in a handwritten ledger.
Richard Hamper
A construction worker has been jailed after being caught carrying a loaded gun in his rucksack on his way to work. Richard Hamper was stopped by armed police as he walked to work in July of this year.
In his backpack was a loaded firearm, and a search of his home found three more weapons, ammunition and cannabis. Police still do not know what Hamper intended to use the gun for.
He was jailed for five years at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday, November 7, after pleading guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm and class B drugs.
The court heard how Hamper, 32, from Tile Hill in Coventry, bought the gun online when it was blank firing but converted it to be capable of firing live rounds. Hamper was one of 30 people arrested earlier this year as part of a National Crime Agency-coordinated operation, which involved West Midlands Police.
Ryan McGough and Ciaran Heaps
Two thugs attacked their victim with a machete and set a pitbull-type dog on him in a row over a van. Ryan McGough and Ciaran Heaps were sentenced to six years in prison and issued with a ten-year restraining order following the vicious attack.
The pair were brought to justice after police found forensic evidence linking one of the attackers to a fingerprint on the weapon which they dropped at the scene. McGough attacked Martin Whitehouse with the machete before Heaps set an American pitbull-type dog on him.
Mr Whitehouse suffered a deep wound to his arm, as well as cuts to his chest, hand and foot, in the attack outside his home on April 18. The dispute began after Mr Whitehouse sold McGough, a family friend, a Ford Transit van, taking cash and a red Volkswagen Polo in exchange.
Aaron Wingate
A member of a gang which offered a "24/7" heroin and crack cocaine supply operation has become the 11th criminal locked up over the racket. Aaron Wingate was part of the County Lines operation which saw class A drugs smuggled into Stafford from across the West Midlands.
The 46-year-old, of Foregate Street, Stafford, was jailed for four years and seven months at Stafford Crown Court on November 4 for his part in the conspiracy after being convicted of conspiring to supply heroin. Ten men had already been sentenced last year, for a total of 53 years, for their part in the conspiracy.
The court heard the police investigation began when Walsall man Kyle Stewart was arrested twice, in August and September 2015, for possession of heroin and crack cocaine in Stafford. Stewart, of Caldmore Road, was later jailed for ten years.
Stewart then entered into a partnership with men from Bilston and south London, and continued to supply drugs to Stafford. They began using street dealers and expanded their operation to provide a 24/7 supply, recruiting others to assist.
Thomas, 28, and Malachi Mitchell, 26, used two mobile phones which sent out up to 80 texts per day to run their operation, referring to themselves as ’Turbo.’ Drug-users would place an order with one of the lines and Thomas and Mitchell would then direct their street dealers, remotely, to meet the user and carry out the transaction.
Zaoheb Iqbal
A drug dealer arrested shortly after stepping off a flight at Birmingham Airport has been jailed after police found almost £50,000-worth of heroin in a car. Zaoheb Iqbal, from Coventry, had just returned from Pakistan when police made the arrest.
The 33-year-old was first spotted running from Springfield Road, Foleshill in December last year, where officers stopped a Peugeot 307. The car was found to contain a huge stash of heroin with an estimated street value of £48,000.
The occupants of the car were arrested and charged, but police say officers were set on convicting Iqbal. Iqbal was arrested, but officers had to release him when a search found he had nothing on him.
But officers then retraced his steps and found a set of keys to a parked car he had been standing next to. A search then uncovered over £18,000 in cash and two mobile phones in the footwell.
Wesley McDonnell
A callous burglar who targeted the Birmingham home of a World War 2 veteran has been jailed after forensic experts found droplets of his blood on a broken window. Upon analysis, the blood returned a DNA hit to Wesley McDonnell - who has a history of breaking into pensioners’ homes.
McDonnell forced his way inside the 98-year-old’s Bordesley Green home at 11pm on September 26 and snatched £200 in cash. The victim – who served around the world with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm – phoned a friend who alerted West Midlands Police to the burglary.
At the scene, droplets of blood were found on a glass door pane the 40-year-old smashed as he tried forcing open the property’s front door. As a result, detectives traced McDonnell, from Well Close in Bromford , to an address in Shirley where he was arrested on October 6. Initially he denied the offence, claiming to have cut himself while carrying out work at the victim’s address.
However, he entered a guilty plea on the eve of his trial and at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday (November 5) and was jailed for four years four months, plus an additional eight months for handling stolen goods.
Ross O‘Grady
A "despicable" former police officer was sacked by the West Midlands force for stealing cans of Carling lager has been jailed for child sex offences. Ross O‘Grady originally pleaded not guilty to eight charges of sexual assault against three victims between 2014 and 2016.
But the 47-year-old, of High Street, Brownhills, later pleaded guilty to five offences during a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison and placed on the sex offenders' register for life on Wednesday, October 30.
O’Grady was dismissed by West Midlands Police on June 10, 2016, for gross misconduct relating to an unrelated theft matter. He claimed he had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and needed the cans of Carling for medicinal purposes because he saw “dead babies, murdered bodies and guns in his face” when he tried to sleep.
The sexual crimes came to light in 2017 when the victims came forward to report them. The police investigation found that some of the offences were carried out while he was a serving police officer.
PC Jarrett Kinson
A Tamworth police constable who sent two explicit videos of himself to an alleged victim of domestic violence has been jailed for eight months. PC Jarrett Kinson also sent "explicit and flirty" messages to the woman over the course of two weeks.
Kinson, 37, a response officer based in Burton, had previously admitted a charge of improper exercise of police power. The officer had joined the Staffordshire police force in 2006. Timothy Harrington, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said: "There is a history of similar inappropriate behaviour for which the defendant was dealt with internally."
He said that in November 2010 Kinson had sent sexually explicit text messages to a woman who had made a complaint of harassment against her partner. Kinson, who was given "strong advice" by a police inspector said he was sorry and gave assurances the behaviour would not be repeated.
Christopher Jones
A man who ran a lucrative drugs operation supplying cocaine and other illegal substances to the streets of south Staffordshire and the West Midlands has been jailed.
Christopher Jones, 32, formerly known as Ricky Bates, from South Staffordshire, pleaded guilty to a shocking list of TEN drugs and firearms offences at Staffordshire Crown Court. He was jailed for 18 and half years.
Jones's eventual arrest lead to the conviction of a further five men for drugs offences including four men from Wolverhampton (seen below) . His crimes included conspiracy to supply cocaine , possession of two firearms and conspiracy to import a gun from Albania - were racked up over a four year period.
During the police investigation - leading to his eventual conviction and sentencing - detectives worked to piece together evidence from phone records, searches and interviews. Officers also discovered several pictures of Jones on holiday, enjoying first class travel and even riding a camel.
Drug gang members
Ramandeep Singh, 35, of Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, was sentenced to six years for conspiracy to supply cocaine and five months concurrent for conspiracy to supply gamma-butyrolactone.
Harpreet Johal, 49, of Duckhouse Road, Wolverhampton, was sentenced to five years three months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Jamie Sinclair, 38, of Mansard Grove, Wolverhampton, was sentenced to four years four months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Crime - prison
Alex Wootton, 22, of Church Road, Wolverhampton, was sentenced to 20 months for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
Colin Brown, 37, in prison, was sentenced to a further two months added to a four year six month sentence already being served for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
David Brennan
This is the unbelievable moment a dangerous driver who led police on a 137mph chase jumped into the back seat to fool cops. Officers were forced to use tactical contact to stop the Mini Cooper from driving the WRONG WAY up an M6 slip road.
Central Motorway Police Group spotted the Mini just before 3.20pm on Wednesday, September 18, near to junction 9. They’d been told about a car matching the description which had been stolen in a burglary in Halesowen, so followed it. The Mini headed onto the M54 before it sped away from officers, who started a pursuit.
The Mini regularly hit speeds in excess of 100mph, often driving on the hard shoulder and weaving between lanes. At junction 10 of the M6, the driver tried to head the wrong way up a slip road. Officers used tactical contact to halt the car safely.
David Brennan, 23, jumped out of the driver’s seat and into the back of the car − but he didn’t fool officers, who had captured his every move on camera.
Unemployed Brennan, of Tamerton Road, Bartley Green, went on to admit dangerous driving and driving while disqualified and was jailed for 18 months at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday (October 31). He was given a further three-year driving ban.
Dwain Smith, Kurrum Guild, Montell Gray and Seamus Williams
Four men involved in a fatal Wolverhampton shooting have been jailed for a total of 94 years.
Dwain Smith, 26, and Kurrum Guild, 22, shot 24-year-old Dwaine Junior Haughton as he sat in the passenger seat of a Peugeot 207 in Valley Road, Wolverhampton, in July 20 last year. The duo were convicted of murder in September following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court and today were sentenced to life with a minimum term of 28 years.
Meanwhile Montell Gray, 22, of Springhill Road, Wolverhampton, and 24-year-old Seamus Williams, of Okemont Drive, Wolverhampton, who were convicted of manslaughter, were both jailed for 15 years.
The victim was a front seat passenger in a parked car which was struck by the bullets. He was driven to hospital with critical injuries but despite the best efforts of medics, he was pronounced dead in the early hours of the following morning.
All four men were also found guilty of possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life as well as handling a stolen Audi A7. Smith, of Chainmakers Close, Bilston; Guild, of Oakthorpe Gardens, Tividale, and Williams were also convicted of arson after the £25,000 vehicle was torched after the shooting.
Guild and Smith were also sentenced for a stabbing in Vicarage Road, Wolverhampton, which happened five months after the fatal shooting.
Nabeel Choudhary
A man will serve at least 26 years in jail after murdering a father of four who became the innocent victim of a brutal family feud. Nabeel Choudhary, 21, from West Bromwich, was part of a group of seven who brutally stabbed Yassir Hussain to death.
Mr Justice Nicol jailed Choudhary for life and ordered he serve a minimum term of 26 years and 37 days. A Birmingham Crown Court trial heard Mr Hussain tried to flee outside the Golden City takeaway in Lower Gornal on December 4 last year but was trapped and hacked to death.
Mr Hussain's family paid tribute to him as a "gentle" man who was an "innocent" in a long-running family feud that led to the chilling machete attack. The court heard how Choudhary had previously threatened his cousin Morrad Hussain, who managed to flee the scene.
Choudhary was sentenced to life in prison for murder but there was no separate sentence for charges of attempted grievous bodily harm and dangerous driving. Meanwhile, police believe more people were involved in the chilling attack , and the investigation continues into the Central Drive incident.
Choudhary was acquitted of having an imitation firearm and Akarsh Tasleem was acquitted of murder and possessing a bladed article. The hearing at Birmingham Crown Court heard how Mr Hussain was visiting family in the area from his home in Nelson near Burnley, where he was a shopkeeper.
