{"id":672533,"date":"2026-01-04T04:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T04:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/672533\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T04:00:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T04:00:24","slug":"six-of-the-most-high-profile-trials-due-to-take-place-at-liverpool-crown-court-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/672533\/","title":{"rendered":"Six of the most high profile trials due to take place at Liverpool Crown Court in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two men and a woman are due to face a jury accused of murder after an elderly couple died following an arson attack on their home\"FromFrom left; Gavin Shaw, Kylie Maynard and Sean Garner(Image: Facebook\/Alan Dempsey)<\/p>\n

While 2026 is only a few days old, court cases have already been scheduled to take place well into the New Year. These include the trial of two men and a woman charged with murdering an elderly couple who died following an arson attack on their home.<\/p>\n

Juries are also set to hear cases in relation to a shopkeeper who was stabbed to death at a store on Stanley Road in Bootle, while another man is expected to appear in the dock accused of murder after a dad was shot dead outside his girlfriend’s home by a masked gunman on an e-bike.<\/p>\n

Here are six trials which are due to take place at Liverpool Crown Court<\/a>, or cases with links to Merseyside which will take place at other court centres, this year:<\/p>\n

Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam<\/strong>\"PolicePolice outside Low Cost Food & Wine in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Nimalarajah Mathiyadaranam has denied murder after a shopkeeper was stabbed to death<\/a>. Mum-of-three Nilani Nimalarajah died aged 44 after suffering knife wounds to her chest during an incident at Low Cost Food and Wine on Stanley Road in Bootle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 47-year-old defendant, of Warrington<\/a> Road in Widnes<\/a>, has also pleaded not guilty to possession of a bladed article in a public place. He is due to face a trial, lasting between five and seven days, from January 12 2026.<\/p>\n

The ECHO previously reported<\/a> that Merseyside Police were called to a domestic incident at the shop, near to the junction with Wadham Road, shortly after 5pm on Friday, June 20 2025, and found Ms Nimalarajah with stab wounds. She was rushed to hospital but was subsequently pronounced dead, with a Home Office post-mortem investigation confirming the cause of death as stab wounds to the chest.<\/p>\n

Dozens of bouquets of flowers were laid outside the shuttered store in the aftermath of the incident. Ms Nimalarajah was said to have been worked at the shop for around 18 months prior to her death. Paying tribute<\/a>, colleague Raj Mathiyaparanam said: “She was such a hard worker and a good lady.<\/p>\n

“She was lovely. She was the centre of the community. People have said they miss her and can’t believe she’s not here. She was a big part of this society. She was so hard working and would look after her children so well.”<\/p>\n

Kylie Maynard, Lee Owens and Kevin Weetman<\/strong>\" Sheila Jackson and Eric Greener(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

Two men and a woman are accused of the murders of Eric Greener and Sheila Jackson. The couple died aged 77 and 83 respectively after an arson attack at their home on South John Street in St Helens<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three suspects have since been charged with their murders. Kylie Maynard, 37 and of Rydal Street in Everton<\/a>, 46-year-old Lee Owens, of no fixed address, and Kevin Weetman, 34, of Croxteth<\/a> Drive in Aigburth<\/a>, have all pleaded not guilty to these counts and will face a trial over the course of four to six weeks, beginning on January 19.<\/p>\n

Owens has however pleaded guilty to two charges of manslaughter<\/a> in relation to Mr Greener and Ms Jackson. Maynard has admitted an offence of conspiracy to supply cocaine, which Weetman denies.<\/p>\n

\"KylieKylie Maynard and Lee Owens are both accused of murder. Also accused is Kevin Weetman (not pictured)(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n

The ECHO previously reported<\/a> that emergency services were called to the scene, where the partners of three decades had lived for 15 years, shortly after 12.30am on Tuesday, July 15 last year. Firefighters arrived to find the end of terrace property ablaze, with both victims being rescued from the address.<\/p>\n

But Eric died in hospital the following day, with Sheila then passing away on the morning of July 17. Paying tribute to them, their family said in a statement<\/a>: “Sheila and Eric, also known as our Queen and King, were a deeply loved mum, nan, great nan, sister, auntie, dad, step-dad, grandad, great-grandad, uncle and couple.<\/p>\n

“They were known for being the life and soul of the party, always loving a song on the karaoke and enjoying a great caravan holiday. They will forever be devastatingly missed but eternally loved by their family, friends and the community.”<\/p>\n

Ryan Walsh-Westhead<\/strong>\"AA photograph of Rikki Berry, who was fatally shot on Quarryside Drive in Kirkby<\/p>\n

Ryan Walsh-Westhead denies the murder of Rikki Berry<\/a>. The 36-year-old, who was known as “Nuggy”, died after being shot three times by a balaclava-clad assailant on an electric bike outside his girlfriend’s house in Quarryside Drive in Kirkby<\/a> on July 17 2024.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old defendant, of Burscough Street in Ormskirk<\/a>, has pleaded not guilty to murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He is now due to face a two-week trial, beginning on February 2.<\/p>\n

Nick Kavanagh, Philippa Cook, James Shalliker, Adam McLean, Julian Flanagan and Paul Flanagan<\/strong>\"NickNick Kavanagh outside Preston Crown Court(Image: Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n

A number of men and women have been charged in connection with Merseyside Police’s Operation Aloft<\/a>, an investigation into the awarding of commercial and business contracts by Liverpool City Council<\/a> between 2010 and 2020. The defendants’ cases are due to take place across separate trials over the next two years.<\/p>\n

The first will see former council director of regeneration Nick Kavanagh, Philippa Cook, James Shalliker, Adam McLean and Julian and Paul Flanagan, the founders of building contractors the Flanagan Group, face a jury over the course of around three months from February 23 2026 onwards. Former Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, his son David Anderson, ex-deputy council leader Derek Hatton, his wife Sonjia Hatton and former assistant director Andrew Barr are then scheduled to face a 15-week trial beginning on April 5 2027.<\/p>\n

Sean Garner<\/strong>\"SeanSean Garner, 30 and of Dinaro Avenue in Belle Vale, appearing in court charged in connection with a fatal XL bully attack(Image: ALAN DEMPSEY)<\/p>\n

Sean Garner is due to face a jury after a grandad died following an attack by an XL bully.<\/a> John McColl was attacked by the dog as he walked home along Bardsley Avenue in Dallam, Warrington, on the evening of February 24 last year.<\/p>\n

The 84-year-old was rushed to hospital as a result of his injuries but died more than a month later on March 30 2025. Armed police meanwhile shot the dog 19 times due to its “sheer size and ferocity”.<\/p>\n

Garner, formerly of Bardsley Avenue but now of Dinaro Close in Belle Vale, has been charged with being the owner of dangerously out of control dog, namely an XL bully named Torreto, causing injury in connection with the incident. However, the 31-year-old has pleaded not guilty to this count and two alleged offences of possession of a dog to which section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 applies, relating to the same dog and another XL bully called Malibu.<\/p>\n

Mr McColl’s family said in a statement following his death: “As a family, we are absolutely devastated with what has happened to John. He fought hard for the last five weeks, but he decided he could not fight any more and passed away on Sunday, March 30, at 1.40pm, surrounded by family.<\/p>\n

“Our dad, grandad and great grandad will always be loved by us all and sadly missed by each and every one of us. We would like to thank the emergency services and first aid responders who helped John at the scene, along with the residents of Dallam who also came to his aid and the staff at Aintree<\/a> and Whiston hospitals for all that they did for him and us as a family.”<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn McColl, 84, died after he was attacked by an XL Bully(Image: Cheshire Police)Gavin Shaw<\/strong>\"GavinGavin Shaw is accused of the murder of 55-year-old Michele Kennedy(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n

Gavin Shaw has been charged with murder after a nan was stabbed to death<\/a>. Michele Kennedy died aged 55 in October following the incident at a house on Manchester Road in Woolston, Warrington<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 61-year-old defendant is next due to appear before Liverpool Crown Court on January 13. However, a two-week trial has been scheduled for April 13 2026.<\/p>\n

The ECHO previously reported<\/a> that Cheshire Police were called to the scene at around 4pm on October 13 after receiving reports of a serious assault. Ms Kennedy was rushed to Aintree<\/a> Hospital in an air ambulance but died five days later on October 18.<\/p>\n

\"MicheleMichele Kennedy was stabbed to death at a house on Manchester Road in Warrington(Image: Cheshire Police)<\/p>\n

Paying tribute to her in a statement<\/a>, her family said: “Michele was a much loved daughter, mother, sister, auntie and nana. She was a larger than life character who would leave a lasting impression on all that met her, who would help anyone, was beautiful, strong, fearless and one of a kind.<\/p>\n

“The loss of her life has left a massive hole in our family, and we know that her friends and colleagues who were involved in her life will feel the same. We would like to offer our extended thanks to all the emergency services that attended the scene and any kind person that tried to help. We will miss her very much.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two men and a woman are due to face a jury accused of murder after an elderly couple…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672534,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[21726,2648,748,30,188,393,11817,4884,21515,179,17855,2645,16,15,8718,35702],"class_list":{"0":"post-672533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-aigburth","9":"tag-bootle","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-courts","12":"tag-crime","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-everton","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-kirkby","17":"tag-liverpool","18":"tag-ormskirk","19":"tag-st-helens","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-warrington","23":"tag-widnes"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115834836028652468","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}