1. Timothy Tyler was sentenced to die in prison at age 25 after selling acid to a police informant. To be fair, he sold a lot of it — 13,045 hits, according to a pre-sentence memorandum. But he only made about $4,000 and had never been in prison before. Psychosis and bipolar disorder also complicated his case.

2. Clarence Aaron has sat behind bars since 1992 serving three consequence life sentences for conspiring to distribute crack, according to PBS. Even though he was the lowest person in a supposed drug conspiracy, he received the harshest possible punishment for the crime. Out of the four people involved in the deal, only the supplier is still serving time, according to PBS. Aaron is hoping for President Obama to grant him clemency.

3. Similarly, Sherman Chester got life in prison after his drug third offense. Even though he was only a street-level dealer, he was held accountable for nearly all of the drug deal that landed him in handcuffs — selling four kilograms of heroin and 57.4 kilograms of cocaine. The judge on the case even admitted he didn't deserve his sentence, according to Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM). Unfortunately, federal mandatory minimum laws tied his hands.

4. Stephanie George was sentenced to life in prison without parole at age 27 after the police found a lockbox of cocaine in her attic. The judge on the case defined her role as "a girlfriend and bag holder and money holder but not actively involved in the drug dealing, so certainly in my judgment it does not warrant a life sentence," The New York Times reported. Once again, federal law forced the judge's ruling.

5. Kenneth Harvey is serving life behind bars for flying with a vial of cocaine strapped to his leg. The first two times he got caught with drugs, the court gave him probation. Judge Howard Sachs found Harvey's disproportionate sentence troubling, but he didn't know of an authority "that would permit a difference sentence," he said, according to The New York Times.

6. Judge sentences teen to 28 years in prison for brutal rape of West Side woman

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A judge sent a Cleveland teen-ager to prison for 28 years Tuesday for a brutal rape that left the victim in fear nearly two years after the attack.Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold originally ordered Edwin Santiago, 18, to prison for 39 years.She reduced the sentence after Santiago's attorney, Jaye Schlachet, pleaded with her, citing his client's age and mental-health needs. He also said the sentence was disproportionate to the crime. He said many convicted killers receive half that.But Saffold refused to budge any more. She listed his nine prior burglary cases in Juvenile Court and a prior rape case. Saffold also said Santiago was booted from the Detention Center because of his behavior in October."He just won't stop,'' Saffold said. "He just won't stop. . . What he did to that woman was horrible. This could have happened to anyone.''On Dec. 27, 2012, the victim, in her 50s, was scraping snow off her car at her West Side home about 7 a.m., as she prepared to head to work. Santiago attacked her, choking her and dragging her to the back of her home. He then sexually assaulted her, said Norman Schroth, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor.Santiago threatened to kill the woman if she looked at him. Following the attack, he stole the woman's car. He was arrested days later, wearing a wig and hoping to flee to New York, authorities said.Santiago was 17 at the time of the attack. He was charged in Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, and his case was bound over to Common Pleas Court, where he was charged as an adult.Last month, he pleaded guilty to rape, kidnapping, robbery, grand theft and improperly handling a firearm.Schlachet, the defense attorney, said Santiago suffers from serious mental-health issues, including attention-deficit disorder and depression. He said Santiago is addicted to marijuana and alcohol. He quoted a doctor who said Santiago "is a very damaged youth.''"He has been on the streets since he was old enough to walk,'' Schlachet told Saffold.

But the judge scoffed, saying Santiago's chaotic childhood did not give him permission to attack the woman. The victim declined to give a statement. Santiago turned to the woman and apologized in a low voice.Saffold then sentenced him to 39 years, prompting Schlachet to say the sentence was extreme."It's warranted,'' Saffold said. "He has changed her life.''But Schlachet said the sentence was punitive and wrong."He hasn't missed a year of not doing something horrible to someone,'' Saffold said. "He doesn't miss a beat.''The defense attorney said the sentence was disproportionate to the crime. He said Santiago needed help, and while he could get it in prison, the sentence was inappropriate. He said other judges in the building would have sentenced Santiago to less than 10 years.Schroth, the prosecutor, countered and said the sentence was justified because of the vicious attack."The community needs to be protected,'' Schroth said.Saffold called Santiago antisocial and hedonistic. But she agreed to reduce the term by 11 years by making one of the sentences for a charge concurrent, not consecutive, to the others. Schlachet was still unhappy.She disagreed that the sentence was excessive. Saffold cited Santiago's violent past and his attack on the woman. She said she was stunned by what Santiago told a probation officer, that he robbed to get by

7. HASAN ALI KHAN

Hasan Ali Khan (born c. 1954) is an Indian businessman. In 2007, Indian authorities began investigating Khan for suspicion of money laundering. He reportedly had a Swiss bank account with $8 billion in deposits. He allegedly stashed away billions into Swiss bank accounts with the help of Kolkata based businessman, Kashinath Tapuriah and Delhi based Praveen Kumar using hawala.In January 2011, the then Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee announced that both Swiss bank accounts of Hasan Ali Khan were emptied. In December 2012, Finance Ministry told the Standing Committee on Finance that recovery of Hasan Ali's tax arrears (of approximately Rs 910 billion) is not possible.As of October 2013, Hasan Ali is in jail since his bail petitions have been rejected several times by various courts including the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India.Hasan Ali has denied all the allegations and said he had no Swiss bank accounts and some of his rivals could be behind the charges.

Legal casesIn March 2007, Hasan Ali's properties were raided by India's Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax officials based on allegations of hawala transactions. Hasan Ali's lawyer denied all the allegations and said he had no Swiss bank accounts and some of his rivals could be behind the charges.The Supreme Court of India intervened and asked why Khan and others were not interrogated despite sufficient evidence against them. After this criticism, Khan was arrested by ED in March 2011. In May 2011, ED formally chargesheeted Khan and his associate Kashinath Tapuriah under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002.[16] ED lawyers said Khan had laundered money for international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi on several occasions. Khan claimed that he was framed.Khan was charged with serving as a front for Khashoggi. Allegedly, in 2003, Khan helped launder US$300 million of money Khashoggi made through arms sales through the Zurich branch of Swiss bank UBS. Khashoggi reportedly had to use

Khan as a front as UBS had blackballed him due to his notoriety. Introduced to UBS by Khashoggi in 1982, Khan enabled the arms dealer to launder funds held in American accounts through UBS Geneva. One of Khan's accounts eventually was blocked when it was determined that the source of the funds came from Khashnoggi's arms sales.India Today magazine claimed that it had verified a letter confirming that $8 billion in black money was in a Swiss bank UBS account and the Government of India too has verified this with UBS. However, the Swiss bank UBS denied Indian media reports alleging that it maintained a business relationship with or had any assets or accounts for Hasan Ali Khan accused in the $8 billion black money case. Upon formal request by Indian and Swiss government authorities, the bank announced that the documentation supposedly corroborating such allegations were forged and numerous media reports claiming $8 billion in stashed black money were false.India Today, in a later article, wrote, "Hasan Ali Khan stands accused of massive tax evasion and stashing money in secret bank accounts abroad. But the problem is that the law enforcement agencies have precious little evidence to back their claims. For one, UBS Zurich has already denied having any dealings with Khan." Indian government has asked the Indian mission in Berne to get in touch with banking authorities of Switzerland for obtaining details about Hasan Ali Khan's Swiss bank accounts.

8. Five Get Life Sentence for Dhaula Kuan Rape in Delhi

An Indian judge on Monday sentenced five men to life imprisonment for gang-raping a 30-year-old northeastern woman in a moving vehicle in Delhi’s south in 2010.The men – named in court as Usman, Shamshad, Kamruddin, Shahid and Iqbal- were found guilty last week of rape and kidnapping by Judge Virender Bhatt at a court in southwest Delhi. They were also fined 50,000 rupees (about $815) each.The woman, a call center employee from the northeastern state of Mizoram, was picked up at gunpoint from Delhi’s southern ring road at about 1 a.m. on Nov. 24, 2010, as she was returning from a late night shift at work in Gurgaon. She was raped in a moving vehicle and was thrown out in an industrial area in Delhi’s east.

“Judgments like these are important for such offenses against women which are on the rise,” Satwinder Kaur, a prosecutor in the case told television reporters at the court complex. “Women need to feel safe and be respected” and perpetrators of such crimes “need to know that they cannot get away,” she added.Amit Shrivastava, a lawyer for one of the five convicts said he will appeal the verdict in the Delhi High Court.Life imprisonment was the maximum punishment the men could expect because they were tried under an old provision of the law on violence against women.  The law was overhauled in 2013 to make death the maximum penalty for extreme cases of sexual violence following an outcry at the gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in 2012. Four assailants in that case were put on death row. They are appealing the sentence.

A recent report submitted by a government-led committee formed earlier this year to look into the issues relating to safety and discrimination of people from northeast estimated that more than 400,000 people from the northeast migrated to big cities between 2005 and 2010 and India’s capital city remained one of the most preferred destinations for migrants from the northeast with over 200,000 of them coming into Delhi for education and employment opportunities.The report, submitted by the committee led by M.P. Bezbaruah, a member of the government-run North Eastern Council, to India’s federal ministry of home affairs in July, noted that the “number of incidents involving the people from the North East is proportionately very high considering the small number of people from the region living in Delhi.”Activists campaigning for safety of women from the northeast say those living in the capital city often become victims of racial profiling, both casual and violent, as well as crimes relating to sexual violence- a twofold challenge. Delhi Police formed a separate division to administer crimes against northeasterners, with a special helpline dedicated to women from the region.Monday’s sentence is a “big positive signal” for people from the northeast living in urban centers, said Robin Hibu, joint commissioner of Delhi Police who heads the northeastern unit of Delhi Police.

9. 'We wanted to rob cattle, landed up raping woman'

They tanked up their vehicle with the intention of robbing cattle. On their prowl on Ring Road in Delhi, they noticed two women from northeast India sitting at the back of their call center cab. They could see the women through the window and decided to follow the cab -- just for kicks.A little ahead, they saw the women being dropped on the Ring Road itself and the women started walking on the isolated stretch towards Moti Village.Seeing that the women were alone, the five men -- all in their early 20s –decided to stop their car in front of the women. They wanted to kidnap both the women, but succeeded in kidnapping just one. They shoved her into the backseat of the car and as she screamed for help, the four men tore her clothes while the driver took the car to a desolated corner and stopped. Here they raped the 30-year-old woman one by one and later gave her Rs 150, so that she could hitch a ride back home.   This is what the Delhi police learnt after they interrogated two of the accused -- Shamshad and Usman -- arrested for raping a woman from Mizoram. The third accused -- Shahid -- gave himself up on Thursday in Faridabad. However, the kingpin of the gang, Kamruddin who has been evading arrest for past six years in another gangrape case that took place in Faridabad in 2007, and another accused, Iqbal are still at large. After the rape, the men had taken off to Haryana's Mewat area, hid the vehicle in a remote village and went underground. A huge team of 500 policemen in plainclothes tracked them to Mewat's Dhauj and Tikri Kalan villages in the wee hours of Thursday."We had to wear plainclothes since Mewat is known for its notorious criminals, who have easy access to firearms," a police officer told rediff.com.   Delhi police commissioner BK Gupta said that accused could not have been arrested without the cooperation of the 'brave victim', who wanted to see her assaulters punished. The victim and her friend had hour-long conversations with the investigators, assisting them with minute details."The victim told us that the car in which she was raped had a flowery decoration. She also remembered a word written on the rear window of the vehicle," he said.

The accused had given the victim 15 notes of Rs 10 denomination each and interestingly, the police said, they were folded vertically. "It's a trend among criminals from Mewat to fold notes vertically and here's where we got our clue. Then we prepared a list of criminals from Mewat who had just got out of jail in and around the national capital region, and finally zeroed down on the accused," said deputy commissioner of police (south), HGS Dhaliwal, who led the operation.The investigation was not easy. Fifteen police teams worked round-the-clock to catch the accused. Since the victim was not sure of the make of the car, police interrogated the owners of 3,245 vehicles before they nabbed Shamshad and Usman on Wednesday night.The police have also recovered the vehicle in which the crime was committed.

10. Physically challenged girl raped by Mizoram police constable

A police constable allegedly raped a physically challenged girl in Mizoram, said a report on Monday evening.

The report said that K Lalrova, 42, a constable posted at Lunglei police station raped a physically challenged girl on the night of February 9 near Saikutihall in Lunglei, 235km south of Mizoram capital Aizawl.The police did not disclose details of the victim. “The accused has been suspended and sent to Lunglei district jail,” said Lunglei superintendent of police Lallianmawia.Records with the Mizoram police reveal that 639 cases of crime were registered from January 2008 to October 2011. Of these, 303 were rape cases.

11. 7 people sentenced for human trafficking offences

5 women and two men, also Polish nationals, subjected their victims to violence and forced them to work under conditions of bonded labour.The offences took place between January 2009 and September 2010 in Forest GateThe three victims were lured to the UK with the promise of paid work and a better life.As soon as they arrived, their identity documents were confiscated and they were subjected to violence, also 'accruing' a weekly debt of £60 for food and accommodation, which they would never be able to pay off.Their identity documents were used to claim tax credits, and to apply for bank loans, vehicles and other goods for the defendants use. The victims were subjected to a catalogue of violence and degrading treatment.One night, having been held captive for approximately 12 months, one of the victims managed to escape, subsequently living on the streets for four months before finding assistance from a charity called City Hearts.

12. Moreno gets life for human trafficking, sexual assault of 13-year-old girl

A convicted child-sex offender has now learned his fate, and it is life in prison.Thursday night, the jury found 45-year-old Juan Morenoguilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2007.Prosecutors say it is one of the worst cases of sexual abuse involving a child in recent memory. It is the first human trafficking case tried in Bexar County.Juan Moreno was found guilty on four different charges:kidnapping, compelling prostitution, human trafficking and super-aggravated sexual assault.Moreno is an ex-con, and as a repeat offender, his punishment is increased. He will serve prison without parole.In 2007, a 13-year-old girl was abducted, drugged and forced into prostitution.The victim, now 16, testified against Moreno.

She recalled how she was tied up, drugged and locked in a bedroom at a house on the city's east side.Prosecutors say the girl was held for about a week and sold for sex.She was finally able to get away, and she reported the incident several months later. On Friday, a family member took the stand and told the jury she was sexually assaulted by Moreno starting when she was four years old.In closing arguments, prosecutors said Moreno's victims were sentenced to a lifetime of problems.This is an easy case. He deserves, life, life, life, life, prosecutor Kirsta Melton said.Three other men connected to this case are awaiting trial.

13. British teenager caught smuggling 30lbs of cocaine into America

A British teenager is facing up to 15 years in jail after being caught smuggling 30lbs of cocaine into America.Ayesha Olivia Niles, 18, was arrested on October 21 after she was picked out for screening by customs offices at Miami Airport in Florida.Agents found the packs of cocaine stuffed into 24 boxes of cake mix.Niles, who turned 18 on Monday while being held in a juvenile detention centre, had flown into Miami on an overnight flight from Jamaica.Prosecutors said she would be charged as an adult which means she could face a much lengthier jail sentence.In Florida, one of the states with the toughest penalties, drug trafficking charges are punishable by up to life in prison with up to 15 years of minimum mandatory time.Niles, a student, told police she did not know what drug she was carrying but suspected she was involved in some illegal activity, according to an arrest report.Miami-Dade detective Nubia Azrak wrote that Niles "suspected that the activity she was involved in was suspicious but she did not question it".Police said the teen, who is from London, was picked for

screening by customs agents.As they searched her two suitcases they found the class A drug hidden in the cake mix boxes.It is not known if Niles was planning to continue with the drugs back to London are drop them off in Florida.A police source said:" She is a classic drug mule who thought she could easily bring the drugs through an airport undetected."Prosecutors said Niles was a "poster child" for how easily drug smugglers can corrupt young people."This young woman had her 18th birthday in a foreign jail, far from her home and her family, because she thought she could smuggle almost 30 pounds of cocaine through Miami," said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle."Sadly, she almost becomes a poster child for how easily the drug trade can corrupt our youth."Miami-Dade Police Major. Charles Nanney said it was rare to find people transporting such a large amount of drugs at the airport, especially a young girl.He said she was chosen to be searched due to enhanced security screening at the airport, one of America's busiest and gateway to the Caribbean islands.Niles faces charges of trafficking cocaine and importation of a controlled substance.She was arrested on October 21st and has been held at juvenile detention centre.Her listed guardian, Sherise Kitson, refused to comment when contacted by a Florida newspaper.

14. Gang of heroin smugglers jailed after they were caught with drugs worth £306million hidden in vegetables and bed linen

A gang of drug smugglers have been jailed after they were caught with heroin worth £306 million concealed in vegetables and bed linen. The international drugs ring planned to flood UK streets with the drug, imported from Pakistan, in one of the largest ever drug smuggling plots uncovered in the UK. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) traced the criminal network to the West Midlands and spent months

gathering intelligence on suspected members - which included a husband and wife team -  in 2009.

The three-year operation, called Project No Deal, intercepted the £26 million 1,036 kg of heroin - which held a street value of £306 million.It is one of the largest ever drug smuggling plots ever uncovered in the UK. The intelligence-led operation started in June 2009 when a shipment of heroin hidden inside bags of chilli powder was intercepted at Leeds Bradford Airport after it arrived from Pakistan.

15. Prison black market a steal: Correctional officers get drawn into contraband smugglingMatthew Amos has wide, boxcar shoulders and steam-engine arms. On Friday he stood before a federal judge in Denver pleading for his life.If he went to prison, Amos told the judge, he would have to pay fellow inmates for protection. Or he would be "whored out." Or worse.It's what happens to former prison guards who end up behind bars."There's no way I would be able to stay out on that yard without providing some kind of service," Amos said, voice unsteady. "To be asked to go into that system will be asking me to be something I don't want to be."This is where $17,200 in easy money landed him.Amos' conviction for smuggling tobacco into a federal prison in Florence provides a revealing glimpse into the jailhouse black market — where a single bag of tobacco can go for $1,000 and the key players in funneling contraband to inmates are often the very people hired to watch over them.Between 2001 and 2010, the annual number of federal correctional officers arrested nearly doubled, according to a Justice Department report released in September. During that period, 272 officers were arrested, with many of those cases involving contraband-smuggling.Tobacco, which was banned in nearly all federal prisons in 2004, has fueled a lucrative, illicit prison economy that proves irresistible to some prison workers. But employees have also

been involved in smuggling cellphones, drugs and other items into inmates."Some officers can make more than they're making from their actual paycheck just by smuggling in tobacco," said Robert Worley, a professor of criminal justice at Texas A&M University — Central Texas, who has studied inappropriate guard-inmate relationships.Bureau of Prisons spokesman Chris Burke said prospective employees undergo background checks and have regular training in an effort to snuff out smuggling."We try to educate them on some of the traps that staff can fall into and on how inmates can manipulate staff," Burke said, adding that most prison employees keep their noses clean.At Amos' sentencing hearing Friday, Florence associate warden Louis Milusnic said smuggling by employees has devastating impacts throughout a prison."When a staff member crossed over the line and becomes compromised . . . it erodes the authority the staff members have to have to keep control of the inmate population," he said.In many ways, Amos' case is typical of the slow recruitment of prison workers into the black market. He worked as a recreation specialist at the prison, where he had regular contact with inmates, including one with whom he became friendly. After slipping the inmate some extra leatherworking supplies from time to time, Amos and the inmate began talking about a tobacco-smuggling scheme.Amos would sneak in bags of tobacco to give to the inmate, who would handle distribution to customers around the prison, according to a recounting of the case in Amos' plea agreement. The inmate's girlfriend would collect money from the customers' families and then put a chunk of it into a bank account for Amos. Amos was sent a debit card tied to that account, according to the plea agreement. His take was $400 per bag.Between May and November 2007, Amos withdrew $17,200 from the bank account, according to the court document. A January 2008 tip from Amos' inmate accomplice proved his undoing.Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Kane took sympathy on Amos, saying he wanted Amos — a military veteran who served in Bosnia — to receive treatment and education instead of prison. He gave Amos five years of probation.

And Amos said he was sorry."I fully take responsibility for everything I've done," he said. "I'm ashamed of not only what I've done but the image I've cast on everyone else."

16. Luis Alfredo Garavito

With 138 proven child murders behind him, and with a suspected total of at least four hundred, Luis Alfredo Garavito could by no means be left off of this list. According to a map on which Mr. Garavito indicated the locations of the remains of his various victims, his victims could easily exceed three hundred in number.Previously a victim of sexual abuse himself, he would capture, torture, and rape boys between the ages of eight and sixteen years old, eventually ending their suffering by cutting their throats. Due to a twisted Columbian judicial system, Luis will be eligible for release in the near future.

17. Serhiy TkachSerhiy Tkach, a cruel and sadistic necrophiliac, is believed to have taken the lives of over one hundred Ukrainian women. He derived enjoyment from the post-suffocation rape of his victims, all of whom were young women between the ages of eight and eighteen. To add insult to injury, Tkach himself worked as a criminal investigator for the police. Despite a potential loss of faith in the authorities, Ukrainians can find solace in his life imprisonment.

18. Ahmad SuradjiAhmad Suradji was a serial killer from Indonesia, responsible for the ritual murders of forty-two young females. He maintained that his father’s ghost visited him in a dream and told him to “kill seventy women and drink their saliva” in order to become a mystic healer. His incestuous sister-wives were implicated in the ritual murders, wherein women and girls ranging in age from eleven to thirty were strangled with a cable, after being buried waist-deep in dirt. Suradji was executed by firing squad in 2008

19. Sergei RyakhovskySergei Ryakhovsky, who at 280 pounds (125kg) was known as “The Hippopotamus,” could hardly be described as unintimidating. He made use of a plethora of murder techniques, including strangulation (either by rope or by hand), hanging, bodily mutilation, and stabbing. Among his more gruesome murders, Sergei hung, disemboweled and subsequently decapitated a sixteen-year old boy. He succumbed to tuberculosis in 2005.

20. Alexander Pichushkin

Known by the seemingly bizarre name “The Chessboard Killer,” this deranged individual allegedly set out to kill as many people as there are spaces on a chessboard. He later refuted this claim, confessing that had he not been caught, he would have continued killing indeterminately.Attracted to the idea of having power over the life or death of another person, Pichushkin explained that he felt like God while he was carrying out the murders. He would end the lives of his victims with a hammer blow to the head. Chillingly, he is quoted as saying “I killed in order to live, because when you kill, you want to live.” He is currently serving the first portion of his life sentence, which he must spend in solitary confinement.

21. Robert Hansen

If we wanted to establish a telltale sign that someone might be mentally unstable, perhaps it would be their theft of a chainsaw. That was only a one of the charges eventually laid against Robert Hansen, however—as might be expected of a man who just stole a chainsaw.An avid hunter, he evidently grew bored of hunting animals and decided to upgrade to human females. He would capture his victims, tie them up, and then fly them to a desolate area where he would set them free in order to hunt them down. He will spend the rest of his life in jail.

22. Amelia Dyer

Few would argue that murderers are anything but reprehensible, and fewer still would make that claim on behalf

of child murderers. Amelia Dyer made a career out of so-called baby farming, whereby she would take in children in return for payment. She would comfort parents giving up their children by saying things such as “a child with me will have a good home and a mother’s love.”Unfortunately for the parents, Dyer had no qualms about killing children. She is infamous for strangling the children by tying tape around their necks, and apparently enjoyed watching them slowly suffocate. As she put it herself: “I used to like to watch them with the tape around their neck, but it was soon all over with them.” Her murder spree was put to an end with her execution in 1896.

23. Henri Désiré Landru

There is something particularly cruel about using the longing for love as a means of finding new victims to murder. Taking advantage of the personals section of a local French newspaper, Henry Landru lured in women under the pretense of starting a relationship. Once he managed to secure their trust so thoroughly as to gain access to their finances, he would promptly kill them and dispose of their bodies by burning them in his oven. This destruction of bodily evidence allowed him to evade police for a time, though eventually he was caught and—deservedly—executed.

24. Westley Allan Dodd

Westley Allan Dodd began his criminal career as a teenager. He would sexually molest children, some of them as young as two years old. Apparently, he had fantasies of cannibalizing the genitals of the children whose lives he took.A homemade torture rack was among the items found at his home—though thankfully he was arrested before it could be put to use. Instead of attempting to escape the death penalty, Dodd actively embraced it, stating that he “must be executed before [he has] the opportunity to escape or kill someone within the prison.” If set free, he declared, then he would continue “killing and raping kids.” Eventually his wish was

granted; he was executed by hanging in 1993.

25. Al CaponeInfamous American crime czar Al “Scarface” Capone was once king of the Chicago rackets. A Prohibition-era gangster, he ruled a multimillion-dollar empire in the 1920s that was fueled by illegal booze, gambling and prostitution. Capone is also suspected of being the mastermind behind the 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre in Lincoln Park that left seven of his enemies dead. Capone’s reign as ruler of Chicago’s gangland ended in 1931 when he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and prohibition charges. After serving seven years and six months in federal prison, which included a stay at Alcatraz, Capone was paroled on Nov. 16, 1939. By that time, however, he suffered from paresis derived from syphilis. Capone went into seclusion at an estate near Miami, Fla., where he died of a stroke and pneumonia on Jan. 25, 1947.

26. Charles MansonCharles Manson was leader of the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that he formed in California in the late 1960s. Manson believed in an impending apocalyptic race war, which he termed "Helter Skelter." He orchestrated a series of gruesome murders on consecutive nights in an effort to help precipitate the race war. In 1969, Manson and his followers were convicted in the slaying of actress Sharon Tate and several others. Initially sentenced to death, Manson's sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Manson was denied parole for the 12th time in April 2012.

27. Tom HornTom Horn was a man of many hats. He was an Army scout, a lawman, an assassin and an outlaw. His name may not be as well-known as that of Billy the Kid or Jesse James, but he was certainly one of the most cold-blooded killers of the Wild West. During the late 1880s, Horn worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency as a bounty hunter. While he initially seemed like a good fit, his capacity for violence did not go unnoticed. In 1894, he was forced to resign after he was linked to 17 murders. Stripped of his badge, Horn became a killer-for-hire. His typical target was cattle rustlers and he is believed

responsible for the deaths of at least 20 rustlers. In 1901, Horn was linked to the murder of 14-year-old Willie Nickell. The teen was the son of a rancher. Horn's guilt remains a subject of debate for historians. Regardless of his level of responsibility, Horn was executed by hanging in Cheyenne, Wyo., on November 20, 1903, the day before his 43rd birthday.

28. Adam LanzaAdam Lanza, a 20-year-old recluse from Connecticut, brought terror to Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012. The troubled young man, armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, entered the school and fired 154 shots in a span of about five minutes. In the aftermath, 20 first-graders and six educators were left dead. Lanza then took his own life. It was not until later that day that authorities discovered an additional casualty — Lanza's mother, Nancy. He had killed her in their Newtown home prior to the school shooting.

29. Andrew KehoeThe deadliest mass murder at a U.S. elementary school occurred in Bath Township, Michigan, in 1927. Andrew Kehoe, a 55-year-old school board treasurer and farmer, was supposedly angry about his financial troubles and his defeat in an election for township clerk. On May 18, 1927, Kehoe used timed detonators to trigger several incendiary devices he had planted inside Bath Consolidated School. The resulting explosion destroyed much of the school and claimed the lives of 43 people, including 38 children. Kehoe took his own life by detonating dynamite in his truck. Prior to the bombing, Kehoe had killed his wife and set off incendiary devices at his farm, destroying his home and all the buildings. In the aftermath, investigators found a wooden sign Kehoe had apparently wired to a fence on his farm that read, "Criminals are made, not born."

30. John Wayne GacyJohn Wayne Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978. Most of the bodies were found buried underneath the crawl space of his Chicago-area home. At the time of his arrest, Gacy claimed he was responsible for at least 45 murders. Gacy was given the nickname "The Killer Clown," because he sometimes adopted

the persona of "Pogo the Clown" and participated in charity fundraising events. He was ultimately sentenced to death and executed at the Stateville Correctional Center in 1994 by lethal injection. His notorious last words: "Kiss my ass."

31. Ted BundyIn the 1970s, Ted Bundy had a bright future in the Washington State Republican Party; instead, he became one of the most famous serial killers and necrophiliacs in U.S. history. He often deceived his victims, all women, into thinking that he was injured and in need of help before attacking them. In 1976, he was arrested for an attempted kidnapping, but while acting as his own lawyer, he escaped. He migrated to Florida, where he killed two women in a Florida State University sorority house and 12-year-old Kimberly Diane Leach. He was convicted of those murders and, while on death row in 1989, he confessed to 50 other murders. The true total remains unknown. Bundy died in the electric chair at Raiford Prison in Starke, Fla., on Jan. 24, 1989.

32. Timothy McVeighA homegrown terrorist, Timothy McVeigh detonated a truck bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The attack, commonly referred to as the Oklahoma City bombing, claimed the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. A Gulf War veteran, McVeigh was seeking revenge against the federal government for the 1993 siege of a compound belonging to the religious group Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. The siege ended in the deaths of sect leader David Koresh and 75 of his followers. The bombing of the Murrah building took place on the two-year anniversary of the Davidians' deaths. McVeigh was convicted of 11 federal offenses and was executed on June 11, 2001.

33. Jim JonesJim Jones, the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, fled California in 1974 with his followers and set up a compound in Guyana, which he dubbed Jonestown. Jones, a charismatic and disturbed individual, had become paranoid that the CIA and FBI were watching him. Jones ruled his community with an iron fist and did not permit anyone to leave. His actions made it back to officials in the U.S. and, on November 18, 1978, California Congressman Leo J. Ryan paid a visit to Jonestown. After touring the facility, Ryan left the compound with a number of defectors. Angered, Jones sent some of his men to the airstrip in Port Kaituma, where they gunned down Ryan and four others. Later that same day, 909 of Jones' followers, 303 of which were children, died of apparent cyanide poisoning. Jones died from a gunshot wound to the head consistent with suicide. "We didn’t commit suicide; we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world," Jones said in a 45-minute audio recording that was made that day. The incident was, until Sept. 11, 2001, the single greatest loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster.

34. THE GAY CANNIBAL 

The culprit: Anthony MorleyThe victim: In April 2008, the body of Anthony Morley’s ex-boyfriend Damian Oldfield was found at his house with a chunk missing from his leg.The crime: Morley, 36, had previously had a relationship with Oldfield, an advertising space salesman from Bramley, Leeds, though he claimed to be confused about his sexuality.They first came face to face on the Davina McCall-hosted late-night dating show God’s Gift which aired in the mid-90s.Morley was seen on TV performing a strip, watched by a audience of cheering young men, one of whom was Oldfield.After stripping down to his black shorts, Morley did the splits, then high-kicked his leg above Davina’s head.Morley told her how, while in Manchester, he temporarily parted from his boyfriend to go to an area known in the gay community as The Canal, where people met up with strangers for blind dates.Later in the show he was crowned God’s Gift to men by Davina.

Years later on the day of Oldfield’s murder, the pair exchanged text messages, with Morley, who was the first Mr Gay UK in 1993, saying he wanted to start their relationship up again.The two men met up in Leeds before going back to Morley’s house for dinner.The pair, who had both been drinking, stripped to their underwear and kissed and cuddled while watching a DVD of gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain.Morley claimed he woke to find Oldfield, 33, performing a sexual act on him and said he had felt betrayed after saying that he wanted to take things slowly.It led him to slash Oldfield’s throat before stabbing him several times, severing the jugular vein.Morley, a professional chef, then carved a section of flesh from his victim’s thigh and one from his chest.He sprinkled the flesh with herbs, fried it in olive oil and chewed it.In total six pieces of human flesh, cooked so they were raw in the middle and browned on the edges, were found on a chopping board in the kitchen, with the chewed piece in a big bag.Morley told the court he had treated Oldfield’s flesh like a piece of meat he would cook at work.He said: “I can only say at some point Damian’s body had just become something I would deal with at work, a piece of meat. That’s the only thing I can think of. That was my daily task, preparing meat.”How the case was solved: Morley was arrested after he walked into a takeaway near his home in Leeds wearing a bloodstained dressing-gown and flip-flops and told staff he had killed someone who had tried to rape him.The outcome: The murder was described during a two-week trial at Leeds Crown Court as “terrible, horrific and bizarre”.Morley admitted the killing but denied murder, claiming he had suffered a mental breakdown.He was jailed for life and ordered to serve at least 30 years

35. THE MAN WHO HATED GODThe culprit: Stephen FarrowThe victim: In January 2011, frail Betty Yates was killed at her home in Bewdley, Worcs. Six weeks later the Rev John Suddards was murdered at his vicarage in Thornbury, South Glos.The crime: God-hating loner Farrow, 49, had a loathing for the church as he claimed a priest had abused him as a child.Before the double murder, he had been to Canterbury with the intention of killing Archbishop Rowan Williams but was put off by security.Two days before killing widow Betty, 77, pictured right, he sent a text to a friend saying: “The church will be the first to to suffer.”Drifter Farrow battered the retired teacher with her walking stick before stabbing her four times at her riverside cottage.She was struck so hard on the head with the stick that the wood splintered.Six weeks later he knifed Mr Suddards, 59, to death in his vicarage before covering his body in porn DVDs, party poppers and condoms.He laid the body on the hall floor of the vicarage in front of a mirror reflecting a canvas picture of Jesus and opened a Bible at the Letter of Jude and placed it on his victim’s chest.He then spent the night at the vicarage, watching an Indiana Jones DVD and drinking beer.Farrow had planned to crucify the vicar, pictured left below, but left behind a bag with his hammer and nails.It emerged that before he killed Mr Suddards, Farrow had raided a house close to the vicarage. He left a note in a shaking hand which read: “Be thankful you did not come back or we would have killed you Christian scum. I f***ing hate God.”How the case was solved: Forensic evidence linked Farrow to Mr Suddards’s death.Police received a tip-off and caught him trying to sneak out of a house in Folkestone, Kent, at 4am.The outcome: Farrow was found guilty of both murders at Bristol Crown Court. He was sentenced to life and told he will never be freed.

36. FILM TOLD ME TO STRIKE

The culprit: Allan MenziesThe victim: In December 2002, Thomas McKendrick was stabbed to death in his home.

The crime: The killer and victim were childhood friends in Fauldhouse, West Lothian.One evening McKendrick brought over a vampire film Queen Of The Damned, based on the Anne Rice novel, and Menzies became entranced.He watched it more than 100 times, sometimes three times a day, and became obsessed with the main character Akasha, played by late singer Aaliyah.Menzies, 22, believed that Akasha made regular visits to him and had made a deal to grant him immortality in exchange for killing people to deliver their souls.He spent a lot of time alone in his room and his father could hear him talking to himself and sometimes yelling at no-one. Menzies snapped when McKendrick insulted Akasha as they re-watched the film and stabbed him in the neck, face, shoulders and back.As McKendrick, 21, struggled to escape, Menzies smashed a hanmer into his skull.He then got a whisky glass and cut McKendrick’s throat and drank the blood. Spotting a fragment of skull on the carpet, he ate it.How the case was solved: Menzies put the body in a wheelie-bin and buried it in nearby woods where it was found six weeks later.Police raided Menzies’s home and found notes where he talked about being a vampire.The outcome: Menzies pleaded guilty to culpable homicide on grounds of diminished responsibility but a jury found him guilty of murder and he was jailed for life.In 2003 he was found hanged in his cell at Shotts prison, Lanarkshire.

37. THE VAMPIRE KILLER

The culprit: Mathew HardmanThe victim: In November 2001, frail 90-year-old widow Mabel Leyshon was stabbed to death and her heart removed in a Satanic-style ritual.The crime: Vampire-obsessed Hardman had just turned 17 when he stabbed the pensioner 22 times at her home in the village of Llanfairpwll, Anglesey.Wearing gloves, he walked a few hundred yards from his home to her neat bungalow where she was sitting in her favourite armchair.With the TV turned up loud, she didn’t hear a thing as 6ft-tall Hardmen threw a slate through the bottom glass panel of the back door and bent down to ease himself into the kitchen.The art student went into the living room and launched a ferocious attack on the old lady with a knife he had taken from the kitchen of his own home. Mabel did not stand a chance.He sliced her chest open and cut her heart out before wrapping the blood-soaked organ in newspaper and put it in a brown enamel saucepan taken from her kitchen.The saucepan was then placed on a silver platter. Hardman also made three deep gashes in the back of Mabel’s leg and drained some of her blood into the same saucepan, from which he then drank.He arranged two brass pokers in the shape of a cross on the floor in front of the pensioner’s body, placed two candlesticks near the corpse and balanced a candle on the mantelpiece.During his trial, the court heard how he was obsessed with vampires and thought the horrific ritual would turn him into one and make him immortal.It also emerged that two months before the murder, Hardman had begged a German girl to bite his neck.He also told her the village was a perfect place for vampires because there were so many old people no-one would notice if one disappeared.Six weeks after Mrs Leyshon’s death, officers searched Hardman’s bedroom, where they found a stash of books, magazines and internet material devoted to vampires.How the case was solved: Detectives decided early on that they were looking for a loner, who was probably local – since no suspicious vehicles had been seen in the area – and might not

be known to police.Hardman was trapped by a lip imprint on the saucepan and DNA evidence from the break-in which placed him at the scene.DNA from Mabel’s body was also discovered on the knife which was found at Hardman’s home.

Detectives found that Hardman was interested in the bizarre cult religion of Kahloism, devoted to the late Mexican surrealist artist Frida Kahlo.Followers believe Kahlo is the real god and her family lesser gods.They are also urged to “be wild and free about their creative expression.”Hardman had logged on to websites about the cult.And police found the date of Mabel’s killing, November 25, coincided with a “holy” day for the cult.When they arrested their suspect a month after the killing and asked him during his questioning if there was anything he wanted, the 6ft-plus art student licked his lips and replied: “Big Mac and fries, please.”The outcome: Hardman went on trial at Mold Crown Court and denied the murder, but a jury took less than four hours to find him guilty.He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation to serve at least 12 years.In 2003, Hardman tried to appeal against his conviction but was refused.

38. PITILESS CHILD MURDERERSThe culprits: Marie Therese Kouao and Carl ManningThe victim: In February 2000, eight-year-old Victoria Climbie – pictured with Kouao – was tortured by her guardians.Her death sparked a public inquiry and led to major changes in the UK’s child protection policy.The crime: In October 1998, French citizen Kouao changed her niece Victoria’s name to Anna and smuggled her out of the Ivory Coast on a fake passport.She told Victoria’s parents she wanted to arrange the girl’s education but in reality, she planned to use the child to make fake benefit claims.They moved to London in May 1999 and signs of abuse were already evident.A month later Kouao, 44, met bus driver Manning, pictured right, and became his girlfriend.

They moved into a flat in Tottenham, north London, where the horrific abuse of Victoria began.The pair became convinced she was the Devil, with Manning, 28, describing her as Satan in his diary.When Victoria went to hospital with injuries, doctors decided they were caused by neglect and physical abuse and informed social services.But no visits were carried out by social workers, and Kouao and Manning were free to continue their evil work.During that winter, Victoria was kept in an unheated bathroom, wrapped only in a bin liner.She was beaten with belts, bicycle chains and coat hangers, had a hammer taken to her toes, was burnt with cigarettes and scalded with boiling water.By February 2000, her emaciated body was covered with 128 injuries and she died from hypothermia.

How the case was solved: The couple took Victoria to church to have her exorcised but their minicab driver grew so concerned he drove directly to Tottenham ambulance station.The outcome: Kouao and Manning were charged with child cruelty and murder which Kouao denied.Manning admitted charges of cruelty and manslaughter. Both

were jailed for life.

39. THE VOODOO TORTURERSThe culprits: Magali Bamu and her partner Eric BikubiThe victim: Bamu’s younger brother Kristy.The crime: On Christmas Day 2010, the battered body of 15-year-old Kristy Bamu was discovered in a bathtub of a flat in Forest Gate, east London.He had drowned after being subjected to almost unimaginable torture over four days by his sister and her boyfriend.Former M&S shop girl Bamu, 29, and football coach Bikubi, 28, were born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where belief in kindoki, or sorcery, is widespread.Kristy and four other siblings were visiting for Christmas when, simply because Kristy wet himself, Bamu and Bikubi became convinced he was a witch and possessed by evil spirits.Bikubi forced the children to fast, pray and chant through the night.

He told three of the kids he was going to throw them out of a window “because he “wanted to see how witches fly”.But soon the threats turned to violence as the pair decided to carry out their own version of an exorcism.A metal curtain rod and a weightlifting bar were used to beat Kristy all over his body.Ceramic tiles and bottles were smashed over his head. A stick opened up cut after cut, while a hammer was used to knock out his teeth.Pliers were used to twist and tear off parts of his ear. A chisel and knives were used to stab him and slice his flesh, and he was abused with a mop.A screw that he was forced to swallow was found in his bowel. His fingers, feet, hands and thighs had been smashed by the clawhammer, bones were broken, his skin bruised and the teenager was missing two front teeth.Cuts covered his face, back, arms and legs.His skull was damaged and his head covered in cuts, while the inside of his throat was injured when Bikubi shoved a weightlifting bar down it.The evil pair also attacked Kristy’s other two sisters and forced his siblings to join the violence against the boy. If they did not

think the children were trying hard enough, they too would be punished.

When one of the girls was found to be only pretending to hit Kristy, Bikubi forced a light bulb into her mouth, held her round the throat and held a knife to her chest.In just a few days, Kristy suffered 130 internal and external injuries. When the pain became too much to bear, he begged to die.The evil pair took him to the bathroom and he was dumped in the tub, left to die with the tap running.How the case was solved: Bamu eventually called paramedics, who found the dead boy in the bathroom at about noon, with Bikubi trying to resuscitate him.Bikubi insisted it had been an accident but one glance showed he had been assaulted.The outcome: In an Old Bailey trial, Bamu and Bikubi were both charged with murder and two counts of assault.Bamu denied all charges against her.Bikubi admitted the assault charges and manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.Each got life with minimum terms of 25 and 30 years respectively.

40. Drug smugglers jailed over £90m cocaine haulA gang of drug smugglers were jailed today for sailing a record £90 million cocaine consignment into Britain.The massive operation was masterminded by Michael Tyrrell, 55, and featured the smugglers' headquarters, an ocean-going yacht and months of planning.The father of three, who called himself the "first white Rastafarian of Antigua" after the island where he grew up, was so "arrogant" he never imagined being caught.He was also convinced the drugs run would spell the end of his money worries but the 26-year sentence he got was not quite the solution he had banked on.London's Snaresbrook Crown Court heard Customs and Excise and police secretly watched every move he made between July and October 2000.And just when he thought success was assured, stormy weather and mechanical failure forced "drugs overlord" Tyrrell

and his accomplices to spend hours staggering along a treacherous cliff-top path at night with armfuls of their precious cargo.It left them wet, cold, miserable and utterly exhausted. They were just beginning to think things could not get worse when they were arrested.Twenty large bales of the highly addictive drug - bound for towns and cities across Britain - were seized.After the 396 kilos haul had been weighed, officers realised they had seized the largest single British cocaine consignment to date.Only one of those detained admitted the single smuggling charge they all faced. The others were found guilty after a six-month trial.Judge Timothy King told the five smugglers: "Those whoinvolve themselves in the trafficking of hard and addictive drugs such as cocaine are nothing less than the purveyors of misery, degradation and death."I and my colleagues in the criminal courts deal on a daily basis with lives which have been blighted, decimated and in too many cases ruined beyond repair by drug addiction."These are for the most part ordinary people who have been driven to commit crimes such as shoplifting, street muggings and burglary in order to feed their cravings."Then there are the lives of their many victims, damaged, hurt and all too frequently traumatised by the violence committed against them."The judge said that he and dicial colleagues had frequently been painted in the media as "out of touch with the real world" and "living in ivory towers".That was completely untrue. "They, like me, have to deal on a daily basis with the affects of lives broken by drug That I might tell you from a judge's perspective is the real world."He went on: "You and others like you have much to answer for. Drug abuse is the scourge in decent civilised societies and one which, on a global scale, costs those societies many billions of pounds."The likes of you are a blight, a cancer within such societies, and in this instance our society in the United Kingdom."The judge said a "clear and unequivocal" message had to be sent out that such activities would be treated with "zero tolerance".

It was meant particularly for others who might be tempted to grab a share of the huge profits from this "pernicious" trade."Let it be clearly understood that however great the risk and however great the profits the penalties meted out by these courts will be even higher."Dealing first with Tyrrell - who claimed he became involved because a Colombian drugs baron threatened to murder his mother if he did not obey orders - the judge told him it was obvious he was the operation's "overlord"."You were the boss, the governor, the man at the very top of this organisation, the man to whom others looked for orders and instruction. This was your brainchild, your scheme."He had spent months planning it and large sums in financing it.The three weeks Tyrrell spent in the witness box had portrayed a "highly manipulative man, utterly devoid of scruples and prepared to go any lengths to achieve your ambitions."You were even vain enough to manipulate the very course of the trial itself ... You used the witness box as a platform to assert your warped ideologies and perversions of the truth. That is the measure of you, Michael Tyrrell - a vain, self-interested, arrogant, greedy, manipulative and ruthless man."It was unfortunate he was a British citizen and could not be deported. "I can think a few whose presence on these shores are less conducive to the well-being of its people."Tyrrell's right-hand man, Robert Kavanagh, the owner of a palatial two million dollar hideaway on the Caribbean island of St Barts, was jailed for 24 years.The judge said it was clear he had been "deeply involved" in what went on.He had used his contacts with the drug cartels of Venezuela and Colombia to arrange the supply of cocaine."In short, your role was pivotal. You knew Tyrrell could feel confident that you would deliver and deliver you most certainly did."The next to be jailed was Colombian boat builder and sailor German Henao, 48, the only one to admit the smuggling charge. He got 13 years.As part of the three-man crew on board the Blue Hen, the yacht used to smuggle the drugs across the Atlantic, he was a "trusted hand responsible for its safe passage and delivery".The last two to be dealt with were Didier Le Brun, 49, from Fort

Lauderdale, Florida, who skippered the vessel, and his other crew member Laurent Penchef, 32, a dual American-French citizen, of no fixed address.They were each sentenced to 18 years.They, too, were critical to the operation's success with Le Brun overseeing the £35,000 purchase of the battered 37ft single-masted vessel he was told he could keep along with a £140,000 payoff after he had sailed the cocaine to Britain.Penchef, said the judge, was the "watch keeper and helmsman" during the transatlantic crossing and responsible for safely transferring the drug ashore once the vessel had reached the Isle of Wight.Kavanagh and Henao were recommended for deportation.During the trial, the jury heard that Tyrrell, who settled in Antigua with his parents as a child, was divorced, had a common-law wife, four houses on a hill and a brace of upmarket cars.In 1996 he brought his family to Britain and bought a £900,000 house in Brook, Hampshire.Three years later he purchased Orchard Bay House, near Ventnor, on the Isle of Wight for £657,000.It had its own beach, was built 150 years earlier as a base in the battle against smugglers, and seemed like a drug runner's dream headquarters.Unfortunately for him, Customs men learnt something was afoot in July 2000, and a joint investigation - Operation Eyefull - swung into action with Britain's National Crime Squad.Tyrrell, who frequently visited Antigua, was tracked whenever he was in Britain.In September 2000, Blue Hen cast off, first collecting the drugs from Bequia, an island near St Vincent, before heading to the Isle of Wight. She arrived on October 22.With the weather worsening, the 20 large cocaine bales were loaded into the yacht's 12ft inflatable. Le Brun then remained aboard while Penchef and Henao headed for Orchard Bay.Halfway there the outboard died, forcing them to land at Woody Bay, half-a-mile off course. There they abandoned the massive cocaine consignment on the beach and began a treacherous night-time, cliff-top slog to base, where the rest of the gang awaited.Meanwhile, Le Brun, worried by the lack of news, ignored orders and sailed towards the house, only for a furious Tyrrell

to tell him to turn around and head for the horizon.Penchef and Henao then arrived and angered him with a description of the drugs left alone somewhere along the coast.The once sophisticated operation, by now badly fraying at the edges, began to resemble a Ealing comedy script as they then set off in a rowing boat.After finding the haul, they spent hours carrying the drugs to the house along a narrow, windswept, rain-lashed cliff path, regarded as dangerous even in daylight.It took what was left of the night to stumble back with just six bales of cocaine. Penchef then got the outboard working and the next six went by inflatable.Tyrrell finally decided to throw caution to the wind and try to collect the final eight by van.He had barely started the engine when Customs men pounced. Tyrrell, who has a number of previous convictions for cannabis smuggling, struggled with his captors, later explaining: "You have got to have a go, haven't you?"Customs minister Paul Boateng said: "This is an excellent result for Customs and the National Crime Squad and demonstrates that by working abroad as well as at home, we can have a huge impact on class A drugs in the UK."Customs law enforcement has totally dismantled a sophisticated international drug trafficking organisation."These criminals enjoyed wealthy lifestyles with big houses, plush cars and fast boats. We will make every effort to pursue not only the criminals and the drugs but their profits too and hit the criminals where it hurts them most - their pockets."Jim Fitzpatrick, Customs deputy chief investigator said: "These sentences are a stark warning to those who traffic in dangerous drugs."We will pursue their ill-gotten gains as a result of their illegal activity to the maximum that the law allows."Detective Inspector Dave King, from the National Crime Squad, added: "It is always satisfying when the courts recognise the seriousness of these offences."Both the National Crime Squad and Customs will continue to work together to bring to justice those who traffic illegal commodities into the UK."

41. Lindsay Sandiford case

Lindsay June Sandiford (born 25 June 1956) is a former legal secretary from Redcar, Teesside in North Yorkshire, England who was sentenced to death in January 2013 by a court in Indonesia after being convicted of smuggling cocaine onto the island of Bali. Although death is the maximum punishment for drugs-related offences under Indonesian law the severity of the sentence was greeted with shock because prosecutors had not recommended the death penalty for Sandiford. The ruling was also condemned by the British government and anti–death penalty campaigners.Sandiford was arrested on 19 May 2012 after arriving at the island's Ngurah Rai International Airport on a flight from Bangkok when a routine luggage search uncovered the drugs stash. Under subsequent police interrogation she claimed to have been coerced into carrying the drugs by a criminal gang that had made threats against her family, and took part in a sting operation to arrest several other individuals she alleged to be part of a drugs trafficking ring.In December 2012, she was convicted of drug smuggling at Denpasar District Court and sentenced to death by firing squad in January 2013. By contrast, the others involved in the case were convicted of lesser drugs-related offences and received custodial sentences. Prosecutors had recommended Sandiford should also receive a custodial sentence because of her willingness to cooperate with police, but the panel of judges overseeing the hearing felt her actions had undermined Indonesia's anti-drugs policy and concluded there were no mitigating circumstances in her favour.Sandiford subsequently launched an appeal against the court's decision. She had funded her own defence costs during the initial trial but had no money for representation at appeal. Funds were subsequently raised to pay for an appeal lawyer, and the appeals procedure began. In the United Kingdom lawyers applied to seek a judicial review of the government's stance of not providing financial aid for Britons facing criminal proceedings overseas, but their legal challenge was dismissed by judges at the High Court of England and Wales on the grounds that Sandiford had little chance in successfully appealing the sentence. An appeal arguing the government's position was unlawful was also rejected. The British government submitted a statement to the Court in Bali alleging

unlawful behaviour towards Sandiford by officials at the time of her arrest. The High Court in Bali rejected the first stage of Sandiford's appeal in April 2013, upholding the death sentence. An appeal was subsequently lodged with the country's Supreme Court, but in August this was also rejected.

Background and arrest

Sandiford was raised in the north-eastern town of Redcar, Teesside in North Yorkshire, before moving to London. She later lived in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. A former legal secretary, she worked for many years in management at the Cheltenham-based law firm DTS Legal. She rented a house in the town, but was evicted after failing to pay her rent, and in early 2012 moved to live in India. Sandiford was married but separated, the relationship having produced two children.Sandiford was arrested on 19 May 2012 after arriving at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, Thailand, when 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) of cocaine was found in the lining of her suitcase during a routine search. She claimed to have been forced into carrying the drugs by a gang who had threatened to harm members of her family if she did not comply with their demands. When informed she could receive the death penalty for drug trafficking she broke down and told police that she had been asked to carry the drugs for Julian Ponder, a British antiques dealer living in Bali, and his partner Rachel Dougall, and agreed to help in a sting operation to arrest them. Sandiford was booked into a hotel with an undercover police officer, where she went about contacting members of the alleged syndicate. Arrangements were made for her to meet Ponder, and another man, Paul Beales at the hotel, where police arrested them on suspicion of drug trafficking. Dougall was arrested after a subsequent search of the property she shared with Ponder uncovered 48.94 grams of cocaine, while 3.1 grams of hashish were found at Beale's house. Sandiford and Ponder were charged with drug trafficking. However, police failed to find evidence linking the other two to the crime, and they were charged with less serious offences.

Natwarlal

Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava, better known as Natwarlal (1912–2009),was a noted Indian con man known for having repeatedly "sold" the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, and the Rashtrapati Bhavan and also the Parliament House of India along with its 545 sitting members. He was a living-legend in his lifetime and a legend even after his death.

Early lifeHe was born in Bangra village in Siwan district of Bihar, by profession he was a lawyer before he turned into a conman.

Modus OperandiHe had duped hundreds of people of crores of rupees and used more than 50 aliases to disguise himself.He was a master of disguises and used novel ideas to cheat and was also a master in forging signatures of famous personalities. He is also said to have cheated number of industrialists including the Tatas, the Birlas and also Dhirubhai Ambani taking from them huge money in cash, posing as social worker or needy person. Also he had duped many shop-owners with lakhs of rupees, paying them by cheque and demand drafts, which were later found to be forged.Natwarlal was wanted in more than 100 cases and he was wanted by 8 states police and was sentenced to 113 years in prison. However, he made daring escapes from different jails eight times in his life.[7]

Natwarlal was arrested nine times but every time was able to break out of jail and run away. The last time he was arrested was in 1996 and was 84 years old at that time. But he managed to again give the police a slip and was last seen by authorities on June 24, 1996; when the wheelchair-using octogenarian vanished while being transported from prison to a hospital for treatment. He disappeared at New Delhi railway station, when he was being taken to AIIMS, under police escort from Kanpur jail for his treatment, after which he was never seen by anyone.

Death and mysteryIn 2009, his lawyer requested that more than 100 charges pending against Natwarlal be dropped claiming that Natwarlal died on Saturday July 25, 2009. However, Natwarlal's brother, Ganga Prasad Srivastava, subsequently claimed to have cremated him in 1996 at Ranchi. So the actual time and year of death is yet uncertain and to say, in his finest Natwarlal tradition, he “died” twice, 13 years apart, living up to his legend.He is survived by one daughter, who lives in Ranchi and is married to a soldier. His younger brother, Ganga Prasad Shrivastav lives in Gopalgunj.In Popular CultureHis exploits are often compared with Frank Abagnale and Victor LustigJurm a popular weekly crime based television programme aired by Aaj Tak, made episodes on his life and story in 2004.In the movie Raja Natwarlal, Paresh Rawal's character introduces Mithilesh Kumar Srivastav as a man who sold Taj Mahal and Indian Parliament to Emraan Hashmi's character. Also in the movie, Emraan Hashmi adopts the fake name of Mithilesh Kumar Srivastav to con Varda Yadav played by Kay Kay Menon

MonumentThe people of his native village Bangra in Bihar take a pride that he belonged to their village and have decided to put up a statue of him as his monument, at the place, where his house once stood.His house is said to have been demolished by British, however, the land still belongs to the family.

NamesakeHe is considered to be greatest conman of India and his legend lives on as any conman who pull off particularly smart frauds are called Natwarlal in India and many fraudsters say they got inspired from the life of Natwarlal.