Liverpool's gangsters' molls: The women linked to some of the city's most notorious criminals as gangland family drama This City is Ours returns to screens

The city of Liverpool is not alone in having a problem with crime families, drugs and violence - but its most powerful gangsters have long been a subject of fascination for observers in both fiction and real life.

And behind many of the men who have brought misery to the city, there are women attracted to the power of its most notorious criminals. 

From Curtis Warren in the 1990s to the Huyton Firm of more recent years, Liverpool is sometimes called the 'Naples of the North' due to its links, real and imagined, to organised crime.

On Sunday, the gritty Liverpool-based BBC drama This City is Ours returned for a second season, with the cast defending the series against claims it glamourises a life of crime.

Season two picks up from where things were left, with Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson-Joyce) and his wife Diana Williams (Hannah Onslow) starting their new life together in their Spanish 'happy town'.

However, they are almost immediately dragged back into the criminal underworld to face questions over the death of a Colombian cocaine supplier and a coup within the Phelan family firm. 

Elsewhere, Julie Graham plays Elaine Phelan, the matriarch and widow of murdered gang leader Ronnie Phelan, Saoirse-Monica Jackson stars as Cheryl Crawford, the grieving and bold wife of gangster Davy Crawford, and Laura Aikman plays Rachel Duffy, the wife of senior gang member Bobby Duffy who takes care of the cocaine mob's finances. 

This City is Ours shines a light on what supposedly goes on within these criminal families - and how the women in their lives are often caught up in 'the firm'.   

Hannah Onslow as Diane Williams and James Nelson-Joyce as Michael Kavanagh in This City is Ours season two

Julie Graham, who plays grieving widow and matriarch Elaine Phelan after the death of crime boss Ronnie Phelan (Sean Bean) 

Saoirse-Monica Jackson (left) stars as Cheryl Crawford, the grieving and bold wife of gangster Davy Crawford. Laura Aikman (right) plays Rachel Duffy, the wife of senior gang member Bobby Duffy who takes care of the cocaine mob's finances

As killers and criminals are brought to justice, courts often hear how behind the gun-toting crime boss is a devoted and loyal wife or girlfriend.

While the so-called 'molls' are often attracted to their partner's financial success, other more complex factors are also at work. 

They have grown up in homes where criminality is respected, while ordinary nine-to-five workers are seen as 'victims'.

Prison sentences, threat-to-life notices and negative media coverage just 'go with the territory' of being with a Liverpool gangster. 

But the allure of this lifestyle is often danger and power, the partner of a reformed gangster previously told the Mail.

She said: 'Someone who takes the lead and takes charge is attractive and sometimes that bad-boy image makes you feel safe and makes you feel more feminine.' 

Many young women risk it all for the respect they receive when they walk into a high-end restaurant such as the San Carlo for a night with their dangerous boyfriend.

These are the women linked to some of the city's most notable criminals. 

Kayleeanne Sweeney 

Kayleeanne Sweeney, 34, leaves court after Thomas Cashman was found guilty of the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, in 2023

Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine, was murdered in her home after Thomas Cashman's failed attempt to kill a convicted burglar

Thomas Cashman was jailed for life. His partner Sweeney was condemned by many for her tragic attempts at style while attending the murder trial at Manchester Crown Court 

Thomas Cashman's partner was condemned by many for her flashy outfits while attending her husband's trial for the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel at Manchester Crown Court. 

Sweeney, who supported Cashman despite hearing of his infidelity, often sported expensive pink jackets and shades. 

She lived with Cashman in the West Derby area of the city, boosted by his £250,000 per year earnings.

However, 'Cash', as he was known in Liverpool, was far from 'legit'. He earned his money growing and selling cannabis in the Dovecot area, where he also acted as an enforcer for the godfathers who ran the Huyton Firm.

Meanwhile Kayleeanne cruised to the beauty salon she ran in a £33,000 Land Rover Discovery Sport and enjoyed regular overseas holidays with her gangster partner.

Cashman's drugs business enabled the couple to afford to live in their £450,000 detached house on an upmarket development where residents drive Bentleys and Teslas.

The couple, who have a son and a daughter, are understood to have paid £2,000 a month for the four-bed rented property from the end of 2021.

In addition, they were renting a luxury two-bed apartment in a block overlooking the River Mersey.

For Kayleeanne the murder trial marked the moment to 'stand by your man' despite the fact Cashman was accused of shooting dead a child in her own home.

Asked in court whether Ms Sweeney knew the source of his wealth – more than seven times the average salary for the area – Cashman said: 'She never asked me, I never told her.'

But he admitted she would have had 'suspicions' that he dealt drugs.

Murdered - then covered in snow

Terri Murray became famous when she claimed that UFC star Conor McGregor was the father of her daughter Clodagh.

The Liverpool mum said she slept with McGregor after meeting the famous fighter in a Liverpool nightclub.

The Dublin-born UFC star was in the city for the 2017 Grand National weekend, and was photographed with a huge entourage.

However, subsequent DNA tests proved that McGregor was not the father. The Irishman always claimed a friend slept with Ms Murray, not him.

But in Liverpool, Ms Murray was already well known in the city's underworld due to her relationship with Karl Bradley.

Terri Murray became famous when she claimed that UFC star Conor McGregor was the father of her daughter Clodagh

The Liverpool mother claimed she slept with McGregor after meeting the famous fighter in a Liverpool nightclub

Bradley, the brother of notorious gangster Kirk, was shot dead during a 'targeted attack' in March 2013. 

His body was partially covered by snow when police eventually arrived at the scene.

At the time senior officers admitted the victim was 'known to police' but did not elaborate. 

Bradley, whose father Trevor is a convicted drug dealer, appears to have enjoyed an affluent lifestyle and often jetted around the world with his lover. 

The source of his income was not clear, although local sources have said he was well known in Liverpool's criminal fraternity.

Police later confirmed that Cashman was questioned over Bradley's death, although he was not charged with the murder. 

Local sources suggest Kirk, currently serving a 22-year prison sentence, has vowed revenge.

Rachel and Maria Clarke 

Stephen Clarke and his accomplices have a fierce reputation and once ruled Liverpool's clubland with an iron fist.

A muscle-bound kickboxer, Clarke and his younger brother Peter lived like kings in the suburbs of Southport while controlling a labyrinth of criminal enterprises. 

The bulk of their cash came from a drug export business to Ireland. 

Stephen concentrated on a network of cannabis growers dotted around Southport, while Peter shipped cocaine across the Irish Sea.

The brothers were brought down by a covert police surveillance operation, when a listening device was planted in Stephen's Jaguar.

However, Preston Crown Court also heard how Stephen and Peter's respective partners Rachel and Maria enjoyed the high life funded by the proceeds of crime.

Rachel Clarke completed a bogus mortgage application when she bought the couple's home in Banks, near Southport

Rachel and Maria Clarke (pictured) launched a high-end cosmetics business which was focused on a gym environment

Stephen Clarke concentrated on a network of cannabis grows dotted around Southport

His brother Peter Clarke shipped cocaine across the Irish Sea 

David McLaughlin, prosecuting, told the court how the women bought luxury cars and enjoyed regular holidays to exotic locations such as Dubai, Las Vegas and Florida.

It emerged that Rachel completed a bogus mortgage application when she bought the couple's home in Banks, near Southport.

As Stephen told an associate, 'so it was in her name … in case the f****** bizzies ever take it off me'.

The women also admitted money laundering and were handed suspended prison sentences.

In 2020 Rachel and Maria launched a high-end cosmetics business which was focused on a gym environment. There is no suggestion that this venture was linked to criminality.

Janette Mercer 

For many, the murder of Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones defined an era when street gangs appeared to have taken over the housing estates of Croxteth and Norris Green.

Rhys, 11, was walking home after playing football with pals when Sean Mercer shot him dead. Mercer was aiming for a rival gang member and hit innocent Rhys by accident.

An epic police operation eventually caught up with Mercer and his associates from the Croxteth Crew.

Months after Judge Henry Globe sentenced Mercer to 22 years in prison, his mum Janette was back before the same judge.

It emerged that she had lied to police about the type of mountain bike her son owned when he fired the fatal shot. She misled police about the colour of the bike, which set back the investigation.

She later admitted lying and was jailed for three years. 

Janette Mercer lied to police about the type of mountain bike her son owned when he fired the fatal shot at Rhys Jones

She misled police about the colour of the bike, which set back the investigation

In 2023 it emerged that Janette had again lied to police, this time in relation to her younger son Joseph

Sean Mercer was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years after shooting dead Rhys

11-year-old Rhys was shot dead as he walked home from football training in August 2007

In 2023 it emerged that Janette had again lied to police, this time in relation to her younger son Joseph.

The doting mother allowed the yob to live with her while he was wanted for drugs offences by Dorset Police.

It later emerged that Joseph had been living with his mum in the Kirkdale area of Liverpool, and spending time at the trendy Malmaison Hotel on the city's waterfront.

The court heard how Joseph often abused and assaulted his mum while living with her, suggesting she was under significant duress.

Janette dabbed her eyes as she was jailed for nine months.

'IRA' machine gun plot

Debbie Dillon arrived at her wedding to John Haase wearing a white dress in a cream Rolls Royce.

Guests had to pass through a wall of chunky bouncers on a summer's evening in 1996 to enter Brougham Terrace Registry Office.

Photographs taken of the happy couple seemed like stills from a Brian De Palma movie, as nervous relatives stared on.

Haase, described by one associate as a 'real life Scarface', had made the successful transition from armed robbery to buying heroin from a Turkish godfather in north London.

However, when Haase and his partner-in-crime Paul Bennett were handed massive prison sentences in the mid-90s, the crime boss found a way to beat the system.

He used contacts on the outside to buy firearms and plant them in dumps across Merseyside. When the time was right Haase reached out to HM Customs, and told them he could lead them to a network of IRA arms dumps in the north-west.

The authorities took the bait, and did the deal, which allowed Haase and Bennett to walk free from prison, 11 months into an 18-year stretch.

When the Daily Mirror sent a reporter up to Liverpool to chat to Haase about his very early release, the Liverpool gangster became agitated.

He kicked out at the journalist as Ms Dillon looked on and giggled. However, it later emerged that Ms Dillon and her best friend Sharon Knowles had helped John pull off the unprecedented plot to pervert the course of justice.

The women left a fake IRA gun haul inside a car parked near the Holyhead-to-Dublin ferry terminal in north Wales.

They made sure to leave Irish newspapers and cigarette butts amongst the haul of machine guns and bullets. Unfortunately the women had left their fingerprints at the scene, which led to the plot unravelling years later. 

Ms Dillon was jailed for four years and Haase received a life sentence. He was later released on licence but is now back behind bars for torching a car.

Curtis Warren's prison officer lover 

Stephanie Smithwhite was a prison lag at one of the top security prisons when she struck up a sexual relationship with Curtis 'Cocky' Warren.

Drugs kingpin Warren embarked on a criminal career from an early age and eventually became an international drugs trafficker worth tens of millions of pounds. 

Eager to exert his authority over Liverpool, he 'taxed' prostitutes and their clients, threatening them with blackmail if they didn't comply. 

However, Smithwhite wasn't deterred in engaging in a sexual relationship with the drug lord, who forged links with Colombian criminals, establishing himself as a top player in a nationwide drug dealing network.

While on trial for misconduct in a public office at Durham Crown Court, a jury heard how the HMP Frankland prison officer had cut a hole in the trousers of her prison uniform for a sexual purpose. 

Smithwhite, who is from Boldon Colliery, South Tyneside, was found to have a tattoo of a rose with the name 'Curtis' next to it, which she said she had done in December 2018

Stephanie Smithwhite, 40, former prison officer at HMP Frankland, was found guilty for two counts of misconduct in a public office

It was heard how Smithwhite 'fell in love with the wrong man in the wrong situation' as the court was told how the duo shared hundreds of sexually explicit love letters with one another. 

At his request she sent him a picture of herself and admitted kissing him and performing sex acts in his cell, a prison kitchen and a laundry room - and in an interview Smithwhite admitted other sexual encounters.

The disgraced guard was also found with a Zanco 'prison phone' which are often smuggled behind bars - but she denied trying to take the device in for her drug baron lover. 

Eventually the duo were rumbled when other prison staff became suspicious, with Smithwhite eventually being caught handing a note to Warren, which he attempted to eat.