Murderers and child killers are among some of the worst people to receive a life sentence in the past year.

The mugshots show some of the worst villains jailed for life for their unforgivable crimes.

Their offences range from sickening murders and twisted acts of violence to plots of terrorism.

Featured criminals include a convicted rapist who brutally raped and murdered a nurse after climbing into her bedroom at her home, he then attempted to strangle her 80-year-old mother to death, and in a bid to cover up what he had done, set fire to the property.

Double killer Aaron Barley's life sentence for killing a mother and son was deemed "unduly lenient" and increased by an extra four years at the court of appeal.

Three judges agreed that the 30-year minimum term imposed on Barley was insufficient in "this most exceptional and grave case" and so substituted it with a minimum term of 35 years, less time on remand - amounting to 34 years and 178 days before he can be considered for release on licence.

Norbert Chikerema, who was found guilty of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a supermarket car park, was jailed for life.

And Uber driver Endris Mohammed who killed his two young children and then tried to kill their mother, also received a life sentence and will serve at least 33 years.

Ashley Foster

A killer who strangled a teenage girl during a violent sexual attack and then hid her body in a cling film-wrapped wardrobe has been jailed for life.

A judge ordered that Ashley Foster spend at least 26 years in prison for the murder of 17-year-old Megan Bills .

Foster, 24, was found guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton crown court of murder on Wednesday, January 17.

The trial heard how the killing happened at the ex-offenders’ hostel in Brierley Hill where Foster was living having been released from prison just three days before.

Damilola Johnson

Damilola Johnson.
Damilola Johnson.

A teenage burglar who fatally stabbed a man and left him to die on his landing has been jailed for life.

Brutal Damilola Johnson repeatedly knifed Simon Johnson when the 41-year-old disturbed him as he stole drugs from the “trusting” victim’s home.

Police said the “greedy and violent” killer, 19, of Sidaway Street, Cradley Heath, had never shown a “shred” of remorse.

Johnson, who was convicted of murder, will serve at least 21 years behind bars.

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Aaron Barley

An "unduly lenient" sentence given to double killer Aaron Barley has been increased by an extra four years at the Court of Appeal.

On Thursday, three judges agreed with Solicitor General Robert Buckland that the 30-year minimum term imposed on Barley at Birmingham Crown Court in October was insufficient in "this most exceptional and grave case".

Lord Justice Holroyde, Mrs Justice Whipple and Mr Justice Goose substituted it with a minimum term of 35 years, less time on remand - amounting to 34 years and 178 days before he can be considered for release on licence.

Barley, 24, admitted the savage murders in March of Tracey Wilkinson, 50, and her 13-year-old son Pierce and the attempted murder of Peter Wilkinson, 47.

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Endris Mohammed

A father who killed his two young children and then tried to kill their mother has been jailed for life.

Uber driver Endris Mohammed will serve at least 33 years after he smothered his eight-year-old son Saros and his six-year-old sister Leanor, with a petrol-soaked rag before setting fire to their home in Holland Road, Hamstead .

Mohammed’s wife, Penil Teklehaimanot, discovered her “lifeless” children in the living room and carried them out into the lawn where emergency services tried in vain to resuscitate them.

Mohammed, 47, was found guilty of two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder following at two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court.

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Leroy Campbell

Murdered Leroy Campbell, who has been sentenced to a whole life term

A convicted rapist who brutally raped and murdered a nurse after climbing into her bedroom at her home has been handed a whole life sentence.

Leroy Campbell also tried to strangle to death Lisa Skidmore’s 80-year-old mother who, had come to visit her, then cover up what he had done by setting fire to the property.

Thirty-seven-year old Miss Skidmore lived alone at her home Mill Croft.

Campbell, after being released from a 16 year sentence, went to live in a hostel in Forest Road, Moseley.

Isaiah Young

A gunman who opened fire and killed a teenager sitting in a parked car in Birmingham by blasting him in the face has been jailed for life.

Isaiah Young was the second person to be convicted of the murder of 18-year-old Kenichi Phillips who had been a front seat passenger in a Seat Ibiza in St Mark’s Crescent, Ladywood .

He along with his brother and a friend fled from the vehicle but Mr Phillips collapsed in a nearby alleyway and died where he lay.

Young was convicted of charges of murder, attempted murder and two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

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Sivan Amin

Sivan Amin, 37, who has been convicted of murdering his former flatmate Gheorghe Cozmiuc
Sivan Amin, 37, who has been convicted of murdering his former flatmate Mircea Gheorghe Cozmiuc

A masked murderer who stabbed his former housemate to death after serving time for a similar killing in Sweden has been jailed for at least 40 years.

Sivan Amin, described by a judge as an “extraordinarily dangerous man”, inflicted no less than 23 stab wounds on Gheorge Cozmiuc in Wolverhampton - just two years after he was released from prison for shooting his first victim in the head.

Amin, who was denied asylum after coming to the UK in 2000, was jailed for murder in Sweden in 2008 after gunning down Deren Omar Mohammed with a pistol at close range.

Passing a life sentence at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Melbourne Inman QC said Amin, of Merridale Street West, Wolverhampton, had “remained in control” when he killed Mr Cozmiuc.

Norbert Chikerema

Norbert Chikerema has been jailed for life after he was found guilty of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a supermarket car park.

The 42-year-old was told at Birmingham Crown Court he would serve a minimum of 22 years after he struck Nyasha Kahari, a mother of four, at least 40 times with numerous weapons, including an axe, before driving her body to Lidl in Tile Cross.

The court heard previously that Chikerema and his wife, also known as Gillian, ran a nursing home business and that he believed she was seeing another man.

On January 29 last year they visited a number of addresses, leaving the last one at 11pm and shortly afterwards the defendant attacked his wife.

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Mark Law and Mason Casey

Mark Law and Mason Casey have been jailed for life for murder of Tamworth man Tim Smith.
Mark Law and Mason Casey have been jailed for life for murder of Tamworth man Tim Smith.

Two young men have been jailed for life after a man was lured to a threesome and stabbed through the heart.

Tim Smith was attacked by 21-year-old Mark Law after meeting for a rendezvous at an industrial estate in March.

Law - who was obsessed with sadism and cannibalism - pleaded guilty to murder in September and will now serve a minimum of 19 years before being eligible for parole.

His accomplice, Mason Casey, stood trial at Leicester Crown Court and was found guilty of murder.

The 18-year-old was sentenced to serve a minimum of 15 years before being eligible for parole.

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Zahid Hussain

An Islamic State fanatic convicted of trying to make an improvised bomb using fairy lights for a potential attack on Midland trains was jailed for life.

Zahid Hussain , 29, considered targeting railway lines after he was radicalised in his bedroom by viewing hundreds of IS images of the war in Syria.

The former doorman, aged 29, from Naseby Drive, Alum Rock , was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court after being found guilty of Preparing for Acts of Terrorism at an earlier trial.

He will serve a minimum of 15 years but will remain on licence for a further 30 years.

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Gary Lindley and Billy White

Gary Lindley, left, and Billy White

Two prisoners who prayed together after “being ordered by God” to break the neck of a convicted double killer have been caged for life for murder.

Billy White, a Christian, and Muslim Gary Lindley believed their execution of fellow inmate Brett Rogers would “exorcise a demon” and “cleanse” him of his crimes.

Worcester Crown Court was told staff at HMP Long Lartin were handed a note from the killers saying they had decided to “free” their victim from “darkness”.

White, 24, was given a whole life term for the killing - carried out while he was already serving a life sentence for the 2015 murder of his partner.

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Henry Lewis Jones

Henry Lewis Jones, jailed for life

A Kidderminster man who claimed his housemate had died after ‘falling over in the kitchen’ has been jailed for life for his murder.

Henry Lewis Jones, aged 23, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court after being found guilty of the murder of 55-year-old Mark Beresford earlier this year.

On Friday, March 24, paramedics were called to a property on Offmore Road at around 8.30pm.

They discovered the victim had sustained serious head injuries.

Ronald Cooke

A man has been jailed for life after stabbing his partner to death in a row - before telling doctors and police that his victim had knifed herself.

Ronald Cooke attacked mother-of-two Tina Billingham following an argument at their home in Granville Road, Cradley Heath, on February 6.

Cooke then drove his partner of 20 years to their local doctor’s surgery at Rowley Healthcare before dragging her out of his van while she was still bleeding heavily.

Tina, 54, was treated by medical staff at the surgery in Hawes Lane after Cooke told them she had stabbed herself during a domestic row.

Christopher Jeffery

A man has admitted killing his wife by strangling her with the cord of her hair straighteners.

Christopher Jeffery has been handed a life sentence after strangling his wife in their family home.

The 51-year-old former postman admitted murdering Sarah Jeffery when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court.

He had always denied murdering Sarah - who is originally from Biddulph and worked at M&S, in Wolstanton - and a murder trial was due to start at Stafford Crown Court.

Birmingham terrorist gang the 'Three Musketeers'

A terrorist gang from the West Midlands who dubbed themselves the Three Musketeers have been jailed for life for plotting a Lee Rigby-style attack with a bomb and large knives.

A partly secret trial at the Old Bailey heard that Naweed Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, 24 and 32-year-old Mohibur Rahman planned a knife and bomb rampage on encrypted messaging app Telegram.

A fourth man, 38-year-old Tahir Aziz, was caught with a samurai sword when officers searched his Ford Fiesta.

The gang sought out infamous Islamic State supporter Anjem Choudary before they prepared to strike police and military targets on British soil.

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Mohammed Humza, Jaspal Rai and Vikesh Chauhan

From left, Vikesh Chauhan, Mohammed Humza and Jaspal Rai.
From left, Vikesh Chauhan, Mohammed Humza and Jaspal Rai.

Three smiling killers have been jailed for nearly 90 years for shooting dead a devoted dad in an horrific drive-by attack, sparked by the theft of a diamond-encrusted watch.

Carl Campbell, 33, died in a hail of bullets after he was ambushed at traffic lights near West Bromwich town centre on December 27 last year.

In jailing three men for life Judge Charles Haddon-Cave described the shooting as a “revenge attack” that had been carefully planned by all three men who were “all in it together."

Mr Campbell died instantly when one of five shots aimed at the Ford Fiesta he was travelling in ricocheted off the dashboard and hit him in the head.

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Kieran Gillespie

A Birmingham man who stabbed a fellow passenger to death for “staring at him” on the top deck of a bus has been jailed for life.

Kieran Gillespie launched a frenzied attack on Leon Barrett-Hazle in what police have described as a “mindless killing” by a “really dangerous and unstable individual.”

The 26-year-old, from Handsworth’s Wellesbourne Road, has been jailed for a minimum of 26 years for stabbing Mr Barrett-Hazle numerous times on the top deck of the No 11A bus in Handsworth’s Rookery Road, on January 23.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how Gillespie and 35-year-old Mr Barrett-Hazle, from Smethwick, were complete strangers.

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Cody-Anne Jackson

Cody-Anne Jackson has been sentenced to life in prison after killing her two-year-old daughter.

The socially isolated young mother killed Macey Hogan after sending the toddler's father a photo of her and a message reading: "Sorry, just thought you deserved one last picture and memory of her."

A trial at Stafford Crown Court was told Jackson, from Stoke-on-Trent, also wrote a suicide note before the killing, stating: "There's nothing for me or Macey, life's s***."

The 20-year-old will spend at least 16 years behind bars after she suffocated little Macey Hogan at their Fenton home.

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Azad Singh

A betrayed husband who stabbed his wife to death after discovering her lover at their home has been jailed.

Azad Singh has been jailed for life after being convicted of the murder of Kulwinder Kaur.

The 46-year-old stabbed the mother-of-two after discovering her with the man at their flat, in Willenhall, on January 18.

Singh made a 999 call to reveal he had just killed his wife and also left his wife’s companion with head and facial injuries.

Marvyn Iheanacho

A man who battered a five-year-old boy to death in a park for losing a trainer has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.

Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, flew into a rage and subjected his girlfriend's son, Alex Malcolm, to a brutal attack in Mountsfield Park in Catford, south-east London.

He was sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court by Judge Mark Dennis QC, who said the child killer has a "deeply entrenched character flaw" that leads him to overreact and lose his temper.

Iheanacho was sentenced to 18 years but, due to time served on remand, the judge said he would serve at least 17 years and 119 days.

Haroon Syed

A teenager snared by secret agents as he plotted a bomb attack on the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity has been handed a life sentence.

Haroon Syed was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years at the Old Bailey.

The 19-year-old trawled the web to find a busy area in the capital such as Oxford Circus or an Elton John concert in Hyde Park to launch a mass casualty attack.

He also tried to get weapons online, including a bomb vest or explosives.

Chevaze McGregor

An evil boyfriend has been jailed for life after murdering his partner’s two-year-old son by battering him to death.

Sadistic Chevaze McGregor, 27, was told he would serve a minimum term of 21 years for the killing of Jeremiah Regis.

The victim's mother Sindyann Regis, 26, was sentenced to three years and four months after she pleaded guilty to allowing the death of a child.

The youngster - known as ‘little smiler’ - was just two years and nine-months old when he was brutally beaten to death at his Wolverhampton home.

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Andrew Bate

A street robber who fractured a pregnant woman’s skull with a claw hammer in front of her one-year-old baby has been jailed for life.

Drug addict Andrew Bate had been back on the streets for just 18 days when he the thug launched the shocking attack during a street robbery in Dudley on October 28 last year.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how Bate, who had 74 previous convictions for violent and sexual offences including robbery, rape and a sex attack on a boy, had already tried to rob a 74-year-old woman of her handbag less than an hour before.

Bate had been released from an indeterminate prison sentence imposed in 2007 for an earlier violent robbery and had left the Birmingham hostel where he was supposed to be living - in breach of his sex offenders’ order.

Nanu Miah and gang members

A Birmingham criminal who helped blow up cashpoints in a £500,000 crime spree across the UK has been jailed for life.

Nanu Miah, 28, and fellow gang members also led police on 150mph ‘Fast and Furious’-style chases in stolen high-performance vehicles.

He was described as “a clever, determined and dangerous individual” by a judge who jailed him for life and said he must serve a minimum of nine years.

Miah, from Anderton Road, Sparkbrook, was caught with six Merseyside-based accomplices when they stopped for a McDonald’s breakfast after a heist in Scotland. They were surrounded by armed police who shot out their tyres.

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Stuart Gallear

A husband stabbed his wife in the heart after he found out she had been having an affair with one of his friends.

Stuart Gallear, from Penkridge, South Staffordshire, was jailed for life for the murder of 42-year old accountant Mandy Gallear after she told him she was in love with one of his friends from the pub, Mark Prescott.

The mother-of-two, was stabbed in the heart at her home at Makinson Avenue in Wigan, on October 6, 2016.

Warehouse manager Gallear, 51, plunged a knife three times into his wife's chest, seconds before she told him: “We’re separating - I love him more than you.”

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Gareth Rowton

A violent thug has been jailed for life for the murder of his housemate - who died more than two years after being attacked outside their home.

Gareth Rowton, 35, was already serving an 11-and-a-half year sentence for the wounding of David Stanton in 2012.

But he has now been handed a life sentence, with a minimum term of nine years and 305 days, after he pleaded guilty to murder at Stafford Crown Court.

The court heard the men were involved in an altercation in an alleyway outside their home on Old Fallow Road, Cannock , on November 9 2012, and Mr Stanton suffered serious injuries.