A high school teacher who had sex with her pupils, a former police special constable and a paedophile childminder were among the Merseyside criminals who were jailed over the past week.

Also locked up was a teenager who stabbed a man at a train station. Meanwhile, Liverpool Crown Court heard that a burglary gang placed tracking devices on the cars of takeaway and restaurant owners before breaking into their homes.

Here are the faces of seven defendants from our region who were imprisoned over the last seven days:

Brian Halfhead

A pensioner tailed a woman as she walked in the street before sexually assaulting her.

Convicted sex offender Brian Halfhead, who has a record of perverted crimes spanning more than 40 years, brazenly attacked the woman in daylight near to Rock Retail Park in Birkenhead.

Halfhead admitted sexual assault. He was jailed for 16 months and told to sign the sex offenders' register for 10 years.

Kevin Perry

A childminder has been unmasked as a predatory paedophile.

Kevin Perry bribed his victim with gifts and trips to concerts as he sexually abused her at a beach and raped her while she was in tears. He is now facing decades behind bars.

Perry was unanimously convicted of two counts of rape and 13 charges of indecent assault by a jury. Appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 20 years.

Stuart Devany

A gang loitered outside takeaways, restaurants and shops in order to fit tracking devices to the owners' cars before breaking into their homes.

Stuart Devany was part of an elaborate plot which saw tens of thousands of pounds of jewellery and cash stolen during a string of burglaries across the suburbs of South Liverpool. When the police came knocking at his door, he bluffed "I don't do burglaries" - then delivered a 16-word rant from the dock as he was locked up today.

Devany admitted conspiracy to commit burglary. He was jailed for six years and five months, to which he responded: "How the hell do the travellers get away with it?

"That's your job, not mine. F***s sake."

Rebecca Joynes

A teacher who was found guilty of having sex with two pupils has been jailed.

Rebecca Joynes - of Pensby Road in Thingwall, Wirral - groomed one boy with a shopping trip to the Trafford Centre before taking him back to her apartment and having sex with him when he was 15. The 30-year-old then fell pregnant with another teenage student.

She denied four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts with sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust but was found guilty by a jury following a trial. Joynes was handed six-and-a-half years behind bars.

Stephen Godridge

A former police special constable remained emotionless as he was jailed for life for raping a teenage girl in his car.

Stephen Godridge groomed his victim over Snapchat before sexually abusing her. The 31-year-old had only been released from prison months beforehand, after he had exploited two other youngsters in strikingly similar circumstances.

Godridge was found guilty of two counts of rape, sexual assault, two charges of assault by penetration and breaching a sexual harm prevention order by a jury following a trial. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months.

Thomas Randles

A teenager slashed a man with a Stanley knife at a train station in an apparent feud over a stolen coat.

Thomas Randles' victim was left with relatively minor injuries when he was stabbed in the back during a chance "scuffle" as shocked passengers watched on. A judge told him that the "consequences could have been far worse".

Randles admitted wounding without intent and possession of a bladed article in a public place. Appearing in the dock wearing a black Columbia t-shirt, he handed 12 months in a young offenders' institute.

Mark Ward

A prolific paedophile "destroyed" the lives of countless children and is now spending decades behind bars.

Mark Ward has been locked up in prison since 2007 after being brought to justice for his perverted crimes, and has now been handed yet another jail term for sexual offences. He abused and raped the victim in his latest court case on a boat and in a disused building, chillingly telling him on one occasion: "You know I'm not a person to be messed around."

Ward admitted buggery, assault with intent to commit buggery, two counts of indecent assault and two charges of indecency with a child. Appearing via video link to HMP Whatton, he was jailed for a further six years and nine months.