A mum-of-two who stole two scooters from a toy store and then rammed her car into a store assistant, carrying him on the bonnet for 50ft before running over him. Two brothers who wanted to live a ‘tax free lifestyle’ broke down high end stolen cars and sold the parts on eBay, raking in more than £120,000.
A law student who groomed a 13-year-old boy on PlayStation for 18 months and booked a hotel to meet him. The former ‘boy soldier’ who threatened to “chop up” his partner and stomped on her already-fractured leg after a night of drinking and taking cocaine.
Jail sentences are handed out to the worst offenders each week and Manchester Evening News reporters are in court to cover the most serious cases.
Here are some of the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester in January.
The vile rapist who claimed he was 17 to take girl, 15, to cinema… then subjected her to horrific hotel room attack
Jordan Lanzon
(Image: GMP)
A rapist who groomed a 15-year-old girl, took her to the cinema and attacked her in a hotel has been jailed for over nine years. Jordan Lanzon, 26, befriended the girl on social media after making numerous accounts to contact her.
He claimed he was 17 when he was actually 23. The pair met in November 2019 in Manchester where they went to the cinema.
The following month they met again and Lanzon told the teen that he had booked them a hotel room to escape the cold. It was there that he raped her, a court previously heard.
They continued to communicate, with Lanzon repeatedly booking hotel rooms for them and inviting her to join him. She reported feeling scared and forced into having sex with him on multiple occasions.
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He also asked her to perform sexual acts over video calls and via texts, it was said. Following a trial in January this year, Lanzon, of Whalley Range, was found guilty of offences of rape, and had earlier pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual activity with a child, and causing/inciting a child to engage in sexual activity as well as an unrelated assault.
On Friday (March 4) he was jailed for nine-and-a-half years at Minshull Street Crown Court.
The texting lorry driver who killed a nurse in a horrific M62 smash – then desperately tried to evade justice
Lorry driver Nicholas Liever has been jailed for four years and four months for causing the death of a woman on the M62
(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
Lorry driver Nicholas Liever has been jailed for four years and four months for causing the death of a woman on the M62. A lorry driver was discovered to be exchanging text messages while driving, causing the death of a nurse in a multiple-vehicle crash on the M62.
Nicholas Liever, 49, was driving a Volvo HGV when it smashed into a Volkswagen Passat, an Iveco Vehicle Transporter and a Volkswagen Touareg at around 10.40am on September 5, 2019. Karen McDonagh, 51, the driver of the Passat, suffered fatal injuries.
An investigation by the Major Collision Enquiry Team revealed that Liever was exchanging text messages in the time leading up to the collision, with the last one sent around the time of the crash. But during an interview, Liever lied and told police that he was not distracted at the time of the crash and claimed the incident, between Junction 22 for Rishworth Moor and Junction 23, was unavoidable.
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He had also attempted to delete the data from his phone to hide the incriminating evidence – but it was retrieved by a specialist investigator. Liever, of Clifton Road in Fishtoft, Lincolnshire, has since pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving and was jailed for four years and four months at Leeds Crown Court.
The man who stabbed his stepfather six times during an ‘utterly astonishing’ attack
Alan Brown
(Image: GMP)
This is the man who stabbed his stepfather six times in an ‘utterly astonishing’ attack. Alan Brown, 44, shared a close bond with his stepfather Lee Hiley, who described Brown as his ‘best friend’.
But following a row over an old motorbike the pair were restoring, Brown launched a senseless knife attack in the home they shared with his mother Teresa McCarthy. Ms McCarthy was ‘convinced’ that her partner, Mr Hiley, was going to die.
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He suffered a collapsed lung during the attack at the property in Cheadle, Stockport, but has since made a full recovery. As Brown was locked up for stabbing him, Mr Hiley told how he ‘still loves the defendant dearly’ and ‘just wanted him to get help’.
Brown, of Cornwall Avenue, Levenshulme, was jailed for two years.
Woman was left ‘fearing for her life’ after thug smashes up flat then sets it on fire
Simon Edgcumbe has been jailed
(Image: GMP)
A yob who set fire to a woman’s flat after an argument has been jailed. Simon Edgcumbe, 34, also rang his victim to threaten that he would ‘find her and kill her’, heard.
He has now been sentenced to two years and 10 months imprisonment. The court was told that on June 29 2020, Edgcumbe and the woman had an argument at her flat. He then left and started driving around the town centre in an ‘erratic’ manner.
Edgcumbe then returned to her home and became aggressive after drinking alcohol and smashed up the flat. Fearing for her own safety, the woman decided to go to a relative’s home and Edgcumbe was captured on CCTV, coming and going from the flat throughout the evening.
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The 34-year-old rang his victim telling her that he would “find her and kill her” and around 9pm, residents in the same block of flats reported a fire. The fire service attended and found that the fire had started inside the victim’s flat. Shortly after, the court heard that Edgcumbe arrived at a family member’s home in an agitated state ranting about the victim.
Officers later attended at his home in Leicester Avenue, , and arrested him on suspicion of arson. In interview, he answered no comment to all questions but eventually pleaded guilty to arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.
Evil carer pretended to be elderly man’s daughter and left him with just 4p in bank
The family of an elderly man who had £30,000 stolen by a scheming carer said he was so devastated that he ‘gave up living’ after her vile crimes were revealed. Michelle Summerhill, from Wythenshawe, was secretly withdrawing cash from Marcel Brown’s bank accounts while he paid her to act as a carer, helping with cleaning and doing his shopping.
One bank account had a balance of just four pence after Summerhill had raided it. Summerhill, 55, even posed as Mr Brown’s daughter to cash in his £20,000 premium bonds. She was left £10,000 in his will after he died aged 88, such was the regard he had for her. Efforts were made to change his will after her deception was uncovered, but it was too late and she received the sum.
Mr Brown, who was originally born in France and lived alone in Wythenshawe, didn’t have children of his own but he treated Summerhill like his own daughter. Her betrayal left him devastated and embarrassed, his family say. “He gave up living,” Mr Brown’s stepson Michael Deasey told the M.E.N, after Summerhill was jailed for 10 months for theft.
“He died within 12 months. He just couldn’t believe what she had done, after what he had done for her.”
The woman who set fire to her own flat while on FaceTime to family in cry for help
Siobhan Houldsworth
(Image: Facebook)
A woman set a fire in her own flat whilst on FaceTime to her family in a cry for help. Siobhan Houldsworth, 26, was speaking to her sister on Facebook when she set fire to a pile of clothes in her bedroom.
She suggested that her intention was to commit suicide, heard. Emergency services quickly arrived, and found Houldsworth, of , on the balcony, before escorting her out.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire, but damage was caused to her flat, the flat below as well as the communal areas, costing between £15,000 and £25,000. Houldsworth pleaded guilty to an offence of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered on March 1 and was jailed for two years.
Terror of delivery drivers targeted by teen thugs in horrifying armed robberies
Declan Hawley
(Image: GMP)
Teen thugs armed with meat cleavers targeted delivery drivers during appalling armed robberies. The gang struck twice within an hour, lying in wait as two takeaway drivers tried to do their jobs in Oldham on a busy Saturday night.
Declan Hawley, 18, one of the gang who said he didn’t wield any weapons, was caught and has been locked up for almost five years. Hawley, who hadn’t been in trouble with the law previously, said he’d got involved with a ‘bad crowd’ and suffered peer pressure.
“You may have fallen in with a bad crowd, but you simply cannot behave in the way you did in the second half of last year,” a judge told him. You clearly gave absolutely no thought to the sheer terror your actions inevitably caused to completely innocent members of the public.”
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“I don’t feel safe on the streets,” one victim said. “I am just wondering if this sort of thing is going to happen to me again.”
Hawley, of Shakespeare Road, Oldham, was jailed for four years and nine months.
‘Jekyll and Hyde’ thug tried to blind his ex so she couldn’t look at other men
Aston Greenwood
(Image: GMP)
A controlling thug who terrorised his ex-girlfriend ‘tried to blind her’ so she couldn’t look at other men during a ‘sadistic’ attack. Aston Greenwood, 33, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after the mum in her 30s was left with serious injuries and permanent scarring around her eyes.
He smashed his way into her home in the middle of the night as she slept, a court heard. Greenwood repeatedly hit her over the head with a guitar and a glass lamp, before using broken shards of glass as he ‘tried to blind her’ so she couldn’t look at other men.
Just before police arrived and stopped him, Greenwood told his ex: “You didn’t think I’d come through your house to murder you, did you?” The brutal attack was the culmination of five years of controlling behaviour, during which he ‘bullied, terrorised, belittled and isolated’ her.
Greenwood, of Lancaster Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent, controlling or coercive behaviour, two counts of assault and making threats to kill. He received a 20 year extended sentence, including 15 years in prison and an extra five years on licence.
Paranoid dad convinced his girlfriend was sleeping with his best friend set house on fire
Ryan Lomax
(Image: GMP)
A paranoid dad convinced his girlfriend was sleeping with his best friend set fire to their house. Firefighters raced to the scene after Ryan Lomax started the blaze in an apparent bid to commit suicide.
His sister bravely brought him to safety as the fire raged and destroyed the attic of the terraced house in Radcliffe, Bury. No-one was hurt and the blaze didn’t spread to neighbouring homes, but it caused £80,000 worth of damage.
Lomax, 30, who has battled mental health problems, has now been jailed for arson. He had become ‘extremely paranoid’ and believed that his girlfriend of five years had been in a relationship with his best friend, which she ‘vehemently denied’, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
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Lomax, of Brookbottom Road, Radcliffe, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
‘Polite young man’ unmasked as Encrochat dealer who flogged drugs and luxury Mercedes to live lavish lifestyle
Remez Caffrey (left) and John Chean (right)
(Image: GMP)
A ‘polite young man’ has been unmasked as an Encrochat drug dealer who traded cars for drugs in a huge cocaine and amphetamine operation. Remez Caffrey, 24, from Moston, sold drugs under the name ‘FrostJacket’ with his co-defendant John Chean, 33.
They were found using the handle to deal class A and B drugs up and down the country and pictured living a lavish lifestyle. In messages recovered following a Europe-wide hack into Encrochat, a system used exclusively by members of organised crime groups to plan criminal activities, they were caught discussing buying and selling drugs.
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In one exchange, they admitted to another user that the account was used ‘for work’. And in another they arranged to meet a man to trade a 20 plate Mercedes for 18kg of amphetamine in Moston.
Caffrey and Chean have now both been jailed for a total of almost 20 years.
Knife-wielding thug’s bizarre rant in four-hour stand off with police
Abdul Muhith
(Image: GMP)
A thug who refused to let officers in to his flat after complaints about ‘partying’ and loud music said ‘anyone could buy a uniform’. Abdul Muhith, 34, claimed he didn’t know it was the police who were knocking on his door.
He barricaded the entrance to his flat and was involved in a four-hour stand off, until he eventually surrendered. When officers arrived at his flat in Longsight he told them to ‘f*** off’, and claimed to be holding a knife to his throat and said he would ‘slice it’ if anyone came inside.
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He threatened to ‘blow up’ any other officer that came into the property. Muhith was sentenced to 15 months in prison, after pleading guilty to affray and assaulting an emergency worker.
He also admitted criminal damage after smearing faeces in a cell at the police station.
Law student breaks down in tears as he’s jailed for grooming boy, 13, on PlayStation and trying to meet him at hotel
Ashley Brooks
(Image: GMP)
A law student sobbed as he was jailed for grooming a 13-year-old boy on PlayStation and booking a hotel to meet him. Ashley Brooks, 25, was speaking to the teenager for 18 months before arranging the visit to Birmingham.
However, police intercepted the boy’s phone when Brooks called him and asked the police if he could ‘say goodbye’, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. The police told him no, but Brooks then turned up at the house and asked if the boy was there, before apologising and leaving.
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The court heard that he had earlier come to the attention of police in Northern Ireland after speaking to a 10-year-old boy whilst pretending to be a teenage girl online. Brooks, of Holly Street, Tottington, Bury, pleaded guilty to being an adult attempting to meet a boy following grooming, and was jailed for 24 months.
Raging meat cleaver thug ‘wanted to go to prison for killing a police officer’
Louis Williams
A raging thug who threatened to kill his brother said he wanted to go to prison for ‘killing a police officer’ has been jailed for 15 months. Louis Williams, 32, pleaded guilty to making threats to kill, criminal damage and malicious communications.
He became enraged as he downed whiskey and cider, and accused his mother of stealing money from him. The ‘volatile’ Williams started punching holes in the wall and in a door, as his anger increased in the one bedroom flat he shared with his brother and mum.
At one point his brother noticed a meat cleaver, which he’d never seen before. “I will sick it in your head, don’t even look at me or I will stick it in your head,” Williams, from Gorton, told his sibling.
Then Williams ‘bizarrely’ began calling 999, making repeated calls and making threats to operators, prosecutor Paul Treble told Manchester Crown Court. He made threats to kill police officers, and at one stage said ‘he wanted to go to prison for killing a police officer or even killing a random citizen’, the barrister said.
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Williams began punching himself in the face as he experienced an apparent mental breakdown. His brother called the police but couldn’t get through at first. He and his mother were able to flee the property. A restraining order preventing Williams from contacting his mother and brother was imposed, to last three years.
Monster’ raped girl over nine months and filmed it to ‘degrade and humiliate’ her
Danny Harper
(Image: GMP)
A ‘monster’ raped a girl multiple times during nine months and recorded it on his phone to ‘degrade and humiliate’ her. Danny Harper, 31, sexually abused the girl and told her it was their ‘little secret’ in order to stop her from reporting it.
He was jailed for 12 years and 8 months after pleading guilty to three offences of rape, two offences of sexual assault and one offence of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. The court heard that Harper began abusing the girl in early 2020. He went on to take pictures of her genitals, prosecutor Brian Berlyne said.
Harper’s offending only came to light following his conversations with a fake profile of a 10-year-old girl that was being run by a paedophile hunter group. He added the profile as a ‘friend’ on Facebook and in September 18 he told the profile he could show her ‘naughty things’ and teach her about sex. Harper then asked her to send a picture of her genitals and of her in her underwear.
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Separately, his young victim courageously told her mum of Harper’s abuse. She was medically examined and found to have injuries. Harper was arrested and his phone was seized and examined, of which officers found 45 indecent images of the girl, 15 of which showed him sexually abusing her, it was said.
Harper was also made the subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely and must sign onto the Sex Offender Register indefinitely.
‘Depraved’ paedophile who abused child over 30 years ago locked up after victim bravely came forward
Ian Nixon has been sentenced to over 13 years in prison
(Image: GMP)
A man who bravely came forward about being abused as a child over three decades ago has finally seen the paedophile responsible brought to justice. Ian Nixon has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to three offences dating back to the 1980s. He has also been made to sign the sex offenders register.
The 57-year-old was sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday (March 14) after his victim gave significant evidence to Greater Manchester Police in summer 2019. The court heard that Nixon abused the boy, who was of infant school age, at a house in Rochdale on three occasions over a two-year period in the late 1980s.
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Some 30 years later, Nixon’s victim gave GMP graphic detail of a number of serious incidents that he was subjected to during that time. Nixon, currently of no fixed address, was later charged with indecent assault, gross indecency and a serious sexual offence which would now be considered rape. He pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2021.
The victim has been offered continuous support from specialist officers and partner agencies throughout the case, GMP says.
‘Yes, I’ve done it again’: Paedophile chef caught out months after he’s spared jail
Benjamin Behan (Image: GMP)
A pervert chef admitted to his family he had ‘done it again’ after being caught out by paedophile hunters. Benjamin Behan, 25, had been ordered to undergo the Horizon scheme, which aims to rehabilitate sex offenders and change their warped outlook, after being found with vile images of children.
But Behan, from Wythenshawe said it was a ‘load of cr**’. He claimed that sessions being moved online during the pandemic made them more difficult for him to follow. He has autism and ‘deals much better face to face,’ his barrister Mark Shanks told Manchester Crown Court.
Despite attempts to help him reform, Behan has now been locked up after he once again displayed a sexual interest in children. He was exposed by paedophile hunters, with a decoy account being set up in the name of a 14-year-old girl.
Members of the paedophile hunter group went to confront Behan at his home, and his stepfather answered the door. “Yes, I’ve done it again,” Behan admitted to his stepfather.
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Behan, of Inglesham Close, Wythenshawe, pleaded guilty to attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act.
“Your behaviour, I’m afraid, has demonstrated that you will not comply. You described the Horizon programme as a ‘load of cr**’, so custody must follow,” sentencing Judge Anthony Cross QC said, before jailing Behan for 16 months.
Man once cleared of murder locked up for 12 years after he’s caught with 20kg of cocaine
Ibraheem Abdullah, formerly Dwaine George, from Manchester who has pleaded guilty over the seizure of cocaine worth £1.6m
A man who was once cleared of murder has been locked up for 12 years after he was caught importing 20kg of cocaine. Dwaine George, 38, was using the Encrochat network to import the class A drug from Holland.
He was caught when GMP and NCA officers raided his uncle’s business at a joiner’s yard in Middleton, and intercepted a pallet. Stashed in boxes they found 20 kilos of cocaine. The drugs were said to be between 70 and 73 per cent purity and were worth a street value of £1.6 million.
The raid was part of Operation Venetic which smashed the Encrochat system in June 2020 as part of a Europe-wide investigation. Ibraheem Abdullah, formerly Dwaine George, from Manchester pleaded guilty over the seizure of cocaine worth £1.6m
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After earlier pleading guilty to conspiracy to evade a prohibition on the importation of class A drugs and was on Monday (March 14) jailed for 12 years. It comes as George, who also used the name of Ibrahmeed Abdullah, was convicted of the murder of Daneil Dale, a teenager in Miles Platting, before being cleared after a court ruled his conviction was unsafe.
By the time he had succeeded in overturning the conviction, he had already served a life sentence which had a minimum term of 12 years.
‘I will cut you up’: Serial offender stabbed shopping centre security guard in ‘frenzied’ attack
Luke McSharry took part in a ‘frenzied attack’ on Middleton Shopping Centre security guard, on August 14 last year.
(Image: GMP)
A 20-year-old who hit a shopkeeper over the head with a golf club and stabbed a shopping centre security guard has been sentenced to almost five years in jail. Luke McSharry, who had a long history of offending, took part in a ‘frenzied attack’ on Middleton Shopping Centre security guard, Paul McLaughlin, on August 14 last year.
The week before McSharry had made threats to Mr McLaughlin saying he would “stab you up”. On the 14th McSharry saw Mr McLaughlin again, becoming abusive and calling him a ‘fat c**t’ and said again that he would ‘cut him up’.
Mr McLaughlin took hold of him and there was a ‘scuffle’, according to prosecutor Hugh McKee at Manchester Minshull Street Court. “Within a short space of time he cut him five times”, Mr McKee added, before he ran away from the centre. McSharry was seen throwing something in a bush, which police later discovered to be the knife he had used in the attack.
Mr McLaughlin suffered ‘multiple stab wounds’, the most serious being one to the forearm which sliced a tendon. However, none of the injuries were life threatening. Another incident McSharry was charged with occurred on April 25 2020, when he was 18-years-old.
A group of boys took a box of Carlsberg lager from a shop on Cross Lane, Radcliffe, with the shop owner chasing after them. McSharry swung a golf club at the shop owner and hit him on the forehead, before running off.
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His upbringing was described as ‘dysfunctional as one can imagine’ having moved house 15 times by the age of 10. His mother also died at a young age.
McSharry was sentenced to four years in jail for wounding with intent (GBH) at Middleton Shopping Centre last year with six months concurrently for possession of a knife. He was handed a consecutive sentence of eight months for actual bodily harm relating to the incident in Radcliffe on April 25, 2020.
Sex worker, 36, stabbed customer in the stomach at ‘Gentlemen’s Health Club’ after forcibly grabbing his £10 back
Hayley Russell
(Image: Hayley Russell/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)
A sex worker stabbed a customer in the stomach after he grabbed his money back. Hayley Russell, 36, was jailed despite a judge suggesting the man should have been charged with robbery himself after he ‘forcibly’ took back the £10 he paid her for a “kiss and grope”.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Russell used a Stanley knife to stab the punter after an argument broke out during their 1am liaison outside a massage parlour in Levenshulme. The customer, who is in his 40s, was said to wrestle his money back from her pocket, but she flew into a rage and slashed him across the abdomen and arm on September 4.
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He was later treated for his wounds in hospital but was not seriously injured. In a statement read to the court, the victim said: “My life has worsened since this incident and I’m now fearful of everyone and I think they are going to attack me.
”I used to go out to exercise but I have since stopped doing this. The use of the blade really disturbed me and will stay with me forever.” Russell, from Moston, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and having a bladed article. She went on to be jailed for 16 months.
Man stabbed mum’s partner to death following alcohol-fuelled row
Dean Farrell (Image: GMP)
A man who stabbed his mother’s partner to death following an alcohol-fuelled argument has been jailed for two years and seven months. Dean Farrell, 22, was upstairs in his bedroom in Droylsden when his mum returned from a night out. She started arguing with 47-year-old Ian Bent.
Both Michelle Farrell and Mr Bent had been drinking. During the row, Dean Farrell shouted at Mr Bent to stop being verbally abusive, to which he told him to come downstairs. Armed with an 18-inch combat knife hidden down his trousers, Farrell became involved in a violent struggle with Mr Bent.
Mr Bent pushed him down onto the sofa before Farrell withdrew the knife and stabbed him four times to the neck and back, Manchester Crown Court heard. Mr Bent was left with a deep wound to his neck which went through his jaw bone, as well as a large wound to his back and other cuts on his head and neck.
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He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries. When the police arrived shortly after, Farrell was found on the front step crying as he told officers: “I’m sorry.. I was protecting my mum.”
After pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to manslaughter on the grounds that he was acting in self defence but went ‘too far’, Farrell, of Droylsden was jailed for two years and seven months on Wednesday (16 March).
Speeding BMW driver went to extraordinary lengths to try and cover up hit-and-run which left gran in ‘living hell’…she died months later
Joshua Hartley (Image: GMP)
A speeding driver who left a gran with horrendous injuries went to extraordinary lengths to try and cover up his crimes. Businessman Joshua Hartley went through a red light and ploughed into 66-year-old Valerie Sandham, who had just got off a bus to go shopping in Wythenshawe.
Mrs Sandham died six months later. Her family described the last period of her life as a ‘living hell’, after she underwent six operations after suffering breaks to her leg, spine, ribs and arm. Hartley, 32, left her seriously hurt in the road, after Mrs Sandham had been violently thrown into the air. He hid his BMW for a few days after the crash, then arranged to have it repaired and sold on.
Months later ‘diligent’ police officers traced the car to the west Midlands, where they found it had undergone significant repairs including a full bumper replacement. The use of data in the vehicle allowed police to prove that the car had been at the scene of the hit-and-run, and cell site data showed Hartley was also present.
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He eventually pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and has now been jailed for three years and four months following a hearing at Manchester Crown Court.
Mrs Sandham contracted Covid and suffered other complications, and prosecutors did not allege there was a causal link between the crash and her death.
Gang members jailed following gun-toting thug opening fire in BMW drive-by shooting
Sean Cowie, Dean Urey and Paul Ryan
Damning footage showed a gun-toting thug hanging from the window of a BMW as a petty rival gang feud spilled out onto the street. An innocent member of the public was caught up in the mindless violence – narrowly escaping with their life as a bullet hit their car. In broad daylight, Sean Cowie, 32, fires a handgun twice on a Tuesday afternoon in Newton Heath. Detectives said someone could easily have been killed.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that 39-year-old David Urey was behind the wheel of the BMW. The pair were then followed by Paul Ryan, 42 who was in another VW Golf, and the chase continued along Droylsden Road towards Ashton before the three cars split up.
The shooting came as part of an ongoing dispute between two gangs. And was committed in retaliation after those in the Golf they chased had ‘very badly beaten up’ a friend of theirs, the court was told.
The gun was supposed to be ‘waved as a warning’ and not fired, Ryan claimed. Cowie was jailed for five years and seven months, Urey for five years and four months and Ryan was sentenced to six-and-a-half years.
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“This was broad daylight on a busy road in Greater Manchester,” sentencing judge Angela Neild said. “Greater Manchester, particularly the city centre area, and this was not very far at all from the city centre, has sadly been no stranger to the use of guns in the course of commission of crime, often while there are rival gangs competing for whatever prize of a criminal nature might be at stake at any one time.
“That bullet could have gone anywhere.” Cowie, Urey and Ryan were all arrested in the days following. On January 21, police found a sawn-off shotgun at Ryan’s house, which had his DNA on the trigger.
Cowie, of Hardman Lane, Failsworth; Urey, of Ten Acres Lane, Newton Heath; and Ryan, of Ashton Road East, Failsworth; all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, and Ryan pleaded guilty to a separate offence of possession of a prohibited firearm.
Ex-soldier threatened to ‘chop up’ his partner as he stomped on her broken leg
(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
A former “boy soldier” who threatened to “chop up” his partner and stomped on her already-fractured leg has been jailed.
Arron Chevelleau, 32, of Portslade Road, pleaded guilty to two assaults and possessing a machete, the latest in his long history of criminal activity. Alison Whalley, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court that Chevelleau, who joined the Army when he was just 16, most recently came to the attention of the courts after two assaults, almost two years apart from each other.
At about 2am on October 19, 2019, Chevelleau was outside Bar Rouge on Portland Street when he headbutted Troy Bell, who had allegedly made a derogatory remark about Chevelleau’s mother, before punching him whilst holding his phone in his hand.
Ms Whalley, who said there was clearly “some form of background between the two”, told the court the altercation lasted less than two minutes and left the victim with a broken jaw, requiring surgery to fix.
Unfortunately, Chevelleau wasn’t interviewed by police until a year later – when he told officers he couldn’t remember much about the incident. Whilst this case was being brought before the courts, and Chevelleau had been released on bail pending further hearings, the aspiring chef committed another assault – the time on his partner.
According to Ms Whalley, the pair had been out drinking and taking cocaine on November 1, 2021, before returning to Chevelleau’s home in Wythenshawe. At 3am, after struggling to get to sleep, his partner headed out to a nearby garage to get some more alcohol, but stumbled and fell on the way, injuring her left leg and ankle.
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A worried passerby called an ambulance for the woman, who had been unable to get back on her feet, and she was waiting for medical attention when Chevelleau noticed she was missing and headed out to find her – grabbing a machete before he left.
When he found her on the street, he became aggressive and abusive, threatening to “chop her up” before punching her in the face and kicking and stamping on her injured leg, leaving her screaming in pain, said Ms Whalley. After the assault, Chevelleau told her not to scream because she would “wake the neighbours”.
Police arrested Chevelleau when they arrived at the scene, and recovered the machete he’d been carrying – which the victim fortunately hadn’t seen during the assault. The woman suffered a significant break to her lower leg and ankle, and had to go through surgery and have a blood transfusion to begin her long road to recovery.
The recent assault on his former partner breached a suspended sentence that had been handed down on November 7, 2019 where Chevelleau had been sentenced to 22 month imprisonment, suspended for two years, for possession with intent to supply the drug Spice. The sentence had been due to expire five days after the assault occurred.
Chevelleau was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment for all offences, 19 months for his assault on his partner, eight months for his assault on Mr Bell, and three months for breaching his suspended sentence, all to be served consecutively. A concurrent sentence of nine months imprisonment for possessing the machete was also handed down, alongside an indefinite restraining order against his former partner and a statutory victim surcharge.
Drunk glassed model in face in Albert’s Schloss during ‘misogynistic’ attack
Khalil Bangi
(Image: GMP)
A drunk man left a model scarred for life after subjecting her to a ‘misogynistic’ attack in a popular city centre nightspot. Khalil Bangi, 32, has been jailed after throwing a glass into the face of the woman, who had been minding her own business in Albert’s Schloss on Peter Street.
Bangi, who she’d never met before, blocked her path and started ‘pointing’ and ‘shouting’ at her. She tried to ignore him but Bangi continued to be aggressive and angry, Manchester Crown Court heard. He then subjected her to misogynistic abuse, calling her a ‘f****** slut’.
‘Entirely understandably’ the victim, who was on a night out with a friend on Friday 6 March 2020, then slapped Bangi, who in response slapped her back. He then grabbed a glass and threw it at her, causing a significant wound above her left eye.
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Blood poured down her face, and she needed more than 20 stitches to close the wound. She has been left permanently scarred and says her ordeal has affected her modelling work.
“The scar on my face has massively knocked my confidence to stand in front of a camera,” she said. She also suffered psychological problems since the attack, and has undergone counselling.
A judge hit out at Bangi’s ‘utterly despicable’ behaviour, as he locked him up for 16 months. “It was an unprovoked, misogynistic attack through the use of a weapon,” Recorder Michael Armstrong said.
Bangi, of St Michael’s Road, Bilsborrow, Preston, was locked up after pleading guilty to section 20 wounding, inflicting grievous bodily harm. He was also ordered to pay the victim £2,500 in compensation.
Football coach secretly filmed young girls undressing
A football coach has been jailed for nine months after he secretly filmed two girls undressing. Ian Nickson, 59, of Burns Road, Little Hulton, pleaded guilty to three counts of voyeurism relating to three separate videos of two young girls.
Nickson had made three sets of recordings, two involving the same girl as she was in the bath or shower, with the other set of videos recording a girl changing. David Lees, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Square that Nickson had secretly filmed his first victim twice.
When police first spoke to him, he told officers there might be a video of the girl on his phone. However, when officers examined the device, a video from a different occasion involving the same girl was actually discovered.
No footage from the third incident, involving the second victim, has been recovered. Nickson initially denied filming his second victim but, when speaking to police, said he had viewed the video and “felt ashamed” so had deleted it, before denying he had a sexual interest in children.
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In a victim impact statement read to the court, the mother of the first victim said she felt “devastated and sick”. She said her daughter was “not coping well” with the news that Nickson had in fact been videoing her and had started to self-harm and feel suicidal.
The court heard Nickson had coached a number of clubs over the past two decades. Nickson was also barred from working with young children, ordered to sign the sex offenders register for ten years, ordered to pay the statutory victim surcharge, and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years.
Motorbike gangster went on high-speed chase as mate fired gun
Ryan O’Neill, 32, of Alban Street in Salford has been jailed for nine years
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A second man has been jailed after dramatic CCTV captured a reckless gunman dismount from a motorbike and fire shots at a car during a high-speed chase. Ryan O’Neill, 32, was riding the bike as his pillion passenger fired four shots at a fleeing car in Salford.
The drama happened on Henley Avenue on February 19 last year. The shots missed the car but hit a house. The helmeted gunman Dominic Allison, 25, was captured on shocking CCTV footage moments after he got off the motorbike running and firing a pump action shotgun four times towards a car – he was jailed for 14 years in December.
Now the man who was riding the bike, O’Neill, of Alban Street in Salford, has also been jailed. Detectives tackling organised crime in Salford said the reckless incident ‘could have easily resulted in serious injury or even death’.
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Following the firearms discharge, the car sped off and was pursued by the motorbike, resulting in a high speed chase across Salford, before the car rammed into the bike. Following an analysis of forensics from the scene, officers were able to use DNA evidence as well as CCTV enquiries to establish that Allinson had fired the shotgun whilst O’Neill rode the bike.
O’Neill was sentenced to nine years in prison after he admitted possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life at Manchester Crown Court. He was also handed an extended licence period of three years.
Bookkeeper defrauded company out of nearly £70k using fake invoices over four years
Gillian Wilde
(Image: GMP)
A bookkeeper defrauded her employer out of nearly £70,000 using fake invoices over four years. Gillian Wilde, 58, had worked for DXG Media since 2001, but began withdrawing funds from the company account and placing them into her personal account.
She concealed these payments from scrutiny by passing them off as payments to clients or the postage company used by the business. Wilde, of Stockport, went on to create false invoices to further hide the thefts.
The total amount stolen between June 2016 and June 2020 was £69,133. Her offending only came to light after her boss noticed her making derogatory comments to other staff members about him, spotted her going on expensive holidays and wearing expensive clothing.
Wilde had been one of two bookkeepers at the company, based in Dukinfield, but from 2016 she began to work alone. The manager found it ‘increasingly difficult’ to access the business accounts, but as he trusted Wilde, he did not question her or check her workings, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
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The manager told the court that he had suffered from a heart attack in 2018 and was hospitalised for a number of weeks, during which Wilde stole the ‘majority’ of the money from the account.
Wilde was said to have no previous convictions and was said to be ‘genuinely remorseful’ and her barrister, Nicholas Clarke, said she didn’t understand ‘how she could have done it to her own family’. Wilde, of Woodlands Drive, was jailed for 26 months after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position. A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing has been set for August 9.
Man said he had ‘no idea’ there was eight kilos of cannabis in his room
A man claimed he had ‘no idea’ how eight kilos of cannabis got into his bedroom. Police raided the property in Rochdale where Redion Pupa had been staying with another man, who was said to be linked to a huge industrial sized cannabis farm.
Officers brought down two large grows being run by an organised crime gang in St Helens and Bacup, with police seizing about 150 kilos of the class B drug. The man in Rochdale was said to be responsible for ‘looking after’ the crop in St Helens, Manchester Crown Court heard.
When police went to his home to arrest him, they also found about eight kilos of cannabis, worth almost £80,000 on the streets, in a bedroom where 23-year-old Pupa had been staying. A total of eight vacuum sealed bags, which all weighed about a kilo, were found in a black Sports Direct bag, prosecutor Matthew Conway said.
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Pupa’s fingerprints were found on one of them. He told police he was not involved in the larger gang, and had only been in Manchester for a short time. He added that he had ‘no idea’ there was any cannabis in the bedroom.
Pupa had been in the UK for about 18 months and previously lived in the south of England, the court heard. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cannabis, and was jailed for 10 months.
Sadistic man tricked woman to let him into her home – then raped her and beat her unconscious
Brian Brough violently raped and beat his victim
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A violent thug tricked his way into a 60-year-old woman’s house by asking to use her toilet – before raping her and beating her unconscious. Brian Brough, 35, went to his victim’s house in Little Hulton on March 19 last year at around 9pm pretending to be a relative of a neighbour.
He then asked to use the bathroom and the woman agreed, with Brough letting himself inside, hanging his coat up and going to the toilet. He then followed her into the living room and sat next to her on the sofa before putting his arm around her, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Brough told her he was a male escort and asked whether she wanted to pay for sex with him, prosecutor Mark Kellet said. The woman declined before he exposed himself and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
She tried to fight him off but he struck her to the face and dragged her to the bedroom by her hair. He then raped her and attempted to rape her anally, the court heard.
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“During the ordeal, he repeatedly beat her, knocking her unconscious and fracturing her eye socket, nose and jaw,” Mr Kellet said. Bruising and abrasion were discovered during an intimate examination, as was Brough’s DNA.
“Having raped and beaten [the victim], leaving her battered and unconscious, he stole her phones, tobacco, chocolates and alcohol before leaving,” the prosecutor said. Brough was arrested on March 25 and claimed he couldn’t recall the incident.
Following a trial in November last year, Brough was convicted unanimously by a jury of section 18 grievous bodily harm, rape, attempted rape and burglary. Brough had refused to attend his trial, and was not represented.
Brough, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 18 years with an extended licence period of four years. He will serve two thirds of his sentence in prison before being considered for release by the parole board. He must also sign onto the Sex Offender’s Register for life.
‘Family man’ on £80k a year swindled company he worked for out of £6.7m
James Hall, 49, has been jailed for six years
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A financial controller transferred himself £6.7 million from the cash reserves of the company he worked for to ‘secure the financial security of his wife and children’, despite already earning more than £80,000 per year.
James Hall, 49, then lost most of the money gambling on the FTSE 100 index, Bolton Crown Court heard. Hall, of Bolton, had worked for Merseyside-based shopfitting business Vale UK since 1996 and had become good friends with the managing director Paul Henerty, prosecution barrister Fiona McNeill told the court.
Mr Henerty described Hall as a “great asset to the company”, said he “trusted him implicitly”, and had even planned on making him a director. When the business moved to electronic banking in 2007, Hall was authorised to pay bills and make transfers online. He was also responsible for authorising the company’s expenses.
In 2012, Hall approached Mr Henerty to ask for a loan of £250,000 to help buy a better house closer to his daughter’s school. Mr Henerty agreed but following this, Hall transferred himself £6.7 million over the next three years.
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His fraud was uncovered during an accounting audit in March 2015. When confronted, Hall said that he had taken the money and gambled it on the FTSE 100 to ‘secure the financial security of his wife and children’ but that he had ‘very little left’.
Judge Tom Gilbart jailed Nuttall, of Eastgrove Avenue, Sharples, for six years. He had previously pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud.
Drugs gangs who ‘took over’ town jailed as part of part of Cheshire police’s largest ever county lines operation
The ‘Long Haired Luke’ line was burst open by a robust police investigation
Carving the name of their gang into tree branches at a popular park, they thought they could own the streets of Warrington and control the supply of the drugs into the small town.
But gang members from Manchester and Merseyside have now been locked up for a combined 141 years as part of Cheshire Police’s largest ever county lines operation. It saw a crackdown on activity by the Long Haired Luke 2, Onion, Jonno and Paul gangs.
On a daily basis – and in full view of the local community – drug deals would take place at parks as children played nearby. Gang members would compete with one another for their place and ownership.
The gangs carried weapons including machetes and axes as a way to threaten and warn rivals. While others would use stolen cars to supply people in Warrington with crack cocaine and heroin.
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Through a covert eight-month operation – masterfully using surveillance, CCTV footage, mobile phone billing data, and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) – officers were able to track down those involved. Undercover cops would also be used to buy from the gangs – proving that each item bought on 13 occasions either contained crack cocaine or heroin.
Almost 14 months since the operation began, drug dealers from six gangs were sentenced over three days at Liverpool Crown Court. One of the gangs was sentenced on Wednesday 9 March and Thursday 10 March at the same court. The remaining four gangs will be sentenced in April 2022.
Thirty men and one woman are now behind bars for a total of 141 years and eight months. At least six gangs were estimated to have made a combined total of between £558,000 and £1,116,000 during the operation.
Bouncer who killed ‘dearly loved’ student doctor with single punch
(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
A doorman who killed a “dearly loved” student doctor with a single punch as he acted as a peacemaker was jailed for four-and-a-half years.
Nojan Kafi, 36, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, for killing Emmanuel Simon in Rusholme in January 2020. The court heard that Kafi, who had no previous convictions, was off-duty at the Dubai Cafe on Wilmslow Road in the early hours of Sunday, January 26, when 33-year-old student doctor Emmanuel, originally from Eritrea in Africa, visited the establishment with friends after celebrating a wedding.
Peter Cadwallader, prosecuting, told the hearing a disturbance broke out at around 5am, after some of the group had been allowed in whilst others had been refused entry, with the group heading back out onto the street. Emmanuel had his arms raised in a “peaceful gesture” when Kafi pushed and tripped another man before walking up and punched the student doctor in the jaw – knocking him to the ground where he hit his head and fell unconscious.
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The punch sparked a mass brawl in the street, with Kafi quickly rushing to his victim’s side and putting him into the recovery position. Emmanuel was taken to hospital where he unfortunately never regained consciousness, and died on February 10, two weeks after the attack, from the injuries to his brain.
Kafi pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was jailed for four-and-a-half years. He was also sentenced to three months imprisonment for affray, after pleading guilty to the offence following an incident on the 23 September 2018 where he refused to let two men into Victoria’s Lap Dancing Bar. Kafi was on bail for this offence at the time of punching Emmanuel.
Thief raided hospital and elderly woman’s home in string of burglaries
Wesley Trevett has been jailed
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A burglar who walked into a hospital and stole a number of items belonging to staff has been jailed for more than two years, at Bolton Crown Court, after admitting to four burglaries between August and October 2021. Wesley Trevett, 42, also pleaded guilty to an attempted burglary.
The court heard how he tried the door handle of a property on Newbrook Road, Bolton on August 10 but walked off. On September 19, Trevett, of Clivedale Place, entered the home of a 89-year-old deaf woman via the patio doors which had been left open. He took the woman’s handbag, house keys and £300 in cash before leaving through the front door.
On September 22, Trevett burgled a house in Highfield Road, Farnworth, and stole a purse. Then on September 29, Trevett carried out the first of two burglaries at Royal Bolton Hospital. Prosecution barrister Philip Hall told the court that a trainee biomedical scientist had left her handbag in a code-locked seminar room.
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Trevett gained access to the room and stole it. Mr Hall told the court that the lock appeared to have been “tampered with in some way.” Then on October 1, Trevett struck again, stealing an ID card, keys, food, and £30 from the ‘tea fund’. He was arrested later that day and police found a number of the items that he stole from the hospital.
Trevett made no admissions to police in interview but told them that he has a long-term addiction to heroin. He eventually pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary. The court heard that Trevett has 33 convictions for 84 offences, including an extensive history of theft and burglary.
Judge Tom Gilbart jailed Trevett for two years and three months. He said: “It is because victims are left to feel worried about the safety and security of their homes that dwelling house burglaries must be viewed seriously.”
‘Loving’ boyfriend who killed woman, 30, in crash is jailed – despite victim’s family ‘disagreeing’ with prosecution
Peter Clarke
(Image: Manchester Evening News)
A “loving” boyfriend who killed his girlfriend in a crash has been jailed – despite the victim’s family ‘disagreeing’ with the prosecution. Mum-of-one Natalia Kulik died after Peter Clarke’s car crashed through a roundabout barrier and landed on its side on an underpass in Salford.
Speeding Clarke was driving on the A6 in Salford when he lost control of his BMW and ploughed into a roundabout. The couple were heading into Manchester to do some Christmas shopping on Sunday, October 27 2019.
One eyewitness thought the BMW was driving so fast that it was being chased by police. It was later estimated that Clarke, a father, had been driving between 73mph and 83mph, about double the speed limit for the area.
Ms Kulik was the front seat passenger. She was unresponsive and was cut from the BMW by firefighters, but she died at Salford Royal hospital. Clarke was left fighting for his life after suffering serious injuries himself.
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The weather conditions were dry, there was clear visibility any there was no evidence of Clarke being under the influence of drink or drugs. He has no previous convictions, and a clean driving licence.
Clarke, 34, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving, but said he had ‘no explanation’ why he was speeding and has little recollection of what happened. He was sentenced to three years and four months. He will serve half of the sentence in prison, and was also banned from driving for five years and eight months.
Brothers ran £120,000 ‘chop shop’ selling stolen BMW, Audi and VW parts on eBay to live ‘lucrative lifestyle’
Brothers Kieran Maher (left) and Connor Maher (right) ran the chop-shop from a mill in Radcliffe
(Image: GMP)
Two brothers ran a ‘chop shop’, breaking down high end stolen cars and selling the parts on eBay – and raked in more than £120,000. Connor and Kieran Maher operated out of a Radcliffe mill and took around 16 new and expensive cars which they broke down in order to sell parts on.
The cars recovered ranged from wholly intact, to merely wheels and panels, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. Connor, 29, had set up an eBay account under the name ‘connormaher92’ before changing it to ‘C.Parts’.
At the mill, police officers found a number of cars without registration plates and in varying states of destruction. All ‘marketable parts’ were being systematically removed from each vehicle prior to the main vehicle bodyshell being cut up into small sections for easy disposal.
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The court was told that Connor and Kieran had earlier been arrested for their part in growing cannabis at a number of houses across Greater Manchester. They both later pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis on the day of their trial, and were released from custody.
Connor Maher was said to have no previous convictions while Kieran Maher, 31, had two previous convictions for five offences including possession with intent to supply cannabis. In March, Connor Maher, of Spinners Lane, was jailed for five years and five months; Kieran Maher, of Ellesmere Avenue, was jailed for 36 months.
Paedophile who repeatedly abused girl, 13, breaches order less than year after release
A paedophile who breached his sexual harm prevention order multiple times, less than a year after being released from prison, has been jailed yet again. Danion Nuttall was originally jailed in 2018 after being convicted of three counts of sexual activity with a child.
Nuttall, 29, began speaking to the 13-year-old girl after meeting her at a bike racing event, prosecution barrister Bob Sastry told Bolton Crown Court. He then met up with her on a number of occasions and abused her. He was jailed for 40 months and released on licence in June 2020, the court heard.
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Between April and October 2021, he breached his notification requirement and sexual harm prevention order on two occasions after failing to disclose contact with children to the probation service. Mr Sastry told the court that the breaches were carried out in Wigan and confirmed that the nature of the contact was not sexual.
Defending Nuttall, Gerald Baxter told the court that Nuttall eventually came clean to the probation service and was recalled to prison in October 2021. Judge Tom Gilbart jailed Nuttall, of no fixed address, for ten months after he pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a notification requirement and two counts of breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
Mum hit toy store assistant with car and carried him for 50ft after nicking two children’s scooters
Barbara Young was jailed for 22 months
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A mum-of-two rammed her car into a store assistant and carried him on the bonnet for 50 feet before running over him after nicking two children’s scooters from a toy store. Barbara Young, 25, drove her Fiat 500 into the West One Retail Park in Eccles then went into the Smyths store with her sister and her son.
The women picked up two of the electric scooters worth £130, alongside a bag for life full of items and went to the check out. Young, of Bolton, walked out of the store with the scooters and put them in the boot of her car. Her sister was stopped by the store assistant, and the woman apologised and handed him the bag for life back.
But he soon noticed the transaction for the scooters had been voided. “He followed her to the carpark and saw the defendant in the driving seat, and saw a male and a child in the front seat,” Juliet Berry, prosecuting, told the court.
“The second female explained to the defendant that they needed to get the scooter out of the boot, to which she said the boot wouldn’t open. At this point the store assistant became suspicious and took a photo of the registration plate and said he was going to call the police.”
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Young’s sister then jumped into the car as Young drove at him. CCTV of the footage showed the man clinging onto the bonnet as she drove away, shortly before he slumped to the ground. She then drove over his feet as she made good her escape. As he clung on, he struck the windscreen with his phone, causing it to crack.
An hour later the car was found abandoned, along with one of the unicorn scooters and another bag for life. The store assistant’s phone was found on the edge of the windscreen. Following a check of the car by the police and DVLA, Young was found to be the registered keeper, but the vehicle itself was on false plates and she wasn’t insured.
The man sustained numerous injuries including abrasions to his sternum, back, elbow and knuckles. Young was said to have seven previous convictions for 19 offences including shoplifting, driving without due care or attention and driving without insurance.
Jane Dagnall, defending, said the car had been a gift from her family, but didn’t know it was stolen. She said she only knew the car was on false plates after her arrest. Young, of Crompton Lodge Caravan Park, Hall Lane, was jailed for 22 months.
Along with her prison sentence, Young, who pleaded guilty to theft; assault occasioning actual bodily harm and dangerous driving; as well as driving with no insurance; no licence; and failing to stop after an accident; was banned from driving for two years and nine months and made the subject of a restraining order for seven years.
