From husband who bludgeoned his wife to death with a crowbar then tried to cover his tracks -  to the predatory paedophile who groomed two girls on social media before meeting and sexually abusing them, the regions courts have given out heft prison sentences for all manor of crimes in October.

We've also seen a businesswoman subjected to a stalking campaign by her jealous and paranoid boyfriend after he wrongly became convinced she was cheating on him; the 'Junior' county lines drugs gangsters who flooded Blackpool with heroin and cocaine from Manchester; and the ex-cop who ran youth centre tuck shop gave girl free crisps and coffee and told her not to tell anyone - before sexually abusing her.

An open, transparent criminal justice system is an important part of how our democracy works - so we make no apologies for devoting so much time to letting you know what happens in our courts.

These are just some of the court cases our reporters have covered in October.

The violent thug who left a Manchester student so terrified she has quit her job and left the city

Liam Gibbons

A former Manchester student quit her job and left the city after a vile thug beat her up and robbed her at knifepoint in her own home.

Phoebe Gibby, 22, was pinned down on her bed and repeatedly punched about the face after Liam Gibbons went back to her house late at night and burst in wielding a kitchen knife and demanding her MacBook, after he spotted her working on it through a window earlier that day.

During the terrifying raid in Fallowfield, Gibbons, who disguised himself with a hoodie and scarf across his face, ransacked the victim's room, flipped over her desk, and emptied the contents of boxes over the floor.

After failing to locate the device he shouted: ''You're a crazy bitch'' before fleeing with her handbag when house mates came to the victim's rescue.

Miss Gibby who was due to graduate at Manchester University, had to have nine stitches to a mouth wound and was left with swelling above the right eyebrow and a broken nose.

Gibbons, 27, was arrested later after he attempted to use the victim's bank card.

At Manchester Crown Court, Miss Gibby relived her ordeal as she saw Gibbons jailed for ten and a half years.

Gibbons admitted aggravated burglary and causing grievous bodily harm.

He had 19 previous offences on his record including the robbery of a 14-year-old girl who was mugged as for her mobile phone as she walked home from school. He had also previously served a four-year stretch for drugs offences.


'I know you're with someone': The chilling texts and Google searches of jealous trucker who stalked businesswoman

Michael Blake
Michael Blake

A businesswoman was subjected to a stalking campaign by her jealous and paranoid boyfriend after he wrongly became convinced she was cheating on him.

The woman, 27, had her clothing cut up and her watch and jewellery dumped in apple juice when obsessed trucker Michael Blake, 36, threw a series of temper tantrums in the misguided belief she was dating other men.

On one occasion she was out with friends when Blake who was at home at their shared city centre apartment in Manchester sent her pictures showing one of her jumpers with the sleeve missing and her laptop placed in their bath.

She also got a message from the father-of-one saying: ''I know you're with someone. He's staying in a hotel nearby.''

She got home to find herself locked out and when she eventually got access, discovered one of her dresses had also been destroyed.

The woman broke off the couple's 17 month relationship but was bombarded with junk emails and cold calls from PPI firms and loan companies after Blake made a series of online applications in her name. He also rang her 76 times in one day.

At Manchester Crown Court, Blake, now of Frodsham, Cheshire admitted harassment and was jailed for 29 months. He was also banned from contacting her indefinitely under the terms of a restraining order.


The 'Junior' county lines drugs gangsters who flooded Blackpool with heroin and cocaine from Manchester

The gang flooded Blackpool with heroin and cocaine

Undercover police have smashed a 'County Lines' drugs gang which trafficked heroin and cocaine from Manchester to Blackpool.

The gang, known as 'Junior', flooded the streets of the seaside resort with class A drugs.

Police say the gang used a phone number based in Manchester which addicts could call to place an order for drugs.

Kane Hopkins

Street level dealers and couriers were then used to transport the drugs from Manchester to Blackpool.

But the gang were brought to justice by an undercover police operation known as Operation Mallard.

Eleven people have now been convicted of County Lines-related crimes as a result of the sting.

Jamie Copeland

Those jailed include ringleader Kane Hopkins, 25, of Ivy Street, Moston, who was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Also behind bars is Jamie Copeland who was found to have a Kinder Egg capsule stuffed with 30 wraps of crack and 20 wraps of heroin between his buttocks when he was arrested at his home at East Boothroyden in Blackpool.

Copeland, 35, was jailed for three years.

Also sentenced for their part in the operation were:

Christian Cook (L) and Dean Bennett

Christian Cook, 20, of Princess Court, Blackpool, who was jailed for three years  and eight months.

Dean Bennett, 34, of Spencer Court, Blackpool, who was jailed for four years.

David Heaps (L) and Reece Barlow

David Heaps, 38, of General Street, Blackpool, who was jailed for four years and one month. 

Reece Barlow, 20, of Charles Street, Blackpool, who was jailed for three years. 

Nikolaos Mandulakis (L) and James Baillie

Nikolaos Mandulakis, 50, of Cragg Street, Blackpool, who was jailed for three years and six months.

James Baillie, 40, of Moore Street, Blackpool, who was jailed for five years and six months.

Karlie Kanger-Kamara, 26,  who was jailed for five years one month.

Two other gang members received suspended prison sentences. Theresa Ratcliffe, 35, of Lytham Road, Blackpool, was given two year prison sentence suspended for two years.

Aaron Scott, 24, of Gorton Street, Blackpool, was given an 18 month prison sentence suspended for two years.


The man who tried to rape a woman as she walked her dog at 8am

Jailed: Liam Begley

A man who tried to rape a woman out walking her dog has been jailed.

Liam Jazz Alexander Begley was locked up for seven years after the incident in Sale , Trafford, police said.

The victim, a woman aged in her 50s, was approached by hooded Begley near trees and a car park off Firs Road, Ashton-on-Mersey , early on March 16.

He was on a silver bicycle at the time.

A court heard he dragged her to the ground and covered her mouth.

Screaming out for help, she repeatedly tried to fight him off but was dragged behind a building nearby.

He then ripped at her clothes and started to sexually assault and bite her.

The Crown Prosecution Service said a fellow dog walker passing by heard her screams and ran to her aid.

Begley, from Sale, rode off on his bike in the direction of Harboro Road.

Begley was jailed by a judge for seven years with an extended licence period of three years.


Greater Manchester man jailed after admitting taking part in violence that broke out at 'Free Tommy Robinson' protest

Robert Sandford, from Bolton, has been jailed for 14 months after admitting taking part in violence that broke out at a 'Free Tommy Robinson' protest

A Bolton man has been jailed for his part in a 'Free Tommy Robinson' protest that descended into violence.

Robert Sandford was sentenced to 14 months behind bars after admitting taking part in trouble that broke out at the demonstration in Central London in June 2018.

The Metropolitan Police said more than 20 officers were injured after scaffolding, glass bottles and items of street furniture - including heavy barriers - were thrown at them.

Sandford, 47, of Bolton Road, Hunger Hill, previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

He is one of 14 to have been sentenced after the Met launched Operation Augusta to investigate the violence at the rally.


Violent robber who fled to Spain to escape justice is finally behind bars

Jailed: Jonathan Ogden

A violent robber who fled to Spain to avoid arrest is now behind bars.

Police said Jonathan Ogden's victims were 'absolutely terrified' as he threatened them.

In one robbery, he smashed into a house through a bay window then hacked a hole in a bedroom door with a machete to reach the cowering occupants and steal their car.

Ogden, 28, of Grasmere Street in Leigh, Wigan , was found guilty by a jury after trial of burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and two counts of robbery.

He was jailed by a judge sitting at Bolton Crown Court for 10 years and eight months.

All Ogden's crimes took place in Tyldesley and Leigh .


'Highly trusted player' ran £3.5m international money laundering racket from flat in Levenshulme

Jamshed Bhatti

A 'highly trusted player' in a £3.5 million money laundering racket ran the international operation from a flat in Levenshulme.

Jamshed Bhatti, 60, who is on the run, claimed he was living 'hand to mouth' from the flat on Stockport Road.

In fact handwritten records showed that almost £3.5 million had passed through his hands in the three months prior to a search of his property.

Police also found more than £50,000 in cash there.

Bhatti didn't have a job, and hadn't paid income tax since 2006.

But officers found a staggering amount of money had passed through him, to help criminals launder their dirty money.

Bhatti told investigators from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs that that the money originated from his import and export business, J&F Traders Ltd, a company which he said facilitated trade between Pakistan and the UK.

But no records of the business could be found, with no VAT registration or any tax returns being recovered.

Bhatti also told police that he wasn't a money launderer, and that the money had come from abroad and may be used as an investment for his son, or for a wedding.

He fled the country and absconded to Pakistan.

Bhatti was convicted of money laundering in his absence.

Sentencing was adjourned for 28 days to give Bhatti the opportunity to return if he wished, but Judge Hilary Manley passed sentence without him.

The judge jailed Bhatti for six-and-a-half years. A warrant is out for his arrest.


Sick paedophile Facebook messaged young girls saying he wanted to rape them and get them pregnant

Abdul Khalid

A sick paedophile told young girls he wanted to rape them and get them pregnant, a court heard.

Abdul Khalid, 27, sent explicit messages to schoolgirls on Facebook detailing his vile fantasies.

One of his victims was just 12.

Khalid, from Longsight, told her he wanted 'to do you and your friends'.

He told a 15-year-old girl he couldn't wait to meet up and have sex with her.

Khalid spoke with another girl about how he wanted to meet her in a park in Stretford, and how he wanted to 'touch her all over'.

In chat logs recovered from Facebook, Khalid spoke in explicit terms about how he wanted to make the girl pregnant and said he was going to 'rape' her.

He told another girl he wanted to get her pregnant and sent explicit messages.

Prosecutors said he told another girl he wanted to have sex with her while she wore her school uniform.

Khalid never actually met up with any of his victims.

Khalid was already serving a three-year jail term imposed in February 2017, for similar offending of two counts of inciting a child into sexual activity.

The offences for which he has now appeared in court only came to light after that sentencing, which was passed at Minshull Street Crown Court.

Now Khalid has pleaded guilty to four counts of attempting to incite a child into sexual activity, and one count of inciting a child into sexual activity.

He was only charged with one completed offence of incitement as the authorities were only able to trace the 12-year-old girl.

At Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday, Khalid was jailed for an additional 32 months.

Khalid, of Copthorne Crescent, has 15 previous convictions, including for drugs and motoring offences.


The boozed-up 'bully' who punched his girlfriend, bit her son on the neck and called her teenage girl a 'fat slag' - all while holding his baby

Michael McGrath punched his girlfriend, with their 12-week-old baby in his arms

A drunken brute who attacked his partner and two of her children whilst cradling their 12-week-old baby girl in his arms following an afternoon in the pub is now behind bars.

Michael McGrath, 35, who had consumed nine pints of lager punched Nicola Kennedy in the face, bit her 14-year-old son on the neck and slapped her 16 year old daughter during a row about who was going to look after the infant.

As he held the baby in his arms McGrath shouted 'you fat slag' at the teenage girl and mocked her father, before mauling her brother as the lad tried to intervene.

The youngsters fled to the grandmother's house for help whilst McGrath grabbed two cans of cider from the fridge and left the house they all shared in Oldham.

Miss Kennedy suffered bruising and swelling to her left eye whilst her son suffered bite marks to the back of his neck and the girl suffered a mark on her cheek from the slap.

Police arrested McGrath and discovered he had been drinking heavily with Miss Kennedy's father at a pub at Oldham in the run up to the attacks.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, McGrath admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two charges of common assault and was jailed for 10 months.


Finance boss cost employees their jobs after looting company cash to feed secret drug habit... he took £21,000 and did heroin in the office

Richard Turner

A finance director who cost four employees their jobs after he looted company money to feed a secret heroin habit has been jailed.

Richard Turner, 36, had been entrusted to hold the purse strings at a plant machinery hire firm which rents out construction equipment and was tasked with improving security on payments to the company.

But within a month of being hired he was diverting money from customers to his own bank account.

Bosses at Perfect Associates Ltd in Hazel Grove, Stockport, Greater Manchester uncovered the scam after Turner was fired when they discovered he was taking heroin at the office.

Investigations revealed he had stolen a total of £21,514.31 but profit margins slumped by almost £300,000 after senior staff had to spend several months checking financial records. Four staff were subsequently made redundant.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Turner formerly of Romiley, Stockport, now of Prestatyn, admitted theft by employee and fraud by abuse of position and was jailed for 27 months.

He grabbed a vulnerable man by the neck, stabbed him in the thigh, then made off with his Cartier this thug has been jailed for 12 years

Daniel Kavanagh

A violent thug has been locked up for 12 years for subjecting vulnerable people to a series of terrifying robberies across Wythenshawe .

Daniel Kavanagh, 31, attacked two victims, stabbing one man in the thigh and throwing a female pensioner to the ground, in a bid to steal their belongings.

Kavanagh and his accomplice, Letitia Kavanagh, 29, first targeted a house on Maismore Road in February this year.

In a second attack, Kavanagh targeted a 79 year-old woman as she left a shop in the Burnsall Walk area on Friday, 22 March.

Letitia Kavanagh

Daniel Kavanagh, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 12 years at Manchester Crown Court after he was convicted of two counts of robbery following a trial.

Letitia Kavanagh, also NFA, was jailed for five years and nine months after admitting one count of robbery.


The 'Gucci line' heroin and crack dealers locked up after a sting operation by undercover police in Bury

Kieran Kay and Jade Adams have both been jailed for two years for their part in the operation

Four drug dealers have been jailed for a total of 10 years after being caught in an undercover police sting.

The gang were part of an operation known as the 'Gucci line', which flooded the streets of Bury with heroin and crack cocaine, before they were caught earlier this year.

They were arrested after undercover officers arranged meets with them in locations around the town over a three-month period as part of 'Operation Ballerina'.

Among those jailed at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on Friday was Andrew Dootson, aged 58, of Padiham Drive, Bury, who was sentenced to 40 months in jail.

Also behind bars is Colin Nuttall, aged 65, of Kestrel Drive, Bury, who was sentenced to 32 months behind bars for his role in the operation.

Meanwhile, Kieran Kay, aged 26, of Goldbrook Close, Heywood, was jailed for two years and banned from driving for 26 months for a separate offence in May of this year when he led police on a lengthy pursuit around Heywood before crashing into a parked car.

Kay's partner, Jade Adams, aged 29, of Downham Road, Heywood, was also jailed for two years.

All four had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to supply class A controlled drugs, namely heroin and crack cocaine, at an earlier hearing.


Convicted killer who escaped from an open prison was 'trying to prove he was no longer a threat to the public'

Paul Creedy, 26, walked out of HMP Kirkham in August

A convicted killer who walked out of an open jail and spent two weeks with his family was 'trying to prove that he was no longer a threat to the public'.

Paul Creedy was jailed for 10 years in October 2013 for manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery. 

The 26-year-old, formerly of Wythenshawe , was serving his sentence at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire when he absconded from the Category D prison in August.

He was eventually arrested two weeks later, after being spotted outside the Famous Embassy Club on Rochdale Road in Harpurhey .

Manchester Crown Court heard that Creedy had been 'trying to prove he was safe to go back into society'.

The court heard that during his time behind bars, Creedy had become a 'model' prisoner, who had taken every opportunity offered to him to take part in educational courses, and was due to be up for parole next April. 

He has now been transferred to a high security prison following his absconsion.

Judge Elizabeth Nicholls sentenced Creedy to four months in jail, to run concurrently with his existing sentence.


The predatory paedophile who groomed two girls on social media before meeting and sexually abusing them

Dewan Gazi

A paedophile groomed two girls on social media before meeting them and sexually abusing them, a court heard.

Dewan Gazi, 22, met a 12-year-old girl in her own home before raping her, and he took a 15-year-old girl to his home and sexually abused her.

The abuse of the 12-year-old came to light after her mother found her dancing half naked in her bedroom, with a mobile phone propped up to film herself.

When they discussed their disparity in age, Gazi, from Blackley, told the girl that 'age is just a number'.

After meeting the 15-year-old girl the first time, she told Gazi that she had searched on the internet and found that the age of consent was 16, and she was concerned she might get in trouble.

Messaging on social media, Gazi replied with a laughter emoji, and said: "Yeah I know it is illegal, but no-one will find out."

Jailing Gazi for 12 years, Judge Michael Leeming told him: "You must understand it is illegal, it is not alright and people have found out."

Gazi has no previous convictions. He was described as 'immature' by his barrister, and his sister described him as 'not the sharpest tool in the box'.

Gazi, of Croxdale Walk, Blackley, pleaded guilty to 13 offences.

The offences were: one count of sexual communication with a child, two counts of meeting a child following sexual grooming, one count of sexually assaulting of a child, one count of the rape of a child, four counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault by penetration, two counts of taking an indecent image of a child and one count of distributing an indecent image of a child.

Gazi was ordered to sign the sex offender's register for life.


'What a crock of sh*t'... the lying pilot who narrowly missed the M62 when he crashed at Barton Aerodrome and STILL thinks he's a hero

Robert Murgatroyd

A pilot who crashed his plane has been handed more jail time after he failed to tell insurers that aircraft operated by him had previously been involved in three fatal crashes.

Robert Murgatroyd, 53, narrowly missed the M62 when he took off in his severely overloaded Piper Cherokee plane from Barton Aerodrome.

He was trying to fly three bird watchers to the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, to see a rare bird which had been spotted on the remote island for the first time in 30 years.

Minutes after taking off, the plane plummeted into a potato field. Luckily the passengers were not seriously hurt.

During an astonishing police interview after the crash, Murgatroyd tried to portray himself as the 'hero of the moment'.

After being convicted of aviation offences following a trial, Murgatroyd was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Murgatroyd was back in Manchester Crown Court last week, where he pleaded guilty to an offence of fraud, of making a false declaration to obtain insurance.

Judge Michael Leeming said Murgatroyd has a 'cavalier attitude to aviation', and sentenced him to a further 22 weeks in prison, to run consecutively to his three-and-a-half year term.


Man tried to rape teen, 17, then 'humiliates' her in court as he wins right to stay in UK

Prince Saidi, 35, had moved to the UK from the Democratic Republic of Congo after fleeing the ongoing Kivu military conflict in 2015 and he later won ''indefinite leave to remain'' or ''settled status''  in this country

A man who tried to rape a 17-year old girl then "humiliated" her in a courtroom as he won the right to stay in Britain has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.


But the father-of-three was arrested after he ambushed the teenager and then forced himself on her at a home in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

The victim was grabbed by the breasts before being dragged to the floor by Saidi who pulled off her clothing before trying to rape her.

She was initially reluctant to call police for fear of being shunned in her devoutly religious neighbourhood but subsequently learnt malicious rumours had been spread about her claiming she was an ''easy girl'' who had sent explicit videos to Saidi.

He was also suspected of triggering a whispering campaign which besmirched the reputation of the girl's family.

The teenager, who cannot be named, later had to testify against Saidi in a trial in which  her underwear was held up in court and she had to be rushed to hospital from the witness box after suffering from stress related stomach pains. The court was told she now regularly considers taking her own life following the ordeal.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Saidi was convicted of attempted rape, sexual assault and assault after a trial. He denied wrongdoing but is expected to escape deportation back to his native Africa as the Congo is still in a state of conflict and is too dangerous for him to be sent back there.

Saidi will also have to sign the Sex Offender Register  for life and was banned from contacting the girl under the terms of a restraining order. He is also banned from working with children or vulnerable adults when he is released from jail.


'You have been brave in the extreme'... beauty therapist praised by judge for helping jail thug ex-boyfriend who stabbed her five times

Aaron Booth has a string of other offences for violence including ABH, battery and attempted robbery

A beauty therapist who helped jail her obsessed ex-boyfriend for 14 years after he took her hostage and stabbed her five times in a frenzied knife attack has been hailed by a judge for testifying about their abusive relationship to ''protect other women'' from him.

Zahra Rechelle, 31, had too been frightened to report 27-year old Aaron Booth over his bullying behaviour and even stayed with him for fear social service would intervene and take her away her young son from a previous relationship.

But when she called time on their 20 month on-off romance, Booth followed her as she spent an evening with friends then broke into her home at 1am after she went to bed.

He dragged her into the street by her hair and stabbed her in the stomach and legs in front of local police - then as she bled heavily from a series of wounds, the father of two put the knife against Miss Rechelle's throat as he was told to surrender.

Booth, from Glossop, held her captive briefly before a stand off with police lasting three hours.

Miss Rechelle was treated for her wounds and later agreed to give evidence against Booth fearing he would harm other women he came into contact with.

At Manchester Crown Court, Judge Richard Mansell QC praised Miss Rechelle as Booth, also of Glossop, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, assault by beating, escaping custody and possession of a bladed article following the stabbing last February 2.

His not guilty plea to attempted murder was accepted.

Booth will be on licence until the year 2039 following his release from jail under the terms of an extended sentence.


The remorseless car thieves who attacked a dad who tried to stop them stealing his pick-up truck... they grinned as they were sent down

Jamie Lee Hannon (L) and Daniel Arthur White
Jamie Lee Hannon (L) and Daniel Arthur White

Two violent car thieves have been jailed after a dad was run over trying to stop them taking his pick-up truck, leaving him with a serious injury which means he can't play with his children.

The victim, a mechanic in his 30s, parked up his Toyota Hilux at his workplace in Rochdale before watching in horror when he saw thieves, who had arrived in another car, drive it away.

But the Hilux was fitted with a tracking device and he found it stuck in traffic a short distance away.

He opened the passenger door and a 'scuffle' ensued in which he was kicked from the Toyota, banging his head on a nearby parked car, prosecutor Darren Preston told Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court.

As the Hilux sped away, the second car which had been involved in the original theft then ran over the prone victim as he lay in the road.

The victim was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital with a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain, as well as a broken finger and cuts and bruises all over his body following the incident on February 6 this year.

White, 20, had four previous convictions for seven offences including dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking, although he had never received a custodial sentence before, the court heard.

Hannon, 24, also had a bad record, with 16 offences to his name including assault and dangerous driving.

The driver of the car which ran over the victim has never been found.

Jamie Lee Hannon, of Belfield Road in Rochdale was given 42 months in jail after he admitted two counts of aggravated vehicle taking, GBH, dangerous driving, making off without paying and burglary.

Daniel Arthur White, of Belfield Mill Lane in Rochdale was given 40 months custody after he admitted handling stolen goods, driving while disqualified, burglary, aggravated vehicle taking and GBH.

Both men smiled and waved to members of their families as they were led away to begin their sentences.


Sex offender threatened to carry out savage hammer attack in hospital waiting room after losing his rag with his girlfriend

Daniel Farmer

A sex offender threatened to carry out a savage hammer attack in a hospital waiting room after losing his rag with his girlfriend.

Daniel Farmer, 25, was caught on CCTV brandishing the tool.

When released on bail, he stole a man's watch and breached a 10-year sexual harm prevention order.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Farmer's now ex-partner was waiting to be seen at Royal Liverpool Hospital at around 1pm on April 24.

Paul Blasbery, prosecuting, said she bumped into her two friends, before Farmer, originally from Manchester, arrived and started an argument.

He came up behind her and said 'f***ing watch what I do to him' in relation to her friend, which left the woman shaking.

The woman was said to have looked 'petrified'. The man told Farmer to leave, which he did, only to return around 15 minutes later.

Farmer told the woman to 'get outside now or I'll drag you out', but again her friend intervened and he scuttled off.

However, Farmer then sent a series of text messages to his girlfriend saying 'you made me look like a d***head'.

He warned 'chill me out or I'm going to clap them both with the hammer' and 'ring me now, got the hammer, I'll run through it with it'.

Farmer walked back into the waiting room at around 2pm and shouted: "Look, watch what I've got, get him outside."

He pulled out the black and yellow hammer and told the man 'this is for you' before putting it in his jacket and walking away.

Mr Gunn said Farmer, formerly of Coleridge Street, Kensington, was misusing drugs at the time, but had got himself 'completely clean' while in prison.

Judge Brian Cummings, QC, said the hammer incident was a serious offence and jailed him for 20 months.


The 'spiteful and controlling' thug who beat his girlfriend with a phone charger after flying into a jealous rage

Andrew Markendale

A “spiteful and controlling” thug beat his girlfriend with a phone charger after flying into a jealous rage.

Andrew Markendale, 28, grabbed the lead and used it to whip his then girlfriend about the face and back.

He grabbed her in a chokehold and told her: “If you try anything, it will be the last thing you will ever do”, during the attack last March - which began when he wrongly accused her of communicating with other men.

The terrified victim, 23, managed to escape by slipping out of an open bedroom window and was found hiding behind gravestones in a nearby cemetery.

Markendale - who was registered as his girlfriend’s carer at the time - became a wanted man.

Just before he was arrested he contacted his girlfriend expressing his love, claiming he was paranoid about the relationship and threatening to kill himself.

“He was almost trying to guilt trip her out of a complaint,” a court heard.

Markendale, from Baguley in Wythenshawe, has now been jailed for 32 months after pleading guilty to ABH.

Markendale - who has previous convictions for criminal damage and assault - pleaded guilty to assault of a person causing actual bodily harm.

Markendale was also made subject of a restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting his victim indefinitely.



Paul McGuffog

A former police officer and well-known cricket coach has been jailed after being found guilty of sexually abusing a girl while he helped run a youth club.

Paul McGuffog, 61, has been locked up for six years after a jury convicted him of the historic abuse.

His 'dark secret', hidden behind his years of otherwise distinguished service, was laid bare in court before he was sent down.

The Manchester centre has since been shut down.

Manchester Crown Court heard the girl, who was under 16 at the time of the abuse, regularly attended the facility and got to know McGuffog well.

The jury heard McGuffog, who helped run a tuck shop at the centre, would give her coffee and crisps for free and ask her not to tell anyone.

McGuffog went on to sexually abuse the girl after driving her to secluded areas in his car.

The jury found him guilty of six counts of indecent assault; one count of attempted buggery; and misconduct in a public office.

McGuffog, of Barton Road, Stretford, Trafford, was ordered to sign the sex offender register for life.


'Pressured' dad-of-three lied to police about a Salford gangland shooting - now he's in jail

Mark Lamb

A company boss who provided a false alibi for his employee over a gangland shooting has been jailed.

Mark Lamb, 48, was managing director of a Wigan-based asbestos removal company which employed 54-year-old John Kent.

Lamb, a married father-of-three, gave a false alibi and forged time sheets to police, trying to make it appear as though Kent had been working for the company on a number of days.

One of these days was March 30, 2015, when Jamie Rothwell was shot at a car wash in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan.

But his web of lies unravelled when the documents he provided showed Kent working for him on days police knew he was in custody.

Lamb fled to Cyprus with his family where he was later arrested and brought back to Britain to face justice.

The shooting was part of gangland war being waged between Salford gang the A-Team, and their rivals the Anti-A Team.

The feud also led to seven-year-old Christian Hickey and his mother Jayne, 30, both being shot at their home in Winton, Eccles, on October 12, 2015.

Lamb fled the country for Cyprus in February 2017 'for the welfare and safety of his family', his barrister Andrew Scott said.

Kent did not rely on Lamb's false alibi at his trial, which concluded earlier this year.

The jury found Kent guilty of conspiracy to cause GBH with intent in connection with the Rothwell shooting, and of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

He was jailed for a total of 14-and-a-half years. Seven other men, including Kent's 'son-in-law' Aldaire Warmington, were also jailed.

The court was told that Kent was not a gang member, and had got involved out of family loyalty.

Mr Scott said that Lamb, originally from Runcorn, was also not a gang member, but had been running a 'legitimate and successful business' since 2011.

Now Lamb, of Paphos in Cyprus, has been jailed for 18 months.


The pharmacist drunk on duty-free vodka who ranted about the 'afterlife' and 'Muslim principles' on flight to Morocco

Muhamed Azam

A foul-mouthed pharmacist who brought misery to a holiday jet flying at 37,000 feet by ranting about the 'afterlife' and 'Muslim principles' was found with an almost empty bottle of duty-free vodka under his seat.

Dad-of-six Muhamed Azam was jailed over the abuse that came to a head when he was refused a drink by cabin crew on the Manchester Airport flight.

Azam, 37, falsely accused two air hostesses of being racist when they turned down his request for a full bottle of orange juice which he wanted to top up his secret vodka stash.

As other passengers on the five-hour flight to Morocco looked on, drunken Azam who was due to start a 'dad’s holiday' with a group of fathers he knew, began shouting about the ''afterlife'' and ''Muslim principles''.

He stood in the aisle shouting: “I’m a pharmacist I work hard for my money. You can’t tell me what to f**king do.”

He also hurled abuse at the captain of the aircraft, kicked at the seat of a passenger in front of him and claimed a glass of orange juice he was given was watered down.

At Manchester Crown Court, Azam of Stoke-on-Trent, admitted being drunk on aircraft and was jailed for six months.

The incident occurred on January 13 this year after Azam boarded the 6am flight at Manchester with his friends.


The husband who bludgeoned his wife to death with a crowbar then tried to cover his tracks

David Pomphret

David Pomphret desperately tried to cover up the fact that he murdered his wife.

He burnt his blood-soaked sweatshirt, threw the murder weapon in a pond and got rid of his other clothes.

Pomphret swapped his and his wife’s cars around and text her phone a number of times showing apparent concern as to where she was.

But there was one big mistake he made - which, in the end, helped convict him of murder.

It means he faces a life sentence when he is appears in court again on Tuesday.

Ann Marie Pomphret

Pomphret, originally from Salford, forgot to take off the socks that he had been wearing at the time he murdered Ann Marie, known to Marie by friends and family.

The socks contained forensic evidence which meant police and prosecutors could prove he had been there when Ann Marie was killed, at the stables they owed near Warrington, a short distance from their plush home in Cheshire.

He was 'undone' by a speck of blood.

After months of denying any involvement - and after 15 interviews with police - Pomphret was forced to admit he had killed his wife by pleading guilty to manslaughter.

A jury saw through his claims that he had suffered a 'loss of control' and found him guilty of murder, after he hit his wife over the head more than 30 times with a crowbar.

Man jailed for life after murdering friend following snooker row

Stephen Brocklehurst

A man has been jailed for life after stabbing his friend to death following a row over snooker.

Stephen Brocklehurst, from Wigan , was found guilty of murder after he 'thrust' a kitchen knife into victim Phillip Rooney's heart.

He also stabbed his his left arm, right thigh and left eye lid as his victim tried to defend himself during the 'sustained and repeated attack', a court heard.

Following the sentencing, Mr Rooney's family issued an emotional tribute to the dad-of-two, urging anyone considering picking up a knife to 'stop, take a breath, and think of the lives you will ruin'.

Brocklehurst had previous convictions of assault and carrying a bladed weapon, the court heard.

Defending, Stephen Meadowcroft QC, said there was a 'lack of premeditation' involved in the attack.

He said Brocklehurst was 'scared' and noted that he did not try to dispose of the weapon or clean his clothes following the knife attack.

Brocklehurst, of Billinge Road, was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 12 years during the sentence hearing on Friday.

He was absent during the hearing, as his defence lawyer said he was too 'emotional' to attend.


Benefits cheat scammed £260k by claiming to be disabled - she was caught dancing at a wedding

Nasreen Akhtar

A woman who claimed she was disabled and a single parent in order to scam £260,000 of benefits, but was later caught living with her partner and seen dancing at a wedding, has been jailed.

Nasreen Akhtar fraudulently claimed £260,000 through a 'complex raft of benefits' between 2002 and 2013 based on being a single parent with poor mobility who was too ill to work, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

But following a tip-off, Department of Work and Pensions investigators began covert surveillance of her in 2012, it added.


While she claimed she was 'too ill to work' and had 'poor mobility' and 'significant care needs, she was seen out and about with her family and dancing at a wedding, it added.

Akhtar, 50 of Howgill Crescent, Hathershaw, Oldham , admitted seven counts of fraud against the local authority and the DWP, and at Manchester Crown Court on Friday was jailed for two years.

Simon Tunnicliffe, of Mersey Cheshire CPS's fraud unit, said it had taken three years for it and the DWP to bring Akhtar to justice.


Prison officer had sex in cleaning cupboard with murderer serving life for killing war veteran

HMP Frankland

A prison officer who had sex in a cleaning cupboard with a murderer at a maximum security prison has been jailed.


Crompton is serving life for murdering Second World War veteran Frank Worsley after breaking into his Bolton home in 2013 hunting for cash.


He said it would be 'hugely upsetting' for the friends and family of Crompton's victim to hear of him having a sexual relationship while he was serving a life term.

Daniel Crompton, 24, who was jailed for life for killing Frank Worsley in Bolton


Robin Patton, prosecuting, said Crompton was jailed for life in 2014 for the 'cruel murder' of 87-year-old Mr Worsley.

The killer broke into Mr Worsley's home in Daubhill, searching for money for drugs during a cocaine binge, and beat him senseless.

Mr Worsley, a widower, died from a stroke less than three weeks later.

Crompton was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 18 years.



Manc criminals with a loaded gun in their hotel room were arrested after taking a dip in hot tub... and it was all caught on camera

Left to right, top, Dean Murphy, Kane Birch and Macauley Peacock

Two Manchester criminals were arrested in their swimming shorts after taking a dip in a hot tub at a hotel spa.

The astonishing swoop by police was captured on CCTV footage which has now been released after both men were locked up.

A third man was also arrested - as he slept in a room at the same hotel.

The CCTV footage shows Kane Birch, 23, and Macauley Peacock, 24, in the spa at the Village Hotel on Centre Park Square, Warrington, in June.

Both knew they were wanted by police, detectives said.

Birch, from Ainsbrook Avenue, Moston, and Peacock, of Kilmaine Avenue, Blackley, had just stepped out of the hotel's hot tub when the footage begins.

They walk down to the edge of the hotel's swimming pool - before police run around a corner and pounce.

Both men are held on the poolside and led away - as a bemused bather is seen carrying on swimming in the pool.

A loaded gun, a Glock pistol, was later found in their room at the hotel, alongside an encrypted mobile phone and a key to a stolen Audi car.

The force said that at a court hearing in September, Birch was jailed for four years for conspiracy to supply crack cocaine and heroin.

Cheshire Police said he played a 'significant role' in a network supplying drugs to Macclesfield from Manchester.

Peacock pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm.

At Chester Crown Court on Monday he was also sentenced for arson with intent to endanger life.

The force said he received a 14 year sentence in total, five years for the gun and nine years for the arson offence, the details of which haven't been released.

The third man - 20-year-old Dean Murphy, from Manchester - was found by police asleep in a double bed in a room at the spa swoop.

Police said false names had been provided to book a room.

A judge sentenced Murphy to eight years, five for possession of a firearm and three years for heroin and crack cocaine offences, the force said.

No further details have been released by Cheshire Police.


'You have been visited by the Midnight Removals' - prolific luxury car thieves who left note for victims

Top, left to right: Dale Higgins, Curtis Rowe, Dale Driver, Harry Mulgrew; bottom, left to right: Matthew Harrop, Reece Goodall, Reece McCracken, Robson McCabe

A prolific gang of car thieves left a handwritten note at the home of one of their victims thanking them for the "free stuff" and signing off "the Midnight Removals".

The burglary was one of 39 committed by two organised crime gangs who stole luxury cars from driveways in upmarket districts in Greater Manchester and Cheshire.

The crime spree took place between March 2018 and February this year.

The gangs worked on an "industrial scale" and took only high-value vehicles, including Audis, Mercedes, and BMWs.

Homes in Prestbury, Wilmslow, and Stockport were selected by the crooks.

Families were left terrified as they broke into their homes to get keys.

But now eight men have been jailed after a joint operation between GMP and Cheshire Police .

Between September and November 2018 one group – which included Dale Higgins, Reece Goodall, Harry Mulgrew, Matthew Harrop, Dale Driver and Reece McCracken, committed 13 burglaries and stole 15 vehicles at a value of £347,000.

The other group – which included Kurtis Rowe, Robson McCabe and Higgins - committed 11 burglaries in Prestbury and Wilmslow as well as 11 in Stockport.

Higgins, who was in both teams, was also convicted of possessing a firearm.

The following sentences were given at Manchester Crown Court:

  • Reece Goodall , 24, of Carnforth Road, Heaton Chapel, Stockport was sentenced to 5 years 6 months after being found guilty of 17 counts of burglary.
  • Dale Higgins , 24, of Elizabeth House, Didsbury Road, Heaton Mersey, Stockport was sentenced to 7 years and 1 month after being found guilty of nine counts of burglary and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
  • Kurtis Rowe , 22, of Astbury Crescent, Adswood, Stockport was sentenced to 5 years after being found guilty of 22 counts of burglary.
  • Robson McCabe , 23, of Chelford Grove, Adswood, Stockport was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months after being found guilty of 9 counts of burglary
  • Harry Mulgrew , 25, of Jennings Street, Edgeley, Stockport, was sentenced to 3 years after being found guilty of six counts of burglary and possession of CS gas.
  • Reece McCracken , 20, of Bosley Road, Cheadle Heath, Stockport was sentenced to two years after being found guilty of five counts of burglary.
  • Dale Driver , 26, of Shayfield Drive, Manchester was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months after being found guilty of one burglary
  • Matthew Harrop , 24, of Norcross Close, Offerton, Stockport, was sentenced to 2 years after being found guilty of three counts of burglary.

Cheshire teenager caught with thousands of pounds-worth of crack cocaine in his hotel room

Robert Lingham

A Cheshire teenager caught with thousands of pounds-worth of crack cocaine in his hotel room has been jailed.

Robert Lingham, 18, was found with 'several hundred' individual wraps of the class A drug in his room at a hotel on James Street in Liverpool, as well as a small quantity cannabis.

He has now been locked up for two years and seven months after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs; and possession of a class B drug.

Lingham, from Halton Brook, Runcorn, was arrested for an unconnected matter by members of the local policing unit on the morning on Wednesday, September 11.

After he had been apprehended, his hotel room was searched.

Lingham denied knowing anything about the drugs found in the room.

But at Liverpool Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to the charges.

As he was jailed, he was also ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge.


'This is what your mum is sending on Tinder': Jilted man got revenge on ex by sending nude picture to her children

Paul Kershaw pretended to be the woman's son, and then falsely claimed to be terminally ill

A man who failed to woo an ex-girlfriend with flowers and love letters took callous revenge by sending her children a nude picture  complete with the message 'this is what your mum is sending on Tinder'.

Paul Kershaw, 54, had been trying to get back with the woman after they previously had a relationship - but she repeatedly rejected his offers of roses, notes and gifts left on her car.

Eventually when he realised his efforts were futile, spurned Kershaw instead located an intimate picture which he had secretly kept of the victim during their romance - then sent it to her two adult children.

Police were called in by the woman and discovered Kershaw had also pretended to be her son in an attempt to speak to her at work.

He even feigned illness by falsely claiming he was terminally ill due to a stroke - telling her: ''I don't go to my doctors' appointments because I have nothing to live for.”

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Kershaw, from Broughton, Salford, was jailed for eight months after he admitted harassment and disclose sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

Kershaw was banned from contacting the woman for three years under the terms of a restraining order.


Terrifying footage shows the frightening speeds two drivers reached before killing an innocent mum-of-five in a horror collision - now they've been jailed

CCTV footage showing the car chase and crash
CCTV footage showing the car chase and crash

Video released by police shows the frightening speeds that two drivers reached as they raced through Greater Manchester streets before an innocent mum-of-five was killed in a horror crash.

In footage released by GMP, the two vehicles are shown travelling through built-up areas at ridiculous speeds and travelling on the wrong side of the road before a huge collision.

The drivers raced down residential streets at about 70mph in a 30mph zone and 'brought unimaginable tragedy' to one family.

Lewis Fisher, 21, and Joseph Pownall, 27, have now been jailed for 11 and 12 years respectively after they were both convicted of causing the death of Joanne Bailey-Collinge by dangerous driving, following the incident on Bickershaw Lane in Wigan.

Pownall was 'intent on revenge' after one of Fisher's friends had smashed the window of his Volkswagen Amarok while it was parked near a pub.

Lewis Fisher.
Lewis Fisher.

After being informed of the damage, Pownall chased Fisher's silver Mercedes C220, with the cars reaching speeds of more than twice the 30mph limit.

The judge said Pownall had rammed Fisher's car from the back, as they drove dangerously close to each other.

Both cars lost grip and went on to the wrong side of the road, with the Mercedes crashing head on into Mrs Bailey-Collinge's Volkswagen Polo, which also contained her husband Andrew and two of their children.

They were on their way to a barbecue at a neighbour's house.

Mrs Bailey-Collinge suffered catastrophic injuries, and was pronounced dead hours later.

Joseph Pownall.
Joseph Pownall.

Fisher, of Poolstock Lane, Wigan, was found guilty by a jury of causing death by dangerous driving; causing death while driving unlicensed; causing death by driving while uninsured; and two counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Pownall, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving; causing serious injury by dangerous driving and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice ahead of Fisher's trial.

Fisher was jailed for 11 years, while Pownall was jailed for 12 years.

The maximum sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is 14 years.


The builders from hell who proved you REALLY need to be careful who you get to work on your house

Leon Eckersley and Colin Gibson

Two builders who used a client's family car to hijack a luxury BMW whilst armed with an axe have been jailed for a total of 11 years.

Colin Gibson, 33 and 22-year old Leon Eckersley took a front door key after being employed by Laura Evans to help with renovation work.

But Eckersley secretly got a copy cut and used it to let himself into the house at 2.30am to grab the keys to Mrs Evan's car plus her handbag and other valuables.

The mother-of-one was asleep in bed when was awoken by the sound of car doors shutting and she looked out of her bedroom window to see her Vauxhall Corsa being driven away.

Two days later, Gibson and Eckersley used the vehicle which had been fitted with false registration plates to follow and rob a man of his £27,000 BMW M140i car outside his home.

The pair, from Oldham, who were masked in balaclavas, were later arrested after trying to outrun a police patrol at 75mph around residential streets when they were spotted driving the Corsa in convoy with the BMW.

Officers had a to deploy a stinger device to deflate the Corsa's tyres.

Detectives later discovered an incriminating picture on a mobile phone of Gibson stood next the hijacked BMW with his balaclava lifted above his face. The BMW was recovered shortly afterwards.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Gibson was jailed for six years and Eckersley was sentenced to five years after both admitted robbery.

Eckersley also admitted burglary, dangerous driving and driving whilst disqualified and was also banned from driving for six and a half years.


The 'dominant' Manchester drug dealer finally brought to justice after 'coma in a bottle' seized

Jailed: Paul Palmer

A 'dominant' drug dealer who police said 'operated under the radar for some time' has finally been brought to justice and jailed.

The police investigation into Paul Palmer, 55, was sparked by two huge seizures of a drug which they said could prove fatal even in very small doses.

Gamma Butyrolactone or GBL - an industrial solvent and cleaner said to be highly addictive - is known in America as 'coma in a bottle' and as 'G' in the UK.

Border Force officers made two seizures of the drug with a combined weight of more than 17kg.

Subsequent investigations led the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit to Manchester.

Officers launched a raid at Palmer's home on Mossbank Court, Collyhurst, in April, where quantities of GBL and other Class A, B and C drugs were found.

He was subsequently arrested.

Palmer was found guilty by a jury after a trial at Manchester Crown Court of importing and possessing a variety of drugs with intent to supply, the NWROCU said.

He was sentenced by a judge to five years and seven months behind bars.


The debt-ridden school assistant called Crook who stole £27k kids paid towards their dinners, clubs and charity - to fund gambling habit and holidays

Yvonne Crook

A trusted finance assistant who 'betrayed' pupils and staff by stealing tens of thousands of pounds from a school in one of Manchester's most deprived areas has been jailed.

Yvonne Crook, 44, swiped cash pupils had paid for their school dinners and clubs - as well as money they had raised for charity.

The mum, who had worked at Abraham Moss Community School for 20 years, took more than £27,000, which she spent on gambling and holidays to Italy and the Canary Islands, a court heard.

She has now been jailed for two and a half years by a judge, who described the case as 'one of the lowest examples' of a breach of trust she had ever seen.

Crook, of Thomas Street, Atherton, Wigan, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft the day she was due to stand trial.

She had already admitted one charge of being in possession of articles, intended to be used for fruad.


Boxing champ beat up ex-girlfriend in front of her daughter then vowed to strangle her

Lee Mitchell

An ex-boxing champion beat up his ex-girlfriend in front of her five year old daughter and then vowed to strangle her during a terrifying revenge campaign.

Lee Mitchell, 25, barged his way into the woman's home, slapped her across the face then dragged her round the floor by her hair after being left enraged that they had split up three days earlier.

When the victim's child came into the living room and witnessed the assault, Mitchell shouted: ''No one will believe a five year old'' before chasing the terrified woman into her bedroom.

As mother and child tried to dodge Mitchell's advances and call police he told them: ''They can give me a lift home'' before he hurled a mattress at the victims.

A policewoman and colleagues arrived at the house in Bolton, but Mitchell sunk his teeth into the female officer's hand during a struggle telling her: ''You didn’t expect that did you?’'.

He was later bailed but returned to the victim's home to terrorise her and then subsequently ambushed her during a shopping trip saying: ''‘I’m going to smash your windows tonight and strangle you’'.

In a statement, his victim said of her daughter: ''She has become more clingy as a result of what happened - I don't want him in my  life or my daughter's.''

Mitchell, from Breightmet, Bolton was previously a North West bantamweight boxing champion.

At Manchester magistrates court, he was jailed for 24 weeks after he was convicted of assault,  criminal damage and harassment.

He was also banned from contacting the victim under the terms of a two year restraining order.


The bungling burglars who spread anti-vandal paint across properties they tried to break into

The crime spree was captured on town centre CCTV

A pair of bungling burglars have been jailed after a string of attempted break-ins in Cheshire.

The pair spread anti-vandal grease and paint across four properties they tried to rob - but they didn't manage to get inside any of them.

Their crime spree was captured on CCTV and police arrested the two men around 40 minutes into their rampage.

Jamie James, 28, and William Napier, 43, were spotted by town centre CCTV operators climbing over a gate covered in grease and paint moments before they attempted to break into Runcorn Library at around 2am on August 19.

After failing to get into the library, the men went on to target a nearby butchers, a shop and an occupied flat.

They damaged a back door and a key safe at the library and forced open an outside toilet at the butchers.

After failing to get into any of the properties they targeted, the pair were tracked down by officers and arrested in Runcorn town centre.

James and Napier were both charged with four counts of attempted burglary and pleaded guilty at Chester Crown Court on October 16.

James, of Dipton Avenue, Newcastle upon Tyne, was jailed for 23 months and a week.

Napier, of Commercial Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, was handed a three-year prison sentence.


Road rage row saw mob set upon teen tree surgeon who had his hand severed by axe

The victim's injury

A teenage tree surgeon had his hand chopped off with an axe in an 'appalling' attack carried out by an armed mob sparked by a road rage row in Rochdale, a court heard.


They had been summoned by Habibur Rahman, 27, who called the victims 'white b******s' who were in his 'country', Minshull Street Crown Court heard.

One of the mob, Mohammed Awais Sajid, known as 'Skinny', came armed with an axe.


Habibur Rahman of Milnrow Road, Rochdale was sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit violent disorder, section 47 assault and occasioning actual bodily harm


The victim was then hit again - with the blade essentially severing his arm at the wrist.




He was acquitted of attempted murder in an earlier trial.

Zillur Rahman of Milnrow Road, Rochdale was sentenced to 3 years in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit violent disorder







Sadistic 'psychopath' church warden who murdered former Manchester Grammar School teacher

Benjamin Field


A sadistic church warden who murdered a former Manchester Grammar School teacher following a campaign of physical and mental torture has been jailed for more than 30 years.

Benjamin Field, 28, killed Peter Farquhar, 69, in order to inherit his house and money.

Novelist and English teacher Mr Farquhar, who was described as a 'father figure' to boys at the top independent secondary, died in 2015 aged 69. 

He was last employed as an English lecturer at the University of Buckingham, where he is remembered as a 'charming, erudite and deeply thoughtful man'. 

On Friday, Field was given life with a minimum term of 36 years by Mr Justice Sweeney at Oxford Crown Court.


Man smashed his way into a stranger's flat and battered him with a pumpkin

Daniel Kisiel was jailed for four years for a brutal attack on a stranger

A brutal thug smashed his way into a stranger's flat, threatened to kill him and battered him with a pumpkin.

Daniel Kisiel, 29, 'ferociously' attacked the man in his home in Salford after wrongly believing that he had 'stuck two fingers up' at him.

He initially confronted him outside his front door but then came back four hours later in the early hours of the morning and smashed his way in.

The victim was brushing his teeth when Kisiel burst in and hit him over the head with the pumpkin and told him 'I'm going to f*****g kill you, you c***'.

He then battered him with a broken piece of wood from the smashed door which had nails in and kicked at him as he curled up into a ball on the floor.

At Manchester Crown Court , Kisiel was jailed for four years for assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage, but Judge Anthony Cross QC said that he had been 'grossly undercharged'.


The cowardly thief who stole a phone and wallet from a dying pensioner

Danilo Furtado has been jailed for 20 months after admitting to stealing from a pensioner while he suffered a fatal cardiac arrest

This is the cowardly thief who stole from a pensioner as they suffered a fatal cardiac arrest at a tram stop.

Danilo Furtado came across the 73-year-old man as he fell ill on the steps leading towards the Metrolink stop in Bury .

But instead of calling for assistance, he opted to steal the man's phone, wallet and a gold chain, before leaving him for dead.

An ambulance was eventually called to the tram stop about 20 minutes later and the victim was taken to hospital.

But the man was pronounced dead at 12.35pm the following day.

When questioned by police officers, Furtado, from Whitefield , admitted to the offence.

A judge at Manchester Crown Court sentenced the 35-year-old to 20 months in prison.

'It is but for the grace of God that no one died' - Judge praises police for stopping driver after 80mph chase

Aaron McNally

A driver who sped at 80mph during a police chase didn't stop even after his tyres had been 'shredded' by a stinger, a court heard.

Aaron McNally, 31, was stopped thanks to the 'bravery, skill and determination of the police', a judge said.

McNally, 31, who was driving a stolen BMW 5 Series, was being chased by police on the afternoon of September 12 after they noticed it had false plates.

He was only stopped when officers from GMP's Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit were able to box McNally in, after he had turned onto the M61 at Kearsley Spur.

"It is but for the grace of God that no one died," Judge Anthony Cross QC told McNally.

"Had you killed someone, you would have been guilty of murder, rather than any other offence. But you were lucky that no one was injured."

The judge paid tribute to the officers involved, saying they ought to be congratulated for their work.

"The matter came to an end because of the bravery, skill and determination of the police," Judge Cross added.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the BMW had been stolen during a burglary in Preston days before the police chase on September 12.

Officers deployed a stinger device, but McNally continued to speed away despite a number of his tyres being 'shredded'.

He reached speeds of about 80mph along Bolton Road in Salford, where the limit is 30mph.

Footage played in court showed McNally hold his hands up when officers went to arrest him following the chase, after he had turned onto the M61, heading towards its junction with the M60.

Jailing McNally for 20 months, Judge Cross told him: "This is as bad an example of dangerous driving as there can be.

"You led the police on a chase, which in my view endangered the lives of yourself, but also those innocent members of the public, who were doing no more than going about their lawful business."

McNally, of Parkway, Preston, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle taking, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.


Cocaine-addicted thug threatened to rip off ex's toe nails and throw acid in her face... before trashing her house with expandable foam

Jamie McPhee

A cocaine-addicted thug threatened to rip off his ex-partner’s toe nails and ‘throw acid in her face’ before trashing her family home with expandable foam.

Obsessive Jamie McPhee berated the woman and was violent towards her before bombarding her with threatening and harassing calls after she ending their relationship, a court heard.

Prosecutor Lisa Worsley said the pair moved in together in 2017 but she ‘didn’t realise he had an extensive cocaine habit’, which caused ‘financial difficulties’ and also made him ‘paranoid', LancsLive reports .

She said McPhee, from Accrington, accused the woman of 'sleeping with other people’.

McPhee, 35, was verbally abusive with her and called her a ‘whole host of names, including tramp and s**g and even racial abusive’, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Ms Worsley said in the last few months of their relationship the defendant ‘pushed her around, threw things at her and slammed doors in her face’ and the ‘worst abuse’ happened when he ‘strangled her on the sofa in her living room’.

The court heard how the victim ended the relationship in December 2018 ‘because she wanted a better life for herself and her children’.

However electrical contracting worker McPhee would ‘emotionally blackmail her’ by taking overdoses of painkillers and say ‘without her being with him there would be no point in him living’.

McPhee, of River Hill, Worster Park, Surrey, pleaded guilty to burglary, harassment, criminal damage and having a bladed article.

Judge Sara Dodd jailed McPhee for 34 months and issued a three-year restraining order with conditions not to enter Hyndburn.


Mum who was paid £1,300 to smuggle £170k of cocaine into UK was caught at Manchester Airport

Chantel Fullerton

A mum who was paid £1,300 in the Caribbean to smuggle more than £170,000-worth of cocaine into the UK has been jailed for three years - condemning her to live more than 4,000 miles away from her young daughter.

Chantel Fullerton, 27, agreed to act as a drugs mule after losing her job as a carer on the island of Grenada.

She was arrested in August after a drug sniffer dog detected the white powder in her luggage as she arrived at Manchester Airport.

Immigration officers searched her cases and discovered four packages sewn into the corners - and three further packages in the base. The 2kg haul had a street value of £171,000.

Fullerton denied knowing about the drugs, claiming she had travelled to the UK to attend the Notting Hill Carnival in London.

But investigators found a hand written note in her pocket saying a woman had paid her £1,386 and there was a further receipt of £1,200 for the flights.

At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Fullerton who has been incarcerated at Styal women's prison in Cheshire, pleaded guilty to the importation of class A drugs.

Her six-year-old daughter is currently being cared for by her sister back in Grenada.


Man who messaged '14-year-old girl' caught by paedophile hunter group less than a month after he was released from prison

Allen Hardman

A paedophile who sent messages and semi-nude pictures to a '14-year-old girl' was caught by a vigilante group less than a month after he was released from prison for 'almost identical' offences.

Allen Hardman, 21, was handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a community order at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on March 25 this year.

He had attempted to meet a girl under 16 following grooming and attempted to engage in sexual communication.

Hardman, from Eccles, believed he talking to girls as young as 12, but he was actually talking to decoy profiles set up by the paedophile hunter group 'For Our Kids'.

Less than a month after being released from remand, he was caught by the same group engaging in conversation with someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.

Hardman was jailed for three years at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday (October 23).

Prosecutor Andrea Lock told the court how soon after the defendant was released from custody, the vigilante group received information that he was using social media again.

He had set up a profile under the name of 'James Pin' and accepted a friend request from a girl called Holly Jones.

This was a decoy profile set up by the hunters.

Hardman, of Cavendish Close, Eccles , was jailed for three years for for attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming and attempting to breach a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

He will also have to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

His five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order remains in place from his previous sentence.


Drug dealer and his thieving mate caught out by McDonald's drive-thru CCTV

Cole Kennedy, 20, and Derek Warburton, 28, have been jailed

A drug dealer and his thieving mate were caught on CCTV driving a car they'd stolen through a McDonald's drive-thru before paying for their food with a card they swiped from the same house.

Cole Kennedy and Derek Warburton raided a house in Stockton Heath, Warrington, in October last year as the victim slept upstairs.

They took his bank card and car as well as cash, before driving to Manchester where they splashed £70 at Shell garages on Oldham Road and Greengate, as well as McDonald's in Harpurhey .

The stolen car was discovered burnt out in Crumpsall the following Sunday.

Kennedy, 20, and Warburton, 28, were identified from CCTV showing them in the stolen car at the drive-thru and they were arrested.

Mobile phone analysis also linked the pair to the burglary and the subsequent fraudulent transactions.

Earlier this month, both Kennedy and Warburton were jailed after pleading guilty to the burglary offences.

Kennedy, of Brewster Street in Harpurhey, also admitted additional charges of possessing more than £1,000 worth of class A drugs crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply them and possessing a bladed article (a lock knife) in a public place.

He was ordered to serve five years and four months in a young offenders’ institute.

Warburton, of Scott Street, Warrington , was jailed for two years and 10 months.

On top of their custodial sentences, Kennedy and Warburton were each ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge.


A 'petrol bomb' was thrown at a house from a car during a tit-for-tat row between two rival groups - the man driving has been jailed

Drew McCormick

A 'petrol bomb' was thrown at a house following a tit-for-tat row between two rival groups, a court heard.

It was thrown from a car at a property in Moston, north Manchester, prosecutors said.

The flame burnt out mid-air.

Prosecutors said it was the latest incident in a dispute between two rival groups.

Thankfully in this case, in April this year, no one was hurt.

Drew McCormick, 22, who was driving the Honda car from which the beer bottle was thrown, has been jailed for 20 months in connection with the incident.

McCormick, of Course View, Oldham, who was previously jailed for two-and-a-half years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, pleaded guilty to careless driving; affray; driving without insurance or a licence; and driving with false number plates on two occasions.

He was locked up for 20 months.

The judge also imposed a restraining order, preventing McCormick from contacting others involved for five years.


Crime spree of 'easily-led' burglar who mixed with the wrong people - now he can't see his little girl in prison

Paul Anthony Hulme

A former cocaine addict who carried out a spate of burglaries and drove the wrong way down a dual carriageway trying to flee police has been jailed.

Paul Anthony Hulme, 35, admitted a string of offences including burglary, dangerous driving, taking a vehicle without consent and attempted car theft.

One victim woke to find Hulme standing over her after he entered her home at the Greengate apartment development in Salford while she and her flatmate were sleeping.

He also crashed into parked cars after taking police on a chase through the streets of Oldham.

He appeared at Minshull Street Crown Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for the offences.

Hulme had admitted burglary and taking a vehicle without consent at an earlier hearing, after breaking into a flat on Hollinwood Avenue in Chadderton while the owner was out with her grandmother, last October.

He stole a pair of trainers and some watches from the victim's bedroom, before finding the keys to her £10,000 Ford Focus and driving away in it.

The owner's insurance has risen by £700 a year as a result, and she is still having to pay the car off despite not having it any more.

Sentencing Hulme, of HMP Forest Bank, to two and a half years in prison and banning him from driving for three years, Judge Bernard Lever said: "I'm glad you're feeling better and you've rid yourself of your cocaine habit.

"I note that your partner is standing by you but won't bring your little girl (to prison) to see you and I hope that will spur you on to carry on your motivation to turn over a new leaf.

"Everybody wants you to keep on going and not be in prison for the rest of your life, but that's up to you".


His cannabis farm was broken into... so he organised a brutal revenge attack with his nephew's help

James Bligh

A thug injured during a break-in at his cannabis farm organised a brutal revenge attack with the help of his nephew, a court heard.

James Bligh was attacked, suffering a cut to this head, when a gang broke into his home in Openshaw, and tried to steal his produce.

Furious Bligh plotted with his nephew Ryan Bligh, and others, to retaliate by attacking a man they believed was one of those responsible for the raid.

Ryan Bligh

The day after - October 30, 2017 - the man was assaulted as he walked along Ashton Old Road, prosecutor Andrea Lock told Manchester Crown Court.

Two vans pulled up near him, and a number of men got out and attacked him.

He suffered life-threatening stab wounds and was rushed to hospital for treatment.

Phone evidence shows the Blighs were in constant contact with each other prior to the attack.

Both James Bligh, 54, and Ryan Bligh, 46, have now been jailed.

James Bligh, of Lees Street, Openshaw, was jailed for three years and four months, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit violent disorder, and producing cannabis.

Ryan Bligh, of Abbey Hey Lane, Gorton, was jailed for two years and eight months after admitting conspiracy to commit violent disorder.


Dad, sister and cousin of murderer who sunk Rambo-style knife into heart of girlfriend's ex jailed over drugs ring

The dad, sister and cousin of a murderer who sunk a Rambo-style knife into the heart of his girlfriend's ex have been jailed over a cross-country drugs ring.

Paul 'Piggsy' Holcroft was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years - later reduced to 16 on appeal - after plunging a 10-inch blade into Christopher Lamberth's chest.

Holcroft, then 23, went to Mr Lamberth's 21st birthday party at his mum's house on Manchester Road, Warrington, after hearing the victim had assaulted Kerry Thomas, then Holcroft's girlfriend, the Warrington Guardian reports .

Chester Crown Court heard Ms Thomas, who had previously been in a relationship with Mr Lamberth, turned up uninvited to the party on November 17, 2007, and the two had argued.

She claimed he assaulted her and said she was taken to Warrington District hospital, though left before being seen.

When word of the alleged assault reached Holcroft, he armed himself with the hunting knife and a pick-axe handle and drove to the party in the early hours of November 18 to attack Mr Lamberth.

The blow from Holcroft's knife punctured both Mr Lamberth's lungs and pierced his heart, and left him dying on his mum’s doorstep.

Holcroft, of Grace Avenue, Orford, then disposed of the knife and burned its leather sheath.

He was arrested by Cheshire Police and charged with murder after forensics experts found Mr Lamberth’s DNA matched a blood spot on Holcroft's shoe.

The killer's relatives are also facing a stretch behind bars after detectives from South Yorkshire Police smashed a heroin and cocaine trafficking network between Warrington and Doncaster.

Holcroft's cousin, 33-year-old Billy Barton, was responsible for sourcing the drugs, while his sister Kirsty Holcroft, 34, and dad Paul Holcroft Snr, 57, were couriers.

Barton, of Ireland Street, was jailed for 12 years after admitting conspiracy to supply Class A drugs; while Paul and Kirsty, both of Grace Avenue, were handed eight years each after being convicted of the same charge by a jury.


The drugs gang who flooded the streets of Warrington with cocaine

Top left: Wesley Williamson, top right: Uktu Tig, bottom left: Robert Musson, bottom right: John Large

A drugs gang who flooded the streets of Warrington with cocaine has been jailed.

Wesley Williamson, Robert Musson, John Large and Uktu Tig made huge amounts of money supplying the party drug to a number of criminal networks through untraceable phones.

Between June and October last year, they are believed to have sold up to 20kg of cocaine on a regular basis, a court heard.

All the men had significant roles - Williamson used his home as a safe house, and the gang used an address on Biggin Court to store and package the drugs.

Tig acted as a courier who travelled to Liverpool to ferry cocaine to safe houses in Warrington.

Detectives found large amounts of the drug, as well as cutting equipment and encrypted mobile phones during a raid.

The gang was busted following a four month covert operation by Cheshire Police's Serious and Organised Crime Unit.

The four men were sentenced to a combined total of 34 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday after all pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Large, 32, of Fairbrother Crescent in Warrington was sentenced to eight years and nine months, Williamson, 32, of Grasmere Avenue was sentenced to nine years, Tig, 32, of Lilac Crescent in Runcorn, was sentenced to six years and nine months and 34-year-old Musson, of Bernard Avenue in Appleton, was sentenced to nine years.

Another man, Paul Jones, aged 39, of Biggin Court, Warrington was sentenced to four years at Liverpool Crown Court at an earlier hearing after pleading guilty to the same charge.


Pervert, 31, told a '14-year-old girl' he wanted to be her boyfriend and sent her sick pictures... he didn't know she was actually a 'paedophile hunter'

Gareth Legrove

A pervert who sent messages and a video of himself performing a sex act to a member of a 'paedophile hunter' group posing as a 14-year-old girl has been jailed.

Gareth Legrove sent explicit messages and requested indecent photographs from the 'girl' after befriending her on Facebook in April.

What the 31-year-old didn't know was that the profile was fake and was being run by a decoy - a female member of the 'Wolf Pack Hunters' group.

Legrove was detained by members of the group on April 27 when they performed a citizen's arrest on him in at an address in Bolton.

Bolton Crown Court heard Legrove had previously been given a two-year prison sentence in 2015 after meeting a teenage girl he had groomed online at a bus station, with the intention of having sex with her.

Legrove got in touch with the 'girl' on April 13, sending her messages of an 'increasingly sexual nature' over the course of the next two weeks.

On Friday, Legrove was sentenced to 27 months in prison, as well as being made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order.

Legrove, from Wakefield, will be on to the sexual offender register for 10 years.

Legrove admitted attempted sexual communication with a child; attempting to incite a child under 16 to engage in sexual activity (no penetration); and attempting to cause a child under 16 to watch a sexual act (no penetration).


Catholic priest thought he was meeting paedophile from Grindr to arrange abuse of his 'two-year-old-son'... it was an undercover cop

A pervert Catholic priest thought he was meeting another paedophile to arrange the abuse of his 'two-year-old-son' - only to be taken down by an undercover cop.

Father Matthew Jolley was stung by the officer after he started talking to him on the dating app Grindr in September. The child didn't exist.

The cop created a fake profile, posing as a 36-year-old bisexual.

Less than 20 minutes later, he received a message from Jolley saying he was interested sexually in young children.

During their sordid conversations, Jolley, 32, told the officer that although he mainly liked girls, a 'cute' boy would also be of interest.

He told the cop what he wanted to do to his 'son', before sending an indecent photograph of himself.

Jolley, of Rhona Drive, Great Sankey, Warrington, who appeared via video link from prison, sat with his head bowed for much of the hearing on Friday.

He was jailed for three years and four months having earlier pleaded guilty to arranging the commission of a child sex offence.

Jolley was ordered to sign the sex offender register for life.


The obsessive stalker who put a tracking device on his ex's car, lurked in her garden and followed her around a supermarket

Basil Thomas was found guilty of stalking and breaching the harassment restraining order

A man who obsessively stalked his ex-girlfriend, breaking a restraining order and putting a tracking device on her car has been jailed for three years.

Basil Thomas, from Stockport, followed and watched his victim.

He climbed into her garden and moved CCTV camera - and even turned up outside the hospice her mum was in.

A court heard how Thomas, 50, from Cheadle , started bombarding his former partner with letters and emails after their six-year relationship ended.

He would also turn up at her home, and in June this year he was handed a restraining order banning him from going within 100m of the woman, or visiting her home.

But just several weeks later, Thomas followed the woman around a local supermarket in Macclesfield until she left the store.

When she returned home and checked her CCTV, Thomas was seen climbing over a wall and entering her back garden.

He moved the camera to face the sky before taking off the black mask covering his face, but was still caught on CCTV.

Thomas also turned up outside her mum’s hospice and a few days before his arrest he admitted watching her and her daughter while out shopping in Cheadle.

After the victim told officers she felt she was being followed, police searched her car and discovered a tracking device.

Thomas, of of Cranleigh Drive, was arrested and on September 30 was found guilty of stalking and breaching the harassment restraining order at Manchester Magistrates Court.

He was sentenced today, October 28, at Chester Crown Court to three years in prison.

Thomas was also handed an indefinite restraining order.

Rapist who attacked sex worker after she turned him away when he offered her £5 was caught after he gave her a 'love bite'

Zoro Banciu, 33, has been jailed for raping a sex worker

A rapist who attacked a sex worker he met on the street was caught by DNA evidence after he gave her a 'love bite', a court heard.

Zoro Banciu, 33, raped the woman before kicking and punching her. He then bit her neck.

After the woman reported the attack to police, they were able to obtain crucial DNA evidence which helped them prove Banciu was responsible.

The woman, who bravely faced her attacker in court to read out a statement, was also able to pick him out during a video identification procedure.

Now Banciu, who had only been in the UK for a few weeks before launching the attack, has been jailed for six years and four months having pleaded guilty to rape.

The story of a busted Manchester drugs gang - and a grenade in a sweetie bag

Four members of a class A drug dealing gang - including a grandad - have been jailed after police smashed their heroin and crack cocaine supply racket.

Richard Adams

Richard Adams, 69, a grandfather of Broom Lane, Salford, was jailed for four years behind bars he admitted conspiracy to supply heroin by storing more than a kilo of the drug at his home.

Wayne Kelly

Drug-addict Wayne Kelly, 58, of Edward Street, Harpurhey, who needs a stick to walk, was given four years in prison after he admitted conspiracy to supply heroin; and conspiracy to supply cocaine. He ran the gang's 'safe house'.

Callum Foster

Callum Foster, 28, of Darliston Avenue, Blackley, was handed nine-and-a-half years behind bars after he admitted conspiracy to supply heroin; conspiracy to supply cocaine; possessing ammunition; and possessing an improvised hand-grenade.

Craig Farrell

Father-of-two Craig Farrell, 34, of Rygate Walk, Cheetham Hill, was imprisoned for eight years after he admitted conspiracy to supply heroin; and possessing a stun gun.

Jail for drunk thug who bit into a cannula and spat blood at nurses trying to help him in hospital

Jailed: Ian Riseborough

A thug who spat blood into the faces of two nurses trying to help him at Manchester Royal Infirmary has been jailed.

Ian Riseborough, 34, also damaged an oxygen monitoring stats probe on his finger costing £150 by pulling out the wiring, police said.

That led to the closure of a specialist bay on a resuscitation unit at the hospital until the vital piece of equipment could be repaired.

Riseborough, who a court heard had been drinking, bit through a cannula in his arm then spat the resulting blood into the faces of both the nurses.

Police said he also verbally abused nursing staff and police officers, and caused alarm and distress to patients and visitors by shouting out vulgarities.

Riseborough, formerly of Wythenshawe, Manchester, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault by beating of an emergency services worker.

He's now starting a 12-week jail sentence after an investigation by the city centre division of Greater Manchester Police.

Sweary mum nicknamed 'Little Miss Attitude' ran huge heroin and cocaine business with her brothers... they made a boy deliver drugs door-to-door

Naliah Noreen

A gangster's moll nicknamed 'Little Miss Attitude' has been jailed for five years after she helped mastermind a county lines drugs racket which forced children to traffic cocaine and heroin.

Naliah Noreen, 23, was detained following a major police operation after a teenager was used as a 'runner' for her narcotics gang, which had up to 1,200 customers.

Mum-of-one Noreen and her two brothers ran five drug hotlines, which made or fielded 54,000 calls over a four-month period.

She would help coerce the lad into dealing drugs after claiming he owed the gang money.

The terrified boy was told dealing drugs would pay off his 'debts' and Noreen and her relatives would drive the teenager around local housing estates near his home in Rochdale so he could make door-to-door deliveries of heroin.

Police arrested her in August 2018 during a series of raids after officers learnt of the unnamed lad's ordeal.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Noreen, from Rochdale, admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and heroin; plus a separate charge of money laundering.

Her brothers Asad Ali, 19 and Ratib Ali, 20, and their housemate Janaid Rehman, 18 were jailed at earlier hearings. Her boyfriend Mohammed Abu Khan, 28, is currently serving seven-and-a-half.

This man stole a Poppy Appeal charity box from a shop... now he's behind bars

Dean Vincent Walker, 32, of no fixed abode has been jailed for 18 weeks after pleading guilty to four counts of shoplifting and a breach of a court order

A thief who stole a Poppy Appeal charity box from a shop in Tameside has been jailed.

Dean Vincent Walker was arrested on Tuesday after police chased him on foot around Ashton-under-Lyne .

When they stopped him, he had more than half a dozen No.7 make-up sets, an electric toothbrush, razors and more makeup.

Officers said he wasn't able to provide a receipt.

The 32-year-old, of no fixed abode, was later charged with four shoplifting offences, as well as a breach of court order.

The thefts also included a charity box - which was stolen from Family Shopper on Broadoak Road on October 24 - as well as meat, cigarettes, and the makeup.

Walker appeared before Tameside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to the offences. He was sentenced to 18 weeks behind bars.

Police officer bravely ran to stop violent criminal... he was left blinded and with catastrophic injuries in a horror attack

Paul Elliott was jailed for the attack

A police sergeant was blinded in one eye and two other cops were also hurt when a violent life-long criminal squirted ammonia at them when they tried to detain him at a house.

Sgt Andrew Gore suffered "catastrophic injuries" when Paul Elliott squirted ammonia into his eyes as he chased him up a flight of stairs, collapsing in agony as the corrosive liquid burned his face and throat.

Elliott, who was out of prison on licence for previous crimes at the time, jumped out of a first floor window in a bid to escape but was Tasered and arrested in the back garden.

On Thursday, Elliott, of no fixed address, was jailed for 14 years and six months after he admitted GBH with intent and two counts of applying a corrosive fluid with intent on the eve of a trial.