A number of killer drivers have been locked up this week in Greater Manchester including two boy racers and a drink-driver.
Also starting a lengthy sentence behind bars this week is a predator GMP detective who repeatedly raped a teenage girl, and a man who swiped a three-year-old boy from Aldi whilst his mum’s back was turned – fortunately he was saved by his older brother.
Join our FREE Manchester Crime and Court WhatsApp group by clicking here
Prison terms are handed out to the most serious offenders each week. And Manchester Evening News reporters are on the press bench each day to cover these cases.
Burglar broke into homes and stole property worth thousands of pounds
A burglar who broke into homes in leafy Wilmslow and stole property worth thousands of pounds has been jailed.
Lee Jones – who also fraudulently used a bank card he swiped in one break-in – was locked up for more than four years and 11 months after he admitted a series of charges, police said. Jones, 46, of Waterside in Marple, Stockport, carried out two burglaries in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in April this year.
He was sentenced by a judge at Chester Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to two counts of burglary and three counts of fraud by false representation.
Killer drink-driver who ran away from Clive Pinnock crash and bought vodka jailed – as devastated family of ‘Mr Ibiza’ speak of heartbreak
A BMW driver who killed a father-of-three while over the legal drink-drive limit has been jailed for seven years. Daniel Masiulis, who a court heard on Tuesday was convicted in 2016 of failing to provide a specimen for analysis after suspected drink-driving, showed no emotion as he was led away from the dock to begin his sentence.
Masiulis, 38, a HGV driver by trade, was found guilty in July after trial of causing the death of Clive Pinnock by careless driving while over the drink-drive limit on Hyde Road in Gorton on April 8, 2020. He denied the charges he faced, but was convicted by a jury on a majority verdict.
Mr Pinnock’s family spoke movingly of their grief and loss in statements read out at the sentencing hearing, with his mother saying: “My heart is truly broken. My life has changed forever.”
A court heard he initially got out of his car – a BMW 520d – and went to Mr Pinnock after the collision, but CCTV footage then showed him jogging away from the scene, with other bystanders going over to critically-injured Mr Pinnock’s side.
Masiulis, of Baguley Street, Droylsden, Tameside, then went to a shop in nearby Abbey Hey and bought vodka and Coca Cola before ringing police, the court heard. A blood test showed he had 129mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, the legal limit being 80.
Prisoner caught with homemade knife in Strangeways
A prisoner was caught with a homemade knife in Strangeways prison.
Prison officers had spotted that something was passed to Steven Graham, 32, from a different wing and ordered him to be searched.
He initially refused before being taken to a holding cell where he surrendered the weapon.
Pleading guilty to unauthorised possession of a sharpened improvised weapon, he was jailed for 12 months, to be added onto the current sentence he is serving.
Drug dealer kept hold of loaded gun for someone he ‘couldn’t say no to’ – before cops found it in an unlikely hiding place
A drug dealer kept hold of a loaded gun for someone ‘he couldn’t say no to’ – before it was found stashed in his neighbour’s recycling bin. Lewis Beardall’s home was searched by police, who found cannabis and other drugs – including – heroin hidden in an Oxo cube box.
A further search of the house revealed a Browning pistol in a neighbour’s recycling bin, along with bags of drugs and multiple mobile phones. Beardall, 27, from Salford, claimed the firearm was for protection.
He later admitted he was keeping it for someone he ‘couldn’t say no to’. He’s now been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
Thug cackled as half-naked partner cowered among bin bags after sickening attack
A thug cackled as his half-naked partner cowered among bin bags as she tried to escape following a brutal attack. Matthew McCarrol, 27, lashed out at his ex following a bust-up after their eight-year relationship ended.
He repeatedly punched her in the head, knocking her unconscious. McCarrol smashed up his bedroom, pulled a door off its hinges and broke his TV, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
When the woman went round, she tried to leave but he attacked her again. She tried to get help from his housemate, but their door was locked.
McCarrol, from Stockport, then ripped off some of her clothes, leaving her semi-naked. Over two to three hours, the woman made numerous attempts to leave. At one point she hid in the kitchen among bin bags.
“You were laughing at her when you found her cowering in the kitchen, absolutely terrified of you,” a judge told McCarrol. The woman eventually managed to leave through a small open window in the living room before seeking help.
McCarrol, of Turncroft Lane, was jailed for two-and-a-half years. He was also banned from contacting the woman for five years under the terms of a restraining order.
Remorseless GMP detective who repeatedly raped girl still says he’s innocent
A detective who repeatedly raped and sexually abused a teenage girl – and still maintains his innocence – has been jailed for 26 years. Detective Constable Stephen Hardy, 46, who worked for Greater Manchester Police within the force’s Stockport division, was found guilty of a catalogue of sexual crimes.
Hardy groomed the girl and ‘gained power and control’ over her, Liverpool Crown Court heard. The ‘manipulative’ disgraced officer showed no emotion as he learned his fate.
Hardy, of Hyde Road in Mottram, Tameside, was previously convicted of multiple counts of rape; sexual assault; causing a child to engage in sexual activity and to watch sexual activity; and assault by penetration.
His trial heard the offences spanned several years and began when his victim was a girl under 16. She had been concerned about who would believe her if she told anyone because of Hardy’s job, the court heard.
BMW boy racers killed young girl in horror smash following ‘petty disagreement’
Two boy racer BMW drivers who killed a talented 16-year-old girl in a horror crash following a ‘petty disagreement’ have been locked up. Alisha Goup, 16, was hit by Omar Choudhury after he mounted the pavement.
The 22-year-old had been travelling at 66mph in a 30mph zone shortly before the smash, on Rochdale Road in February. He had been trying to overtake a car on the wrong side of the road, before clipping another vehicle and losing control.
Alisha was hit as she was walking to college on the pavement. Shortly before the fatal crash, Choudhury was being chased by Hamidur Rahman, 24, a member of his extended family who he had ‘beef’ with.
Prosecutors said Rahman blamed Choudhury for informing his family about a relationship he was having with a woman, which her family ‘disapproved’ of. The pair both admitted driving dangerously, but denied causing the death of the teenager.
Despite trying to blame each other during a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court, jurors found them both guilty of causing death by dangerous driving.
Rahman, of Tilbury Street, Oldham; and Choudhury, of Broadway, Oldham, were jailed for 14 years apiece. Both were banned from driving for 12 years.
Thug ambushed and stabbed man, 62, outside supermarket over false claim he’d raped his mum
A young thug has been jailed for ambushing and then stabbing a 62-year-old man falsely accused of raping his mother. Kaden Worthington, 20, was on bail for another knife crime at the time he launched the attack, which left his victim in hospital for a month with broken ribs.
Now Worthington, an apprentice plumber from Worsley, has been handed a long period of detention after he admitted the attack. The defendant carried out an ‘ambush-style attack’ outside Aldi at Salford shopping precinct on January 10 this year, prosecutor Robert Elias told Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday afternoon.
At the time, witnesses reported the victim had been attacked for his shopping, but the police investigation which brought Worthington down uncovered the defendant had acted in a rage over what turned out to be a false accusation that his mother had been raped by the man.
The victim suffered fractured ribs and a damaged liver in the stabbing which put him in intensive care for three days. He was only discharged a month after the attack. Mr Elias told the court Worthington had acted because he had been told by his mother the man had raped her, although there was ‘no evidence to support that’.
Worthington, of Whittle Street in Worsley, was handed five years of detention after he had admitted section 18 wounding and possession of a knife.
They raided millionaire’s homes and stole luxury items… but they were caught by one silly mistake
Members of a Manchester crime gang have been jailed after carrying out a series of high-value burglaries in affluent parts of Cheshire.
They were responsible for 12 burglaries in just four months, targeting six addresses alone in the millionaires’ village of Prestbury while the owners were away.
The gang stole valuables worth more than £1m including watches, cash, jewellery, and handbags, although their main target was luxury cars. After stealing the vehicles, they attached false number plates to drive them to Birmingham to sell through criminal associates.
They left a trail of devastated families in their wake, causing damage in the properties and stealing cash, designer jewellery and cars parked in the drives, including a Land Rover Discovery as well as Audis, BMWs and one Mini Cooper. Detectives described the impact of their crimes as ‘sickening’.
Aside from Prestbury, the gang also carried out burglaries in Goostrey, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, Over Peover and Thelwall.
But Prestbury was the gang’s favourite target, committing two burglaries on leafy Brocklehurst Drive and others on Peters Close, Heybridge Lane and Castlegate.
Their crimes began to unravel when blood found at one of the raids was linked to one of the gang’s members, Ryan Beevers, from Wythenshawe.
When cops raided his home, they arrested Beevers and his partner Lyndsey Entwistle. At the home on Shadowmoss Road cops found valuables which had been stolen during the 12 burglaries.
Analysis of phones seized at the address led cops to other members of the gang, William Bate, Jonathan Bruton and Caine McConville.
The five members of the gang were jailed at Chester Crown Court on Thursday.
Ryan Beevers, 34, of Shadowmoss Road, Wythenshawe, was jailed for seven years and eight months after he admitted conspiracy to commit burglary and conspiracy to convert or conceal criminal property.
His partner Lyndsey Entwistle, 48, of the same address, was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. She had earlier admitted participating in the activities of an organised crime group, conspiracy to convert or conceal criminal property and possession of criminal property.
William Bate, 44, of Pendeen Close, Wythenshawe, was jailed for three years and nine months after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.
Jonathan Bruton, 33, of Castleview House, Runcorn, but with links to Chorlton, was handed a sentence of two years and six months, He admitted conspiracy to convert or conceal criminal property.
Caine McConville, 25, of HMP Altcourse, was jailed for six years. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary, conspiracy to convert or conceal criminal property, dangerous driving, handling stolen goods and disqualified driving.
‘What should have been a normal day at the supermarket turned out to be our worst nightmare’
A stranger picked up a small child and headed for the exit at an Aldi store when his mum’s back was turned – before his big brother ran to rescue him. A judge described it as ‘every parent’s worst nightmare’.
The woman was paying for her shopping at the Heywood store. Her two young kids were sat on the bagging shelf behind the tills.
Within seconds of the mum turning her back, Sergejus Paskevicius picked up the younger boy and walked towards the exit. The child’s big brother ran in front of the 60-year-old, grabbed his sibling’s leg and dragged him away.
The eldest boy has been left traumatised and suffers with PTSD. He’s now terrified of being left alone.
Paskevicius initially pleaded guilty to child abduction, before vacating his plea. A year later, he admitted the charge. Now he’s been jailed for three years and two months.
