A factory worker who brutally murdered his former wife while his children slept in the next room. A 19-year-old who posted extreme right-wing and racist material online and made 'vile' indecent photographs of a child.
A serial burglar who targeted takeaways and an opticians in Rochdale. A gym boss who took on a 'leading role' in a drugs gang.
These are just some of the criminals who appeared in court in and around Greater Manchester this week...
Read more: He bragged online that he had abused a sleeping child - now he is behind bars
Rochdale burglar targeted small businesses in string of raids
A serial burglar from Rochdale targeted the town’s business in order to steal money. Now, Mohammed Rameez, of Ann Street, Rochdale, has been jailed for 28 months.
The 29-year-old carried out six burglaries from December 21, 2021, and January 22, 2022. Rameez broke into four takeaways and stole money, and then raided an opticians and a cleaning supplies store on Oldham Road.
He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on April 11. GMP announced last year it would attend every reported burglary under Operation Castle as part of the Government's Beating Crime Plan.
Gym boss became gangster after losing his job in lockdown
A gym boss who lost his job in lockdown descended into crime and took on a 'leading role' in organised drugs gang. Nabeel Issawi worked as a gym manager, but the coronavirus restrictions meant that they were shut for months at the height of the pandemic.
He was left 'stranded' with no ability to earn and was 'foolishly' tempted into serious crime, Manchester Crown Court heard. A law enforcement hack of the secretive and highly encrypted EncroChat network revealed that Issawi, 33, then became involved in dealing huge amounts of drugs.
Issawi was linked to the supply of more than 60 kilos of cocaine, between April and June in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Prosecutors said that Issawi used the EncroChat handle 'Famous one is back', and was in contact with another user called 'Greymoon'.
Issawi had previously been jailed for more than six years in 2014 for conspiracy to supply class A drugs. He was involved with the gym at Kirkham prison in Lancashire and after being released he started work as a gym instructor, the court heard.
Issawi, of Poplar Avenue, Warton, Preston, was jailed for 13 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Factory worker handed life sentence for murdering ex-wife as children slept in next room
A factory worker has been handed a life sentence for murdering his ex-wife just metres from where their children slept. Russell Norman James Marsh, of Shotton, Flintshire, was last week found guilty of murdering the mother of his four children Jade Marsh - also known as Jade Ward - last summer.
Jurors heard during the Mold Crown Court trial how Ms Ward was slashed, stabbed and strangled in her own bed in the box room of her Shotton home in Wales. The 27-year-old's mutilated body was later buried under a pile of clothes.
Marsh, who worked for Bio Energy in Ellesmere Port, was jailed for her murder on Tuesday (April 12). The 29-year-old will now serve a minimum of 25 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
19-year-old jailed for ultra-right online hate and vile child porn images
A 19-year-old man who posted extreme right-wing and racist material online and who made indecent photographs or 'pseudo-photographs' of a child has been jailed for two years.
Thomas Leech, of Derby Drive, Preston, pleaded guilty to seven charges, including three counts of publishing a statement intending members of the public to be directly or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced to commit, prepare, or instigate acts of terrorism contrary to the Terrorism Act 2006.
He also pleaded guilty to four other offences not covered by terrorism legislation. These were: Publishing or distributing written material which was threatening, abusive or insulting intending thereby to stir up racial hatred, or having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred was likely to be stirred up; publishing or distributing written material which was threatening, intending thereby to stir up religious hatred; making 211 indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child and making four indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child.
He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday (8 April), where he was also given a 12 month extended licence period to be applied on completion of his prison sentence, plus 10 years on the sex offenders register, a 10 year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a 10-year notification requirement under Part Four of the Terrorism Act 2008.
Former world darts champion Ted Hankey admits sex assault
Former world darts champion Ted Hankey has admitted sexually assaulting a woman. Hankey - known throughout the darts world by his nickname 'The Count' - appeared before a district judge at a magistrates' court today, Thursday.
The 54-year-old spoke only to confirm his name, age and address, and to enter his guilty plea to a single charge of sexual assault, during a brief hearing at Warrington Magistrates' Court. The court heard he was charged with intentionally touching a woman over the age of 16 on September 10 last year. Jonathan Wilkinson, prosecuting, said the victim was under 18, but no further details were given in court.
District Judge Nicholas Sanders said the case would be sent to Chester Crown Court, where Hankey will be sentenced next month on May 12. He told Hankey he would become subject to notification requirements and should report to a local police station as he granted him conditional bail.
Two more young men found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Rhamero West
Two more young men face life sentences after being found guilty of murdering a teenage boy. Ryan Cashin, 19, was previously found guilty of murdering 16-year-old Rhamero West after stabbing him to death in Old Trafford.
Now a jury has also convicted 20-year-old Giovanni Lawrence and a 17-year-old boy, who can't be named for legal reasons, of murder under the joint enterprise law. Prosecutors did not allege that they attacked Rhamero, but said the 17-year-old had ran at Rhamero with a knife prior to the killing, and Lawrence was alleged to be driving a stolen BMW which pursued Rhamero.
The joint enterprise law allows those deemed to have 'assisted or encouraged' an offence to be convicted. Xavaiour Wynter, 18, also alleged to be a driver of pursuing stolen BMW, was found not guilty and discharged from the dock.
The verdicts came after a month long trial at Manchester Crown Court. Cashin was found guilty on Friday, and jurors convicted Lawrence and the 17-year-old by a majority verdict on Monday afternoon. Cashin, Lawrence and the 17-year-old are due to be sentenced next month.
Rapist held woman hostage for seven weeks and tortured her with needles
A controlling rapist held a woman hostage for nearly two months, subjecting her to terrifying and cruel attacks. Neil Cauchi, 33, has been jailed for 19 years after for his appalling crimes, including rape and sexual assault.
Cauchi tied her to a bed at a house in Salford after an argument, before slapping, punching and hitting her legs with a 'heavy object'. Cauchi, also jabbed her legs with hypodermic needles which he used to administer steroids, knowing she had a phobia of them.
In the near two month period she was falsely imprisoned, Cauchi raped and sexually assaulted her. She was no longer tied up but was left too terrified to leave the property in Eccles, after Cauchi issued chilling threats.
Cruel woman blew cannabis smoke up dog's nose - after her prisoner boyfriend asked her to
A dog owner made her pet cough and groan after blowing cannabis smoke up his nose at the request of her prisoner boyfriend. Claire Anderson, from Hazel Grove, was banned from keeping animals for a decade by magistrates in Stockport today (April 14).
Prosecuting, Nicole Bridgman told Stockport Magistrates Court that Anderson had been speaking to her partner James Millington, who had called her landline number from prison at 11pm on November 26, 2020. Anderson was smoking a cannabis joint at the time of the phone call, which was recorded.
The court heard that Anderson's dog, called Benji, could be heard in the background of the call. Ms Bridgman said that after noticing Benji, Millington told Anderson: "Put your hand around his nose, put the joint in your mouth and blow."
After confirming to Millington that she had followed his instructions, the dog could be heard 'making quite a loud groan' in the recording of the call, Ms Bridgman said. She added: "Mr Millington asked 'did it go up his nose'. The defendant laughed and said 'I think so'. She offered to do it again."
Anderson, of Hazelwood Road, was handed a four-week prison sentence to run concurrently from her existing jail term. She was also ordered to pay £300 in costs plus £128 as a victim surcharge, and was disqualified from owning or keeping an animal for 10 years.
