A torture gang, a killer drink driver and a boasting drug dealer are amongst those who have been locked up in Greater Manchester this week.
Also jailed this week was a controlling thug who dubbed himself a ‘wife beater’ before repeatedly strangling his then partner, as well as a drug gang who were caught hiding in people’s gardens.
Prison sentences are handed out to the worst offenders each week and Manchester Evening News reporters are in court to cover the most serious cases.
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Here are some of the criminals who have been locked up in Greater Manchester this week…
Sadistic gang who kidnapped dad they wrongly suspected of rape and hacked him to death jailed for 235 years
Eight men were jailed for a total of 235 years following the brutal murder of Wigan dad Christopher Hughes.
Mr Hughes' mutilated body was discovered on a country road on the outskirts of Skelmersdale by a dogwalker after he was bundled into the back of an Audi and viciously attacked. The 37-year-old suffered nearly 100 separate injuries, having been hunted down by a vigilante gang who wrongly believed the dad had raped a teenager.
Seven men convicted of abducting and murdering the former boxer and an eighth man, Curtis Balbas, who admitted those offences, were sentenced on February 9 at Liverpool Crown Court. They were locked up for a combined total of 235 years after being handed life imprisonments, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Mr Hughes had been snatched off Almond Street, Wigan, in broad daylight 'in a slick move' and bundled into the boot of a blue Audi A4 on February 18 last year following a determined 24-hour manhunt for him by the gang, said John Elvidge, KC, prosecuting. Balbas, 30, of Matheson Drive, Worsley Hall, Wigan, was accompanied by Erland Spahiu, an Albanian, who worked with him enforcing vehicle repossessions with the threats of violence.
They drove their helpless victim, who was desperately asking from the boot, ‘What have I done wrong?’ to an isolated country road in Skelmersdale, Lancs. A man who witnessed the kidnapping had been warned by Spahiu, “keep your f...ing mouth shut, or you’re next”.
Mr Hughes was taken from the boot on arrival at White Moss Road South, near the M58, and horrifically subjected to “a tortuous attack” with two knives including a machete. In the vicious and sadistic assault, the two men hacked him to death, inflicting at least 90 sharp wounds to his head, body and limbs including injuries to his scrotum and anus, having lowered his clothing.
They then left his mutilated body at the scene on a grassy embankment, abandoned to the winter elements, where he was found by a dog walker four days later.
Balbas, of Matheson Drive in Wigan, pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 34 years. Seven other conspirators were found guilty of these counts and were also handed life imprisonments.
His brothers-in-law 52-year-old Alan Jaf, 48-year-old Khalil Awla, 40-year-old Mohammed - who hail from the Kurdish region of Iraq - must serve at least 26, 26 and 27 years respectively. Jaf and Awla - of Ridyard Street and Greenwood Avenue in Wigan respectively - were the joint owners of M6 Motor Garage in the Greater Manchester town, where O’Neill-Davey also worked.
The 30-year-old, of Conrad Close in Wigan, will spend a minimum of 25 years behind bars. Twenty-one-year-old Voja and Spahiu - who are cousins from Albania, the former having been visiting from his home on Peall Road in Croydon, South London - were given terms of 23 and 35 years respectively.
Smith, aged 34 and of Greenwood Avenue in Wigan, was told he will serve at least 33 years. Uzkuraitis, of Holly Road in Wigan, was acquitted of murder and kidnapping but convicted of assisting an offender. The 27-year-old was imprisoned for six years.
'Blind as a bat' drunk driver ended the life of much-loved young man in horror crash after all-day boozing session
A drunk driver killed a much-loved student in a horror crash after his car appeared 'out of thin air like the DeLorean'. Ryan McElroy, 35, had been drinking all day and was caught on CCTV staggering away from his dad's flat before getting into his car and driving at excessive speeds.
Louis Dube, 25, was asleep in the backseat of his friend's Vauxhall Crossland as drove home from a church function. After dropping a friend off safely nearby, the woman, 30, attempted to lawfully turn around in the road.
McElroy appeared and crashed into her vehicle. She said: "It was like the DeLorean out of Back To The Future. It appeared in the middle of the road... like it was out of thin air."
The court heard McElroy's Insignia was travelling between 49mph and 60mph at the time of the crash on December 5 last year.
Both the driver and Mr Dube were left with multiple serious injuries. Mr Dube sadly died days later.
McElroy, from Oldham, was also treated for minor injuries at the scene, and initially gave a false name and claimed 'Dave from Broughton' had driven the car.
He has since pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving; causing serious injury by dangerous driving; and driving while disqualified. Today (February 9) he was jailed for 11 years and four months.
Disgusting thug boasted of being a 'wife beater' as he repeatedly strangled girlfriend
A controlling man dubbed himself a “wife beater” during a drunken attack on his girlfriend in which he repeatedly strangled her. Alexander Yates, 29, and the woman had been dating for around a month before things turned ‘volatile’.
He gradually began to isolate her from friends and family, told her that she wasn’t allowed to wear makeup and pulled out her hair extensions, as he told her she was ‘vying for attention from other men’, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
“He restricted what she ate, broke her phone, told her she was a poor mother and said she was ‘mentally ill’, stating that her family and friends didn’t care for her,” prosecutor Hannah Forsyth said. The woman kept a diary of the abuse she was subjected to.
Events escalated on June 22 last year when Yates, of Mossley, and the woman went to a friend’s house. An argument developed after which he ran towards her, grabbed her around the neck and strangled her.
Despite his friend telling him to stop he strangled her again moments later, before cruelly asking for a kiss. When she eventually managed to leave and go to his mother’s house nearby, he attacked her again, strangling her and leaving her ‘gasping for breath’.
Yates, of Hart Mill Close, Mossley, was jailed for 40 months after pleading guilty to offences of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
'On, power fat sizes': Texts that led to downfall of 22-year-old criminal
A young drug dealer who police said had 'more than 14,000 contacts' on his mobile phone has been jailed. Greater Manchester Police detectives said Selim Ahmed 'continually' sent out text messages from the Nokia 'graft' phone everyday in the hope users would buy crack cocaine and heroin.
As he began a prison sentence, they said Ahmed was 'profiting from vulnerable people who are addicted to harmful drugs' and 'advertising' the substances for sale.
The 22-year-old, from Heywood near Rochdale, was arrested in November 2022 and after being charged, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin and possession of a knife. At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday, he was jailed for four years.
Police said in a statement released after the sentencing hearing that Ahmed's 'top contacts' on the Nokia 105 phone were Class A drug users. GMP said: "The 22-year-old was also advertising the supply of drugs in Heywood and Middleton.
"Between August 2022 and November 2022, evidence showed he sent text messages every day, including 'on, power fat sizes' and 'new stuf, w nd gear! Firing one! On t late'.
"On Wednesday 16 November 2022, Ahmed was arrested at a property on Cedar Avenue in Heywood and was found to be in possession of the Nokia 105 graft mobile phone. He was charged and subsequently pleaded guilty, at an earlier hearing, to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin and possession of a knife.
Speaking after the sentence hearing, Detective Sergeant Chris Woodburn, from Greater Manchester Police's County Lines Team, said: "Ahmed was profiting from vulnerable people who are addicted to harmful drugs like crack cocaine and heroin. The evidence showed he would continually send text messages to the thousands of contacts he had on his phone in the hope they would buy the drugs.”
Gang found hiding in gardens after smashing into shop
A gang who rammed an e-bike shop and stole thousands of pounds worth of stock were caught after leading police on a 'dangerous' chase through the streets of Cheshire.
Saul Blackley, 33, Jordan Buckle, 24, and Adam Hodson, 36, all from Greater Manchester, were all involved in the burglary of the bike shop on Hollands Road in Northwich on August 5 last year.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how at around 12.30am, police were alerted by a caller that the unit had been rammed, and a number of high value bikes had been stolen.
Police descended on the scene and while en route, one officer spotted a white Volkswagen Crafter van which was travelling at speed near to Leicester Street roundabout.
The officer began pursuing the vehicles as it travelled along Manchester Road and into Lostock Gralam. The trio eventually abandoned the vehicle after driving into a dead-end road.
All three men attempted to flee the scene on foot, but officers flooded the area and the trio were arrested after being found hiding in nearby gardens.
Officers also recovered all of the stolen items inside the abandoned van and discovered clothing and gloves worn by the suspects dumped nearby.
Saul Blackley, of Goldrill Avenue, Bolton was sentenced to 12 months in prison for burglary other than a dwelling and possession of a class B drug (Cannabis).
Jordan Buckle, of Dickinson Street West, Horwich, Bolton was sentenced to 12 months in prison for burglary other than a dwelling. He was also banned from driving for three years and nine months for failing to provide a specimen.
Adam Hodson, of Suffolk Street, Salford was sentenced to 12 months in prison for burglary other than a dwelling and failing to provide a specimen.
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