From the gun-toting robber caught on CCTV stealing cash and jewellery worth £10,000 - to the chef who poured boiling oil over takeaway worker's head during furious bust-up, it has by no means been a quiet month in the region's courts.
These are just some of the court cases our reporters have covered in March.
We've seen drug peddlers handed prison time; Piccadilly Gardens branded a 'no go area' by a judge; and teams of criminals trying to swindle as much cash as they could.
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 and resources to letting you know what happens in our publicly-accountable courts.
And we'll be back for more next month.
The mobile-phone burglars trapped by persistent police
Two Salford men who were part of a gang that raided a Carphone Warehouse store have both been jailed.
Around £36,000 worth of mobile phones were taken after four masked men smashed their way into a store at a Shropshire retail park.
Christopher Taylor and Jordan Wheeldon, both from Swinton , were arrested after the raiders escaped in a stolen car which was tracked to the Manchester area.
Wheeldon 'was not the brains of the operation' and Taylor got involved to pay off gambling debts, their defence teams said.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court, on Wednesday, both men were each jailed for two-and-a-half years.
Wheeldon, 30, of Holden Drive, and Taylor, 33, of Ranelagh Road, have admitted burglary.
The Moss Side spice dealer who bragged 'I'm not trying to be rich for a night, I'm trying to get rich for life'
A spice dealer caught with thousands of pounds in cash texted a pal and bragged: 'I'm not trying to be rich for a night, I'm trying to get rich for life'.
Shaquille Bell, 24, has been jailed for seven years after a judge said he was a 'leading player' in the supply of large quantities of the drug.
Bell was found to have made extravagant purchases from the proceeds of his dealing.
Officers found an Armani watch, a Louis Vuitton bag, a pair of Christian Louboutin trainers, a Hugo Boss tracksuit and a receipt for purchases at Harvey Nichols totalling £1,645.
Thousands of pounds in cash was recovered, some of which was found in Hugo Boss and Tommy Hilfiger bags.
Bell had only recently been released from a three year sentence in a young offenders institution, for being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin.
Bell, of Leslie Street, Moss Side, pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply spice, one count of possession with intent to supply heroin, and one count of possessing a prohibited weapon.
The brother of notorious police killer Dale Cregan who stabbed a man in the street
The brother of notorious police killer Dale Cregan has been sent to jail for five years after stabbing their sister's ex-boyfriend.
Dean Moores, who uses a different surname to his evil sibling, knifed his victim in the street following an argument.
But the whole thing, including his getaway, was caught on CCTV, leading police straight to his front door, where the arresting officers also discovered a cannabis farm.
After Moores, 37, was jailed for five years and five months after pleading guilty to Section 18 assault and cultivating cannabis, a detective told how the 'evidence trail' led police straight to him, adding his actions 'were as foolish as they were brutal'.
Cregan is currently in Strangeways, Manchester, and has been told he will never be released.
Brother of notorious police killer Dale Cregan jailed for five years for stabbing man in the street
The drug dealer who hurled heroin and cocaine out of car window during police chase
A drug dealer who hurled cocaine and heroin out of his car window while being chased by police has been jailed.
Police officers attempted to stop Kabo Masalila, of Cherry Avenue, Gorton, when he pulled into the car park of a gym at Handforth Dean Retail Park, near Wilmslow, in Cheshire.
But the 27-year-old refused to stop and locked himself inside the black Honda Civic.
Chester Crown Court heard a short police pursuit took place on the A34 bypass, in the direction of Wilmslow, on the morning of Tuesday, January 29, this year.
As the pursuit continued Masalila chucked heroin, cocaine and a mobile phone out of his car window onto the carriageway.
When he met heavy traffic he attempted to create a third lane along the nearside of the carriageway.
He then ploughed into hedges and bushes before coming to a stop.
Masalila pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply drugs and dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to four years and six months in prison.
Drug dealer hurled heroin and cocaine out of car window while being chased by police
The depraved paedophile who filmed himself raping a baby and sexually assaulting a toddler in a bid to join a sick online 'club'
A depraved paedophile who filmed himself raping a baby and sexually assaulting a toddler in a bid to join a sick online club has been jailed.
Tashan Gallagher was hauled before the courts after the Nike Air Max trainers he was wearing in one of the horrific videos were found at his house.
The 31-year-old, from Leigh, Wigan, has been jailed for 15 years.
Earlier, Bolton Crown Court heard Gallagher uploaded footage of the heinous sex attacks to an encrypted app in order to get access to more vile images and film of child abuse.
His crimes were uncovered by National Crime Agency (NCA) detectives following a tip-off from the US.
Gallagher admitted one charge of rape; four counts of sexual assault; five charges of making indecent photographs; two counts of distributing an indecent image of a child; and two counts of possession of indecent images.
The Piccadilly Gardens thug who robbed man of £40 armed with rusty hook
A judge declared Piccadilly Gardens a 'no go area' for many as he jailed a knife robber who targeted an innocent man on a night out.
He also said knife crime was reaching 'epidemic proportions' across the country and that the four year sentence handed to Ariclene Da-Silva-Tchia should act as a warning to others thinking of carrying weapons.
Da-Silva-Tchia, 21, held a blade to the chest of his victim during the 'terrifying' incident in the city centre last summer.
The man's girlfriend had gone to get cash out of a nearby ATM when a group of nine men approached him near the 'Berlin Wall'' in the gardens. They included Da-Silva-Tchia, who ordered him to 'come with me', the court was told.
The victim said he could feel someone touching him as he walked with the men, at which point Da-Silva-Tchia produced a blade and held it inches from his chest.
Da-Silva-Tchia, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to robbery, possession of a bladed article and possession of Class B drugs at earlier hearings.
The gun-toting robber caught on CCTV stealing cash and jewellery worth £10,000
This is the moment a gun-toting robber was caught red-handed on a home security camera at a pensioner's house in Wigan.
Jamie Porter, 39, pulled the imitation handgun on a 73-year-old man after knocking on his door under the pretence of looking for his wife.
Police say Porter pushed the elderly man before revealing the fake firearm, which had been concealed beneath a newspaper under his arm.
During the robbery the thug walked into the man’s living room, where he was captured on a home security camera.
He forced the victim to hand over cash and jewellery with a combined value of £10,000.
He also stole a mobile phone that contained a number of sentimental pictures.
Porter, of Hannon Road, Liverpool, was jailed for seven years and six months at Bolton Crown Court after pleading guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.
The 'predatory' football coach who sexually abused a boy on a team minibus
A 'predatory' and 'calculated' football coach has been jailed for a campaign of sexual assault against two young boys during the 1990s.
Stephen Turton, 66, was seen as a 'pillar' of the Salford community where he worked as a youth football coach for more than 20 years.
He abused the respect he enjoyed to control and manipulate his victims for his own sexual gratification, undetected for nearly three decades.
But the extent of his 'sickening' behaviour was revealed as he was jailed for 13-and-a-half years for sexual assaulting children.
Manchester Crown Court heard Turton's first victim was playing for the football team when he was groomed by his coach.
The abuse started when Turton - who was a married father at the time - would give the boy a lift home from training in the team's minibus.
He would tell the boy stories about how it was normal for friends to perform sexual acts in front of each other, the court was told.
Turton, of The Mead, Salford, pleaded guilty to seven counts of committing indecency with a child, six counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault at an earlier hearing.
'Predatory' football coach bought boy a BB gun and beer before sexually abusing him in team minibus
The drunk thug who battered his ex-girlfriend before stamping on her
A thug repeatedly punched his ex-girlfriend before stamping on her and threatening to burn down their home with their young daughters inside during a drunken attack.
Paul Taylor, 32, left the woman with injuries all over her body. Moments earlier, 'covered in blood', he had pushed his way into the house crying and saying he was 'sorry'.
A court heard the Tameside yob then repeatedly punched his victim in the face, at one point while she was holding one of their daughters.
Taylor, who has 35 previous convictions for 77 offences, stamped on the woman's back while she was on the floor.
Derby Crown Court was told the incident happened while Taylor was subject to a restraining order imposed for a similar assault on the same woman in 2017.
He was jailed for two years and seven months.
He pleaded guilty to breaching a restraining order, imposed in January 2018; and for assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He also admitted criminal damage and possessing cannabis.
The chef who poured boiling oil over takeaway worker's head during furious bust-up
A takeaway chef poured four litres of boiling hot oil over a colleague during a furious bust-up.
The victim, who had to be put in an induced coma, was left with life-changing injuries.
Sihung Hung Hoang, 57, has been locked up for nine years for the 'barbaric act' which was like 'something out of the Middle Ages', a detective said.
He was sentenced at Chester Crown Court having pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Hoang's victim was treated at Wythenshawe Hospital after the attack at Beijing City Take Away, on Mill Street, Congleton, left him close to death.
He will be scarred for life.
Chef poured FOUR LITRES of boiling oil over takeaway worker's head during furious bust-up
'Cowardly' killer who beat father to death is jailed for life
A 'cowardly' killer has been jailed for life after beating a father to death before enlisting the help of his 70-year-old neighbour to help him cover it up.
Martin McBrine launched the 'sickening' and 'brutal' attack against Lee McConnell, 49, as the pair spent the night drinking at McBrine's Rochdale home.
The 49-year-old killer, for reasons which remain unknown, inflicted catastrophic injuries on his 'defenceless' victim - thought to be caused by kicking or stamping.
As Mr McConnell lay dying on McBrine's kitchen floor, he did not call for the help of paramedics or police.
Instead, Manchester Crown Court heard, he visited his 70-year-old next door neighbour and close friend, Harry Mee.
He told Mee that he 'had done it again' and that he had 'let some reprobates into his house.'
McBrine and his 'totally wicked' neighbour then worked together to try and cover up the 'merciless' killing, the court was told.
The pair even hatched a plot to drag Mr McConnell's body into the middle of the road to make it look he had been run over - but their plan failed and their lies were eventually unravelled by a jury.
McBrine, of Palatine Street, Rochdale was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years and 159 days, after being convicted of Mr McConnell's murder.
Mee, also of Palatine Street, was sentenced to two years and six months after being convicted of assisting an offender.
Man robbed taxi drivers and shop workers at knife-point
A man who robbed taxi drivers and shop workers at knife-point in Trafford has been jailed.
Owen Curtis demanded hundreds of pounds from his victims while threatening them with kitchen knives last summer.
The 26-year-old, of Lancashire Road, Partington, has been locked up for nine years after pleading guilty to four robberies and one attempted robbery.
Man robbed taxi drivers and shop workers at knife-pointThe jobless gambling addict who stole thousands from stepson and gave him a pittance to live on
A wicked stepfather who condemned his hard working stepson to live a 'Cinderella lifestyle' whilst stealing then spending his wages on gambling is now behind bars.
Jobless Anthony Caine, 46, took up to £120,000 after offering to bank monthly payments which his stepson earned from two jobs - working 16 hours a day over a six year period.
The trusting victim, who has learning difficulties, regularly deposited his salaries from his shifts at Tesco and McDonalds into Caine's bank account - unaware his stepfather was spending it playing online roulette and fruit machines.
Meanwhile, his victim was forced live off cheap 'value food' from supermarkets and make use of the free meals he was entitled to whilst working at McDonald’s. He could not afford new clothes and was unable to go out and socialise with friends.
Despite earning up to £2,000 a month including overtime, the stepson was only given as little as £50 a month to live on and could 'barely sustain himself'.
When he asked his stepfather for the cash, he was told there were 'financial problems' in the household in Broadheath, near Altrincham.
Police were eventually called by the victim and it emerged Caine had even stolen a £20,000 inheritance left to his victim by his late grandfather - bringing the total amount stolen to £118,857.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Caine was jailed for 28 months after he admitted four offences of theft and 15 charges of fraud.
The corner shop rampage of woman who said man was 'staring at her'
A woman grabbed a streak knife and went on a wild rampage outside her local corner shop - claiming another customer had been staring at her.
Carla Couperthwaite, 22, chased the man into a convenience store and then repeatedly stabbed at the door with the serrated blade claiming she 'did not like the way' he had been looking at her.
During the incident Couperthwaite, from Bolton, spent five minutes trying to get into the Balaton convenience store on Halliwell Road before setting about a second man who happened to be walking down the road.
The second victim was bundled to the ground and appeared to be kicked as Couperthwaite berated him whilst 'frothing at the mouth'.
Police were called to the scene and arrested Couperthwaite at her mother’s house nearby. It is thought neither man was injured.
Couperthwaite, who has previous convictions for violence, later admitted she had been drinking heavily and said the way the first man had been looking at her was 'troubling'. It is thought she got the knife from her home nearby.
At Bolton Crown Court she was jailed for 16 months after judge Timothy Stead adjourned sentencing so he could examine the blade - saying knife crime was a 'concerning national issue'.
Couperthwaite pleaded guilty to affray and possessing a bladed article.
The uncle and nephew who ran a cocaine and cannabis business from a garden shed on a quiet street
Members of an 'amateurish' family-run drugs gang ran a cocaine and cannabis operation from a garden shed on a quiet residential street.
Cops discovered harvested cannabis and plants with a street value of almost £46,000 across several homes in Heywood, Rochdale, as part of their investigation into Anthony Cooney, 39, and his uncle John Lingard, 60.
They found a huge shipping container, rented by Cooney, 39, containing a haul of items used to grow cannabis, including 16 tents and 397 plant pots.
When officers raided Lingard’s home, on Lochinver Grove, in November 2017, they discovered a shed in the back garden filled with all the paraphernalia needed to package drugs for sale - as well as a 12-gauge hammer shotgun.
Samantha Farrelly, 40, meanwhile, allowed her former home in Heywood to be used by Cooney as a cannabis farm.
The trio were sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.
Cooney of Rochdale Road East, Heywood was sentenced to four years six months after pleading guilty to production of cannabis, possession of cannabis, supplying of cocaine and money laundering.
Lingard, of Lochinver Grove, Heywood, was sentenced to three years after pleading guilty to supplying cocaine, possession with intent to supply cocaine and possessing a shotgun without a certificate.
Farrelly, of Chadwick Lane, Heywood, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for a year, and 100 hours of community work after pleading guilty to permitting the production of cannabis on a premises.
Uncle and nephew ran cocaine and cannabis business from a garden shed on a quiet street
The mum described as 'ray of sunshine' who slashed a shopkeeper with broken wine bottle
A 'bubbly' mum described as a 'ray of sunshine' slashed a shopkeeper across the neck with a broken wine bottle before walking out with booze.
Care home worker Aimee Bennett, 28, was caught on CCTV during the 'ruthless' attack as she repeatedly jabbed at the man at the off licence.
The shop owner suffered deep cuts to his ear and neck - and says he almost lost his hearing.
Bennett, from Oldham, sobbed in the dock as she pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and theft. She was jailed for five years.
A male accomplice suspected of involvement in the attack is on the run, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
The knife thug freed by court, chased by six men, labelled a 'grass' and caught with a blade again
A thug who was freed by a court over a knifepoint attack on a man has now been jailed - after being caught with a blade just six days later.
Curtis Harry, 20, told police he was carrying the knife for protection after being chased by six men and accused of being a 'grass'.
Police caught him with the blade in his Vauxhall Corsa at a Burnage takeaway after Harry sped past a patrol car waiting at a set of traffic lights.
Harry, from Peel Hall, Wythenshawe, had his heavily-pregnant girlfriend in the car with him.
A week earlier he had escaped with a suspended prison sentence after appearing in court for threatening a man with a knife during a row.
Harry has now appeared at Manchester Crown Court, admitted possessing an offensive weapon and has been jailed for 15 months.
The furious builder 'attacked' in a pub car park who stormed back inside revving a power saw
A builder involved in a bust-up in a pub car park stormed back into the boozer revving a power saw.
Andrew Dicken, who said he had only had one pint of lager, left regulars at the Bulls Head Hotel in Sale terrified after swinging the potentially-lethal tool 'indiscriminately' around the bar.
People screamed in horror as the 37-year-old stalked the pub with the whirring petrol-powered circular saw.
Horrified customers were heard yelling: "He's got a chainsaw."
Jailing Dicken, a judge said it was a 'miracle' nobody was hurt.
Following the incident, Dicken drank into the early hours, before going to his ex-girlfriend's house, smashing her car windscreen and threatening to blow her house up with her children inside.
Dicken, of Chapel Road, Sale, was jailed for two years having admitted affray; threatening a person in a public place with an offensive weapon; criminal damage; and sending a threatening message.
Furious builder was 'attacked' in pub car park - so he stormed back inside revving a power saw
The smirking thug who threatened Metrolink passengers with a steak knife
A smirking thug who threatened to 'chop the heads off' Metrolink passengers with a knife before assaulting a police community support officer has been jailed.
John Holt, 30, was handed a 14-month prison sentence at Minshull Street Crown Court on Monday.
Police were called on December 7 last year to reports of a man with a knife threatening people at Radcliffe Metrolink stop.
The man then boarded the tram to Bury Intercharge.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Holt was brandishing a black knife with a five-inch blade - similar in size to a steak knife.
He could be heard shouting at members of the public on the busy commuter tram.
He was heard saying: "Whoever has done me wrong I am going to chop your head off and hurt you, including everyone who is here."
Shortly after a PCSO was walking towards Bury Interchange on unrelated enquiries.
She saw the defendant walking towards her before he came at her from his left side, banging into her with force.
This sent her flying backwards onto the kerb, where she hit her back.
Feeling immediate pain in her back, the officer pressed the emergency button on her radio.
Fortunately the community support officer, who has been praised for her bravery, suffered only minor injuries.
Holt, of Waltham Gardens, Radcliffe, was jailed for 14 months after pleading guilty to common assault on an emergency worker, affray, possessing a bladed article in public and burglary.
The burglary charge related to reports of a break-in at a DIY store on Bury Old Road the day before the attack on the PCSO.
The couple who slashed homeless man with Stanley knife in a Spice-fuelled rage over 'stolen handbag'
A couple who beat up and stabbed a homeless man in broad daylight after they accused him of stealing a handbag have been jailed for a total of more than 12 years.
Lianne Doyle, 32, and 37-year old Darren Reynolds jumped on their victim and slashed him across the neck with a Stanley knife after they spotted him lying asleep in the street inside his sleeping bag.
The court was told that mother of one Doyle had taken Spice.
She was heard screaming: ''Thief! Get my handbag I want my f***ing handbag - he has stole everything'', whilst Reynolds shouted: ''F***ing thief'', as he rained down kicks on the victim.
Their victim was unable to defend himself because his arms and legs were jammed inside his sleeping bag.
He was left with multiple bruising and cuts with his face covered with blood before shocked members of the public intervened.
The attackers later claimed the man had taken a handbag belonging to Doyle and they had beaten him up in a bid to get it back. The victim denies any wrongdoing.
At Manchester Crown Court, Doyle, of Withington, and Reynolds, of Bury, admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Reynolds was jailed for seven years and four months whilst Doyle - who also pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon - was jailed for four years and ten months.
The killer who beat another man to death in 'horrifically violent' pub toilet attack
A man who beat another man to death in a pub toilet has been locked up.
Derek Bentham has been jailed for life, and must serve a minimum of 13 years before being considered for parole following the brutal attack in Hindley.
The 46-year-old, of Smithwood Avenue, Hindley, was found guilty of murder at an earlier hearing.
The court heard how his victim, Lee Christy, was drinking with a close friend at the Bears Paw pub on Market Street when he went into the toilet.
Bentham, who was also in the pub with his girlfriend, followed him in a short time later.
He then carried out a brutal premeditated attack on the 45-year-old, on Saturday, September 15.
He knocked him to the ground, then climbed on top of him and repeatedly punched him in the face.
Bentham then began head-butting his victim. He then walked away, but turned back and kicked his helpless victim one last time.
The attacker then walked out of the toilets and left the pub with his girlfriend.
Lee was carried out of the toilets, and managed to make it home to his flat across the road before an ambulance took him to hospital. He died three days later.
Man brutally beat another man to death in 'horrifically violent' pub toilet attack
The 'sinister' man who stalked woman home from a casino before attacking her and stealing her cash
A man who followed a woman home from a casino and stole cash from her has been jailed.
Mohammed Rezaie, of Wilkinson Street, in Leigh, began to follow the woman after she left the casino, on Portland Street, in Manchester city centre.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard Rezaie stalked the woman all the way to her home in Tameside.
When the woman got out of her car he approached her from behind and attacked her.
He stole a quantity of cash, as well as the victim's purse and keys.
The 29-year-old denied the incident but a jury found Rezaie guilty.
A judge at Minshull Street Crown Court handed Rezaie a three year prison sentence.
'Sinister' man stalked woman home from a casino before attacking and stealing her cash
The Manchester county lines drug pushers who used hire cars and pay-as-you-go phones to flood a town with cocaine and heroin
A county lines racket flooded Macclesfield with thousands of pounds worth of cocaine and heroin, a court heard.
The trio, from Manchester, were locked up for a total of ten years for the enterprise which 'systematically exploited vulnerable people' living in the Cheshire town.
Chester Crown Court heard how the group would run class A drugs from their homes in Manchester to Macclesfield using hire cars and pay-as-you-go phones.
Reece Williams, 24, of Crescent Park, Stockport was jailed for five years after admitting two counts of conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Tylo Jamieson, 29, of Cringle Road Manchester, was sentenced to three years and nine months; and Danielle Wilson, of Kenyon Lane, Manchester, was jailed for three years.
The mum caught stealing more than 50 times banned from EVERY shop in Manchester city centre, The Rock and Manchester Fort
A prolific shoplifter has been banned from EVERY shop in Manchester city centre, The Rock in Bury and Manchester Fort after racking up more than 50 offences for theft.
Mother-of-two Amy Atherton, 42, had already been forbidden from entering all stores owned by retail tycoon Mike Ashley - including House of Fraser, Debenhams and Sports Direct - with pictures of her put up behind the tills at a number of shops.
She's now been jailed for nine months - and banned from dozens of shops in Manchester and Bury under the terms of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) - after punching and biting a security guard at Kendals.
If Atherton enters one of the stores, she will be in breach of the order and could be jailed for up to five years.
The court heard Atherton had 89 previous offences to her name, including 53 for theft.
Atherton has battled addiction, at her worst spending £200 a day on drink and drugs, and was shoplifting to fund her habit, the court heard.
Atherton, of Ruthin Avenue, Blackley, pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and another count of possessing heroin.
The pilot who crashed his plane and 'still thinks he's a hero'
A 'greedy and arrogant' pilot who crashed his plane while narrowly missing the M62 has been jailed for three-and-a-half-years.
Robert Murgatroyd, 52, was sentenced after being found guilty of endangering the lives of his passengers, three bird watchers who wanted to see a rare bird which had been spotted on a remote island for the first time in 30 years.
The 45-year-old Piper Cherokee plane owned by the defendant was severely overloaded, and was only in the air for a matter of minutes after taking off from Barton Aerodrome.
It took off towards the M62 but crashed into a potato field shortly after.
During an astonishing police interview after the crash, in which the passengers luckily only sustained minor injuries, Murgatroyd tried to portray himself as the 'hero of the moment'.
At Manchester Crown Court on Friday, the sentencing judge branded him 'arrogant', adding that he 'continues to perceive (his) own actions to be heroic'.
Murgatroyd said the crash was a deliberate act aimed at saving the lives of his passengers, and claimed a film should be made about him, which he jokingly titled 'Miracle on the Ship Canal', referencing the Tom Hanks film Miracle on the Hudson.
The defendant, who was banned from keeping his aircraft at Blackpool Airport due to a financial dispute, claimed he 'would have got away with it' at that airport, due to the runway being three times longer and it being made of tarmac rather than grass.
Now the pilot of more than 30 years has been brought to justice.
His trial was the first crown court trial in the UK of a pilot accused of reckless endangerment of an aircraft, or of illegal public transport.
Murgatroyd, of Windy Harbour Road, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, was found guilty of seven offences.
These were endangering the safety of an aircraft, endangering the safety of a person, flying without an air operator certificate, acting as pilot without holding an appropriate licence, flying an aircraft otherwise than in accordance with the limitations in the flight manual, operating an aircraft without insurance and flying without the aircraft flight manual.
A pilot jailed for crash landing and risking lives 'still thinks he's a hero'
Man who sexually assaulted a schoolgirl at a bus stop
A quick-thinking woman who helped snare a sex offender preying on a schoolgirl has been awarded £400 by a judge.
Lee Sullivan, 44, was jailed for a year for sexually assaulting a girl at a bus stop in Harpurhey.
Sullivan had been seen 'hanging around' the stop, and others close by on Fernclough Road in Harpurhey, all used by children catching the bus to school, on several occasions beforehand, the court was told.
Local Sandra Kenyon twice notified the police about the suspicious behaviour in the week before the assault in January this year, Mark Monaghan, prosecuting said.
On one occasion she followed him and saw him go into a nearby shop to top-up a pre-paid gas meter, details of which she gave to police.
Then on the day in question she filmed him walking away on her mobile phone having previously seen him stood with his hand down his trousers.
These crucial pieces of evidence helped officers pinpoint Sullivan as the perpetrator when the girl was attacked.
Sullivan approached the girl, who was in her school uniform, as she was on her mobile phone, put his hand up her skirt, and squeezed her bottom, before running off.
The police were alerted and using the woman's information, which include the time he had been into the shop, they used CCTV and found the transaction to trace him to the house he shares with his mother through his gas account.
He was arrested two days after the incident, on January 26.
Sullivan, from Harpurhey, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault at an earlier hearing.
The 89-year-old pervert vicar who 'succumbed to temptation'
An elderly vicar who sexually abused a young boy more than 40 years ago has been put behind bars for 27 months.
Charles Gordon Dickenson, now 89, repeatedly abused the child and shockingly the Church of England turned a blind eye to complaints of his crimes - and even promoted him.
He assaulted his victim in his vicarage, church hall and even the sacristy where he kept his religious robes.
Jailing him today a judge pointed out that 'the long arm of the law' had finally caught up with him.
Dickenson, known as Gordon, preyed on the boy, who attended Christ Church in Latchford, Cheshire, and forced him to keep their 'dirty secret' for four decades.
A court heard the Church of England was twice alerted to his behaviour but failed to act on the information.
Dickenson was even promoted to a more senior position within the church at another parish when a female organist reported seeing him hugging the boy.
He was finally caught when officers interviewed the victim in 2017 while investigating sexual abuse allegations against the former Bishop of Chester, Victor Whitsey.
Judge Everett ordered Dickenson to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Dickenson, of Kingway, Crewe, admitted eight counts of sexual assault between July 1973 and November 1974.
89-year-old pervert vicar who 'succumbed to temptation' is jailed
The soldier jailed after accidentally shooting his best mate dead
The family of a soldier accidentally shot dead by his best mate pleaded with a judge not to jail the killer.
Colin Theaker, 30, deliberately pointed the Glock pistol directly at Lance Corporal Scott Hetherington, 22, of Middleton , before pulling the trigger, not knowing it was loaded at an Army camp in Iraq.
A court heard L/Cpl Hetherington, nicknamed 'Snowball', said 'no, no don't do that' prior to the shooting at around 4pm on January 2, 2017.
He died from a single fatal wound to the lower chest in what was described to the court as a 'tragic accident'.
The pair, whose relationship was described as 'brotherly', had both been 'playing around' with their service pistols while cleaning them prior to the fatal shooting.
But in the process, L/Cpl Theaker had unwittingly made ready his weapon and a round was in the chamber when he pulled the trigger, a court heard.
L/Cpl Hetherington, a vehicle commander in the Force Protection Platoon, became the first British soldier to have been killed in Iraq since 2009.
The pals were on deployment helping train local soldiers fight Islamic State militants at the time of the fatal shooting in the living accommodation pod they shared together.
L/Cpl Theaker, who was part of a detachment from 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment based at Camp Taji, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence last month.
He was jailed for three years after being sentenced at Catterick Garrison court martial centre and dismissed from her Majesty's service.
A soldier has been jailed after accidentally shooting his best mate dead
The drug dealer who fled hospital in his boxers with a medical drip attached to his arm
A county lines drug dealer fled a hospital in his boxers and with an intravenous drip still attached to his arm in a bid to avoid being caught by police, a court heard.
Paul Johnson, 43, led a lucrative cocaine racket from his home in Stockport , and employed a number of mules to distribute drugs across the North East.
The dad-of-five was responsible for overseeing the delivery of cash and large quantities of cocaine from Manchester to Durham in an effort to pay off a 'gambling debt.'
But the operation, which saw a number of men employed as 'couriers' to transport the class A drug from county to county, was later foiled by police.
As he was jailed, Manchester Crown Court heard how Johnson had attempted to escape arrest after his part in the plot was exposed.
He successfully managed to flee a ward at Stepping Hill Hospital with an intravenous drip still attached to his arm and remained at large for a week before handing himself in.
It later emerged that Johnson, who owned a bouncy castle business on the side, had also been wanted for making false tax claims worth over £87,000.
He was jailed for nine years and eight months alongside a number of accomplices after admitting conspiracy to supply cocaine and fraudulently obtaining tax credits.
It is believed the ringleader behind the operation still remains at large.
All of the men admitted their part in the conspiracy to supply class A drugs, namely cocaine.
Ian Coates, 42, of Wordsworth Avenue, Sunderland, who effectively acted as a retailer, buying and selling-on large quantities of cocaine to people living in the region, was sentenced for nine years.
Christopher Booth, 56, of Blackberry Lane, Stockport, one of the couriers, was jailed for four years and nine months.
Johnson, of Gowerdale Road, Brinnington was jailed for nine years and two months for his role in the conspiracy and falsely obtaining £87,919 of tax credits.
The woman who stabbed another in face and neck after her partner was 'victim of homophobic abuse'
A woman whose partner was the victim of homophobic abuse during New Year celebrations in Manchester city centre repeatedly stabbed the perpetrator in the face and neck.
Megan Madden has been jailed for five years and ten months after admitting attacking the woman with a pen knife outside Bar Rogue.
A judge warned the 22-year-old she could have been facing a murder charge - and at least 25 years in prison - had the situation unfolded differently.
"A stab wound to the neck can quite easily result in a fatal injury. That is how serious what you did could easily have been," Judge Alan Conrad QC told her.
Madden's pregnant partner Jade Madden, also 22, who is due to give birth next month, and their friend, 24-year-old Shannon Smith, were both spared jail after being involved in the fracas.
Megan Madden, of Brackley Avenue, Hulme, who has no previous convictions, later pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and possessing a knife in public.
Smith, of Broadfield Road, Moss Side, also of previous good character; and Jade Madden, of Clinton Avenue, Fallowfield, who previously received a caution for theft, each pleaded guilty to a public order offence.
The postie swindled £30,000 in disability benefits and splashed it on watching Man City
A postman swindled over £30,000 in disability benefits while working his rounds - and splashed the cash on a Manchester City season ticket.
Anthony Linaker claimed the problems with his deformed hips were so intense that he struggled getting out of bed and dressing himself, and even needed help going to the toilet.
But in reality the 46-year-old father was working as a postman - working up to five-hour rounds, enjoying family trips to the beach and watching his beloved football club.
Linaker, now of Languard Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, was finally caught out after surveillance footage taken by the Department of Work and Pensions investigators showed him delivering mail.
Derby Crown Court heard how he had fraudulently claimed a total of £33,087.55 disability living allowance since 2012.
He was jailed for 26 weeks by Judge Jonathan Bennett after pleading guilty last month to two matters of dishonest representation for the obtaining of disability living allowance.
The man who illegally brought a baby into UK - caught because he didn't know how to change a nappy
A man who tried to illegally bring a three-month-old baby into the UK through Manchester Airport was rumbled after it became obvious he had 'no idea' how to change the child's nappy, a court heard.
Ali Zgaeer, 37, was paid €1,000 by a family friend to bring the boy from his mother in Greece to his father in Manchester, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
The child's mother was struggling financially so she sought to reunite him with his father, 28-year-old Bader Kanash, who had been granted asylum in the UK and was living in Whalley Range.
Zgaeer travelled from his home in Belgium to pick up the child in Greece, before boarding a flight from Athens to Manchester, arriving on November 10 last year.
Zgaeer, of Woodway Crescent, Harrow, Middlesex, and Kanash, of Withington Road, Whalley Range, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to breach immigration law.
Zgaeer was jailed for 12 months, while Kanash received a 12 month community order and must carry out 160 hours of unpaid work.
Man who illegally brought a baby into UK was caught because he didn't know how to change a nappy
The gang who ran a website which cost Hollywood £7m by sharing films online before they were released
A Stockport man was part of a group which cost the film industry £7 million by sharing Hollywood films online before they were released in the cinema.
Paul Taylor, 54, uploaded films and helped to pay for the website server.
Taylor worked with Steven Pegram, 40, Mark Rollin, 37, and Alan Stephenson, 42, to upload films which could then be downloaded via BitTorrent on their website.
Action film The Expendables 3, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham and Harrison Ford, was uploaded to the website in July 2014, before it was due to be released in the cinemas in the USA on August 15 that year.
This led to the films' producers, Lionsgate Films, suffering a £1.5 million loss, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
The film industry suffered a further loss of almost £4 million after Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past were both uploaded and shared on the website.
Are You Here , a film featuring Owen Wilson and Zach Galifianakis, and another film, Third Person , which starred Liam Neeson and Mila Kunis, were both found on Rollin's computer before they were due to be released in cinemas in November and December 2014 respectively.
Other films recovered included 22 Jump Street, Transformers Age of Extinction and audio files of Bad Neighbours and Godzilla.
The website was owned by Pegram, and he paid for its servers with Taylor.
Prosecutors said they both uploaded films to the website.
Rollin had encoded and uploaded numerous films to the site, and was found to have 47 high quality films on his computer, while Stephenson was responsible for the maintenance of the website.
Pegram, of Thornham Close, Wirral, Merseyside, and Rollin, of Bradford Road, Dewsbury, were jailed at Manchester Crown Court, receiving sentences of four-and-a-half years and three years respectively.
Taylor, of Daresbury Close, Stockport, and Stephenson, of Atkinson Road, Dumfries, Scotland, were both spared jail, each being sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 24 months.
All four defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud.
Man helped run website which cost Hollywood £7m by sharing films online before they were released
The couple who kissed in an alley before robbing their local Spar with a meat cleaver
A Bonnie and Clyde couple from Blackpool robbed their local Spar shop after they were seen kissing in an alleyway nearby.
Shopkeepers feared for their lives as Ashley Turner and his partner Ashley Turner-Platt held them up with a meat cleaver.
Turner, 28, and Turner-Platt, 30, got away with £200 from the till, reported LancsLive .
Shortly before the raid, the couple were seen on CCTV nearby kissing.
Both pleaded guilty to robbery and appeared at Preston Crown Court to be sentenced.
Turner was jailed for six years and four months, which includes six months of a suspended sentence and community order which he was serving at the time of the robbery.
Turner-Platt was jailed for five years.
The promising boxer who joined the notorious '7M' drugs gang after injury and jeopardised his ambitions in the ring
A promising boxer who joined a violent drug gang after injury jeopardised his ambitions in the ring has been jailed.
Andre Williams, 19, was part of the notorious Ardwick and Longsight based 7M gang.
Previously eight members of the gang received life sentences for their part in the murder of Sait M'Boob in August 2017.
Williams was not involved in the murder - but while allied to the gang he dealt drugs and was caught in cars that had been stolen in knifepoint robberies.
Three 7M members were charged with a number of robberies, but prosecutors said it would not be in the public interest for them to stand trial given that they are already serving life sentences.
Charges laid against Emil Bell, 18, Kiahus Baddoo, 17, and Lequornne Morgan, 19, were ordered to 'lie on file' by a judge, as were robbery charges against Williams.
Williams, of Etruria Close, Longsight, was jailed for four years and two months after pleading guilty to nine counts of supplying class A drugs, namely heroin and cocaine, two counts of handling stolen goods, namely two cars stolen during robberies, and one count of dangerous driving after trying to get away from police in one of the stolen cars.
Promising boxer joined notorious '7M' drugs gang after injury jeopardised his ambitions in the ring
The model who tried to smuggle £1.1m of heroin into Ireland after meeting a 'fake photographer' in Manchester
A model has been jailed after trying to smuggle £1.1m of heroin into Ireland.
Tereza Hluskova broke down in tears as the judge sentenced her to more than eight years in prison.
Photos show the 22-year-old Czech model wiping away tears at Lahore Sessions Court in Pakistan.
Police reportedly discovered 9kg of the drug in her luggage at Islamabad International Airport, Dawn.com reports, as she tried to head to Ireland via the United Arab Emirates.
The court had heard the model travelled to Pakistan after meeting a man in Manchester who had allegedly set up a fake photography studio.
After her arrest, she had claimed someone put the heroin in her suitcase in January last year.
But nine witnesses spoke in court and the jury found her guilty of drug trafficking.
The 21-year-old who raided almost 100 properties
Householders told of their misery as a burglar who raided almost 100 properties was finally brought to justice.
Kailem Barlow is just 21 years old, but appeared before a judge charged with 17 burglaries and admitted that he had raided a further 80 homes.
Now Barlow has been jailed for three years and four months.
Manchester Crown Court heard how the majority of his break-ins happened between April and December last year.
Residents in Moston , Failsworth , Chadderton and Oldham were left feeling violated after returning to their homes and finding the rooms ransacked and valuables gone.
Among the items stolen were laptops, tablets, thousands of pounds in cash, thousands of pounds worth of jewellery, car keys, games consoles and even commemorative coins of the Queen and Prince Philip.
Homes were also broken into during the run up to Christmas, with presents taken.
Barlow, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to 17 burglaries with 80 others taken into account.
'It's a horrible feeling knowing a stranger has been in your house going through your things'
The brothers and pal who ran a drugs phone line and forced boy to deal cocaine and heroin
A pair of brothers and their pal who ran a drugs phone line under the names 'Woody', 'Tyson' and 'Rocky' forced a 15-year-old boy to deal cocaine and heroin.
Ratib Ali, 20 and Asad Ali, 19, and their housemate Janaid Rehman, 18, threatened the teenager, making him sell the class A drugs.
They told him he owed them money and the only way to pay it off was to be a mule.
He was driven around in a car and forced to hand drugs to buyers.
Cops investigating drugs supply and modern slavery across Greater Manchester smashed the operation last year.
Investigations revealed the trio operated three separate drug phone lines from their house on Royds Street West in Rochdale .
One was known by the names 'Woody', 'Tyson' and 'Rocky'. The other two were known as 'Kez' and 'Doctor'.
Rehman and the brothers were sentenced at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court .
Ratib Ali was sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin.
His brother Asad was jailed for four years and nine months having admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and conspiracy to supply heroin.
Rehman was handed a two year sentence for conspiracy to supply cocaine.
The controlling husband who slept in a car near estranged wife's home 'to keep an eye on her'
A controlling husband who slept in his car near his estranged wife's house to 'keep an eye on her' tried to kill her in a 'murderous attack' in the street days after attacking her because of the way she was dressed.
Farhad Abdullah's now ex-partner lived in 'terror'.
He threatened to kill her a number of times, was verbally abusive and called her a 'prostitute'.
The 'escalating pattern of threatening and violent behaviour' culminated in Abdullah, 55, stabbing the woman three times.
When he was arrested, he was found with the woman's phone and a pair of handcuffs. On the floor was the ornamental dagger he used to attack his wife, and in his car was a machete.
Abdullah claimed passers-by planted the knife on him. He said his wife's blood was on the weapon because she was 'very clever and could have put it there'.
Abdullah has now been jailed for 21 years having been found guilty of attempted murder following the horrifying incident in Benchill in Wythenshawe last summer.
Controlling husband slept in car near estranged wife's Wythenshawe home 'to keep an eye on her'
Dad glassed another man after a dancefloor tussle, leaving him blind in one eye
A dad left another man blind in one eye after glassing him in a dancefloor argument in a West Didsbury bar.
Nathan Stevens, 29, lashed out with 'excessive self defence' when challenging a punter at Hula Bar last year, a court heard.
Stevens had 'taken exception' to something the victim Daniel Roberts had said to one of his female friends on the dancefloor of the Burton Road venue in April 2018 and 'words were exchanged' between the pair, the judge was told.
Mr Roberts initially pushed him, with Stevens also arguing in court he was grabbed by the throat.
But the defendant then responded by swinging a punch with a beer glass in his hand which shattered in the face of 28-year-old Mr Roberts.
He was rushed to hospital and underwent seven hours of surgery in a bid to save the sight in his left eye, but it was unsuccessful.
He was also left with a number of deep cuts on his face which took a long time to heal and have left him scarred.
Stevens, of Doris Road, Edgeley, Stockport, pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding at an earlier hearing.
In a basis of plea he stated that the blow was a case of 'excessive self defence' after he was pushed or grabbed by the victim.
He was jailed for two years and four months at Manchester Crown Court.
A dad glassed another man after a dancefloor tussle, leaving him blind in one eye
This grinning 'bogus college' boss who posed on a bed covered in cash
A grinning 'bogus college' boss faces six years in prison after being sentenced in his absence for profiting from the immigration system.
Muhammad Babar Bashir, 38, who posed on a bed covered with the proceeds of the 'cash for visas' scam, fled the country after being found guilty by a jury.
He removed his electronic tag in January and failed to turn up for a sentencing hearing held at Manchester Crown Court.
His co-defendant, Koteswara Nallamothu, 36, who helped provide students for a college in Ashton, received a suspended sentence during the same hearing.
Another co-defendant, Tashina Nayyar, 51, was previously jailed for two years and three months for her part in the crime.
Guilty verdicts against Bashir and Nallamothu were returned following a lengthy trial led by prosecutors Jane Greenhalgh and Huw Edwards.
Sentencing, Judge Elizabeth Nicholls said: "The profits to be made were substantial. The motivation was plainly financial."
Bashir, of Bold Street, Moss Side, and Nallamothu, of Nallamothu, of Upper Wortley Road, Rotherham, were sentenced after being found guilty of conspiracy to facilitate breaches of UK immigration law following a trial. Nayyar, of Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, pleaded guilty to the same offence.
Bashir received a six year sentence, which will start after he is arrested.
Nallamothu was sentenced to 24 months in prison, suspended for two years, and must observe a curfew from 9pm to 7.30am for five months.
This grinning 'bogus college' boss who posed on a bed covered in cash now faces six years in prison
The Cocaine-addicted burglars who cleaned up in Chorlton and Fallowfield
A pair of cocaine-addicted burglars used stolen contactless bank cards - just below the £30 limit - to buy cigarettes and alcohol at a petrol station minutes after breaking into people's homes while they slept.
Matthew Brookes and Damian Morrison, branded a 'menace' to people in south Manchester, thought it was a foolproof plan.
But it led to their downfall.
CCTV images from the Shell petrol station on Barlow Moor Road helped catch them.
Brookes, 32, and Morrison, 36, have been jailed following the 'determined campaign' of burgalries.
Brookes pleaded guilty to nine burglaries. Morrison admitted to five.
Manchester Crown Court heard the remorseless pair broke into homes - stealing cars and 'high value' items - while those inside slept. The spree started in January last year and ended the following October.
Judge Conrad said that Brookes and Morrison, both of HMP Forest Bank, displayed no remorse or empathy towards their victims as he jailed them for five years and three months each.
The drug dealer who was found with 24 wraps of cocaine stuffed in her underwear
A drug dealer was found with 24 wraps of cocaine stuffed in underwear after police raided her home, a court heard.
Lisa Marsland, 33, handed over 9g of the the class A drug, which had been held in a disposable glove.
Marsland, of Duffield Court, Brennan Close, Hulme, said she was using cocaine which had been left at her home, but then started selling it to ease her financial problems.
She has now been jailed for 18 months.
Marsland, who has no previous convictions, replied 'no comment' when questioned by police.
She pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and possession of cannabis.
Drug dealer found with 24 wraps of cocaine stuffed in her underwear
The drug dealer and his helper who thought they were peddling Spice - but were actually selling marshmallow leaves sprayed with WD-40
A drug dealer who thought he was peddling Spice was actually selling marshmallow leaves sprayed with WD-40, a court heard.
Zachary Gaffey, 27, has been jailed for attempting to sell the drug in Chinatown. Aidan Kay, 25, who was helping him deal in return for Spice, was also locked up.
Both are now indefinitely banned from visiting a number of areas of the city centre, including Piccadilly Gardens, Chinatown, near the Arndale and Shudehill after a criminal behaviour order was imposed.
Sentencing, the judge described the taking and dealing of Spice as a 'plague on this city'.
Gaffey, who was previously jailed for more than five years for robbing a shop with an air pistol, later told the police he was a Spice user, and had been addicted since 2012.
Kay is from St Helens, and said he had been travelling to Manchester to buy Spice.
Gaffey was jailed for 30 months, including 15 months for the drugs offences and a further 15 months after breaching two previous suspended sentences.
Kay was jailed for seven months, and is expected to be released soon because he has been on remand in custody since September last year.
Gaffey, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to supply Spice, and one count of possessing Spice.
Kay, of Boardmans Lane, St Helens, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to supply Spice.
County lines teen caught dealing near primary school was offered 'free weed' to deal by Manchester crooks
A dealer was caught working a 'day shift' close to a primary school after being offered 'free weed' to sell hard drugs in a county lines racket.
Sergej Aleksandrvicius, a 19-year-old Lithuanian national, was approached by police at around 10.30am on February 21 in the Harraby area of Carlisle, Cumbria.
"The defendant was found in an area behind Petteril Bank school in Carlisle, on a path near a river bank," prosecutor Beccy McGregor told the city's crown court.
Police approached to carry out a drugs search and took hold of Aleksandrvicius.
"The defendant initially tried to break free from officers. He was effectively wrestled to the ground by them," said Ms McGregor.
The teen had 74 wraps of heroin and 68 wraps of high purity crack cocaine - with a total street value of more than £3,500 - along with nearly £2,000 in cash.
Aleksandrvicius, from Verdun Road in Eccles, Manchester, also had a mobile phone which, the court heard, "effectively directed the defendant to go where he should deal drugs" - "this being consistent with county lines drug-dealing behaviour," stated the prosecutor.
Judge Andrew Jefferies QC imposed 40 months' youth detention.
The trio who splashed company cash on designer clothes and holidays
A financial manager and a colleague who plotted to defraud a company of more than £700,000 – splashing the cash on designer clothes, holidays and a luxury car – have been jailed.
Wigan-based Jeremy Dawes joined forces with Simon Bleakley, from Hindley, to swindle an asbestos disposal firm in Bolton by diverting company payments to fictitious sub-contractor accounts controlled by them.
Dawes joined the company as financial manager in January 2014 on a salary of £35,000 per year, benefiting from a company car and a host of perks.
But this wasn't enough for Dawes, who began plotting with Simon Bleakley to massively increase the funds being stolen, police said.
Patricia Bleakley had no direct connection to the company, but she held cards accessing the joint account and was responsible for spending money that she knew had been obtained by fraud.
Transactions on the account included frequent holidays, leisure activities and designer clothing.
The trio were sentenced on Monday at Preston Crown Court.
Jeremy Dawes , 47, of Ringway Avenue, Leigh, was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud, fraud by abuse of position and money laundering.
Simon Bleakley , 43, of Kelso Grove, Hindley, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to fraud by abuse of position, conspiracy to defraud and money laundering.
Patricia Bleakley, 45, of Kelso Grove, Hindley, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, and is also required to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, after pleading guilty to money laundering.
The casino worker who stole over £20,000 from employer to fund a secret gambling addiction
A casino worker stole over £20,000 in cash from his former employer to fund a gambling addiction.
Peter Barker, 46, from Salford, was working at the pawnbroker Cash Recycle in Eccles when he was pocketing customer's cash and processing it as card payments.
The dad-of-four stole 229 transactions of money behind the back of his boss - who trusted him to look after the shop when he was unable to.
Barker now works in a casino - despite admitting that he stole the cash to fund a gambling addiction.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Barker had previously worked at the second-hand shop for nine years.
He began stealing money in 2016 and took a total of £20,596, over a two year period, before his employer realised.
Barker, of Rudman Drive, Salford, admitted theft by employee at the first opportunity in court.
Judge Suzanne Goddard sentenced him to eight months imprisonment.
Casino worker, 46, stole over £20,000 from employer to fund secret gambling addiction
The thug who attacked a garage worker with hammer and the fake rape claim
An innocent garage worker was attacked with a hammer by a violent thug - after being subjected to horrific racist abuse.
Sarah Crone, 42, called her nephew John Thornley, 40, for 'reinforcements' after a minor bump outside a garage on Clough Road in Moston.
Crone claimed she was being assaulted and 'strangled' by a man from the garage, who was born in Iran and is a now a British citizen, who had not been involved in the collision and had come to help.
Described as becoming 'angry and aggressive almost immediately', Crone said 'all you foreigners have got no insurance'.
"You foreign b*******, go back to your own country," she added.
Crone said she would 'get her other half to sort them all out'.
Following a row 'entirely of Ms Crone's making', she decided to call in reinforcements, Manchester Crown Court heard.
"Come down here and do the foreign b*******, they hit my car," she was heard to shout down the phone.
Shortly after, Thornley arrived and parked up in his Audi Q7 with other men in the back.
He was armed with a hammer, which he swung at the man, striking one blow to his shoulder.
A judge said that if it wasn't for the man making a 'remarkably quick movement', then the hammer would have hit his head.
Thornley then threatened to 'burn the building down' if he dared to call the police.
Crone added that she 'knew how to make like difficult for him'.
Luckily the victim suffered 'relatively minor injuries'.
Crone, of Springbank, Chadderton, was found guilty of one count of actual bodily harm, and another count of racially aggravated intentional harassment.
Thornley, of Regent Street, Newton Heath, pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm, and another count of possessing an offensive weapon.
Crone was jailed for six months, while Thornley was locked up for 12 months.
The drug-fuelled violent bully who killed his own baby son
Little Alfie Gildea woke up happy and spent the morning laughing and playing with his mum.
He was teething, so cried a lot but Caitlin McMichael had fed and changed the son she adored before waking her partner so he could look after the tot while she went to the doctors.
But it was the last time she would say bye to little Alfie.
Sam Gildea was annoyed at being woken up and he swore at Caitlin.
When she returned to the family home in Partington just half an hour later all their lives had changed forever; Alfie was lying unresponsive on the bed.
He was unconscious, having suffered a catastrophic brain injury.
Alfie died two days later after doctors concluded nothing more could done for him.
Though life was tragically cut short, he gave the gift of life to others. His mother allowed his organs to be donated.
Alfie's 30-year-old father is now in jail after admitting manslaughter, committed during a drug-fuelled incident involving 'rigorous and violent shaking'.
Gildea also admitted another offence of controlling or coercive behaviour towards Caitlin.
Drug-fuelled violent bully sentenced to 19 years for killing his own baby son
The fireplace fraudsters jailed for a £120,000 scam targeting family-run businesses
Two fraudsters scammed family-run businesses by buying fireplaces and other high-value goods using stolen card details.
Dean Jones, 28 from Rochdale, and Alan O'Hara, 40, from Halifax, have now both been jailed.
The pair ordered high value goods from companies using bank card details stolen from customers around the world, including Australia and China.
They committed £73,000 of fraud between 8 March and 20 July 2017, and attempted another £48,000 of fraudulent transactions that were successfully prevented – reaching a combined total of £121,000.
They were caught after an investigation by the Dedicated Card and Payment Crime Unit (DCPCU), a specialist police unit funded by the banking and cards industry.
Jones of Montrose Street, and O’Hara, of Barkisland, Halifax, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. Jones was sentenced to two years and four months in prison, and O’Hara was sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
The businesses targeted include several independent family-run companies selling stoves and fireplaces across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Yorkshire.
Fireplace fraudsters jailed for £120,000 scam targeting family-run businesses
