A serial domestic abuser who threatened to kill his partner and held a knife to her throat was one of the criminals jailed in Greater Manchester this week.
A career criminal who switched on the crocodile tears to try and fool cops who were arresting him for burglary has also been put behind bars. A drunken thug 'lost it' and killed a beloved dad in an attack was also handed jail terms.
Jail 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 locked up in Greater Manchester in the past seven days.
The predator put behind bars for 17 years for child sexual offences
This is the face of a predator who has been locked up for 17 years for child sex offences. Kieron Jackson, from Salford, was put behind bars at Bolton Crown Court on Tuesday (August 2), police said.
The 33-year-old was first reported to officers by a 'concerned party' who alleged that he had had sexual contact with a child. An investigation was launched and a judge has now jailed Jackson for 17 years for sexual offences against children. Police said the child now has the 'justice they deserve'.
Officers posted about Jackson, of Holm Court, on the Greater Manchester Police Salford Facebook page. In full, the post said: "#LOCKEDUP | A Salford man has been jailed for 17 years for sexual offences against children.
"Kieron Jackson, 33, of Holm Court, Salford was jailed at Bolton Crown Court on 2 August 2022, for sexual offences against children. Jackson was reported to GMP on 8 June 2020 by a concerned party who alleged he’d had sexual contact with a child."
Investigating SIO, DC Paula Birchby, said: "I am extremely pleased for the child and her family, who now have the justice they deserve. The hard work of everyone involved in the case meant that Jackson was convicted and that a lengthy sentence has been issued.
"The police and courts have shown that this terrible abuse will not be tolerated."
"I have no doubt you will regret what you did that night for the rest of your life..." - The moment drunken thug 'lost it' and killed beloved dad
A beloved dad was killed when a thug 'lost it' as a drunken row spilled onto the street. Jamie Kennedy, 24, punched Robert Payne in the head after the pair had argued and Kennedy had been told to leave.
Despite Mr Payne being knocked unconscious after banging his head on the pavement, Kennedy continued punching him, landing three or four more blows. Mr Payne, 60, known to friends as Bob, died three days later after suffering a traumatic brain injury.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that the pair had been drinking together at Mr Payne's home in Oldham, before an argument broke out. Kennedy was acquitted of murder but admitted manslaughter.
"This is clearly more than just a one punch manslaughter," Judge Suzanne Goddard QC told Kennedy. "As he was lying prone on the floor, you carried on." But she accepted that Kennedy was 'genuinely remorseful' for his actions.
"I have no doubt you will regret what you did that night for the rest of your life." The judge said Mr Payne may have 'forcibly ejected' Kennedy, following him to the front gate of his home.
Kennedy admitted he 'lost it' and then punched Mr Payne to the face. Mr Payne fell backwards and banged his head on the pavement. A pathologist said this was the cause of his death.
Kennedy, of Garden Terrace, Royton, has now been sentenced to four years and eight months in jail. He will serve half of his sentence in prison.
Serial abuser threatened to kill partner and held a knife to her throat after she questioned texts found on his phone
A violent thug who repeatedly punched his partner in the head before holding a knife to her throat and threatening to kill her has been jailed. Michael Craven, 29, inflicted the “barrage of violence” on his partner in November 2021 after she confronted him about messages she found on his phone following a night of drinking.
He appeared in Manchester Crown Court last week, where the court heard how Craven pinned his victim to the bed and punched her, before putting his arm around her neck and threatening her with a knife. He then smashed a beer bottle and held it over her, before beginning to self harm and taking pills.
His victim escaped to a friend’s house, who then drove her to hospital, after a “prolonged and persistent assault”. Craven had previously claimed his actions were self-defence after his victim had headbutted him, but Judge Lawton called the assertions “nonsense”.
Mitigating, Mr Sullivan said Craven had been diagnosed with a personality disorder and “realises that mistakes have been made,” but is now looking forward and keen to make changes.
Craven was charged with controlling behaviour of his partner, assault and threatening to kill her. Judge Lawton called the attack a “brutal assault” and sentenced Craven, of Crowthorn Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, to 3 years imprisonment.
He noted Craven’s history of violence towards female partners, including a previous conviction from last year for which he had been handed a suspended sentence in order to allow him to continue to work on his personality disorder.
Vile thug throttled girlfriend and held pillow over her face after convincing her to take him back
A vile thug throttled his girlfriend and put a pillow over her face after being released from prison for another attack on her. Tyler Lowe had promised his victim that ‘things would be different’ and she had taken him back, despite it being against his release conditions and initially moving from Bolton to Wigan in a bid to avoid him.
Just two days after smothering her, on June 28 of this year, Lowe returned to the woman’s home in Ince and 'smacked her onto the floor like a dog', and broke her phone, Bolton Crown Court heard. A worried neighbour called police after hearing arguing and the victim also “expressed previous fears that she might be killed”, prosecution barrister David Farley said.
The woman refused to provide a formal statement to police and ‘remains in contact’ with him, the court was told. Lowe has 11 previous convictions for 17 offences, including grievous bodily harm against the same victim in 2019, for which he was jailed.
He gave a no comment interview to police and later pleaded guilty to non-fatal strangulation and suffocation, assault, and criminal damage. Of the early guilty plea, defence barrister Nicholas Ross said: “He was very adamant and very keen that he should not bring about the forced attendance of his victim at court. He wanted to do the right thing having done very wrong things.
“He’s devastated for [his victim] and he understands this sort of conduct is shameful and has no sort of place in society and realises he has a lot of work and learning to do while he’s in prison for the foreseeable future.”
Jailing Lowe for two years and four months, Judge Tom Gilbart said: “These are grossly and utterly abhorrent things to do, which could have led to a real risk of causing really serious harm to your victim”. Judge Gilbart also imposed a restraining order on Lowe, stopping him from contacting the victim for the next ten years.
Crying burglar's bizarre 'ruse' when he's cornered by cops in house goes completely wrong
A career criminal brought on the crocodile tears to try and fool cops who were arresting him for burglary - before he was tasered after trying to run away. 'Habitual' burglar Sean Gavin, 29, was caught when his victim was alerted by her phone that her house had been broken into while she was at work.
The police were called and found Gavin and a teenager had broken into the Rochdale house via the patio doors before ransacking it. In body cam footage played to Minshull Street Crown Court, the two officers made their way to the garage armed with tasers, where they found the two males cowering in the corner.
Gavin began to cry and apologise, saying he was ‘sorry for what he did’. This was a ‘ruse’ as he pushed past both officers in an attempt to run away, prosecutors said.
However, he was quickly brought down as one of the officers deployed a taser, and arrested him. Gavin was jailed on Wednesday (August 3) for four years after admitting burglary.
Gavin was said to have 30 previous convictions for offences of burglary and attempted burglary since he began offending as a youth. At the time of these offences, he was subject to licence conditions.
Mitigating for Gavin, Kay Driver said her client was abandoned by his mum at 13 and lived on sofas whilst ‘supporting himself by committing crime’. “He met a group of youths in similar circumstances and learnt how to earn a living in that way,” she said.
Gavin, of Princeville Street, Bradford, was jailed for four years.
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