A serial abuser who strangled his girlfriend, leaving her fearing for her life, is among the criminals jailed in Manchester this week. Prison terms were also handed to a 'dangerous' pervert who attempted to meet up with young children for sex, but was caught out by an undercover profile.
A 'devious' mum who defrauded her workplace of £55,000 and a 'monster' who 'acted like Prince Charming' were also put behind bars. Jail sentences are handed out to some of the worst offenders each week and Manchester Evening News reporters are in court to cover the most serious cases.
Here are some of the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week...
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Serial abuser strangled girlfriend and stopped her from using toilet after she dumped him
A serial abuser strangled his girlfriend after she dumped him, leaving her petrified she was going to die. Callum Whittingham, 21, throttled the terrified woman and stopped her from using the toilet or having a drink, a court heard.
The controlling brute was already serving a suspended sentence after he 'fat shamed' another partner and then bullied her into having sex with him. Vile Whittingham, of Elizabeth Close, Stretford, was jailed for 21 months after being found guilty of assault by beating in January.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard he dragged his latest victim into his home and throttled her three times. Prosecuting, Emily Hassell said Whittingham and the victim had met in May 2020, but had only been in a relationship for a week-and-a-half when the attack took place.
Ms Hassell told the court that on January 23, at around midday, the victim had returned to Whittingham's home to collect her belongings and tell him she was leaving, when he became violent and pulled her back.
She said: "As she tried to leave through the front door, he pulled her backwards to prevent her from doing so. He then grabbed her to the neck with both hands and applied pressure. She thought he was going to kill her, and she had an asthma attack. He did not allow her to leave the property and when she asked if she could have a drink or go to the toilet, he refused her requests."
The court heard that the desperate victim tried to make an escape when Whittingham went into the bedroom, but he again managed to pull her back again and forced her to the floor, leaving her feeling 'powerless'. The victim then ran up to the bedroom with the intention of jumping out of the window to flee, but he pinned her to the bed before strangling her three times.
Whittingham was handed a 21-month prison term, a six-month prison sentence to run alongside a further 15 months for the breach of his suspended sentence.
Pervert who is 'danger to children' disguised himself in vile efforts to meet girl
A 63-year-old pervert with a 'clear interest in underage girls' posed as a teenage boy online and talked to a decoy account of a 12-year-old girl before later being found with more than 4,000 indecent images of children. Denis Atkinson, of Millbeck Road, Middleton, was sentenced to eight years behind bars on May 3 at Minshull Street Crown Court.
He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life and subject to a sexual harm prevention order. Police first received intelligence of Atkinsons' actions on June 14 2019, when it was uncovered that in the previous November, an account on the Kik messenger app had posted an indecent photograph of a child.
Further enquiries established that the phone connected to the account was registered in the name of Atkinson at his home in Middleton. Shortly after, Atkinson began to chat with the decoy profile of a 12-year-old girl which was controlled by law enforcement.
He messaged the profile using the name 'Warren' with a profile photo of a male in his late teens. He swiftly turned the conversation to be 'more sexualised' before asking the child profile "So are we dating?" and then attempting to meet up in Cardiff.
Throughout the following month, Atkinson was 'persistent' in asking the decoy for pictures and stating he wanted to have sex when they met, despite being reminded the profile was of a 12-year-old in foster care. In police interview Atkinson said "I can't remember" and "It wasn’t me, I must have been hacked", before then admitting 'everything is true, you don’t need to go through it anymore'.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to meet a child under 16, four counts of attempting to sexually communicate with a child, attempting to incite a child under 13 to engage in penetrative sexual activity, possessing extreme pornography, possessing five prohibited images of children, distributing category A, B and C indecent images of children and making 4,035 indecent images of children.
'Devious' fraudster mum swindled £55,000 from firm and splashed thousands on B&Q orders
A 'devious' fraudster swindled more than £55,000 and splashed thousands of pounds on B&Q orders. Finance manager Yvette Newton - described as an 'outstanding mother, wife and daughter' - stole from the contracting firm she worked for.
'Highly manipulative' Newton, 54, of Pennine Vale, Shaw, was jailed for 16 months at Minshull Street Crown Court on May 5 after admitting fraud by abuse of position. She left bosses 'horrified' and 'sick' after stealing from TMJ Contractors, in Ashton-under-Lyne, over a five-year period.
The court heard Newton began transferring money from the company accounts, disguising a string of payments to her own bank account as going to payees and contractors. Between September 8, 2015, and 16 August, 2020, Newton spent a total of £55,309.23 from the company, the court was told.
As well as this, money was funnelled to be spent on various unauthorised expenses, including a skip hire, a DVLA payment for her husband's car, over £5,000 in non-business purchases at B&Q, which included buying a lawn mower and dehumidifier and over £5,000 in unexplained cash withdrawals.
'Monster' acted like ‘Prince Charming before showing his true colours' with string of vile sex attacks
An 'abusive and serial predator’ has been jailed for 30 years after controlling and manipulating numerous women before raping them. 'Monster' Jonathan Mealing, 52, was convicted by a jury of 17 offences including multiple rapes, sexual assaults and engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour in March this year.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Mealing, of Whitefield, Bury, felt he was ‘entitled’ to sex and would often force his victims into having sex throughout the day and night. He told one of the victims it was their ‘duty’.
He also controlled and manipulated them, telling them who they could have contact with, what they could wear and in one incident, how much food they could eat. He became aggressive and violent if they resisted, the court heard.
On Friday, (May 6), Mealing was jailed for 30 years with an extended licence period of eight years as a judge deemed his offending as ‘abusive, serial and predatory’.
Judge borrows line from 70s comedy Porridge as he locks up career criminal
A judge borrowed a line from 70's sitcom Porridge as he jailed a burglar, just like the show's main character. Judge John Edwards said 48-year-old Alan Wild treated imprisonment as an 'occupational hazard', the same quote used in the introduction to the BBC prison comedy.
Like Porridge's star Norman Stanley Fletcher, portrayed by Ronnie Barker, Wild is a burglar. Wild was arrested again after three break-ins at commercial premises in Oldham. His lawyer appealed for Wild to be spared jail, claiming he had gained 'new insight' into his crimes after being burgled himself.
But Judge Edwards told him: ''You have been in and out of courts now for offences of dishonesty for 21 years and the sad fact is in my view the court is an occupational hazard for you. If you carry on in this way, you're simply going to become institutionalised.''
Wild was jailed for 27 months during a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court, after he admitted two charges of burglary and one of burglary with intent to steal. Prosecuting, Hayley Bennett said Wild's latest offences were committed between June and September last year.
In one burglary Wild stole a TV set worth £600 from a firm on a trading estate and in another break-in at a communications firm, he grabbed computer and electrical equipment worth £2,200. A third victim who suffers from cancer discovered his work premises was being burgled when he was alerted by his alarm company.
