A Strangeways prisoner who spent 12 hours protesting on the roof of the high security jail was among those jailed this week. Joe Outlaw eventually came down from the roof at about 4am on Thursday morning after spending the night protesting against a controversial punishment which he is currently subject to.
He was brought before a court just hours later for a previous incident in another Greater Manchester prison. Others jailed in Greater Manchester this week include a crack addict who was banned from every Boots store across the country, armed robbers who targeted the siblings of footballers Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and a cocaine dealer who was rumbled after sharing a picture of his driving licence.
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Jail terms are handed out to the worst offenders each week at the region's courts. Manchester Evening News reporters are on the press bench to cover the most serious cases.
Strangeways protester sentenced for trashing prison cell hours after climbing down from roof
Hours before he appeared in court, Joe Outlaw had scaled the roof of Strangeways prison in a 12 hour protest. Outlaw was apparently railing against IPP, sentences of imprisonment for the public protection, which were scrapped in 2012.
But Outlaw and other prisoners are still serving the sentences, which have since been branded 'unjust'. He was jailed in 2011 for robbery for an indeterminate period.
Hours after coming down from the roof Outlaw appeared at Bolton Crown Court by video link from HMP Manchester and was sentenced for a previous incident at HMP Hindley in Wigan. Outlaw, 36, admitted causing criminal damage to his cell on January 28 last year.
The court heard that he spent the early evening making threats he would smash up his care and separation unit (CSU) cell to prison guards outside. Outlaw then spent the night trashing his cell, causing more than £17,000 worth of damage.
He also used a razor blade to cut his stomach. His barrister said the incident was a 'cry for help'. Judge Nick Clarke KC sentenced him to a further 16 months in prison.
'Her crimes were disturbing and dispiriting... she knows she needs to change'
A woman stole purses from vulnerable and disabled people in a ‘mean’ campaign to get cash. Barbara Osmanovic, 36, was spotted by both of the victims, either approaching them or lingering nearby.
Prosecutor John Richards said on September 13 last year, a woman, who uses a mobility scooter, left her home to go shopping in Eccles town centre. While she was in Morrisons she was approached by Osmanovic who asked if she wanted to ‘smoke bacon’.
“She said no, but later noticed her purse had been taken from her bag,” he said. Within 45 mins there were a number of withdrawals and transactions from the woman’s bank accounts. In total £1,640 was stolen from the woman."
Days later another woman, who is of retirement age, was shopping in the Marks and Spencer’s food hall in Manchester city centre. She noticed Osmanovic ‘lingering’ around her before she later noticed that her purse had also been stolen.
Also taken was a St Christopher medal belonging to her mum and a picture of her grandchildren. She managed to cancel her bank card, but a number of withdrawals had already been made on her credit card.
Dan Gaskell, mitigating, said his client had a ‘sorry history of offending’ and that the ‘meanest’ offences of theft and fraud were characterised by her dependency on class A drugs.
“They are disturbing and dispiriting when looked at in the cold light of day. She understands the seriousness of her situation,” he said.
At Manchester Crown Court, Osmanovic, of Seymour Grove, Old Trafford, was jailed for 30 months for offences of theft, fraud, and separate offences of attempted burglary and possession of a knife.
Violent armed robbers jailed after targeting brothers of Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold
Armed robbers who targeted the brothers of Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold in a terrifying attack were jailed. Talleko Lemonious, 27, Tariq Dervan, 22 and Romario Harmer, 21, were found guilty of robbing of five men at Little Rock café in Moss Side, including Dane Rashford and Tyler Alexander-Arnold, the siblings of the Manchester United and Liverpool stars.
The pair had met friends for breakfast before driving to Brighton to watch Liverpool play a Premier League game in January 2019. About 15 minutes after they arrived three men wearing dark clothing and balaclavas burst in armed with a sawn-off shotgun, machete and baseball bat.
“They used violence to steal watches, a set of keys and wallets of the five victims," prosecutor Stephen McNally said. "These were high profile victims and had been deliberately targeted,” he said.
Mr Rashford and Mr Alexander-Arnold both suffered wounds to their heads and needed stitches after the attack, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. The robbers were also found guilty of possessing a double barrelled sawn-off shotgun, as well as having a machete and a baseball bat.
Lemonious was also sentenced for possessing of a firearm and possession of ammunition, separate offences which he admitted, relating to an incident in September 2021, when officers were called following reports of gunshots in Withington.
They found a VW Golf with a bullet lodged in the driver’s door. Enquiries later revealed that Lemonious was involved in the shooting. Lemonious, of Shady Lane, Wythenshawe, was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Dervan, of no fixed abode, received seven-and-a-half years, and Harmer, of Pemberton Street, Old Trafford, was handed a four year jail term.
Thug dragged crying ex through her home and punched her in the face after 'toxic and damaging' relationship
A man breached a lifetime restraining order after turning up to his ex’s home and punching her in the face. Teejay Etchells, 25, and the woman were described as having a ‘toxic and damaging’ relationship in which he had previously attacked her.
He was made the subject of a restraining order, banning any contact with her indefinitely, but turned up at her house in February this year. The woman, Shelby Gratty, had previously been convicted of harassment in relation to Etchells, the court heard.
After asking him to leave her alone, Etchells, of Hyde, dragged her upstairs before punching her in the face. She was left with a suspected fractured jaw, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Sentencing, the judge, Recorder Michael Blakey said: “The restraining order was imposed to protect your former partner, you breached it by attending and thereafter assaulting her. She thought the protective order imposed by the court would provide her protection.”
He told Etchells: "You are still a young man, you had an unhappy childhood. You would have thought that preyed heavily on your mind. It’s not a very good example for your son.
“It’s hoped you make good use of the time in custody and come out a better and changed man and resume your relationship with your son. And become a proper law-abiding member of society.”
The stalker who made a woman's life a misery
A stalker who followed a woman for years lay waiting on the bonnet of her car as she finished work. Ibrahim Mohammed, 28, was ordered to leave when he was spotted watching her.
When she started a new job, he asked to buy a necklace with the same initial as her first name. The woman told Mohammed to leave her alone, but over the next few months, she noticed him walking past and starting at her.
He followed her to a new branch of her company. The terrifying campaign came to a end after Mohammed left work to find him lying on the bonnet of her car.
Mohammed, from Birmingham, admitted stalking with intent to cause fear and distress. He was jailed for a year and four months at Minshull Street Crown Court.
The judge, Recorder Anthony O’Donohue said: “In a nutshell, over a period of years you would show up at her places of work, stare at her, try to talk to her and follow her home from work causing her serious alarm and distress.
"The impact cannot be underestimated."
Cocaine dealer rumbled after sharing picture of his driving licence in dark, murky network used by criminal underworld
A 'seasoned' cocaine dealer has been jailed after posting a picture of his driving licence within a murky network favoured by the criminal underworld. James Carroll thought he was committing crime with impunity while using a highly encrypted phone.
But his trust in the EncroChat system came back to haunt him after he was linked to a huge operation directed by a Spain based drugs boss. Carroll was involved in supplying more than 11 kilos of cocaine, in deals which raked in about £674,000.
Carroll, 36, from Oldham, was discovered to be operating on the shady system, which was hacked by law enforcement, using the handle 'Buckswamp'. Manchester Crown Court heard he took orders from another EncroChat user known as Faded Pickle, who was believed to be operating from Spain.
He was unmasked after police trawled through EncroChat messages, using identifying features to link the anonymous messages to a real life person. Detectives found that Carroll had sent pictures of his flat to other users on the system, as well as a picture which included his own driving licence.
A takeaway food order also helped police tie Carroll to the Buckswamp handle.
Sentencing, Judge Hilary Manley said Carroll was 'highly trusted' and described him as an 'experienced, seasoned class A drug dealer'. He was sentenced to 12 years, and will serve half of his sentence in prison.
Crack addict told Boots worker 'I don't give a f***' - now she's banned from EVERY store in the country
A crack addict has been banned from every Boots shop in the country and jailed for a prolific shoplifting campaign. Emma Berry, 36, repeatedly targeted a branch of the health and beauty retailer in Tameside, pilfering cosmetics from the store on eight separate occasions.
When she was challenged by a store worker, Berry told the woman: "I don't give a f***. Don't f****** come near me. There's f*** all you can do about it."
But weeks after the final time she struck at the store on Mossley Road in Ashton-under-Lyne, Berry has now been sent to prison. "There are consequences, those consequences you are seeing now," the judge, Recorder Imran Shafi KC told her during a hearing at Manchester Crown Court.
Berry, who wept throughout Thursday's sentencing hearing, already had the threat of a possible spell in jail hanging over her after being handed a suspended sentence in 2021 for robbery. Her barrister appealed for Berry to be given 'one final chance', but the judge, who said she was 'hopelessly addicted to crack cocaine', refused and instead sent her to prison for eight months.
"You have been given chance, after chance, after chance," Recorder Shafi said. "It seems to me that you have had plenty of chances to show that you can rehabilitate. There will come a time when custody is the only remaining option."
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