A fraudster who forged her qualifications and practised as a doctor across the UK for more than twenty years has been jailed in Greater Manchester this week.
A drug dealer who had heroin, crack and £6k in cash stuffed down his sofa has also been sentenced to prison in our region. Four men who were involved in a ‘brutal’ and ‘savage’ attack that left an affiliate of a rival gang scarred ‘joker style’ for life were also caged.
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.
READ MORE: Family of young woman, 22, murdered by her sadistic boyfriend issue urgent plea
Here are the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week...
Woman who posed as doctor for over twenty years jailed
A fake psychiatrist has been jailed after forging a fake degree certificate and submitting it to the General Medical Council, who have since admitted that ‘rigorous checks’ were not carried out. Zholia Alemi, who is believed to be in her 60s, forged the document, along with a letter of verification and handed it to the GMC.
Alemi, who is already convicted of fraud, ‘held herself out and practised as a doctor of medicine’, though she had never passed or achieved the relevant university qualification and was not a properly qualified doctor. Prosecutors described her as ‘the most accomplished fraudster’.
The defendant practised continuously in the UK in 'a very large number of posts' both in the NHS and private healthcare providers for 27 years, the court heard. Alemi's lie began to unravel in 2016 when a carer reported concerns about her attempts to defraud an elderly patient and she was convicted of three fraud offences at Carlisle Crown Court.
She was found guilty of 20 offences including forgery, using a false instrument and fraud. On Tuesday (February 28), Alemi, of Plumbe Street, Burnley, was jailed for seven years.
Drug dealer was arrested while he lay in bed before police found heroin, crack and £6k in cash stuffed down his sofa
A drug dealer who bombarded addicts with texts informing them he had heroin and crack for sale has been jailed.
Kadar Ali would send mass mobile phone messages to users in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton saying 'Brad active' - meaning he was open for business. Text message replies from users included 'ring me wen ur abt plz', 'can I owe u 4 for 2w u no il pay u bk' and 'got 6q any chance you can sort us plz'.
Ali was arrested while in bed after police raided his home on Tuesday, January 3, 2022. The mobile phone used as the drugs hotline was found in the bedside table. Another mobile phone, a large amount of class A drugs and £6,000 in cash was found hidden in the sofa.
Ali, 25, of Spring Gardens, Rochdale, earlier pleaded guilty to being in possession with intent to supply crack cocaine, heroin and possession of criminal property. On Wednesday at Minshull Street Crown Court he was jailed for 42 months.
Gang turf war left man beaten and slashed with weapons blind in one eye
Four men have been jailed for their part in a ‘brutal’ and ‘savage’ attack that has left an affiliate of a rival gang blind in one eye and scarred ‘joker style’ for life.
The ‘tit-for-tat’ drugs gang turf war took place over 18 months in Rochdale before exploding in a culmination of violence on the evening of October 5 2021. The horror attack on this evening involved a VW Golf being rammed and flipped three or four times before an ‘armed gang’ surrounded the victim, armed with a machete, axe, baseball bat, combat knife, and chainsaw.
He was hacked at, beaten, and slashed with these weapons, before being doused with ammonia. The attack only ceased when members of the public called the emergency services, with people rushing to the aid of the man.
Abbas Mushtaq, 29, Naseer Kazmi, 29, Taylor Snape, and Jake Horrocks, 21, have all been jailed for a significant period for their parts in this attack. Kazmi and Horrocks were found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent after a trial which concluded earlier this week.
Snape pleaded guilty to this count at an earlier hearing with Mushtaq pleading guilty to this count, and further counts of violent disorder and two drugs offences, on earlier dates.
Jake Horrocks, of Gypsy Lane, Rochdale, received 11 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm after a trial. Naseer Kazmi, of Dalton Close, Milnrow, received 13 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm after the trial.
Mr Waqas Mushtaq is due to face a retrial later this year.
The gang who used the vulnerable, Covid and a city centre hotel to peddle misery to thousands
A drugs gang who used vulnerable drug addicts, the COVID lockdown and a city centre hotel to peddle cocaine and heroin across the North West have been jailed.
Discovered through Encrochat, the gang were initially run by Ricci Ferrari, 38, who brokered deals with drugs importers and buyers in the UK. Helped by right-hand man Anthony Davies, 38, alongside Stuart Shears, 52, the three dealt in over 19 kilos of class A drugs worth over £1 million.
However, following the collapse of the encrypted system in 2020 by authorities, Ferrari stepped back and Shears and Davies continued, using others for their dirty work. After pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering, they have all been jailed at Manchester Crown Court.
Running the business from ‘some distance,' Ferrari used contacts from Spain and engaged in multi-kilo deals of heroin and cocaine on a regular basis. Working ‘little and often’, he had knowledge of when imports of the drugs were coming in and would broker a deal with customers in the UK.
Davies would pick up the goods to be broken down and sold on the streets, and Shears would source adulterants in bulk, which would be used to reduce the purity of the drugs.
Ferrari, of Alcester Close, Middleton, was jailed for 12 years, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering. Shears, of Ravenoak Road, Cheadle Hulme, was jailed for 12 years, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs, assisting an offender and money laundering.
Davies, of Gisburne Avenue, Moston, was jailed for 12 years, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering, Hunt, of Caen Avenue, Moston, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering.
Roberts, of Branston Road, Moston, was jailed for five years and nine months, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and escape from lawful custody. Aronwch, of Anfield Road, Moston, was jailed for five years and two months, for conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
Vile pervert watched girl from behind a wall before exposing himself and 'laughing'
A vile pervert watched a 10-year-old girl from behind a wall before exposing himself and laughing, leaving her haunted and traumatised. Richard Graham, 33, who is convicted of repeatedly exposing himself had targeted the girl the day before as she played outside with friends in Bury.
Noticing him ‘doing weird stuff’ with his genitals whilst standing a short distance away, one of the children shouted: “small willy” causing Graham to run off.
The following day, as the girl was knocking on at a friend’s house, she saw him hiding behind a wall. Fearing he was ‘cornering her’, she left to go home, only for Graham to stand in full view and expose himself again.
As she started to run, their eyes met and he raised his eyebrows whilst smirking at her, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
Graham, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to two offences of exposure and two offences of breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and was today (March 3) jailed for over three years.
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