A fraudster son who stole over a quarter of a million pounds from his own mum is amongst those who have been jailed in Greater Manchester this week.
Others who have been locked up in our region are an Audi driver who reached speeds of over 100mph in a 30mph zone before killing a grandmother in a crash and injuring two members of her family; as well as a married father-of-three who arranged to meet someone he believed to be a 14-year-old girl.
Prison terms are handed out to the most serious offenders. And Manchester Evening News court reporters are on the press bench to cover such cases.
READ MORE: 'Help, help, fire!': Neighbours forced to flee their homes as flames engulf terraced house
READ MORE: Wine-fuelled woman knifed 'violent' ex during furious bust-up
He bought a Mercedes and travelled to Dubai despite not having a job... then his family got suspicious
A devious son who stole over £250,000 from his dementia-suffering mum to fund a luxury lifestyle has been jailed. Karl Zierold was appointed as the lasting power of attorney over her financial affairs giving him full access to her bank account.
However, the 56-year-old splurged the cash, giving over £180,000 to a prospective business partner, and spending the rest on holidays to Dubai and Mauritius and payments on his Mercedes V8 GT.
His offending came to light when his family were made aware of an unpaid mechanic bill on his car and challenged him about it. He then admitted in letters to his family that he had stolen his mum’s money.
Jailing him for three years and four months, Recorder Jason MacAdam said: “The phrase ‘chip off the old block’ is as far removed as can be possible when it comes to you.”
Read the full story here.
He spoke about 'sex in the car' and thought he was meeting a 14 year-old girl called Emma
A married father-of-three turned up to meet someone he believed was an 'innocent, vulnerable' 14 year-old girl he had incited to engage in sexual activity, a court heard.
But Zaheer Khan, a 53-year-old with no previous convictions, was caught out as it was a decoy posing as a fictitious teenager called 'Emma' he had been exchanging messages with online, a judge was told. Khan, who admitted two charges he faced, has now been jailed for what the judge called 'a persistent attempt to incite this person to engage in penetrative sexual intercourse'.
One message he sent her, Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court was told, suggested they 'hold hands and kiss', before he went on to suggest they have sex. Khan also tried to get the 'girl' to send him photographs of her genitals, the court heard.
Khan pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing in July to inciting a child to engage in a sexual act and sexual communication with a child. He was jailed for two years and four months.
Read the full story here.
Man found with gun and butterfly knife after primary school alerted police
A man who was found with a gun, butterfly knife and thousands of pounds of cocaine after a primary school 'raised concerns' has been put behind bars.
A 'safeguarding concern' was first raised about Bernard Oliver by a primary school in Oldham in December of last year, police said. This related to him 'possibly possessing a firearm'.
The 45-year-old was arrested later that day and while searching him, officers found a tub with 10 snap bags of cocaine inside. Police then searched his house and found multiple weapons in a safe.
These included a Dan Wesson silver CO2 BB Revolver, four rounds of imitation ammunition, an expanding police-style baton, a butterfly knife and a black and blue BB gun. Officers also uncovered cannabis and a debtor's list written on notepad paper.
The white powder found on Oliver and at his home later tested positive as cocaine - valued between around £5,000 and £7,500. At Bolton Crown Court yesterday (November 13), Oliver, of Balfour Street, Oldham, admitted possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs, as well as possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of a prohibited weapon. He was jailed for 54 months.
Read the full story here.
'Idiotic' driver who killed a grandma and injured two of her relatives did 118mph in 30 zone
A dad was driving 118mph in a 30 zone just before he killed a grandmother and seriously injured her daughter and grandson when he crashed head-on into them.
Trent Simm, 25, lost control of his Audi S3 on the A58 and smashed into a Kia driven by Doris ‘Dot’ Bridgehouse, 82. Next to her was her daughter Amanda Holmes, then-55, and in the rear of the vehicle was her son Max, then aged 21.
Such was the force of the horrifying crash on May 13 last year, which police thought to have happened at speeds in excess of 88mph, the wreckage of the Kia was pushed back 25 metres. When Simm, who also injured a passenger in his own car, was told by Salford University student Max that his mother and grandmother were in the car after the crash, he phoned his own mother and said: “I think I have messed up here.”
Dot was killed at the scene due to ‘multiple injuries’, Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard on Tuesday (November 14), with Amanda Holmes knocked unconscious and requiring months of hospital treatment. Despite suffering his own injuries, Max managed to crawl out of the vehicle moments after the collision.
Courtroom nine heard that Dot, Amanda, and Max had been to Salford University that day to view the Halifax lad’s final project in what was ‘the best day of my life’ — until it went to being ‘the worst’, he told the court. The trio were driving at 27mph on their way to home in Yorkshire via Halifax Road, Littleborough, at roughly 10:50pm when the incident took place.
Trent Simm was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison, half of which must be served behind bars, for admitting causing the death of Doris Bridgehouse by dangerous driving. He was given two years for each offence of admitting causing serious injury by dangerous driving to Amanda Holmes and Aaron Scott, which will be served concurrently.
Read the full story here.
They had a seemingly happy relationship for over 20 years - then he killed her in a brutal hammer attack
A man killed his partner of 20 years in a brutal hammer attack after being overcome with an ‘irresistible impulse’ due to a rare mental health disorder. Daniel Mitchell, 48, was suffering with a severe catatonic depression never seen before by a senior psychiatrist, when he repeatedly struck Alexis Karran with a hammer.
The 49-year-old radiographer, from Dukinfield, sadly died as a result of her injuries. The couple had been in a seemingly happy relationship for years, but his deteriorating mental health led him to commit the unlawful killing.
Twenty minutes after attacking Alexis at their home on Winchester Road, Mitchell called the police and said he had ‘just killed his partner’.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and was handed a hospital order with restrictions. This means he will remain in a high security hospital until he is deemed fit to be released by a medical tribunal.
Read the full story here.
Dad-of-six jailed for beating up nephew - because his mate 'made fun' of him using emoji
A dad-of-six beat up his own nephew and then drove him at ‘unacceptable’ speed after his pal mocked him using an emoji.
Mark Wilcock, of Stockport Road in Levenshulme, teamed up with long-term pal Kirk Lee Hulme to take his relative in their car, having attacked him at home. The pair demanded Wilcock’s nephew tell them where his friend lived — because that friend had used an emoji to reply to a photo posted by Wilcock on Facebook which ‘suggested he was laughing at him’, court heard on Monday (November 6).
During the ordeal, Wilcock drove at 83mph in a 30 zone, sped through red lights, and Hulme ‘tried to bite off his cheek and gouge his eye’. The men, both 37, have been jailed.
Read the full story here.
Manchester man jailed after £3m in cash found in safe house during police raid
A man from Manchester is among three jailed after police seized almost £3 million of criminal loot was seized during a house raid in the Midlands. Lee Kennedy, 35, from Colshaw Road, Wythenshawe, Darren Percival, 47, and Alan Britton, 50, were arrested after the money was found at a safe house.
A total of £2.9 million in Scottish, Irish and Sterling bank notes were found stashed across the property in Wolverhampton during the bust in May 2020. Percival used a house in Fallings Park, Wolverhampton, as a base to launder money for criminal groups. He worked with Britton and Kennedy as part of the operation.
All three were given sentences ranging from more than four years to two years for charges relating to controlling criminal property. Investigations into conversations the men had shared on a messaging app uncovered the operation and the three men's involvement.
A court heard the trio were caught out after police cracked their Encrochat - an encrypted global communication service used exclusively by criminals. The chats revealed Percival, under the name Mistaken Mallet, was using the house as a base to launder money for criminal groups.
He worked with Britton, using the handle Random Foot and Kennedy, using Betting Toxic, to sort, pack up and re-distribute the cash. When officers swooped at the address, Percival was found alongside huge amounts of cash scattered around the property.
A cash-counting machine and boxes of cash were recovered from the front and back bedrooms, the kitchen and even in a cupboard under the stairs. In total £2.9 million was seized and forfeited under the Proceeds of Crime Act – one of the largest seizures ever by West Midlands Police.
The trio went on to plead guilty to charges under the Proceeds of Crime Act and were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Percival, of Wolverhampton, was jailed for four years, Britton, of no fixed address, for four years and nine months and Kennedy for two years and seven months.
Read the full story here.
