Manchester Crown Court Sentencing Results

Sultan Khan worked for his father’s airport meet-and-greet parking firms, which misled customers by claiming their cars would be parked securely when instead they were left in muddy fields or on residential streets without CCTV or 24-hour staffing, leading to thefts, damage, and unauthorised use of vehicles.

Selcuk Pinarbasi, director of Eye Track Limited, was found to have allowed significant amounts of asbestos-containing materials to be disturbed during demolition and construction work at a site in Stretford in April 2019. Workers were exposed to asbestos debris, and an HSE investigation found the work was carried out under his direct control despite him having previously commissioned a survey that identified the presence of both licensed and unlicensed asbestos materials. He showed total disregard for workers' safety, prioritising profits over their welfare.

Between April 18 and May 12, 2022, a gang of five men roamed wealthy areas in a blue BMW, using signal jammers and skeleton keys to steal 11 luxury Range Rovers and a Land Rover Sport worth up to £100,000 each from car parks, town centres and private driveways across Altrincham, Hale, Hale Barns, Alderley Edge, Poynton and Rochdale. The thefts often occurred in broad daylight. The gang was intercepted on May 13, 2022, with all five inside the BMW.

Thomas Leech, of Derby Drive, Preston, posted extreme right-wing, racist, anti-Semitic material online and made 211 indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child plus four more. A report was made to police on February 28, 2020, identifying his online activity supporting extreme right-wing ideology. He was arrested at his home in November 2020, released on bail but posted more material. Examination of his devices revealed indecent images, leading to further arrest in February 2021. He pleaded guilty in December 2021.

In the early hours of Sunday 7th February 2017, the victim Ryan King, a 25-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome, was leaving the Pen and Pencil bar on Hilton Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter. After friendly banter and a 'rap-off', when two women stopped to watch, Arron Garner forced King against a wall and Leo Doyle assaulted him. The Wright brothers and Charlie Potts then carried King into the road where they repeatedly punched, kicked and stamped on him, causing a broken jaw and other serious injuries. The attack was ongoing until another group leaving the bar intervened and called for help.

Jan Pasulka, 34, from Plymouth, was the trusted lieutenant in a gang smuggling crystal meth from Turkey through the UK to Japan. He absconded during the trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Jan Stinic, 37, from Plymouth, was involved in transporting crystal meth as part of a gang that smuggled the drug from Turkey through the UK to Japan. He was on the same flight as Dusan Staruch when Staruch was stopped with drugs at Leeds Bradford Airport.

James Southwell, a former Greater Manchester Police officer, abused eight children (seven girls and one boy) over 17 years during the 1970s and 1980s. He invited primary school-aged children to his home in Eccles, Salford, where he subjected them to prolonged sexual assaults and regular beatings. One victim testified the attacks began when she was six or seven and continued until she was 18. Southwell was also convicted of using an instrument to terminate the pregnancy of a 17-year-old girl. The jury found him guilty of rape, indecent assault, attempted rape, and procuring an abortion on a minor.

Haitch Macklin, a 39-year-old resident of New Devonshire Square in Higher Broughton, Salford, was convicted at Manchester Crown Court in April 2020 for serious sexual offences involving indecent images of children. He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images and two counts of showing indecent images. The court learned that Macklin had advertised a 'streaming service' of child abuse images to other individuals, utilising a device concealed in the loft of his home to distribute the content. Officers from the National Crime Agency described the footage as some of the most 'horrific and disturbing content' they had encountered. Initially, Macklin received a sentence of 20 months' imprisonment, but the Court of Appeal later increased it to four years, reflecting the gravity of his crimes. Following his conviction, his landlord Salix Homes evicted him from his Salford property.

Prison officer Hannah Angwaba engaged in a romantic relationship with convicted paedophile Anton McPherson while he was serving his sentence at HMP Forest Bank. She used her braided hair to smuggle drugs, tobacco, and mobile phones into the prison over several months. The scheme was uncovered through routine inspections and intelligence, and she was arrested and charged. Angwaba was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court in June 2024.

In the early hours of Sunday 7th February 2017, the victim Ryan King, a 25-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome, was leaving the Pen and Pencil bar on Hilton Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter. After friendly banter and a 'rap-off', when two women stopped to watch, Arron Garner forced King against a wall and Leo Doyle assaulted him. The Wright brothers and Charlie Potts then carried King into the road where they repeatedly punched, kicked and stamped on him, causing a broken jaw and other serious injuries. The attack was ongoing until another group leaving the bar intervened and called for help.

Ian Rooke, 29, stabbed orthopaedic surgeon Dr Nasser Kurdy in the neck from behind outside Altrincham Islamic Centre on 24 September 2017 at about 5:30 pm, leaving a two-inch wound. Dr Kurdy, who was also the mosque's imam, was not seriously injured and discharged from hospital shortly after. Rooke admitted wounding with intent and possessing an offensive weapon but denied attempted murder. At a trial in March, a jury found him not guilty of attempted murder. It was agreed that Rooke had a personality disorder and had not taken his mood-stabilising medication for two days at the time of the attack.

Between April 18 and May 12, 2022, a gang of five men roamed wealthy areas in a blue BMW, using signal jammers and skeleton keys to steal 11 luxury Range Rovers and a Land Rover Sport worth up to £100,000 each from car parks, town centres and private driveways across Altrincham, Hale, Hale Barns, Alderley Edge, Poynton and Rochdale. The thefts often occurred in broad daylight. The gang was intercepted on May 13, 2022, with all five inside the BMW.

Dusan Staruch, 29, from Bradford, was stopped by Border Force officers at Leeds Bradford Airport on 16 July 2014, arriving from Turkey. His suitcase contained nearly 2.5kg of methylamphetamine worth $1.75m hidden in the lining. He was part of a gang smuggling crystal meth from Turkey to Japan.

Dean Clarke, from Salford, messaged the schoolgirl through an online video and messaging platform. Greater Manchester Police said Clarke was reported to officers by the girl's mother when she was 13 and he was 21. The mum discovered Clarke's messages on a laptop. Some of the messages implied they had had a sexual relationship as they also talked about pregnancy tests. In a powerful statement read out in court yesterday (May 14), the victim's mum described the toll Clarke's actions had taken on her daughter - leaving her unable to attend school and struggling to eat or sleep.

David Storry Walton, a 68-year-old former partner at the prominent law firm DWF, has been struck off the roll of solicitors following his conviction for a sexual offence involving online communication with what he believed to be a child. The incident, which occurred over a two-week period in October 2019, came to light through a 'sting' operation conducted by a paedophile hunter group, rather than traditional police investigation. Walton was arrested after the group confronted him at his home shortly after the communications ceased. The offence involved explicit messages exchanged with a decoy posing as a minor, though no actual child was involved and no physical meeting took place.

In early 2014, 21-year-old Darryl Howe met a 14-year-old girl from Nottingham online and sent explicit photos of himself, encouraging her to do the same. Later in August 2014, he met a 15-year-old girl from Greater Manchester over Blackberry Messenger, knew her age, groomed her into a sexual relationship. After police gave him a warning under the child abduction act, he continued contact, encouraging her to go missing from home, which led to his arrest. Police then learned of the sexual relationship.

Colin Cooper, formerly known as Alan Makinson, abused eight youngsters between 1984 and 2002 at addresses in Wythenshawe and Tameside. His homes in Hattersley and Wythenshawe were a magnet for children, particularly those with learning difficulties, whom he lured with treats, forced to perform sex acts on each other and him, and punished escape attempts by locking them in rooms, blocking with pet Alsatians, and making them eat raw meat from pigs' heads. He tried to buy silence with trinkets and cash. Arrested in March 2009 after one victim reported abuse from 25 years earlier.

Connor Kedie assisted an organised crime group that carried out 29 robberies between May and November 2019 across Greater Manchester and Cheshire. He was given a 12-month suspended sentence.

On the evening of October 10, 2021, Connor Matthews, driving a stolen Volkswagen Scirocco, hit 18-year-old Marcus Simmons-Allen on George Richards Way in Broadheath, Altrincham. Matthews was travelling at between 58mph and 69mph in a 30mph zone. He had never passed a driving test. After the collision, Matthews bought food at a nearby McDonald's drive-thru before abandoning the car about a mile away. Marcus was pronounced dead hours later. Matthews was arrested on October 15, 2021.

Damien Read, 21, from Didsbury, groomed a vulnerable 14-year-old girl via Facebook, lying about his age, engaging in sexualised chats, and inciting her to perform a sexual act on herself. This breached a prior sexual harm prevention order (SHPO). Police found a phone during a compliance check in January. He also masturbated in Withington Library using a computer. Read has prior convictions for sexual offences including sexual activity with a boy in 2015 and breaching court orders.

Daniel Burdett, 30, from Liverpool, was convicted of arranging the importation of 16 pistols and automatic weapons, along with live ammunition and sound moderators, smuggled from the Netherlands into the UK via corrupt truck drivers. Weapons hidden in HGV lorry found by Border Force at Dover and Killingholme Docks in early 2018. Linked by DNA and fingerprints. Fled to Netherlands, extradited back to UK in 2019 after arrest on European Arrest Warrant.

Christopher Dunn, a 32-year-old former police constable from Swinton, Greater Manchester, has been sentenced to four years and four months in prison for a series of serious sexual offences involving indecent images of children. Dunn, who was employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP), admitted to making, possessing, and distributing indecent images relating to 57 victims aged between 13 and 44. These offences represent a profound betrayal of the trust placed in him as a public servant. The case came to light following Dunn's arrest on 3 February 2019 by GMP, after which an internal inquiry was conducted under the oversight of the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC). Dunn was dismissed from the force on 20 May 2019. He pleaded guilty to the charges at Manchester Crown Court, where the severity of his actions was highlighted by investigators. Detective Chief Inspector Richard Eales of GMP described how Dunn had 'outrageously breached' his oath to protect the public, emphasising that such behaviour was 'not representative of GMP, nor of the policing service as a whole'. Eales further noted the shocking impact of the case on victims, the public, Dunn's colleagues, and the investigators involved. In addition to his custodial sentence, Dunn has been placed on the sex offenders register and subjected to a sexual harm prevention order for life. He is also barred from working in any law enforcement agency, having been added to a national police list. IOPC regional director Amanda Rowe condemned Dunn's actions, stating that he 'had no place in public office' and that he is 'no longer a danger to the local community' following these 'most shocking and serious of crimes'. The sentencing underscores the zero-tolerance approach to corruption and abuse of position within the police service, as overseen by bodies like the IOPC and HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

In the early hours of Sunday 7th February 2017, the victim Ryan King, a 25-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome, was leaving the Pen and Pencil bar on Hilton Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter. After friendly banter and a 'rap-off', when two women stopped to watch, Arron Garner forced King against a wall and Leo Doyle assaulted him. The Wright brothers and Charlie Potts then carried King into the road where they repeatedly punched, kicked and stamped on him, causing a broken jaw and other serious injuries. The attack was ongoing until another group leaving the bar intervened and called for help.