Manchester Crown Court Sentencing Results

Jemma Marshall, a 37-year-old mother of three from Trent Road, Shaw, became addicted to crack cocaine after a traumatic childhood and personal losses, leading her to engage in drug use and lending money at inflated interest rates. On September 10, 2023, she and Jason Wadsworth encountered victim Martin Shaw, 45, on Ashton Road in Oldham. Shaw owed her money, and they forced him into her Audi A3, where he was brutally attacked, suffering severe injuries including eight pints of blood in his abdomen, a cut to the face, rib fractures, and a damaged spleen. Shaw died on November 4, 2023. Marshall denied direct involvement but was found guilty of manslaughter after a month-long trial.

Jason Wadsworth, 37, from Durden Mews, Shaw, was a drug user involved in the underworld. On September 10, 2023, alongside Jemma Marshall, he encountered Martin Shaw on Ashton Road in Oldham. Shaw owed Marshall money, and Wadsworth helped bundle him into Marshall's Audi A3. During the drive around Oldham and Rochdale, Wadsworth participated in the brutal attack on Shaw, who suffered life-threatening injuries including eight pints of blood in his abdomen, a cut to the face, rib fractures, and a damaged spleen. Shaw died on November 4, 2023. Wadsworth admitted to a 'backhander' but claimed limited involvement; he was found guilty of manslaughter after a month-long trial.

Nicholas Martin, of Bosworth Street, Leicester, poured petrol through the letterbox of the victim's home in Worsley, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of October 22, 2024, before setting it alight and leaving the area. The victim was disturbed around 5am by the letterbox snapping closed and a crackling sound, realized the house was on fire, and jumped from a first-floor window to escape, suffering two broken ankles and a broken vertebra. Her home was destroyed, she lost irreplaceable personal items including family photos and mementos, and her pet cat died in the fire. Martin had known the victim for years, was controlling, installed cameras in her home to monitor her, and dictated what she could eat, wear, and watch. He was on bail for a previous assault with conditions not to contact her or reside in Leicester, but he left his bail address, rented a car, drove to Worsley, booked a hotel, and carried out the attack. He was arrested the next day, October 23, 2024, at a hotel in the Lake District, where police recovered a petrol can from his room.

Stacey Smith, a former ambulance care assistant from Newton Heath, found Michala Morton's address in Tameside and lay in wait for her outside armed with a hammer in November 2023. She struck her repeatedly as she left for work, leaving her with serious injuries, then texted a friend saying 'I've done it. I've smashed her head in, Oppsie xx!'. The attack followed a row over work shift patterns.

On 25 October 2023, at around 7.45pm, Raami Mohamed was driving a white Seat Ibiza with Kevell Blake in the passenger seat along Princess Road in Manchester city centre. When Mohamed spotted a man he had an ongoing dispute with driving a blue Seat Ibiza, he signalled for him to pull over. Both cars stopped in a layby on Moss Lane East. The driver of the blue Seat Ibiza got out and remonstrated with Mohamed and Blake. Badri Issa, the passenger from the blue Seat Ibiza, tried to calm the situation by positioning himself between the driver and Mohamed. Violence erupted, and Mohamed stabbed Mr Issa once to the chest, piercing his heart, while Blake punched the driver in the face. Mr Issa fell to the floor, and the driver called emergency services. Paramedics arrived and rushed Mr Issa to Manchester Royal Infirmary, where he was pronounced deceased at 8.28pm. As Mr Issa lay bleeding, Mohamed and Blake got back into their car and drove off, taking the knife with them. They disposed of the knife nearby and abandoned the car on Broughton Lane. Mohamed changed his hairstyle, found somewhere to stay, and altered his car insurance to a new vehicle to evade justice. Police found Mr Issa’s blood on a phone charging cable inside the abandoned car, and Mohamed’s phone showed he had searched for details of the fatal stabbing. Mohamed was arrested on 26 October 2023 and refused to comment in his police interview. Following a trial which concluded in May 2024, Mohamed was found guilty of murder. He was initially sentenced on 7 June 2024 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years, but following a referral to the Court of Appeal on 6 September 2024 under the Unduly Lenient Sentence Scheme, the sentence was quashed and replaced with life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years and 145 days.

Nicholas Moxham, 52, from Stockport, set up a brothel from his home in March 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, exploiting six female sex workers by allowing them to use his home in Stockport and later a second address in Longsight, Manchester, to entertain clients. He controlled their schedules, services, and earnings, taking money for expenses and demanding sex without payment. He covertly recorded the women with clients without consent, sometimes selling the footage. He raped two of the women on several occasions while they were asleep, claiming they were pretending or acting out fantasies, which was disproved at trial. Police searches of his home and storage unit recovered hard drives and devices containing videos of these rapes, additional sexual offences with another woman, over 3,000 indecent images of children, and footage of him sexually assaulting three children. In total, convicted of 43 offences including 6x rape, 1x attempted rape, 3x requiring compulsory labour, 6x controlling prostitution for gain, 3x assault by penetration, 1x keeping a brothel, 3x sexual assault on children under 13, 15x voyeurism, 3x making indecent images of children, 1x taking indecent images of children, and 1x possession of extreme pornography. Victim impact statements described severe trauma, panic attacks, trust issues, and described him as a 'horrific beast of a monster' and 'torturous'.

Latif Ferguson, then 18, was part of a group that travelled to Stretford on January 22, 2022, in retaliation for a previous incident. The group stole bikes and confronted Kennie Carter, leading to his fatal stabbing. Ferguson was found guilty of manslaughter, though not directly responsible for the stabbing.

L’Vaion Peniston, who was 14 at the time, stabbed 16-year-old Kennie Carter to death on January 22, 2022, in Stretford as part of a revenge attack stemming from a prior altercation. A group associated with Peniston stole bikes and targeted Kennie, who was on a phone call when attacked. Peniston was seen on CCTV re-enacting the stabbing shortly after and was convicted following the trial.