Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court Sentencing Results

Dominik Pelikan, 20, from Mayfair Gardens, Rochdale, travelled to Bradford to buy an Ekol Botan blank-firing handgun, then purchased 8mm solid brass and tools in Manchester. Intercepted messages showed he and Mohammed Raji planned to shoot someone, with police finding the gun parts, ammunition, and tools at his home on August 2, 2024.

Mohammed Raji, 21, from Mansfield Road, Oldham, discussed with Dominik Pelikan a plan to source a firearm and shoot an individual, messaging 'Just need to hit him once.' The plot involved converting a blank-firing handgun, as revealed in intercepted messages during police investigation.

Damion Bennett posted three racist and antisemitic videos on his GAB account in January and February 2023 that included Nazi salutes and ridiculed the Holocaust, intending to stir up racial hatred. He was arrested in April 2024 and accepted that the videos were threatening, abusive and insulting. Officers searching his home and online accounts found leaflets supportive of conspiracy theories, antisemitism, racism and extreme right-wing beliefs.

Kashif Mahmood, 37, from Rochdale, used Snapchat to communicate with someone he believed to be a 13-year-old girl, lying about his age as 25. He engaged in sexual communication, expressing desires to kiss, cuddle, and engage in other activities. He arranged to meet her at Manchester Piccadilly railway station on an unspecified date, where he was found with condoms in his pocket and attempted to delete content from his mobile phone upon police approach. The offences occurred in June of the previous year, leading to his arrest and conviction.

Rebecca Gregory, 25, a nursery worker, ill-treated four babies aged up to 12 months old in the baby room of a nursery. CCTV from 26 April 2022 captured her swaddling a crying baby too tightly and saying, 'You want me to knock you out?'; telling another crying child she was going to kick him before pushing him over; placing a third swaddled baby roughly in a cot and saying 'Shut up' before pushing them over; and forcefully putting a fourth child into a highchair and putting a dummy in their mouth with the words 'Put that in your gob and shut up.' None of the children suffered visible injuries. Gregory admitted the offences in her police interview and pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing.

John Murray, 41, carried out two separate assaults in 2023. On January 20, 2023, while working as a delivery driver, he obstructed a woman's driveway and, after she confronted him and another woman, punched her in the face, breaking her nose, as her children screamed. He struck her again before driving away and colliding with her vehicle. On July 15, 2023, following his separation, he broke into his ex-partner's home through a window, strangled her for 45 seconds, pulled her hair, struck her head repeatedly, bit her breast, punched her, and kicked her in the stomach. She sustained bruising to her breast, throat, and face, and a gash to her ear. A passer-by intervened, and Murray attempted to punch him.

Omar Malik headed a Manchester-based gang that flooded the UK with automatic weapons including 52 Skorpion machine guns and 49 Grand Power pistols, and import-grade cocaine worth up to £70m over a five-month period ending May 2020. The gang supplied organised crime groups across the country. Malik used the EncroChat handle 'payyabills' and kept a ledger of transactions. He was arrested and gave a no comment interview.

Bernard Valentine, 36, allowed his six pocket bully type dogs to maul a six-year-old girl outside her home in Carrington, Trafford, on March 26, 2023, causing extensive injuries including 22 lacerations. The dogs were kept in inadequate conditions, and Valentine failed to address a previous attack.

A man took part in an arson attack on a family home after being pressured by a drug dealer to send a message and intimidate a rival dealer. He and another offender approached the house at night; the other man smashed a window and Lynam poured petrol inside, causing an explosion and a fire. The occupants escaped but the house was severely damaged and remained uninhabitable nine months later. He was linked to the attack by DNA from a discarded balaclava and later pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Paul Taylor joined his brother in attacking a man outside a block of flats in Ashton-under-Lyne on March 17. He became involved after mistakenly believing his brother had blood on his face, and together the brothers left the victim lying on the ground with serious injuries including a bleed on the brain. He admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent and was sentenced alongside his brother.

Romeo Tosca, 26, was part of a gang that built a cannabis farm inside a fortified lock-up on Bilsley Street in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The unit contained 889 cannabis plants at various stages of growth with an estimated street value of £986,000. It was secured with CCTV, bypassed electricity, and included poor living quarters with bunk beds, cooker, fridge, and TV. Tosca was found in the loft space and arrested by Greater Manchester Police.

Ryan Catton was a member of the organised crime group that converted blank-firing guns into live weapons and transported them across the UK. He was convicted of conspiracy to transfer firearms.

On 27 January 2020, Sebastian Benjamin was driving a stolen BMW involved in a boot-to-boot transfer of a loaded converted handgun on Reins Lea Avenue, Oldham. Along with Michael McDonagh, he handed over the firearm to other gang members. Armed police intercepted the BMW on Cavendish Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, and recovered the loaded gun with three rounds in it and eleven more bullets in a sock in the boot. He was convicted of firearm and ammunition possession without certificates.

Anthony Whitehead, 72, was convicted of grooming and sexually abusing boys in Bolton, Rochdale and Manchester in the 1980s and 1990s. He exploited the boys' vulnerabilities and groomed them with cigarettes, alcohol and money. A jury unanimously found Whitehead guilty of sexual offences against boys aged between nine and 13. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and must serve at least two thirds of the sentence.

Abdul Sabhur, then 19 now 21, was driving on Ripponden Road in Oldham on 15 June 2024 while disqualified from driving following a prior speeding offence. He overtook a double decker bus on the wrong side of the road and struck a 10-year-old cyclist on a pedestrian crossing, captured on CCTV. The boy, a successful gymnast, was thrown into the air, suffering ongoing physical aches, pains, and psychological issues impacting his gymnastics, confidence, and mental health.

Aaron Whittaker attacked a man with a metal wrench on August 31, 2025, repeatedly striking his legs. The victim suffered such serious wounds to one leg that surgeons had to insert metal rods. Whittaker was convicted of the 2025 attack and was found not guilty of a separate GBH allegation from January 11, 2023.

Cody Hurley was a member of the gang that converted blank-firing guns into lethal weapons. He was convicted of firearm and ammunition possession without certificates.

David Hulse committed offences against four underage girls. Police investigating indecent images executed a warrant in March; Hulse threw mobile phones out of a window, but they were recovered and found to contain indecent images of children. He initially denied the allegations and gave no comment in interview before later pleading guilty to 16 charges. The court heard about the significant emotional impact on the victims and their families.

David Marsh, 74, was convicted of grooming and sexually abusing boys in Bolton, Rochdale and Manchester in the 1980s and 1990s. He exploited the boys' vulnerabilities and groomed them with cigarettes, alcohol and money. The investigation began in 2019 after a survivor disclosed abuse to a person of authority. A jury unanimously found Marsh guilty of sexual offences against boys aged between nine and 13. He was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment and must serve at least two thirds of the sentence.

David Barnes, of Bury, planned to meet a 14-year-old girl in Piccadilly Gardens for sex after grooming her online, discussing taking her virginity and engaging in overtly sexual conversations. The 'girl' was actually an adult from the paedophile hunter group 'Predators Exposed Sting Team', who humiliated him upon arrival. He was fully aware of her age and exploited details of her vulnerable home situation.

Graham Groves, 60, racially abused former BBC Radio 5 Live presenter the victim outside the Old Market Tavern in Altrincham on April 28, 2023. Groves directed racial slurs at the victim, who was waiting to collect his wife from a work night out. Groves asked the victim whether he was a doctor, which the victim believed was racially motivated, and then used a racial slur. When challenged, Groves repeated the slur and used a further term that was described in court as intended to provoke rather than directed personally.

Gerald Glancy, from Beswick Royds Street, Rochdale, engaged in rape and sexual activity with young children, sexual communication with a child under 16, and made 47,000 indecent images of children, including at least 200 category C images and distributing two category A images. The crimes took place over three years from October 2018 to May 2022. He was arrested on 15 February 2021 when Greater Manchester Police raided his home and seized multiple devices; during interviews he admitted the offences and breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. A further raid in June 2022 uncovered five more unauthorised devices. He was convicted on 27 April 2023 at Minshull Street Crown Court.

Indrid Hysembelli, 26, was part of a gang that built a cannabis farm inside a fortified lock-up on Bilsley Street in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The unit contained 889 cannabis plants at various stages of growth with an estimated street value of £986,000. It was secured with CCTV, bypassed electricity, and included poor living quarters with bunk beds, cooker, fridge, and TV. Hysembelli was found in the loft space and arrested by Greater Manchester Police.

On April 21, 2025, Shaun Orchard, 23, stole his stepfather's Mercedes after drinking pints and snorting cocaine. He drove dangerously on the M60 at up to 120mph, undertook lorries, then continued at around 100mph along 30mph Hyde Road. He failed to stop at a red light and collided with a police car driven by PC Rushton, causing the officer serious injuries including fractured ribs, ankle, and arm, a ruptured bladder, and psychological trauma. Orchard held only a provisional licence and had 112mg of alcohol and 216µg of benzoylecgonine per 100ml of blood, both above the legal limits.

Stuart Nicholson was part of the organised crime group involved in converting and distributing lethal firearms. He was arrested outside an address in Lincolnshire on 11 April 2020 and convicted of firearm and ammunition possession without certificates.

Xhoi Kasaj, 30, was part of a gang that built a cannabis farm inside a fortified lock-up on Bilsley Street in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The unit contained 889 cannabis plants at various stages of growth with an estimated street value of £986,000. It was secured with CCTV, bypassed electricity, and included poor living quarters with bunk beds, cooker, fridge, and TV. Kasaj was found in the loft space and arrested by Greater Manchester Police.

A twisted teaching assistant abused her position of trust to groom a vulnerable boy. Suspicions were raised around Terri Cook, from Bury, when a member of the public reported seeing her out with the child, who was of primary school-age. Greater Manchester Police launched an investigation, which uncovered how she had been grooming the boy and manipulating him into engaging in a sexual relationship. Officers discovered numerous messages on her phone which showed she had been inciting sexual communications with the boy. Cook, 38, was also found to have indecent images of the child. Police uncovered how Cook had bought the boy expensive items, including jewellery and clothing, over a nine-month period that she committed her crimes.

On May 2, 2025, Wayne Burgess, a 61-year-old lorry driver from Holme Bank, Rossendale, was distracted while on a hands-free call reciting a postcode in Salford and inputting it into his sat nav. He ploughed into the rear of a 70-year-old grandmother's car on the M62 near Birch Services, squashing it between his lorry and another truck ahead. The victim was trapped for a significant time before being freed by firefighters and treated at Salford Royal for a fractured eye socket, two broken ribs, numerous cuts, and severe facial disfigurement. Burgess tested positive for cocaine after the crash and exclaimed 'F****** hell, I've just killed someone'. The victim survived miraculously but has been unable to work or care for her grandchildren, with ongoing trauma affecting her family.