It is a couple of hours prior to the final friendly match in Manchester United’s pre-season schedule and all is quiet in one affluent housing area roughly eight miles south of Old Trafford. The skies have cleared enough for locals to open the soft tops of their BMWs and Audis, one of the latter swooping around the corner as a giant rat scurries across the road.
Almost halfway up a sloping road where motorists are asked to brake, on the left as you travel north, is a red-brick house with a black slate sloped roof. This is Mason Greenwood’s home, where the offences he is accused of were allegedly committed in January this year.
On the left of a gate flanked by tall bushes there is a sign warning of dogs running free. There is the logo of a high-end security company that seems to have monopolised protection in the area and cctv cameras are visible on the walls.
