A ‘pathetic’ murderer who killed his girlfriend before trying to shift the blame onto her is among the criminals jailed in Greater Manchester this week.
A jealous thug who battered his girlfriend whilst she was babysitting a toddler and a pervert who sexually assaulted multiple women in Bolton were also jailed.
Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders each week at our region's courts. Manchester Evening News reporters are on the press bench to cover the most serious cases.
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'Pathetic monster' who murdered girlfriend before trying to blame her is jailed for LIFE
A ‘pathetic monster’ has been jailed for life after murdering his girlfriend following months of abuse, before looking to ‘shift the blame’ onto her during his trial. Kevin Mannion, 45, stabbed Elinor O'Brien in the groin in a 'rage-filled and violent attack' after the pair rowed in his city centre apartment when she questioned him about seeing other women.
Liverpool Crown Court previously heard Mannion killed 22-year-old Elinor after committing several assaults on her throughout their eight-month relationship. Just two days before murdering her, Mannion, who has previous convictions for violence, stabbed Elinor in the chest.
She had complained to police previously about being a victim of domestic abuse, but was too frightened to name Mannion as the perpetrator. Mannion called 999 just before 12.30pm on August 16 last year after stabbing Elinor at his apartment in the Great Northern Tower, just off Peter Street and Deansgate.
He initially told officers she had been accidentally 'pierced' by 'something in her belongings' when he had thrown her bags at her during an argument. During his murder trial, he said he had no idea how Elinor had been injured, insisting he found her lying in the hallway outside the flat before getting help. At one stage, he suggested she inflicted the stab wounds herself.
A jury found him unanimously guilty of murder; wounding with intent; and controlling behaviour following the three-week trial. He remained emotionless as he was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of just over 23 years on Thursday, March 9.
As he was led away to the cells flanked by two dock officers, Mannion looked to the public gallery and said: “I’m sorry for what I did, but not what I didn’t do.” A woman replied: “You were supposed to protect her." Another person called him a 'b*****d'.
The 'strikingly unsuccessful' criminal jailed after smashing car into pregnant mum's house
A grandad who has committed more than 200 crimes in the past 49 years crashed a stolen car into a house while a pregnant mum watched TV with her eight-year-old daughter.
David Allen, 59, led cops on a chase around Farnworth at around 5.30pm on November 2, 2022, after an officer spotted him driving a Nissan Qashqai matching the description of one stolen in a burglary around a week earlier. During the pursuit, Allen ran red lights, drove at twice the speed limit, went the wrong way around a mini roundabout and even caused a crash.
Despite police putting a stinger down to stop him, he continued driving with burst tyres but eventually came to an abrupt stop when he crashed into a house in Blindsill Road. He fled from the car on foot but was caught and arrested a short time later, Bolton Crown Court heard. Upon being arrested, it was discovered that he already had five simultaneous driving bans, having never passed a court-ordered extended retest.
The homeowner - a pregnant woman - had been watching TV in the living room with her daughter at the time of the collision, which she said "caused the whole house to shake". After being interviewed, Allen was charged with a string of driving offences as well as an unrelated burglary - in which around £10,000 worth of jewellery was taken from a house in Lostock - in April 2022.
Allen, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence, and burglary. The court heard that Allen committed his first crime as a child in 1974 and has "effectively pursued a career as a professional burglar", appearing before the courts 44 times for 206 offences.
Judge Elliot Knopf slammed Allen's driving as 'appalling' as he jailed him for four years and 10 months. Allen will be banned from driving for one year once he is released from jail and will be required to pass an extended retest.
"You've come again, you cheeky ba*****"....thug out of his mind on drugs pounces on victim after he returns to cash machine
A drug-addled thug robbed a man after he withdrew £20 for a taxi home following a night out in Manchester city centre. Mark Robinson, 37, punched the 35-year-old, who had been out with friends.
He bit the victim after he tried to hold onto his wallet, an item of huge sentimental value which was a gift from his late father. Robinson 'doesn't really remember' what happened and is 'gutted' about the robbery, Manchester Crown Court heard.
After a night out with friends, the victim went to a cash machine on Portland Street at about 4am on Sunday, October 2 last year. As he inserted his card into the ATM, Robinson pushed in front of him and shoved him out of the way.
Robinson passed him his bank card and the victim walked away. He returned a few minutes later, hoping Robinson had left, prosecutor Juliet Berry said.
As he was withdrawing £20 for his taxi, Robinson appeared again and said: "You've come again, you cheeky ba*****."
He tried to ignore him but Robinson then launched his attack, pushing him to the chest. "Give me your wallet," Robinson demanded.
The man tried to reason with him but Robinson pushed him again, causing him to fall over before Robinson punched him in the face.
The victim held out his wallet but grabbed onto it as Robinson went for it. Robinson then bit him on his hand.
"Just go, go, go," Robinson told his victim. The robber got away with the wallet, £20 in cash and bank cards, which the victim was able to cancel before Robinson tried to use one at a nearby newsagents.
Robinson was arrested after being caught on CCTV footage. The victim, who suffered a bite mark and a cut lip, told the court he now feels unsafe and unsure as he goes about his daily life.
Robinson, of Stanley Street, Cheetham Hill, pleaded guilty to robbery and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was sentenced to four years in prison.
Gang sold £1million worth of stolen diggers and dumper trucks to customers across the world.
Three members of a gang that sold stolen machinery worth more than £1m from across the North West have been jailed.
Items including diggers and dumper trucks were stolen from sites around the region before being sold around Europe and Australia. The stolen machines cost between £8k and £105k and had a total value of about £1.3m.
In total, 46 plant machines were stolen between 2015 and 2018 before being sold on to the gang, which operated out of an industrial unit in Nelson, Lancashire. Once there, the stolen goods were cloned before being sold on to innocent buyers.
The purchasers only realised they were stolen when police went on to seize the equipment, Lancs Live reports.
Detectives launched an investigation after one victim, who had a digger stolen from him, noticed an identical vehicle was being sold from the unit on the Lomeshaye Industrial Estate in Nelson. Officers visited the site and although the digger had been moved on, they caught two men, Max Wynn and Alex Grice, in the act of cloning another stolen machine.
The stolen digger was later tracked down, alone with two other stolen vehicles, to the Clayton-le-Moors area.
Police raided the unit in September 2017 and seized a Kubota digger belonging to an equipment hire company in Blackpool, and a Kubota mini excavator, along with genuine and cloned PINs, grinding equipment, sanding pads, stencils and stamping equipment.
The same day, officers attended another unit in Clayton-le-Moors where they seized three more stolen machines. During the investigation, evidence relating to 41 more machines was uncovered.
Wynn, from Wigan, was the “driving force” behind the sham operation, Preston Crown Court heard. He was the director of the company that bought and sold on the stolen machines and his name was on the lease of the industrial unit where the work was carried out to get rid of any identification numbers on the stolen machines.
He is believed to be connected to the handling and sale of all 46 machines. The money from the sales was then laundered, being transferred to his friends, family and associates.
He also spent some of it on himself and used it to buy further stolen items. Paperwork revealed that he charged all of his customers VAT but never submitted a tax return, instead pocketing the extra money himself.
He initially pleaded not guilty to the counts put to him, but later admitted conspiracy to handle stolen goods, entering into a money laundering arrangement and converting criminal property. Wynn, 34, was jailed for eight and a half years.
Alex Grice had a variety of roles in the conspiracy and was a highly-trusted employee of Wynn's. He received a fee or commission for every machine he helped to hide the identity of. He was jailed for five years and eleven months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods.
Richard Wynn, the older brother of Max Wynn, helped to transport and deliver machines to customers. He sometimes dealt with prospective purchasers and helped facilitate the money laundering part of the operation.
Wynn, of Ravenoak Lane, Burnley, was jailed for eight and a half years after a jury convicted him of conspiracy to handle stolen goods.
The men received the following sentences:
Max Wynn, 34, of Plymouth Grove, Wigan – eight and a half years in prison
Karl Langley, 44, of Nelson Road, Burnley – two years in prison, suspended for 18 months
Alex Grice, 33, of Brunshaw Road, Burnley – five years and 11 months in prison
Richard Wynn, 47, of Ravenoak Lane, Burnley – eight and a half years in prison
Gavin Mellor, 53, of Hope Street, Burnley – two years in prison, suspended for 18 months
Ian Mellor, 72, of Clwyd Street, Ruthin – 10 months in prison, suspended for 18 months
Man, 62, jailed for string of sexual assaults against women in Bolton
A Bolton man has been jailed for more than four years after being found guilty of a string of sexual assaults against women in the borough.
Alan Worthington, 62, of Fern Street, committed the crimes in April and May 2022, a Greater Manchester Police investigation found. He has now been sentenced to four years and two months imprisonment, GMP confirmed.
One of the victims was left so terrified by the ordeal that she was unable to walk alone. A taxi driver was commended in court for working extra shifts so that she could still make journeys that she needed to.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Andrew Jameson of GMPs Bolton CID, said: "This was a horrific ordeal for the victims to have suffered. As a team, we are very pleased with the sentence that Worthington has received which has been a result of a large scale and thorough investigation by GMP.
"I'd like to thank the victims for their extraordinary bravery in coming forward and to the staff who have supported them. I'd also like to appeal to anyone who has suffered from abuse to please get in touch so we can help you.”
Jealous thug battered girlfriend while she was babysitting his sister's two-year-old child
A jealous thug who battered his girlfriend while she was babysitting his sister's two-year-old child has been jailed.
Philip Lennox, 25, attacked the woman after wrongly accusing her of cheating on him and even threatened to burn down the home of his own sister if the victim called police.
He repeatedly beat his partner during their relationship and on one occasion tried to throttle her in the street.
The victim has since had to undergo counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and now suffers from social anxiety. She said she struggles to sleep, has lower self-esteem and that her time with Lennox affected her relationship with her parents.
Lennox, from Shaw, Oldham, was jailed for 23 months on Monday (March 6) after he was convicted of non-fatal strangulation, assault by beating, assaulting occasioning actual bodily harm and threats to damage property. He denied wrongdoing.
Read more of today's top stories here
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