Two men who brutally murdered a 20-year-old at Manchester’s Caribbean Carnival have been jailed for life in Greater Manchester this week.
Also locked up this week was a drug dealer whose own words came back to haunt him, a sex offender who broke into a woman’s home and attempted to rape her, as well as a predator who carried out heinous historic offences against young girls.
Jail terms are handed down to the worst offenders each week at our region's courts. And Manchester Evening News reporters are on hand to cover the most serious cases.
"All this will haunt me forever..." mother of 20-year-old man murdered in Moss Side speaks as his killers are jailed
The mother of a 20-year-old brutally murdered as violence erupted after Manchester's Caribbean Carnival said she will be forever haunted by her son's death. Javell Morgan was stabbed to death in Moss Side last summer, when two groups of young men from Huddersfield clashed in the street, one side armed with guns, the other with knives.
Javell was not armed but was chased down and repeatedly stabbed by Jacob Doughty, 22, and Deontay Crosfield. Manchester Crown Court heard that Doughty inflicted the fatal blow with a fearsome 'samurai sword'.
"This case involved a very serious disturbance in what should have been a joyful occasion in Moss Side," Judge Suzanne Goddard KC said. "No sentence that I can pass on you can possibly atone for the pain that you have caused," she told the defendants.
Both men were handed life sentences. Doughty must serve a minimum of 21 years, and Crosfield 20 years, before they can be considered for release.
"No f****** about": The words of a cocaine dealer came back to haunt him
A dad embroiled himself in 'very large scale' cocaine dealing after being seduced by the prospect of 'easy money'. Kurt Jervis described the murky world he descended into as 'proper serious and organised crime'.
He worked as a courier for Stockport based drugs boss Aaron Wright, who was at 'the top of the tree' of the crime gang. Wright, 37, was said to be involved with at least 60 kilos of cocaine, while Jervis was linked to 39 kilos of the class A drug.
The huge scale of their involvement in the criminal underworld was exposed when law enforcement gained access to the EncroChat network, the encrypted phone system previously thought to be impenetrable. In one message to Wright, using his EncroChat username 'One Sicario', Jervis, 37, who has a teenage son, said: "Proper serious and organised crime this bro. Kilos drops before 11am and 1000s passed before 1pm, no f****** about. All while ur sat scratching ur a**."
Another exchange of messages between Wright and an EncroChat user named 'Tyrion Lannister', said to be the leading light in the gang alongside Wright, revealed the scale of the dealing they were involved in. Lannister said: "F****** hell mate, we done 60 jobs in last six weeks."
Police estimate that if the messages were correct, the pair could have made a profit of about £84,000 over a six week period.
Wright was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison, while Jervis received nine years and four months
Wright, of Beacon Road, Stockport, and Jervis, of Deane Avenue, Stockport, pleaded guilty to conspiring to supply a class A drug and conspiring to conceal criminal property.
Dangerous predator on 'Monkey Dust' forced his way into woman's home and then tried to rape her
A predator who forced his way into a woman's home before trying to rape her was branded as being 'every woman's worst nightmare'. Darren Roche was jailed for life following the terrifying attack at a flat in Manchester city centre.
Roche, 37, fuelled by a cocktail of drugs including 'Monkey Dust', a version of the synthetic cannabinoid Spice, had been released from prison just weeks earlier after being previously being locked up for sexual assault.
Manchester Crown Court heard that two days before the attempted rape, Roche had grabbed hold of a woman on the street before she was able to get away. "In short, Mr Roche, you are every woman's worst nightmare," Judge Sarah Johnston told him, describing him as a 'dangerous' criminal who poses a 'continuing risk to the public'.
In a statement read at court, the victim described feeling 'close to death' during the attack. "If I had made a wrong move, I could've been killed," she said.
Judge Johnston imposed a life sentence, after ruling that Roche posed a 'continuing risk to the public, in particular women'. He will serve a minimum term of seven-and-a-half years in prison, before he can be considered for release by the Parole Board.
Roche, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to attempted rape, committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence and failing to comply with notification requirements.
'The worst kind of predator' finally behind bars
A man described as 'the worst kind of predator' has been locked up after a string of sick attacks against two young victims. Keith Williamson, from Tameside, was found guilty of 16 offences against the pair, beginning more than a decade ago.
Most of the 41-year-old's heinous crimes were carried out when the victims were young girls. Williamson was arrested in December 2018 and charged in 2020.
He was found guilty of six counts of sexual assault of a child under 13; four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13 by penetration; four counts of rape of a woman over 16; and two counts of rape of a girl under 16. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Thug hit woman in face with spanner before telling her friend 'you're dying' in terrifying attack
A man who believed two women were selling heroin to his brother hit one in the face with a spanner before dragging the other downstairs. Christopher Lewis, from Rossendale near Bury, told one of his victims 'you're dying' before dropping her on the kitchen floor.
The 38-year-old had gone to the house in Burnley, Lancashire, along with another man in the early hours of last June 3. Preston Crown Court heard how Lewis shouted up at the window of the property, on Pine Street.
When the first woman answered the door, Lewis struck her in the face with a spanner. He then hit her with the weapon for a second time while she was on the floor, Lancs Live reports.
The court heard Lewis then went upstairs to confront the other woman. He dragged her out of a bedroom and down the stairs.
Lewis hit her to the rib cage, telling her 'you're dying', before dropping her on the kitchen floor. That victim managed to escape from the house and hid in bushes until Lewis left the house and she was able to return.
Lewis, of Highfield Park, Haslingden, pleaded guilty to GBH, ABH and possession of an offensive weapon on the basis he believed there was someone inside the house who was selling heroin to his brother. He went to remonstrate but the court heard things 'got out of hand'.
Judge Ian Unsworth KC sentenced him to five years and three months for GBH with 12 months for ABH and six months for possession of a weapon to run concurrently.
''I will kill you before I go back to prison': Thug's chilling warning before attacking pregnant girlfriend
An abusive thug warned his pregnant ex-girlfriend: “I will kill you before I go back to prison” before attacking her.
Bradley Norton, 30, had previously hit his former partner to the back of the head as she fled from him during a row. As a result she fell down the stairs and hit her head.
Months later, after moving in together and falling pregnant, Norton, of Salford, was drinking and taking drugs when he attacked her again.
He hit her with her phone as she said she would call the police, before sitting astride her and pinning her down by her chin, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Norton, of Gerald Road, was jailed for 28 months and made the subject of a restraining order for five years. He previously pleaded guilty to two offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Read more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
Metrolink staff announce June strike dates as Parklife festival and Soccer Aid to be hit
- Gay Village adult store Clonezone attacked for FOURTH time in two months as CCTV captures thugs on red motorbike
- Man and woman arrested on suspicion of attempted murder as victim left fighting for life after intruder attack
- Killing of schoolgirl Emily Jones at hands of paranoid schizophrenic 'could not have been predicted'
- Emergency services swarm street as two people cut from Audi that was flipped over onto roof in crash
