These are the latest ECHO headlines this morning.
Man jailed after strangling woman in 'nasty' attack
A thug who attacked a woman has become one of the first in the country to be jailed for the offence of non-fatal strangulation.
Michael Strange, 33, of Nortonwood Lane, Windmill Hill, Runcorn, was sent down at North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court in Warrington last Monday. He pleaded guilty on the day to intentional strangulation, criminal damage, and assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).
All three charges were committed against the same woman the day before the hearing, on Sunday, July 17. Strange was sentenced to 52 weeks in prison, and banned from contacting or approaching his victim or entering a named street.
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Court papers said the “nasty assault” was an “unprovoked attack of a serious nature”, adding Strange had previous convictions.
He received 12 months in prison instead of 18 months due to his guilty pleas at the first opportunity.
The charge of intentional non-fatal strangulation came into force on June 7.
Previously, strangling a victim did not form an offence of its own and was instead treated as part of a more general type of assault. Read the full story here.
Every word the judge said to Patrick Boyle's killer as he was jailed
A remorseless killer starts a life sentence today for the street execution of a young dad.
Rueben Murphy, 26, was sentenced to 31 years minimum yesterday for murder after pumping two 9mm bullets into the chest of 26-year-old Patrick Boyle on July 1, 2021.
In a premeditated attack, Mr Boyle was standing outside an address in Newway, off Lordens Road in Huyton, at around 5.55pm when Murphy approached on an electric bike and opened fire. The dad of a three-year-old boy - who was expecting a second child with his pregnant partner, was shot twice in the chest and pronounced dead at Whiston Hospital less than 30 minutes later.
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Murphy, formerly of Barkbeth Road in Huyton, was convicted of murder after a trial at Liverpool Crown Court alongside his close friend Ben Doyle, now 25, who rode the electric bike, carrying Murphy on the back, to within minutes of the murder scene. Another friend, 21-year-old Thomas Walker, was cleared of murder but admitted handling one of the bullets used to kill Mr Boyle on a date prior to the day of the shooting.
Sentencing Mr Justice Morris told the drug-dealing thug it was a "brazen and shocking attack, leading to the senseless death of a young man."
Read the full story here.
Ryanair boss issues warning to travellers planning to book a holiday
Ryanair's chief executive has issued a warning to travellers planning to book a holiday.
The airline industry has been thrown into chaos as it struggles to recover after the pandemic. Staff shortages and flight caps at major airports have caused misery for many passengers planning their getaway.
The airline industry is expected to be hit by further disruption during the summer period as staff from a number of major operators are planning industrial action to protest against working conditions. Ryanair has reported a first-quarter profit despite the disruption in the travel industry.
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However, Ryanair's chief executive warned the full-year outlook for the budget airline is unpredictable and the airline industry remain concerned about the risk from new variants of coronavirus.
Michael O'Leary said: "While we remain hopeful that the high rate of vaccinations in Europe will allow the airline and tourism industry to fully recover and finally put Covid behind us, we cannot ignore the risk of new Covid variants in autumn 2022.
"Our experience with Omicron last November, and the Ukraine invasion in February, shows how fragile the air travel market remains, and the strength of any recovery will be hugely dependent upon there being no adverse or unexpected developments over the remainder of 2022-23."
Read the full story here.
