Good evening, these are the latest ECHO headlines on Monday, March 21.
Three teenage boys arrested after devastating Parkgate wildfire
Three teenage boys have been arrested after a devastating wildfire at Parkgate.
Emergency services rushed to the marshland in Parkgate, near Neston, Wirral shortly before 6.30pm on Saturday as thick black smoke was sent billowing across the area. Crowds gathered on The Parade in Parkgate, an area that is popular with walkers and tourists, to watch the fire as it raged on into the evening.
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At the height of the fire, which covered 500 square metres of marshland, six fire crews from Cheshire and Merseyside were at the scene. A police helicopter was sent out to monitor the direction the blaze was spreading in as the wind continued to blow the flames further. Firefighters used fire breaks to protect the homes of residents who lived nearby.
Just hours after the blaze began Cheshire Police said they were treating the incident as arson. Now officers have confirmed three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of arson.
Update on men arrested after man shot in the face
Police have issued an update after a man was shot in the face on a busy Liverpool street.
Merseyside Police rushed to Croxteth Hall Lane at the junction of Ampulla Road at around 11pm on Sunday, March 20, following reports of a loud bang. Once at the scene officers found a bus stop had damage consistent with a gunshot.
A short time later a 30-year-old man arrived at hospital with a shotgun pellet wound to his face. Detectives believe this was the man who was injured in the shooting.
Eyewitnesses claimed seeing a dark coloured vehicle leaving the scene of the shooting and three men were later arrested by officers. Two men, aged 29 and 32, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and possession of a firearm without a certificate. A 21-year-old man was also later arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and possessing a firearm without a certificate.
Police have now issued an update to say all three men are still in police custody being questioned and the condition of the shooting victim remains the same, not believed to be life threatening.
Rapist MMA fighter 'treated victims as playthings'
An MMA fighter and business student who raped a woman and sexually assaulted another while under investigation for an earlier brutal rape attack was today jailed for 17 years.
Charles Goodwin was ruled to be dangerous and a judge imposed a three-year extended licence on top of the jail term. Judge Garrett Byrne told the 21-year-old business management student - who described himself to one victim as “a sex god” - that it was clear he had no care whether his victims were consenting.
The judge said: "Their consent was a matter of complete indifference to you. You treated each victim not as a human being deserving of respect, but as a plaything or toy and you took the view that once they were within your control, you could do with them as you pleased, irrespective of their wishes and without any regard to the impact that your conduct would have upon them.
“You acted throughout as though you were entitled to fulfil your sexual desires with these young women, no matter what. At the heart of your offending lies a deep-seated misogyny where women are to be treated as nothing more than sex objects and who exist merely to satisfy your needs.”
Goodwin’s lawyer told Liverpool Crown Court that his difficult relationship with his mother in childhood had shaped some of his negative attitudes.
But Judge Bryne told Goodwin, who showed no emotion at all throughout the hearing, that while his complicated early life might go some way to explain it, there was no compelling mitigation and he had shown no remorse and still denies the offences.
