An ‘evil’ killer who bludgeoned his housemate with an axe is amongst those who have been jailed in Greater Manchester this week.
Also locked up this week were a vile paedophile who abused two children decades apart, a man who kidnapped a receptionist sparking a hospital lockdown and a racist thug who broke a stranger’s jaw after mistaking him for someone else.
Prison sentences 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.
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'Evil' killer who bludgeoned housemate 18 times with an axe in horror attack jailed for life
An 'evil' killer who brutally murdered his housemate after bludgeoning him 18 times with an axe has been jailed for life. Kieran Oldham, 37, was ordered to serve at least 22 years after launching a ferocious attack on 21-year-old Liam Richardson.
Liam, from Middleton, had fallen on 'difficult times' and had been living with Oldham at his home on Industry Road in Rochdale. But a judge said it was clear that Oldham 'used' and 'bullied' Liam, who was described as being 'somewhat vulnerable'.
Chilling voice recordings captured minutes before the killing told how Liam begged Oldham to let him leave the house. Oldham then armed himself with an axe and launched a horrendous attack on Liam, who suffered terrible head injuries and died in the early hours of October 3 last year.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Liam was alive for some of the attack, suffering defensive injuries as he desperately tried to protect himself. "He must have been aware of the hopelessness of his situation as he tried to fend off blows from the axe," Judge Maurice Greene said.
The judge told Oldham: "His family must now live with the consequences of what you have done." The court heard a moving statement from Liam's mother, Susan Hartley, who told how she received the 'worst news that any parent could ever imagine'.
"I couldn’t believe what I was hearing," Ms Hartley said in a statement read on her behalf in court, recalling when she learned of her son's death. "I felt like the world had come crashing down on me and my family and to this day, that feeling has not gone away. I do not understand how one person can do such a thing.
“I do not understand. It is nothing but evil. Kieran Oldham continued to axe my son until he died. This is the behaviour of a monster. Myself and my family will continue to love Liam like he is still here with us, but while grieving because he is not.ing to another."
The judge said that Oldham had cocaine and steroids in his system, and that he may have been experiencing drug-induced psychosis at the time of the killing. He had referred to a 'hex' and 'shape shifters' in notes he had written that day. Oldham lied to police in interview, claiming a 'gang' was responsible for Liam's death.
Oldham, of Industry Road, Rochdale, was found guilty of murder after a trial. He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He also admitted charges of false imprisonment, after he went to a friend's home after the killing and refused to let them leave, and a charge of affray when he was detained by a member of the public after Oldham had smashed his car's windows with an iron bar.
Vile paedophile who abused two children decades apart unmasked after becoming 'bored' and bragging online
A vile paedophile who committed appalling abuse on two children decades apart was finally caught after he bragged online while 'bored' during lockdown. Jeffrey Owens, 44, was branded 'dangerous' and locked up for eight-and-a-half years after he was snared by an undercover police operation.
The National Crime Agency enlisted two officers to act as paedophiles online in a bid to catch predators in the act. Owens, from Hyde, engaged in disgusting chats with the two officers and bragged about how he'd abused two different girls.
When he was arrested, Owens told police he'd become 'bored' after being furloughed during the Covid lockdown in March 2020, and claimed he'd never downloaded child abuse images before. But the sinister chats revealed he had sexually abused two girls, with some of the crimes being committed against one of them 20 years prior.
A judge said the fact that he was still talking about the abuse years later showed he 'still derived some form of deviant kick from it'. Owens will only be released from prison when he is able to demonstrate to the Parole Board that it is safe to do so.
His laptop and other devices were examined, and it was discovered that he had downloaded more than 4,000 indecent images of children, and a further 22 which featured bestiality. The court heard of the devastation that Owen's horrendous crimes had caused.
One victim told how she felt like she'd 'done something wrong in a past life' to deserve her ordeal, while the other believed the abuse she'd suffered had been 'her fault'. Owens threatened one of them to not report what he'd done.
Owens, previously of Beechy Square, Oldham, pleaded guilty to 26 offences. They included one count of indecent assault, four counts of indecency with a child, seven counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, three counts of voyeurism, one count of causing a child to watch a sexual act, one count of sexually assaulting a child, one count of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence, four counts of distributing indecent images of children, three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image.
He was also ordered to sign the sex offender's register for life, and an indefinite sexual harm prevention order was imposed, prohibiting him from being with children under 16 and restricting his use of the internet.
Cruel brute told girlfriend to 'say goodbye' to her kids as he threatened to slit her throat
A cruel brute told his girlfriend to 'say goodbye' to her children as he threatened to slit her throat, a court heard.
Michael Maher beat up, verbally abused and threatened his former partner in a vicious 'campaign of domestic violence'. In February last year, he spat at her, pulled her from the sofa by her hair, bit her finger and tore at her clothing in a horrific attack.
On another occasion he called her and threatened to kill her, before smashing up belongings inside her home including precious photographs of her children. Maher's victim was left 'petrified' and now 'suffers on a daily basis', the court was told.
The 31-year-old, from Ashton-under-Lyne, was jailed at Minshull Street Crown Court on March 20 following his campaign of terror. The court heard how Maher, a dad-of-one, and the victim had begun their relationship in May 2021, but it deteriorated over claims he was being controlling.
Maher, of Burlington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, admitted common assault, harassment, burglary, criminal damage and sending malicious communications.
Maher was jailed for three years and four months. He was also made subject of a restraining order prohibiting him from contacting the victim for ten years.
Man who kidnapped council receptionist from her desk with knife and meat cleaver sparked hospital lockdown and 'stand-off' with armed police
A man who held a council receptionist hostage at knifepoint inside her car at a hospital after kidnapping her from her desk has been jailed by a judge who called him a danger to society.
The Royal Oldham Hospital's A&E department was placed on full 'lockdown' in August last year as Daniel Buckley, 32, told a hospital sister who walked over: "You need armed police." A court heard there was a 20-minute 'stand-off' with firearms officers before Buckley, who was carrying a meat cleaver and a knife, eventually surrendered and was arrested.
The council worker, a mother Buckley kidnapped from the reception of Oldham Civic Centre around 45 minutes earlier and forced to drive them in her car, managed to get out at the hospital and raise the alarm. She was praised by a judge for keeping him calm during what he called a 'prolonged and frightening incident'.
Buckley, who had been discharged from a mental health hospital two days earlier, walked into the Oldham Council building and put the blades down on the reception desk, together with a letter, before he forced the woman to get her car keys, walk outside to the car park and drive.
Buckley, of Wilson Way in Oldham, pleaded guilty to assault by beating, threaten another with bladed article, kidnapping and two charges of possessing a bladed article in a public place. The judge sentenced him to a 10-year extended sentence, comprising six years in prison and a further four years on licence. He will serve two-thirds of the prison sentence before being eligible for parole and a 12-year restraining order was also passed.
Racist thug broke stranger's jaw in mistaken identity road rage attack
A racist thug broke a stranger's jaw after mistaking him for a man involved in a road rage incident. Andrew Ashton approached the victim on Chorley Old Road in Bolton and punched him in the face before racially abusing him, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
When the man asked Ashton, 33, why he had attacked him, he told him it was because of the road rage incident the previous week. The pair had never met.
When Ashton realised he had got the wrong man he made a racist comment before running away, leaving his bike behind. The victim required surgery for a broken jaw.
Ashton, of Howcroft Close, Bolton, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Manchester Crown Court and was sentenced to 15 months in prison suspended for two years. He must also carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, complete 60 days of rehabilitation and was given a five-year restraining order.
Richard Holliday, senior prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service North West, said: "Andrew Ashton carried out a shocking attack on a stranger, resulting in a broken jaw. The man, who was innocently going about his business, was not only assaulted but also racially abused when Ashton realised he had the wrong man.
"Everyone has the right to go about their daily lives without fear of violence or hate."
Man, 39, banned from the road got behind the wheel for 'something to do'... before leaving three people seriously hurt in horror smash
A man banned from the road crashed his friend's car while speeding, leaving three people seriously hurt. Alix Grant, 39, got behind the wheel, looking for 'for something to do'.
He attempted to overtake another car, driving on the wrong side of the road. Travelling with 'excessive speed' around a bend, on Shepley Road in Audenshaw, Tameside, he crashed into two young men driving home.
Those two men, who told a court they were 'lucky to be alive'; Grant; and his pal were left seriously hurt following the incident on January 6, 2021.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge Bernadette Baxter told Grant - who has an 'appalling record' of driving offences - his crimes were 'extremely serious'. He was jailed for causing injury by dangerous driving, along with an affray charge, the details of which were heard at a separate hearing.
Grant, of Chapel Street, Dukinfield, was sentenced to five years and nine months as part of a consecutive sentence for a separate affray offence from 2020.
Trio's sickening attack on brave neighbour who tried to come to rescue of their victim
Three thugs responsible for a 'truly terrifying' barrage of violence left a family petrified. Alix Grant, Billy Roberts and Lewis Jones were confronted by neighbours after they went to Grant's ex-partner's home three times in one night.
The trio's violent spree began after they slammed a Land Rover into the ex's Audi as a 'prank'. They then shouted death threats at the woman.
A neighbour, carrying a baseball bat to protect himself, confronted Grant, Roberts and Jones. Jones attempted to reverse the Land Rover into the neighbour, before hitting him with a piece of wood.
Grant and Jones, both 39, ran into the garden of the neighbour and his partner, before trying to break into their home. They said the house was 'marked' and told them: "You are dead."
Nearly two years later, during a chance encounter with the partner of the man who intervened, Jones 'persistently' intimidated her about the upcoming court case, telling her he would have '25 lads who will all be scattered round the court waiting for [her]' if she gave evidence.
Sentencing the three men - who all pleaded guilty to affray - Judge Bernadette Baxter said she 'rejected completely' the suggestion it was 'some sort of joke', dubbing the gang's actions 'truly terrifying'.
The judge handed Roberts, 34, of Eldon Close, Audenshaw, a suspended sentence of 18 months, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work. She sentenced Grant, of Chapel Street, Dukinfield, to five years and nine months and jailed Jones for three years.
Man sank bottle of vodka then sprayed bleach in supermarket worker's face
A man who'd sunk a bottle of vodka sprayed bleach in a supermarket worker's face after he was confronted for coughing on customers outside a Lidl store during the Covid pandemic. Younis Mohammed, 55, shouted: "You stupid n****r, I'm going to kill you."
He then pointed a spray bottle filled with bleach at his victim's eyes and face during a bust-up in the car park of the Longsight supermarket on June 10, 2020. Lidl staff earlier approached Mohammed after customers complained he had coughed on them as he begged for food and money while they queued outside.
Following an 'aggressive' confrontation with the victim, Mohammed was moved on by police - only to later return armed with a spray bottle of bleach. Manchester Crown Court heard he was on medication for mental health issues, which he 'should not have been drinking on'.
Mohammed later told police he had no memory of the attack and did not know why he had been arrested due to the effect of the 70cl bottle of vodka he had drank in combination with his medication. He later pleaded guilty to administering poison or noxious substance with intent.
Mohammed, of no fixed address, was sentenced to 16 months.
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- Vile paedophile who abused two children decades apart unmasked after becoming 'bored' and bragging online
