Three people jailed after Thomas Campbell was 'tortured to death' in his own home are among the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week.
A sex offender who plied a vulnerable woman with alcohol and took explicit videos of a vulnerable woman before raping and murdering her has also been locked up. A drug dealer found by police with £1.9 million worth of heroin in his van has also been caged.
Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders each week at the region's courts. Manchester Evening News reporters are on the press bench to cover the most serious cases.
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Here are some of the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week...
Three jailed for brutal killing of father-of-two Thomas Campbell
The family of murdered dad Thomas Campbell say they have 'justice' after three people, including his ex-wife, received lengthy jail sentences for their roles in his brutal killing. The 38-year-old father-of-two was tortured to death in his own home after being ambushed by three men armed with weapons.
He was tied up, stabbed and beaten for two hours as his killers ransacked his home in search of valuables, cash or drugs on Saturday, July 2 last year. Mr Campbell, a convicted drug dealer said to have played an 'integral' part in an organised crime gang, was left for dead in his hallway and discovered the next morning by a neighbour.
In court on Wednesday (February 22), Reece Steven, one of the three attackers who rushed Mr Campbell at his home in Tameside, Mossley, was handed a life sentence and ordered to serve at least 37 years after being found guilty of murder. Coleen Campbell, who was married to Mr Campbell for a decade, was sentenced to 13 years in prison after being found guilty of manslaughter. She will serve two-thirds of her sentence in jail.
She provided key intelligence about her ex-husband's whereabouts and movements to the alleged 'mastermind' of the plan to attack Mr Campbell, a 28-year-old man named John Belfield. Belfield, from Openshaw, is on the run and is wanted by police on suspicion of murder.
The third defendant to be jailed, 38-year-old Stephen Cleworth, was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum of 12 years, after being convicted of manslaughter. He was not at the scene of the killing as he was on a 'bender' at a swingers club, but had played a key role in the build up and preparations.
Ms Campbell, of Bamford Street, Clayton, Cleworth, of Charles Street, Heywood, and Steven, of Poplar Street, Middleton, were all also found guilty of conspiracy to rob.
Sadistic convicted rapist who murdered young woman after plying her with alcohol jailed for life
A sadistic convicted rapist has been jailed for a life after strangling a woman to death with her t-shirt. Simon Goold, 52, targeted 26-year-old Elizabeth McCann after meeting her at a Health and Wellbeing college in Ashton-under-Lyne.
After messaging her on Facebook on August 24 last year, he met her for a drink at the Star Inn pub on Old Street before buying her several rounds of double vodka and coke and numerous shots of Sambuca. By 4pm, Ms McCann, who was on medication and rarely drank alcohol, was falling over and being physically sick.
Bar staff refused to serve him any more drinks and Goold then escorted her out of the pub and they got a taxi back to his flat on Manchester Road. During the journey he sexually assaulted her whilst she remained unresponsive and ’lifeless’.
Arriving at his flat, she fell over before he escorted her upstairs where he took explicit photos and videos of her. During one video, in which she was bound at the hands and had a t-shirt around her neck, she told him she was in pain.
The following morning Goold called 999 and told the police that there was a ‘dead woman in his bedsit’ and that he had killed her by strangling her during sex. On the second day of his trial at Manchester Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to her murder, rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration. On Wednesday (February 22) he was jailed for life to serve a minimum term of 35 years.
Callous racing pals ploughed into and killed little boy as he played in the street
These are the faces of two pals whose reckless racing led to the tragic death of a little boy as he played innocently in the street. Safiullah Asif, who was just eight-year-old, was sent 'flying through the air' after being hit by a BMW in Ashton-under-Lyne while he played with his brother and cousin.
After finishing work, Thomas McGrath and Kevin Jones were caught on CCTV having lined their cars up, just moments before the horror smash occurred just before 8.15pm on July 23, 2020. McGrath flew down Ryecroft Street at speeds of up 45mph in a 20mph zone, with Jones trailing behind. McGrath, 24, missed Safiulla ‘by chance’ before Jones, 36, hit the boy - sending him ‘flying through the air' whilst they were driving competitively, Bolton Crown Court heard.
After the collision, Safiullah was taken to Manchester Children’s Hospital where he later died from his traumatic injuries. Jones, of Gorseyville Crescent on the Wirral, previously pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. Following a trial, McGrath, of Gorton Road in Reddish, Stockport, was found guilty of the same offence.
Jones, who was also driving without insurance or an active licence at the time of the incident was sentenced to 56 months in prison - the same period as McGrath due to credit for his early guilty plea. Both men were banned from driving for five years, extended by 28 months 'to reflect one half of the prison time imposed.'
Man ‘off his head’ on booze and drugs broke into ex’s home armed with a knife
A man who was ‘off his head’ on booze and cocaine broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home armed with a knife. He then smeared blood on the walls before attacking two police officers.
Aaron Eaton, 32, and his former partner had split up following a five-year relationship but he was ‘jealous and unhappy’ at it coming to an end.
Following a night out with her cousin on December 18 last year, the woman asked him to stay over as she was scared after receiving abusive messages from Eaton. Whilst she was getting changed she heard glass smashing and went downstairs to find he had broken in and a large knife was on the floor.
“She shouted at him to leave and asked her cousin to call the police,” prosecutor Julian King told Minshull Street Crown Court.
“He was shouting at her asking who she was with. He took her phone and looked through it before grabbing her face, squeezing it and trying to kiss her. He told her to tell him the truth so he would not hurt her.”
The woman noticed the large, black handled knife in her daughter’s bedroom. Luckily her children were not at home at the time.
Eaton’s hands were covered in blood, which was ‘going everywhere’, the woman said. She said it was the ‘most traumatic 10 minutes of her life’.
Two police officers arrived to arrest Eaton, to find blood in every room in the woman’s flat, along with bloody handprints on the walls. He asked the woman “why have you done that” upon seeing the officers, as they tried to calm him down and put him in handcuffs.
He resisted arrest but officers were eventually able to restrain him.
Eaton, of Dearne Drive, Stretford, was jailed for 22 months after pleading guilty to criminal damage, possession of a knife, common assault and assault of an emergency worker. He was also made the subject of a restraining order indefinitely.
Drug dealers' empire rumbled after secret tiny prison phone uncovered
A huge drug dealing operation was rumbled after a secret tiny phone was recovered from the leader’s prison cell. Ashley Blackett, 35, was serving time in custody when prison officers raided his cell and found bags of heroin along with the small Zanco phone.
Homes of others involved, including Blackett’s then girlfriend, Jamey-Leigh Brook-Parkinson, were searched prior to the raid on his cell, during which phones, drugs and cash were found. Analysis of her phone showed that she was in constant contact with Blackett whilst he was in prison.
He instructed her on how to run the business whilst he was inside, advised what drug equipment to get and informed her how much cash to pay into his bank account. She went onto establish a new cocaine supply business for when he was released.
Other members of the operation, including Blackett’s brother Wesley Blackett, and his right-hand man Christopher Taylor, were investigated and found to be supplying cocaine and heroin on behalf of Blackett.
He’s now been jailed for 12-and-a-half years for conspiracy to supply class A drugs and possession of a mobile phone in prison.
Police find heroin worth £1.9million hidden in secret compartment of drug dealer's van
A drug dealer was rumbled after police found a huge stash of heroin - worth £1.9m - hidden in secret compartments in his Citroen Berlingo van. A court heard that in September last year, surveillance officers linked Khalil Mohammed, 40, to the van.
Police said he was seen driving the Citroen back and forth from his home address in Rochdale, and 'kept accessing the rear of the vehicle'. Subsequent checks by officers revealed he was a banned driver and he was arrested.
The keys to the van were found and, in a search, officers found 11 block-shaped and seven lozenge-shaped brown parcels 'secreted' inside. A GMP spokesman said: "When tested, these parcels were found to contain approximately 19 kilos of heroin – with a street value of £1.9 million."
Mohammed, of Alicia Drive, Rochdale, was jailed for nine years and seven months at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court for possession with intent to supply class A drugs, namely heroin, as well as three counts of driving whilst disqualified. He pleaded guilty to all charges.
Man who got girlfriend to stash gun in her car waved firearm at men in street
A man whose girlfriend adapted her car to stash his gun has been jailed after waving the firearm at men in the street. Charlotte Horne, 25, had secret openings cut into the seats of her car and then covered them with a fabric throw after Sulleman Yassir, 21, needed to hide an air pistol given to him by a former Special Forces colleague.
Police retrieved the gun from one of the slits after Yassir began waving it in the street at a group of men he accused of insulting his local mosque. During a swoop on Horne's car, officers also found ammunition, a serrated knife and a silencer hidden in her handbag.
It is not known what the weapons were to be used for. Both pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in a public place and possession of a bladed article.
At Manchester Crown Court Yassir, of Northbank Gardens, Ladybarn, Manchester was jailed for 18 months. Horne, from Honford Road, Wythenshawe avoided jail but was sentenced to a two-year community order. She was also ordered to complete 30 rehabilitation activity days and 100 hours unpaid work.
Man kicked stranger's head 'like a football' in brutal attack following row over sharing a spliff
A man kicked a stranger’s head like a football after they’d gotten into a fight over sharing a spliff. Omar Suleiman, 26, was sitting alone on a bench, drinking a can of cider and smoking in Alexandra Park when he was approached by the man.
They spoke briefly before the man asked to have some of the cannabis cigarette Suleiman was smoking. He refused and an argument quickly developed into a scrap with the victim attacking him first.
In response, Suleiman, of Hulme, launched a brutal attack on him, repeatedly punching him to the face.
Other park-users looked on in horror as he used the man like a ‘punching bag’ with some not initially believing the man on the floor was a human being. He then took a running kick to the man’s head, ‘kicking it like a football’.
He eventually stopped, despite their interventions, and left the park. The man was in a coma for a number of weeks and suffered a traumatic brain injury, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Suleiman, of Aquarius Street, Hulme, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent and was jailed for seven years and two months. He will have to serve two thirds of his sentence before he is released on licence.
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