From the gatecrasher who killed a young dad after turning up to a house party - to the 'sophisticated' gang who stole BMWs and Audis as their owners slept, it has by no means been a quiet month in the region's courts.
These are just some of the court cases our reporters have covered in April.
An open, transparent criminal justice system is an important part of how our democracy works - so we make no apologies for devoting so much time and resources to letting you know what happens in our publicly-accountable courts.
And we'll be back for more next month.
The man who punched his girlfriend in face and bit her nose as 'tensions ran high' during wake
A 'bully' brutally attacked his partner while 'tensions were running high' after a wake.
Marcus Miller, 40, from Hulme, had been in an on-off relationship with the woman for 11 years, which was described as 'volatile'.
The couple, who have a seven-year-old child together, had been at a wake at Burnage Social Club on March 1.
Manchester Crown Court heard the wake was being held after the funeral of one of Miller's close friends.
Miller, of Chevassut Street, Hulme, pleaded guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of common assault. He was jailed for 16 months.
The drug-fuelled armed robber who stabbed cop so hard the knife snapped
An armed robber knifed a cop six or seven times in a drug-fuelled rage while being arrested for a raid in which he told a terrified shop worker: "I don't want to stab you, but I will if I have to."
Stephen Unsworth knifed the PC with such ferocity the blade snapped.
The officer caught the 36-year-old as as he was fleeing the Wigan store with £100 in cash.
The cop was stabbed to the torso and arm as he and a colleague tussled with Unsworth.
The injured officer only escaped with minor injuries as he was wearing body armour.
Unsworth, from Wigan, said to be a 'chronic' drug addict has previous convictions for robbery and was on parole having served a six month prison sentence for having a blade.
He was jailed for eight-and-a-half years at Bolton Crown Court after admitting three charges of robbery; wounding with intent to resist arrest; and possessing a bladed article in a public place.
Drug-fuelled armed robber stabbed cop so hard the knife snapped
The driver who ran over pedestrian with 'exceptionally dangerous overtaking'
A motorist who accidentally ran down a pedestrian in the middle of the road as he tried to overtake another car at the start of the afternoon rush hour was jailed.
Thomas Longworth, 28, had been attempting to get past a Ford Fiesta at almost twice the speed limit, not realising the driver had slowed down to let Joanne Haworth cross the busy street to get to a post office.
Longworth's red VW Polo subsequently mowed down Mrs Haworth at up to 54mph as she was about to reach the middle of the carriageway.
The mother suffered multiple fractures in the impact on a 30mph stretch of A666 Bolton Road in Pendlebury, Greater Manchester including severe injuries to her pelvis.
Father-of-one Longworth, from Salford who previously had a clean driving record was seen to be visibly distressed at the scene of the accident and was heard repeating: “Oh my god what have I done.”
Longworth was jailed for 18 months and also banned from driving for three years. The maximum sentence for causing serious injury by dangerous driving is five years in jail.
Man who joined plot to smuggle £1.4m of cannabis after his Northern Quarter dessert business flopped
A 'desperate' businessman, who got involved in a plot to try and smuggle £1.4m of cannabis into the UK, turned to a life of crime after his Northern Quarter dessert business failed, a court heard.
Mohammed Abdulrehman, 25, from Didsbury, is now starting a two year prison sentence after police watched on as the drugs were transferred from a lorry into his Fiat Doplo van in Gloucestershire.
Gloucester Crown Court heard that Abdulrehman, who has no previous convictions, was £15,000 in debt after his business failed.
He accepted the job as a drugs courier to start to repay the money he owed, his barrister said.
Man joined plot to smuggle £1.4m of cannabis after his Northern Quarter dessert business flopped
Spurned woman obsessed with pal sunk super strength lager before storming her house with three knives
A woman who became obsessed with her pal drank super strength lager before turning up at the woman's house with three knives and smashing her way inside.
Sarah Cahill turned on her victim when her feelings weren't reciprocated. Her actions were described like something from a 'horror movie'.
The 41-year-old, who has problems with alcohol and has attended AA meetings, fell in love with the woman and became infatuated with her.
The victim, who isn't gay and has a boyfriend, was sent disturbing messages.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Cahill, from Middleton, was jailed for nine years under the terms of an extended sentence after a judge ruled she was a 'dangerous' offender.
She admitted aggravated burglary with intent to cause grievous bodily harm; stalking; and having a bladed article at an earlier hearing.
Drug addict promised judge she wouldn't steal again - two weeks later she was found with two snatched phones down her pants
A drug addict who promised a judge she wouldn't steal again was caught with two snatched phones down her trousers two weeks later.
Sanela Osmanovic, 36, has now been jailed for two years, after being warned she would be sent to prison if she appeared before the courts again.
Her latest court appearance came after she stole two women's iPhones in the city centre in the early hours last month, which were later recovered after being stuffed down her trousers.
Osmanovic, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two counts of theft and admitted breaching a suspended sentence.
Thug dad who punched man in back of head after row about who should be served first at shop ran into victim a few weeks ago - and hugged it out
A thug dad punched a man in the back of the head following a heated row about who should be served first at a shop.
Joseph Rodney, 29, claimed the victim threatened him and made racist remarks during the row at the Burnage store.
Following the bust-up Rodney, from Didsbury, followed the man outside and punched him in the back of the head, before shouting: "Don't talk s*** to me."
He fell forwards, face first into the floor.
Rodney drove off after threatening witnesses who saw the attack.
In a bizarre twist, weeks before Friday's sentencing hearing, the pair bumped into each other in the street. The victim 'hugged' Rodney and forgave him.
It didn't stop Rodney, branded a 'risk to the public' by a judge, being jailed for two years.
'Family man' stabbed other clubber twice in chest in 'cowardly and unprovoked attack' after row in Salford
A father who stabbed a man following a row at a nightclub in Salford was jailed.
Marlon Thompson, 34, from Moss Side, has been locked up for six-and-a-half years after being found guilty of the attack by a jury.
It's thought there had been a long standing feud between the two, which ended in Thompson stabbing the man twice to the chest.
He was rushed to hospital and has since made a full recovery, but says the mental scars remain.
A judge said that it was a 'great tragedy' that Thompson, who was described as a 'family man', went out armed with a knife and committed a 'cowardly and unprovoked attack'.
The 'heartless' businessman who stole £500,000 from his own family company and led a secret life of luxury
A 'heartless' businessman who stole hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash and stock from the company he ran with other family members lived a secret life of luxury as the firm struggled to survive, a court heard.
It's thought that the crimes of Joseph Wilde, 56, carried out over a six-year period, cost the New Smithfield Market-based business, J and B Wilde, about £500,000.
He has now been jailed for six years.
The company, which has been in the Wilde family for more than a century, sells meat, poultry, game and fish primarily to shops and restaurants from the market in Openshaw.
Joseph Wilde, from Heywood , ran the business alongside his siblings and cousins, after it was passed down to them from his father and uncle in the 1990s.
But from April 2011 to May 2017 at least, Joseph Wilde was pocketing vast amounts of cash by selling some of the company's stock to a small group of customers which he kept off the books and retained the proceeds for himself.
On the back of this 'despicable' crime, Wilde lived a staggering life of luxury, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Joseph Wilde, of Harold Lees Road, Heywood, was found guilty of one count of theft, one count of possessing criminal property, and three counts of converting criminal property after a trial.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing will be held on June 7.
'Heartless' businessman who stole £500k from his own family company led a secret life of luxury
The drug dealer with £15,000 in his car who desperately threw drugs out of the window as police chased him
A drug dealer who had nearly £15,000 in his car threw packages of drugs out of the window as he was being chased by police, a court heard.
Raja Imtiaz, 31, was jailed after leading police on a pursuit through south Manchester lasting more than five minutes.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Imtiaz was driving a Peugeot 206 on Mauldeth Road at about 10.55pm on March 12 last year, when he was asked to pull over by a police officer.
He did so, but when the officer got out to speak to him, Imtiaz sped off.
Imtiaz reached speeds of 50mph in a 30mph zone on Burnage Lane, and also went through three red lights.
As he reached Fog Lane in Didsbury, Imtiaz started throwing packages out of the car.
He was caught with just short of £15,000 of cash when the vehicle came to a halt after smoke began to 'bellow' from the car.
Imtiaz, of HMP Forest Bank, pleaded guilty to counts of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, breaching a sexual harm prevention order, possession of cocaine and possession of cannabis with intent to supply.
He was jailed for 18 months, and banned from driving for two years and nine months.
Drug dealer with £15,000 in his car desperately threw drugs out of the window as police chased him
The people smuggler who was discovered with a mum and a young child in his car boot
A people smuggler from Rochdale is beginning a jail term after he was found with a mum and her child hidden in the boot of his car.
Leonid Marvulli, 27, was stopped by Border Force officers at the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, near Calais as he returned from a trip to France.
When the hired vehicle was searched, a woman and her young daughter, who are both Iraqi, were found hiding in the boot.
They were passed over to the authorities in France whilst Marvuli was arrested and taken to Folkestone police station to be questioned.
Marivulli, who denied any knowledge of the people were in the car, was eventually charged but went on the run after being released on bail at Cantebury Crown Court before he was due to stand trial in September last year.
The Italian national, of Jermyn Street, Rochdale, was convicted of charges of assisting unlawful immigration into the UK and subsequently sentenced in his absence to three years and six years behind bars.
Mum and young child found in boot of car as officers stop Rochdale people smuggler
The party gatecrasher who stabbed a young dad to death
A gatecrasher who killed a young dad after turning up to a house party uninvited was jailed for six years.
Bernard Pinkney, 33, admitted killing 28-year-old Kevin Molyneux who had armed himself with a knife after unwelcome guests turned up to the party.
The young dad was stabbed to death with his own knife after taking on the gatecrasher who 'turned the tables on him.'
Manchester Crown Court heard that Mr Molyneux and his partner were holding a party in the front garden of their house in Salford to celebrate their first anniversary as a couple. They had also recently had a baby together.
The court heard that at about 4am, Pinkney and two other men turned up uninvited to the house on Winster Avenue, Lower Kersal.
Mr Molyneux was so outraged that he went into his kitchen and armed himself with one or maybe two knives, the court heard.
Others told him to calm down and tried to stop him, but he 'foolishly' continued.
By this point Pinkney and the others had left, heading towards nearby Stanton Avenue.
Mr Molyneux followed and confronted Pinkney, who did not have a knife.
The court heard that at first Pinkney used 'reasonable force' to defend himself as they became embroiled in a scuffle.
At some point Pinkney either disarmed Mr Molyneux, or picked up a knife he had dropped, and stabbed him twice. One wound to the right armpit was less serious, but the other to his chest proved fatal.
Pinkney, of Mount Pleasant, Prestwich, said he was "absolutely devastated that he has died" as he was jailed.
The 'dangerous predator' who raped a 12-year-old girl and 'didn't have the spine' to face up to his vile crimes
A 'dangerous predator' who subjected a young girl to years of vile sex abuse was jailed for 11 years.
Lee Hodgins, 45, began assaulting the victim in the Eccles area of Salford when she was under the age of 12, Greater Manchester Police said.
It began with sexual abuse and escalated to him raping the victim twice in the 1990s.
The victim came forward in 2016 and GMP launched an investigation.
Hodgins, from Eccles, was eventually charged with four counts of indecent assault and two counts of rape.
He refused to admit what he had done and instead put the victim through the ordeal of giving evidence at a trial at Manchester Crown Court.
He was found guilty on March 12 and was jailed the following week.
The case can now be reported as Hodgins faced a separate trial on a charge of witness intimidation at which he was acquitted.
The racist who repeatedly abused police officers and shouted 'n*****' at the top of his voice in supermarket
A racist who repeatedly abused police officers and shouted 'n*****' in a supermarket at the top of his voice has been jailed.
Ficra Udale, 27, from Stockport, has been locked up for two years after subjecting his victims to the 'most appalling abuse'.
A Manchester Crown Court sentencing hearing heard that the first offence happened on May 7 last year, as he was being detained by door staff at the New York New York club in the Gay Village.
In an interview with police, he admitted the language he used was 'disgusting' and said some members of his own family were of an Asian ethnic background.
He said it was out of character, and added: "I can promise I will never do it again."
However, months later Udale was racially abusing people again.
At about 8.45am he was lay apparently comatose on a table in the adjoining McDonald's at Asda in Hulme.
Udale, who appeared to be drunk, was then seen in Asda trying to steal a sandwich.
After being challenged, he was racially abusive and started shouting 'n*****' at the top of his voice.
When the police arrived, he spat at a police officer and called him a 'p*** b******'.
Udale, of Goldsmith Road, Reddish, was sentenced for three counts of using racially aggravated public order offences, one public order offence, one count of assaulting an emergency worker, an offence of taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, an malicious communications offence and two counts of breaching a restraining order.
Racist repeatedly abused police officers and shouted 'n*****' at the top of his voice in supermarket
The man in the £30,000 Mercedes who reached 70mph and raced through red lights during police chase
A man being chased by police in a stolen £30,000 Mercedes managed to reach 70mph - and tear through a set of red lights - after going over a stinger.
Ashley Blackett eventually came to a halt after speeding over another of the police spike strips.
The 31-year-old was spotted in a nicked Mercedes GLA when he came to the police's attention on Agecroft Road in Salford.
An unmarked car followed it to check whether it was stolen, and they found it was being driven on false number plates.
Blackett realised he was being followed and sped off, so the officers activated their lights and the pursuit began, Manchester Crown Court heard.
A stinger device was used during the chase, in a bid to burst the Mercedes' tyres and stop it from continuing.
Despite driving over it, Blackett was able to continue, reaching speeds of up to 70mph in a 30mph zone.
He overtook vehicles and went through a red light during the chase, which happened at about 10pm on January 31.
Blackett, of Buckingham Road, Swinton, pleaded guilty to offences of dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, driving with no insurance and handling stolen goods.
He was jailed for 32 months and banned from driving for three years and four months.
The man who plotted to bomb a mosque after becoming fixated on the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena attack
A man who plotted to bomb a mosque after becoming fixated on the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena attack has been jailed.
Steven Bishop, 41, stockpiled fireworks and researched instructions on how to build explosives.
His room in sheltered accommodation was raided by counter-terror police on October 29 last year after he showed his key worker images of objects he said he was collecting to make a bomb.
Bishop, of Thornton Heath, south London, looked up the Manchester, London Bridge and Paris terror attacks using a phone he bought on October 18.
He repeatedly searched for memorials to the youngest victim of the Manchester Arena attack - eight-year-old told-Rose Roussos.
He had researched explosive detonators, made a set of handwritten notes and searched online for the Morden mosque, detectives discovered.
Bishop denied preparation of an act of terrorism but admitted an alternative charge of possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause damage to property on the first day of his trial at Kingston Crown Court.
He previously admitted a charge of possession of information likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism.
Bishop was handed four years for possession of explosives, two years concurrent for possession of terrorist documents, plus one day concurrent for breach of a conditional discharge.
He publicly mourned the victims of the Manchester Arena attack - while plotting to bomb a mosque
The eight men have been jailed after a schoolboy and his mum were shot on their doorstop in Salford and a man was blasted at a car wash
Eight men have been jailed after a schoolboy and his mum were shot on their doorstop in Salford and a man was blasted at a car wash.
Carne Thomasson, Aldaire Warmington, Christopher Hall, Lincoln Warmington, Dominic Walton, James Coward, John Kent and Jacob Harrison learned their fate at Manchester Crown Court on Friday.
It follows a lengthy trial into the shootings of seven-year-old Christian Hickey and his mother Jayne, 30, at their home in Winton, Eccles, on October 12, 2015.
Christian was was hit in the thigh, while his mother was shot in each leg above the knee.
The trial also concerned the shooting of Jamie Rothwell at Express car wash in Ashton-in-Makerfield on March 30, 2015.
Prosecutors said the shootings were the result of gang rivalry in Salford between two groups, the A Team and the Anti A-Team.
In relation to the Hickey shooting, Carne Thomasson, 28, Aldaire Warmington, 32, and Christopher Hall, 49, all of no fixed address, were found guilty of conspiracy to cause GBH and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in their attempts to dump a getaway car.
All three were cleared of conspiracy to commit murder.
Lincoln Warmington, 32, of Summerville Road, Salford; Dominic Walton, 26, of no fixed address; and James Coward, 26, of no fixed address, were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in their attempts to dump the getaway car
John Thomasson, 50, of Wakefield Crescent, Stockport, was cleared of conspiracy to murder; conspiracy to cause GBH with intent; and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
John Kent, 54, of Culverwell Drive, Salford was found guilty of conspiracy to cause GBH with intent in connection with the shooting of Jamie Rothwell, and of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Jacob Harrison, 26, of Sumberland House, Salford, admitted conspiracy to cause GBH with intent to Jamie Rothwell.
Here’s a full rundown of the individual sentences handed down by the judge:
Jacob Harrison - 14 years
John Kent - 14 years and six months
Aldaire Warmington - 20 years
Carne Thomasson - 23 years
Christopher Hall - 14 years and six months
Dominic Walton - Two years
James Coward - Two years
Lincoln Warmington - Two years and three months
The paedophile football coach who abused boys after making them 'man of the match'
A paedophile football coach who sexually abused boys after they were named 'man of the match' has been jailed.
Sydney Hallworth, 71, has been locked up for five years and six months for his sickening behaviour in the 1980s, when he ran a boys football team in Clayton.
Hallworth, a former bin man, was unanimously found guilty of five counts of indecent assault after a Manchester Crown Court trial.
Hallworth, of Ellerthwaite Road, Windermere, Cumbria, must sign the sex offender register for life. An indefinite sexual harm prevention order was imposed.
The paedophile football coach who abused boys after making them 'man of the match'
The thug who stamped on ex's head, dropped TV on her and poured paint on her - before slashing his OWN throat in twisted attempt to stitch her up
A thug slashed his own throat with a knife in a twisted attempt to frame his ex-girlfriend following a sickening attack in which he stamped on her head, dropped a TV on her and poured paint on her.
Scott Hughes, 27, battered the woman when she tried to pack her things and leave him.
As she lay badly injured on the floor, Hughes cut his neck with a knife in a warped bid to make it look as though he had acted in self-defence.
Hughes, from Northern Moor, has a string of previous convictions for violence.
He was found guilty of inflicting GBH with intent following a trial in which he denied wrongdoing. He claimed he had acted in self defence when the victim came at him with a knife.
After being sentenced to 14 years, Hughes was led away, shouting: "This is bulls***, a load of bulls***."
The man who dragged woman out of car and battered her after row over texts in McDonald's
A man who staged a car crash in a bid to frame an innocent woman he beat unconscious during a row over texting has been jailed.
Bilal Muhammed, 24, deliberately drove his VW into a lamp post then falsely claimed his victim, a mum-of-one, had crashed the vehicle while trying to run him down in the street.
In fact Muhammed had dragged the woman from the car in a rage then beat and kicked her until she lost consciousness following an argument about him sending pictures of them on a night out together to her boyfriend.
He then attempted to falsely blame the victim for causing her own injuries in the 'crash' only to subsequently confess after police refused to believe his account.
At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, Muhammed of Newbold, Rochdale, pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm and perverting the course of justice. He was jailed for 21 months.
Man dragged woman out of car and battered her after row over texts in McDonald's
The baby-faced thugs who lured taxi and delivery drivers into terrifying machete robberies
Three baby-faced thugs have been locked up after a vicious summer crime spree where they lured taxi and food delivery drivers to a series of machete robberies.
The teenagers were part of a gang that terrorised Blackley and Middleton over three months, attacking their terrified victims and taking their cash and cars.
Now Kyle Cheetham, 17, Declan Steele, 15, and Kye Harrison, 14, have been handed detention orders over the crime spree in north Manchester between July and September 2018.
They can be named by the Manchester Evening News after a judge lifted reporting restrictions.
Harrison, of Rochdale Road in Blackley, was handed a three-and-a-half year detention in custody after he admitted six robberies, seven counts of possessing an offensive weapon, theft, and two counts of wounding.
Cheetham, of Alworth Road in Blackley, was given a four-and-a-half year detention in custody after he pleaded guilty to six counts of robbery, one of attempted robbery, five counts of possessing an offensive weapon and two woundings.
Steele, of Riverdale Road in Blackley, was given given a two-year detention and training order after he admitted three robberies, having an offensive weapon and wounding.
The baby-faced thugs who lured taxi and delivery drivers into terrifying machete robberies
The builder jailed for smashing man's jaw with punch in Revolution on Deansgate Locks
A builder has been jailed for smashing a man's jaw with just two punches after 'taking exception' to something his victim said to a female friend.
Ryan McIntyre, 25, put down his drink then launched a sudden and violent attack at Revolution bar on Deansgate Locks in Manchester on May 7, last year, a court heard.
His sobbing mother shouted 'no' as her son, a builder from Farnworth, Bolton , who the judge called 'a law-abiding citizen for the most part', was imprisoned.
Judge Rudland concluded that only a custodial sentence met the justice of the case and jailed McIntyre for eight months.
McIntyre, of George Street in Farnworth, admitted section 20 assault (wounding/GBH).
Builder jailed for smashing man's jaw with punch in Revolution on Deansgate Locks
The thug that sank his teeth into police officer's ear in wild attempt to avoid arrest
A thug bit through a police officer's ear in a wild attempt to avoid arrest.
Cheshire Police released a graphic image of the cop's horrific injury following the sentencing of Daniel Ward.
The 26-year-old left PC Christopher Birchall with a gaping hole in his ear, which required stitches, and will leave him with permanent scarring and alteration to the lobe's shape.
Ward, of Norton Hill, Runcorn, was charged with wounding with intent, resisting arrest and a public order offence.
He pleaded guilty to all of the offences, as well as to two counts of robbery and one count of possessing an offensive weapon in a public place in relation to an incident in a subway by The Knoll in Runcorn, on Tuesday, January 30.
Judge Steven Everett, Recorder of Chester, handed Ward a 13-year prison sentence, with four years on extended licence.
The 'family man' who walked around park with £600 offering schoolgirls money for sex is locked up - to applause in court
A former quantity surveyor who offered a group of schoolgirls cash for sex whilst stalking them around a park with £600 in cash in his pocket has been locked up - to a round of applause in court from their angry parents.
Shahid Razzaq, 42, withdrew the money from an ATM then offered up to £70 for one of the children to have intercourse with him after he appeared suddenly from bushes as they were walking past.
During the incident the terrified girls, aged between 12 and 15, tried to run away but one was offered increasing amounts of money to perform a sex act on the married father of two.
He was subsequently detained at the scene at Broadfield Park in Rochdale after being confronted by members of the public.
At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, families' of the girls clapped from the public gallery as Razzaq, who lives in Rochdale, was locked up for 27 months after he admitted attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity.
Razzaq was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years and also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The drug dealer jailed for pocketing £21,000 and using it to buy a house
A drug dealer illegally pocketed £21,000 in benefits by falsely claiming he was the sole carer for his daughter then used the money to buy a house during a three-year money laundering scam
Iftikhar Sarwar, 39, claimed a carer's allowance and tax credit - saying he looked after his child when she was in fact living her aunt.
Sarwar, from Kirkholt, Rochdale, laundered the benefit cash and drug money he made from peddling heroin and crack cocaine through the purchase of a house with a friend.
He later fled the UK after being arrested for drug dealing and went on the run for more than three years before being detained in Italy.
Minshull Street Crown Court, in Manchester, Judge Angela Nield criticised the welfare system - condemning how 'easy' it is to steal state-funded welfare handouts - as she jailed him for five years.
The man jailed for life for murdering friend after house party
A man who beat his friend to death after a house party has been handed a life sentence.
David Hesketh, 47, was fuelled by alcohol when he fatally attacked 32-year-old John Baxendale.
Hesketh, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of twenty years after he was convicted of murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Man jailed for life for murdering friend after house party
People injecting in the street, deals set up in Tesco and addicts lined up against a wall to score - Manchester's sordid drugs trade laid bare
Manchester's sordid drugs trade was laid bare in a shocking court case in which two dealers were jailed.
Parents removed their children from a nursery and were worried about taking them to the park because of addicts 'scoring' and injecting themselves nearby.
The revelations were disclosed at a sentencing hearing where two dealers, Matthew Winward, 20, and Carl Loftus, 24, were jailed for their part supplying drugs around the city centre and Ancoats.
Winward, of Addington Close, Blackley, was caught in a similar undercover police sting targeting dealing in Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall.
He is already serving a 40 month sentence for supplying cocaine and heroin, and a separate offence of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Loftus, of Brenley Walk, Harpurhey is also still serving a 42 month jail term for possession of heroin with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property.
Winward pleaded guilty to three counts of supplying class A drugs, while Loftus pleaded guilty to one count of the same offence.
Judge Elizabeth Nicholls sentenced Winward to another 12 months in prison, and Loftus to another 10 months.
The vigilante neighbours who battered autistic 14-year-old with metal bat after break-in
Two vigilante fathers tracked down and battered an autistic 14-year-old with a metal bat and an antique walking stick because they blamed him for a house break in.
Neighbours Daniel Street and Lee Perry, both 32, subjected the vulnerable teen to a punishment beating after one of them vowed: “I’m going to have to teach that little sh*t a lesson.”
The victim who had been cowering from the two men in a kebab shop in Denton was left with two fractured teeth, bruising on his back, shoulder blade, face and head.
Street and Perry - who both live the same street in Denton - denied wrongdoing and claimed the incident occurred following a break in at Perry's home. But both were convicted of assault following a trial and jailed for 20 months. Neither have any previous convictions.
Up to their old tricks, a notorious pair of pickpockets
Two pickpockets who were jailed last year after dipping into a pensioner's handbag have been up to their old tricks again.
Lorna Walker and Peter Ellis hit the headlines in early 2018 when footage of them stealing from another customer in a coffee shop was shared almost two million times on Facebook.
They were locked up for that crime, in Oldham, but after being released they were at it again, this time in neighbouring Tameside .
Walker, 38, and Ellis, 50, have now been hauled back to court for stealing purses, bank cards and handbags in Ashton-under-Lyne.
The pair, both of Delaunays Road in Crumpsall, were said to have caused 'huge disruption and distress' to their victims.
They admitted seven charges of theft and three charges of fraud during a hearing at Tameside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, April 17.
Magistrates handed the pair 39 weeks imprisonment and they both must pay £465 victim compensation.
Remember these two? Well, they've been caught again
'I wanna be a proper perv'... sick online chats of pervert who swapped jokes with one of Britain's worst paedophiles
A pervert who swapped sick jokes online with one of Britain's worst paedophiles about his repeated rape of a baby is now behind bars.
Mark Hatch, 37, exchanged shocking messages with 31-year old Robin Hollyson, during which Hollyson sent film of himself sexually abusing the five-month-old boy.
During the exchanges, Hatch from Middleton, gloated about watching the explicit video and said: ''God love being a pedo with other nasty pedo pervs.''
In one message he told IT expert Hollyson: “You get plenty of perv action. Me and you together - can't wait. I wanna become a proper perv”.
At Manchester Crown Court, Hatch admitted encouraging Hollyson to commit sex offences, inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and distributing indecent images and was jailed for six years and eight months.
Hollyson was jailed for 24 years in September 2015 for conspiracy to rape but hanged himself in jail the following January.
Hatch was also made subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which will ban him from using the internet and using any device which can be used for cloud storage. He is also prohibited from contacting anyone under 16.
The family man who took the afternoon off work to rob a bank and walked into TSB dressed like this
A family man booked the afternoon off work - and then threatened to blow up a bank during a 'terrifying' heist.
Dad-of-one Daniel Smith, 36, walked into the TSB in Irlam, Salford, and passed a note to the cashier which said he was 'wired with 32lbs of explosives that can destroy everything within a quarter of a mile'.
After calmly jogging out with £1,500 in a bag, he got into his family saloon car and drove off - gambling the money away within minutes, a court was told.
Smith, a 'loved and respected' man with no previous convictions before this, is now beginning a six year jail-term after his former partner saw a police appeal featuring the family's Vauxhall Zafira and told officers.
Sending him down, a judge said threats of the kind made by Smith could not be tolerated, especially in the current climate.
The defendant, from Cadishead, Salford, also left the innocent cashier, a 48 year-old disabled man with cerebral palsy, with serious psychological damage, it was heard.
Smith, of Liverpool Road, Cadishead, was arrested on November 16, last year, and after initially denying any involvement he eventually made admissions in his police interview after being shown the CCTV and other evidence against him.
He pleaded guilty to one count of robbery at a previous court hearing.
The family man who took the afternoon off work to rob a bank and walked into TSB dressed like this
The 'sophisticated and well organised' gang who stole BMWs and Audis as their owners slept nearby
A gang stole 60 luxury cars, along with bikes and laptops, from their owners' homes in a 'well organised' and 'sophisticated' plot.
Seven crooks have been sentenced after properties in leafy suburbs in 'semi-rural' areas across Bolton and Lancashire were raided.
The gang stole dozens of vehicles and are believed to have also been behind 42 home burglaries, during which they stole high value goods, police said.
On Tuesday a judge at Preston Crown Court sent four of the gang members to prison.
Philip Sharrock and Joshua Penney, both 22 and from Chorley, were both sentenced to seven years and six months.
Dylan Quayle, 19, of Thirlmere Road, Chorley, was jailed for five years and 10 months.
All three earlier pleaded guilty to offences of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to steal.
The fourth man to be jailed was 23-year-old Jason Booth, also from Chorley, who was sentenced to two years and 10 months for conspiracy to steal.
Luke Ricardo, 19, of Tyldesley Road, Atherton, received a two year community order for the same offence.
Ryan McCarrick, 20, of Victoria Road, Horwich, Bolton, was given a 15 month sentence of detention in a young offender's institution, suspended for two years. He must observe a curfew and complete unpaid work.
A 17-year-old youth from Chorley, who can't be named for legal reasons, received a two year youth rehabilitation order.
The 'sophisticated and well organised' gang who stole BMWs and Audis as their owners slept nearby
The air-rage thug that sobbed in court as she is locked up over drunken attack on three police officers
A young woman has been locked up for attacking three police officers who removed her from a holiday flight because of a drunken tirade at passengers and crew.
Kodie Richardson, 20, sobbed in the dock as she was handed ten months in a young offenders' institution when she appeared at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday morning.
Her mother Kelly Meadowcroft, 38, was also jailed for two months for her drunken behaviour on board.
A judge branded their conduct 'disgraceful' as he imposed their sentences.
The drama started moments before Thomas Cook Airlines flight MT354 to Antalya in Turkey had pushed back from Terminal 1 at about 7.45pm on September 11, last year.
After taking her seat, Richardson asked fellow passengers for a cigarette and threatened to knock out one crew member.
She and her mother Kelly Meadowcroft, 38, both from Wythenshawe, were seen swigging from an open bottle of duty free spirit and disrupted the safety briefing, the court heard.
Meadowcroft, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to entering an aircraft when drunk at an earlier hearing.
She showed no reaction as she was jailed for two months.
Richardson, of no fixed abode, admitted entering an aircraft when drunk, racially aggravated harassment, three counts of assaulting police and also using threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour.
The young tennis star with dreams of competing at Wimbledon threw it all away - to make a few hundred quid flogging drugs
A young tennis star with dreams of competing at Wimbledon has been jailed for his part in a county lines drugs operation.
Nemiah Fletchman was one of three 19-year-olds from Manchester who 'cuckooed' a vulnerable man, using his home in Carlisle to supply Class A drugs.
A court was told Manchester Metropolitan University student Fletchman was once ranked in the top 10 tennis players in his age group in the country.
Fletchman, of Albert Grove, Manchester, and two other teenagers - Akeem Fatinikun and Cade Steven Higson - invaded the home of a frail addict while they trafficked drugs to Cumbria.
Fatinikun, Fletchman and Higson each admitted possession of crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply.
Young father Fatinikun, of Julius Street, Manchester, was a sole carer for his mother and had debts not linked to drugs, the court heard.
Dad-to-be Higson, of The Meadows, Prestwich, had been a cannabis user since the age of 10 and was in debt to dealers.
The three teenagers were each sentenced to three years in a young offender institution.
Foster, who admitted permitting premises to be used for supplying the illicit substances - and who had 133 previous offences to his name - was jailed for 12 months.
The baby-faced drug dealer who was spared jail after judge told him to 'rebuild his life' and listen to his mum... he didn't
A baby-faced drug dealer spared jail after his mum begged a judge was back at it within six months.
Adam Roach, nicknamed Wheat, has been locked up after being set up by an undercover cop.
He had no idea a customer he knew as Frank was actually a police officer.
On his 20th birthday, he was handed a three year and four month sentence when he appeared at Manchester Crown Court. He earlier admitted a string of drug dealing crimes.
Roach, of Cottingham Road in Ardwick, had earlier pleaded guilty to six counts of supplying class A drugs, four charges of driving while disqualified, two counts of possession of drugs with intent to supply and one count of using criminal property.
With a number of aliases, the court heard he has a series of previous convictions including burglary and blackmail.
Handing Roach a total of three years and four months in a young offenders' institution, Judge Hilary Manley told him: "In August 2017 you were made subject to a suspended prison sentence order for being concerned in the supply of class B drugs. Within six months, you were street dealing class A (drugs)."
Cops made right mugs out of a pair of drug smuggling crooks after finding these rather suspicious looking brown packages in their HGV
A man from Wigan has been jailed for his part in a plot to smuggle £6m-worth of cocaine into the UK.
John Blake, 48, of Avon Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield has been locked up for 13 years and seven months for conspiracy to import Class A drugs.
Blake was sentenced alongside his accomplice in the drugs racket, Mark Holmes, from Merseyside.
Holmes, 46, of Derbyshire Hill Rd, Merseyside was sentenced to 17 years in prison for conspiracy to import Class A drugs.
This 'incredibly stupid' man was heard murmuring about setting off a bomb on a tram in Spar - then claimed he was a terror cop
A Spar worker called police after hearing a man murmuring about plotting to set off a bomb on a tram, a court heard.
Reece Gilbert, 26, was in the store in Manchester city centre when he was heard talking about triggering the apparent explosive on a Metrolink service to Oldham.
A court heard there was no device.
Gilbert, originally from Oldham, has now been jailed after being convicted of committing a bomb hoax.
Gilbert, of no fixed address, was jailed for 12 months.
He was previously convicted in his absence of an offence of communicating information which he knew to be false, namely a bomb hoax.
Motivated by greed - the gang who travelled 150 miles to carry out a terrifying jewellery heist
A robbery gang who travelled 150 miles from Manchester to carry out a 'ruthless' £300,000 jewellery heist have been jailed.
The five thieves, some from Oldham, drove several hours to target a family-run shop in Newcastle upon Tyne.
In a terrifying operation which took place in broad daylight, the raiders used sledgehammers to smash into display cabinets and steal expensive goods.
The group have now been jailed for a total of 49 and a half years for their roles in a conspiracy to commit robbery.
Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard on Thursday how 19-year-old Ali Askhor posed as an innocent customer to gain access to Sunny Jewellers in May, last year.
The raiders were ringleader Usman Khan, 20, and Shahzad Farooq, 21, and another unidentified man, the court was told.
Detectives began efforts to trace the raiders, but the trail quickly went cold when they discovered the gang had switched cars, to a BMW X5, minutes after the robbery.
That car was being driven by mum-of-three Samantha Farrell-Blake, 44 who had been 'recruited' by the gang as a getaway driver.
Shah Almaruf, 23 then drove back to Newcastle in the days after the robbery to collect the abandoned Audi.
Almaruf, of Middleton Avenue, Oldham, was sentenced to 10 years for his role in the conspiracy and Askhor, of Sherwood Street, Oldham, was jailed for seven and a half years.
Khan, of Newton Road, Birmingham, was jailed for 11 years; Farrell-Blake, of Wynn Street, Birmingham; and Farooq, of Durham Road, were both jailed for 10 and a half years for their role.
Khan, Almaruf and Askhor admitted their part in the heist.
But Farrell-Blake and Farooq were convicted after a trial, at Manchester Crown Court.
Motivated by greed - the gang who travelled 150 miles to carry out a terrifying jewellery heist
It wasn't packets of smuggled coffee that got this lot locked up
Members of a gang which tried to smuggle £1m-worth of cocaine into the country from Jamaica in coffee and milk packets have been jailed.
They were rumbled after 5kg of the Class A drug was seized at Manchester Airport by Border Force officers, who found it hidden in packets of coconut milk powder.
An investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA) led to Nigel Roberts, 41, a barber, from the upmarket Birmingham suburb of Sutton Coldfield, being identified as the ringleader.
Roberts went on to organise three more importations of cocaine into UK airports.
Each seizure consisted of between 5kg and 10kg, some in identical packaging as the first and others disguised as coffee or soy milk.
In the first, via Manchester, Roberts worked with Craig Mullings, 46, and his girlfriend, Diana Ricketts, 35, to recruit a courier in order to bring the drugs back from the Caribbean in a suitcase.
Days after the arrest of Deannia Madden-Walker, 47, who attempted to smuggle 5kg of cocaine into Gatwick Airport, Roberts sent a voice note saying: "I’m on a bad luck streak, one of my ships crashed again."
In addition to complicit couriers, the group sometimes used vulnerable and unknowing participants to smuggle the drugs for them.
Abdul Thomas, 34, assisted Roberts with the fourth importation in December 2016.
All were convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine. Roberts and Ricketts pleaded guilty. The others were convicted following a trial.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Roberts, of Laneside Avenue, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in prison.
Thomas, of Franklin Close, West Norwood, London, was sentenced to 12 years.
Ricketts, of Seaford Road, Tottenham, London; and Madden-Walker, of Dance Square, Pear Tree Street, Islington, London , both received six years.
Mullings was jailed for eight years.
Another member of the network, Dwane Johnson - otherwise known as Boasty - who was charged with being a courier went on the run before he could stand trial. He is wanted by the NCA.
It wasn't packets of smuggled coffee that got this lot locked up
The former soldier caught drug driving Mercedes at 140mph was using cocaine to cope with PTSD
A former soldier who was caught drug driving at more than 140mph was using cocaine to cope with PTSD, a court heard.
James Gosling, 27, had fallen into dealing the class A drug after leaving the army, and was also using it as a way to handle the trauma he'd suffered during two tours in Afghanistan, it was said.
Gosling was caught driving at almost 150mph on the M6 near Scorton, Lancashire.
He also had up to £4,000 of cocaine and £5,200 in cash in his Mercedes when he was stopped by officers on June 12, last year.
The court heard Gosling, of Kings Park, Liverpool, witnessed two very traumatic incidents on active service in Afghanistan.
He has PTSD and fell into cocaine addiction after he left the army, as a means to cope, it was heard.
Judge Simon Newell sentenced Gosling to 36 months for the possession of cocaine with intent, six months for dangerous driving and banned him from driving for five years.
Former soldier caught drug driving Mercedes at 140mph was using cocaine to cope with PTSD
The 'arrogant' paedophile who pretended to be teenager and tried to lure 14-year-old girl into sexual activity
A paedophile was caught when police discovered he had been posing as a teenager, trying to incite a 14-year-old girl into sexual activity.
Neil Walsh, 41, was jailed at Manchester Crown Court on Friday for 27 months.
Greater Manchester Police said he was first arrested in November 2016 as part of an 'ongoing investigation' into child sex offences.
Officers raided his home on Trevore Drive in Standish, Wigan, and seized his phone and computer.
A number of indecent images and videos of children were found, but throughout police interviews Walsh denied committing any offences.
He claimed he had no idea how the images had appeared on his devices and suggested he had been hacked.
Digital forensic specialists continued to examine the devices and found no evidence of hacking.
However, they did find several conversations between Walsh and a 14-year-old girl.
Walsh was eventually charged with six counts of making indecent images of children and one count of attempting to incite a child aged under 16 to engage in sexual activity.
He pleaded not guilty but a jury convicted him.
Walsh was jailed and will also have to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years and will be subject to a sexual harm prevention order.
A student arranged to meet a woman for sex but ended up being repeatedly stabbed by a love rival
A student was 'lured' to a cycle path next to the A34 and repeatedly stabbed in a 'ferocious' attack by a love rival.
The victim was left critically injured on the Kingsway during rush hour after the 'carefully planned' attack which a court heard he was lucky to survive.
Mohamed Abdiresak, 21, is now beginning a long prison sentence for the stabbing which a judge said was "motivated by jealousy."
The victim, a 23 year-old business student at the University of Bolton had been in a relationship with a woman for two years, the court heard.
However the pair split up, and she blocked him on social media, the court was told.
Abdiresak, of Stratford Road, Newham, London, pleaded guilty to wounding with intent at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced to a total of 10 and a half years in prison. He will serve half in custody and the rest on licence.
A student arranged to meet a woman for sex but ended up being repeatedly stabbed by a love rival
The thief BANNED from a town who attacked a woman, stole from hospital staff and nicked boxes of chocolates from Poundland
A shameless thief who attacked a woman after she caught him breaking into a car and stole from staff at Tameside Hospital has been jailed.
Sonny James Shockledge sneaked into the staff area of the hospital's shop and snatched a handbag containing a mobile phone and car keys.
The 36-year-old then went outside and found the vehicle parked up and drove off in it.
Tameside Magistrates Court also heard how a day earlier Shockledge, of Assheton Close in Ashton-under-Lyne, assaulted a woman who caught him stealing from inside a car.
He also faced charges of attempting to possess a controlled Class B drug (amphetamine), theft from a shop after four boxes of chocolate were stolen from Poundland, and breaching a Criminal Behaviour Order by entering Ashton town centre despite being banned.
Shockledge originally pleaded guilty to four out of seven offences, but was sentenced for all and given eight months in prison.
The gang who used a stolen Audi to carry out knifepoint street robberies - then ordered pizza
Three teenagers have been locked up after a series of terrifying knifepoint robberies.
Eight were reported to police within the space of just three hours across Bury , Prestwich and Whitefield one day last November.
In another linked case, robbers who targeted a man and stole his wallet used one of his bank cards to order pizza worth £183.
Three teenagers have now been sentenced after a police investigation into a gang involved. Officers said they left 'countless pieces of evidence in their wake', which led to their arrests.
Abdullah Chaudhry, 19, of Park Road, Prestwich, was detained for four years.
A 16-year-old boy from Cheetham Hill was detained for two years and a 17-year-old also from Cheetham Hill for three years.
Both cannot be named because of their ages.
At Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, all three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery.
Horror CCTV shows boozed-up BMW driver's smash that left woman in coma
A woman who was left in a coma and now uses a walking stick following a horror crash does not blame the drink driver who left her injured, a court heard.
A judge paid tribute to her 'magnanimous attitude' after jailing 34-year-old Mariusz Florczak, the driver of the BMW 3 Series she was a passenger in, and said it was lucky that anyone survived.
Shocking CCTV footage shows the BMW smash into a bus stop, where minutes earlier a commuter had been stood waiting for a bus.
Florczak, who only passed his driving test 12 months earlier, walked away from the crash unharmed.
Manchester Crown Court heard that the woman's sister was friends with Florczak.
The two sisters had been enjoying a night out with friends at Bliss nightclub in the city centre.
Her sister phoned Florczak in the early hours of January 19 asking for a lift home, knowing that he had a car.
Florczak, from Altrincham, was in bed but travelled into the city centre to join them, where he had a 'couple of drinks', the court heard.
Florczak, of Ashley Road, Altrincham, pleaded guilty to one count of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and another count of drink driving.
He was jailed for two years, and banned from driving for five years.
Horror CCTV shows boozed-up BMW driver's smash that left woman in coma
White supremacist loner jailed for plotting massacre in the hometown he hated
A white supremacist loner who planned a mass killing spree in his home town in Cumbria has been jailed for nine years.
Shane Fletcher, 21, from Workington, wanted to emulate the Columbine High School shooters, who murdered 12 students and one teacher at their school in Colorado in 1999 before killing themselves.
His target was a version of a medieval football game, the Uppies and Downies, which sees thousands gather in the streets each Easter to play and spectate.
Fletcher had spoken of his hatred of Workington and how easy it would be to get a van and plough down people, after being bullied in his teenage years.
Passing an extended sentence at Manchester Crown Court, Judge Patrick Field QC told Fletcher it was a "deeply troubling case" in which the defendant was motivated by hatred, revenge and nihilism.
Fletcher must serve at least two thirds of his custodial term and will be subject to an extended licence period of four years if the Parole Board considers him safe to be released.
White supremacist loner jailed for plotting Columbine-style massacre in the home town he hated
