A international drugs boss who funded a playboy lifestyle.
Robbers who struck 29 times at shops and convenience stores - striking fear into the hearts of terrified, innocent workers.
And a dad snared by 'paedophile hunters' after trying to meet a girl of just 13.
Just three of the many criminals from Greater Manchester who were locked up last month.
Greater Manchester courts gave out hefty prison sentences for all manner of crimes in June.
An open and transparent criminal justice system is an integral part of our democracy - so we make no apologies for devoting so much time to letting you know what happens in the courts.
Manchester Evening News reporters cover some of the most serious cases each and every week - here's a round-up for June.
The playboy drugs boss now behind bars
An international drugs boss who enjoyed an extraordinary lavish lifestyle funded by crime has been jailed for 37 years.
Aram Sheibani, 40, was involved in a high-level cocaine conspiracy for almost a decade before he was brought to justice.
He amassed a £5m property empire, stayed in luxury accommodation, travelled around the world and drove top of the range cars such as a Bentley and a Porsche.
Police found he had more than £1m in cash.
Sheibani also paid for cosmetic surgery including veneers, hair transplants and a nose job.
He had claimed his wealth had come from legitimate sources but jurors took just five hours, following an eight week trial, to convict him of all offences he'd been accused of.
He was found to have bought items connected with the production of cocaine, including two 30 tonne industrial presses, plastic vacuum packing bags and acetone.
Pervert who tried to meet teenage girl
A pervert who attempted to meet up with a 13-year-old girl behind Asda was caught out after the 'child' turned out to be an undercover cop.
Matthew Phair, from of Bolton Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Wigan, began chatting to the 'schoolgirl' online, sending her lewd messages and videos before arranging to meet up with her.
But when he turned up to meet the teen, he was instead met by police who set up the sting and were waiting for him.
At Bolton Crown Court, Phair, 38, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to a string of sexual offences.
He admitted attempting to sexually communicate with a child, attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to cause a child to watch a sexual act, and attempting to meet a child following sexual grooming.
Van driver killed motorcyclist while on phone
A van driver who killed a motorcyclist while 'grossly distracted' after using his phone was jailed.
Kurt Sammon, 55, who had been involved in a fatal crash 15 years earlier when he hit a 13-year-old schoolboy, was locked up for seven years.
He was also been banned from the roads for 13-and-a-half years.
Sammon, who has an 'appalling' driving record, crashed into 30-year-old motorcyclist Louis McGovern, after going through a red light at a junction in Stockport.
Mr McGovern, a 'kind' and 'thoughtful' geo-technical engineer who was on his way home after work, was dragged under Sammon's Ford Transit and died the following day.
'Corrupt' police officer behind bars.
A 'corrupt' police officer sold 'confidential information' stored on Greater Manchester Police's computer systems to his friend who provided cars for members of organised crime groups - even tipping him off that 'police were at his doorstep'.
A once 'highly commended police officer', Mohammed Malik, from Rochdale, entered into a scheme where the officer would give information about 'any cars or individuals' in exchange for money.
He would send the details to his friend, Mohammed Anis, from Bury, who helped to provide cars to 'serious and organised crime groups' to conduct their 'shady dealings in'.
Malik was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment, while Anis was sentenced to 46 months, including time for the possession of cannabis with intent to supply.
Both charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office, Malik owned up to crimes by pleading guilty in the early stages of the Crown Prosecution Service's case.
Anis, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty, launching into a trial where he was convicted by a jury after, what the judge called, 'frankly, utterly overwhelming evidence'. He also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply the drug.
Trafford centre worker who groomed and abused child
A Trafford Centre worker who groomed a child before sexually abusing him on a camping trip was jailed.
Christopher Mark Robert Spencer, 41, gave the 14-year-old boy alcohol and cannabis, and let him use his bank card to play the video game Fortnite.
He had befriended the victims' family - but a judge said Spencer, from Radcliffe, Bury, was grooming the boy.
After giving him alcopops and cannabis, Spencer abused the child as he tried to sleep.
The boy moved away, and he said Spencer apologised.
Now Spencer, who worked as a store manager in the Trafford Centre, has been jailed for three years and three months.
He was found guilty of sexual activity with a child, and pleaded guilty to supplying cannabis.
Knifepoint robber locked up
A man was jailed after holding shop workers at knifepoint in three terrifying robberies.
Russell Greenwood, 31, targeted the Co-op store on Taylors Road in Stretford in January this year.
He terrorised staff members with a knife before stealing cash and alcoholic spirits, police said.
Greenwood, of Moss Park Road, Stretford, was jailed for five years after being found guilty of three counts of robbery.
Robbers who targeted Rolex watches in house raids
Robbers targeted Rolex watches worth tens of thousands of pounds in terrifying raids at two homes.
Nathan Wellings, 18, from Wythenshawe, admitted being involved in the robberies in Hale Barns and Altrincham, where homeowners were attacked as they had high value jewellery stolen.
They were part of an 18 month crime spree Wellings committed, which only stopped after he was locked up.
In one robbery in October last year, a grandmother went downstairs to have breakfast when she was suddenly grabbed.
She saw two men wearing balaclavas, and began to scream to her husband who was upstairs watching TV.
She felt hands covering her mouth, and she was told to 'calm down'.
One robber stayed with her, as she begged them not to hurt her.
The other went upstairs and became involved in a scuffle with her husband.
The man hit the robber with a TV remote, and the robber kicked him in the leg.
He took the 'very rare' gold Rolex watch, said to be worth between £20,000 and £40,000.
"Did you get it?", one robber asked the other before they ran away.
Wellings, from Wythenshawe, was later arrested after the police had been alerted. He was jailed for eight years.
Man jailed after gun find
A man was jailed after a gun was found inside a 'man bag' he threw into a garden whilst being chased by police.
Keaton Winder, 18, was sentenced to three years behind bars following the incident in Sale.
Police said they found the weapon after they began a 'short foot pursuit' with Winder.
Once they caught up with him he 'admitted to throwing a man bag into the rear of another garden' GMP Trafford South said in a post on their Facebook page.
The man bag was later found and had a blank-firing Glock pistol inside they added.
Winder, of Swanage Avenue, Brooklands was charged with possession of a firearm and suitable ammunition in a public place and was jailed for a total three years and seven days.
Drug busted with cocaine in his underwear
A Salford drug dealer who attempted to hide cocaine in his underwear was jailed for two years and eight months.
Reece Gayle was found with eight bags of the class A drug following a stop and search of his car in Alderley Edge.
The 26-year-old, of Fairfields Road, Irlam, was pulled over in the Heyes Lane area at around 10pm on April 13.
His silver BMW was stopped by police due to suspicions regarding his driving and account of where he had been and where he was going.
Remnants of cannabis were found in his car, police say.
A decision was then made to take Gayle to custody for a strip search.
He was found to have eight snap bags of cocaine in his underwear. The street value of the drugs seized is estimated to be between £160 and £400.
His home was also subsequently searched, with officers finding the £1,575 in cash there, as well as a small quantity of cannabis, three scales and large bundles of snap bags.
The 'hedonistic' Audi driver who killed former Bolton mayoress
Two 'hedonistic' Audi drivers were racing at more than 80mph seconds before one of them ploughed into the former mayoress of Bolton.
Assad Hussain and Wasim Iqbal, both 23, were driving 'aggressively and competitively' along a 30mph stretch of Chorley New Road, in Bolton, just seconds before Gay Wharton was struck.
The 58-year-old was on a pedestrian crossing when she was hit and died at the scene after suffering 'catastrophic injuries' just after midday on November 13 of last year.
The two men, both of whom have a string of driving convictions and have previously been banned from the roads, were jailed at Minshull Street Crown Court.
Hussain was jailed for seven years and four months and Iqbal for four years and eight months.
Woman jailed for stabbing her boyfriend
A young woman who stabbed her boyfriend in the back as he cooked a late night meal was jailed despite him making a courtroom plea to have her freed.
Alice Orr, 21, knifed 23-year-old Charlie Stewart as he stood at their kitchen stove at their home in Bury.
She had drank two bottles of white wine before the incident, a court heard.
Mr Stewart was taken to hospital where doctors found he had suffered a wound to his lower back.
He had three stitches but miraculous escaped more serious injury.
Police found Orr asleep in bed in a drunken state when they arrived to arrest her.
When asked what had happened, she told officers: "I honestly can’t remember, I do not recall arguing or even going to bed."
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Orr who admitted unlawful wounding, broke down in tears as she was jailed for 15 months despite a statement from Mr Stewart being read out in which he made a plea for mercy.
Drugs gang member locked up
Two members of a cocaine drug gang based in Bury were jailed for their part in the conspiracy.
Alexander Hepworth, 33, and Pasquelino Mazzuca, 53, were locked up for a combined total of 27 years and 11 months after admitting conspiracy to supply at least 30 kilos of the class A drug.
A court was told how the pair delivered huge amounts of cocaine and cash across the country between April and October 2019.
Hepworth 'never put himself in a position where he was at risk of getting detected', whereas Mazzuca would 'travel as far as it took to make a sale'.
Mazzuca was busted after police found his fingerprints on a batch of tablets at a 'beauty booth' in Bury where a multi-million pound drugs ring was based.
At Minshull Street Crown Court, Hepworth was jailed for 16 years and and nine months while Mazzuci was ordered to serve 11 years and two months.
Man who threatened ex with a gun in campaign of abuse
A 22-year-old man was jailed for 26 months after subjecting his ex-girlfriend - the mother of his child - to a tirade of terrifying abuse, including threatening her with a ‘gun’.
Jordan Bayley, of Richmond Street in Ashton-under-Lyne, began a 'campaign' of emotional and psychological abuse on his former partner after their split last year.
The victim ended their relationship as a result of Bayley’s ‘unacceptable behaviour’, amid ‘concerns for her welfare and that of her child’, heard Bolton Crown Court, saying she wanted to stick to rules set out by a family court for contact between the father and son.
But the young man’s behaviour only grew more ‘persistently aggressive and threatening’ in the wake of their break-up.
On August 29, 2020, Bayley video called the victim via FaceTime, alleging that ‘she never let him see their son’, before holding up ‘what appeared to be a gun’, telling her: “I’m going to blow your head off.”
Just a couple of weeks later, on September 12, Bayley ‘began to scream and shout’ at his victim because ‘she refused to contact him’, prosecutor Julian Goode told the court.
Paedophile with indecent images of children
A paedophile exposed himself to a young girl on a video call on a Russian app while others watched.
Ali Amiri, 33, also had indecent images of children.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard Amiri, from Crumpsall, downloaded the OKLive app, which allows users to take part in video calls while other people watch, on May 6 last year.
Amiri talked to children, before blowing them kisses, sticking his tongue out and telling them he loved them.
He asked a young girl to expose herself. When she did, Amiri exposed himself and began to perform an indecent act.
Among those watching was a member of the 'paedophile hunter' group Cobra UK.
They took evidence to police, who then used phone tracking software to find Amiri.
Cops searched his property and recovered two mobile phones, which contained a number of indecent images of children.
Ali Amiri, of Eadington Street, pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child under 13; making an indecent photograph; and distributing an indecent photograph. He was jailed for 16 months.
Burglar arrested 'struggling' to get out of store
A thug yelled 'get the gun and run them over' as police handcuffed him following a burglary at a JD Sports store.
Kieran Murphy, who admitted burglary, was part of a gang who raided a branch of the sport-fashion retailer in Wigan with a power saw in the early hours of May 8.
Police officers found the 24-year-old 'struggling to get out of the broken shutters' and managed to arrest him.
He then called out for help to an accomplice in a waiting Audi before the vehicle drove towards the officers at speed.
Murphy, who was once labelled 'a disgrace to his family' by a judge after a dangerous 120mph police chase, was jailed for nearly 35 months.
Man killed in failed attempt to steal his Rolex watch
Two men and two teenage boys were jailed for a combined 36 years after killing a Wigan man in a failed attempt to take his £11,000 watch.
Steven McMyler, from Marsh Green, was found with serious injuries in the grounds of Wigan Parish Church on August 6 last year.
The 34-year-old joiner and dad-of-two was later pronounced dead by medics at the scene.
Lewis Peake, from Bolton, was alleged to have recruited a group of four people from Merseyside to assault Mr McMyler, so he could steal his Rolex.
After a three-week trial at Manchester Crown Court, he was found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to rob, along with three members of that group - Michael Wilson, from Kirkby, and two teenagers aged 17 and 14 who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Man caught trying to smuggle people into UK in sofas
A man who was caught trying to smuggle people into the UK inside sofas has been jailed.
Arman Yusuf Rahmani, 21, was once granted asylum in the UK after entering the country in the back of a lorry.
But within two years, the Iranian national had established a criminal network to facilitate foreign nationals illegally entering the country, the Home Office said.
Rahman, of Oldham, arranged for people to be hidden inside the base of second-hand sofas before being collected and transported from France or Belgium by oblivious 'man with van' drivers.
Between December 2018 and April 2019, Preston Crown Court heard he hired six different drivers advertising their services on social media.
Rahmani, of Ringmere Court, Oldham, was jailed for two years and seven months last week after admitting breaking UK immigration law.
After his sentence is up, he will be eligible for deportation as a Foreign National Offender, a Home Office spokesperson said.
'Manc Dave' jailed
County lines drug dealer 'Manc Dave' was arrested after being caught in a police sting.
'Dave' - real name Matthew Johnson - moved crack and heroin from Manchester into the Peak District after buying a drugs hotline with a regular list of clients from another dealer.
But following a tip-off Johnson, 21, was stopped by police in a Ford Focus on the A6 in Chapel-en-le-Frith on May 20, this year.
When detectives opened the car door they found Johnson lying down with his hands down the back of his trousers trying to hide several wraps of crack cocaine.
He was eventually found to be carrying seven wraps of crack cocaine and £128 in cash.
Three mobile phones were also found in the car, including the hot line which was constantly ringing after officers seized it.
Johnson, of Shelley Grove, Droylsden, gave a no comment interview.
He later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and was jailed for four years.
Police officer saved by her lip balm from knifeman
A female police officer was saved by her lip balm as she bravely helped to subdue a rampaging knifeman who tried to stab her.
Her colleague was slashed eight times in his leg as the pair stopped 25-year-old Mahar Mansour with another officer.
They had rushed to Harpurhey in the early hours, after receiving reports he was armed with a knife and damaging cars.
She suffered cuts and soreness but miraculously avoided more serious injury after the Vaseline she had in her pocket took the brunt, as Mansour swung his arms at her while armed with a knife.
Later, she noticed marks in the Vaseline container, which corresponded with holes in her trousers.
Mansaur was jailed for two years.
Teenagers locked up after unprovoked attacks
Two teenagers were locked up after launching three horrific, unprovoked attacks on a dad as he walked to work, leaving him with a ‘severe brain injury’.
The 44-year-old victim, the father of a four-year-old girl, was not only left ‘unable to open his eyes’ in the immediate aftermath of the battering, but could be changed for life as a result of his serious injuries, heard Manchester Crown Court as his attackers were sentenced.
Kain Corrigan, 18, and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm, admitting to launching the brutal beating as the victim made his way to work in Bury.
The pair were seen to 'embrace' as if they were 'celebrating' after the attack, the court was told.
The 44-year-old dad, who lives in Rochdale, was at the end of his lengthy journey to his night shift at a warehouse in Pilsworth at around 10.30pm on July 24, 2020.
The victim was walking along a ‘secluded’ country lane near Pimhole Community Farm when he was approached by two teenagers, who asked him for cigarettes.
When he told them he only had enough for himself, the boys ‘set upon him’, raining blows on his head, the court heard, before 'leaving their victim on the ground’ as they ‘went to a nearby shop to buy alcohol'.
Corrigan, of Walmersley Road in Bury, was given five years detention in a young offenders institution, serving half of that time before being allowed out on licence.
The 16-year-old defendant was given four years detention. He will serve half of that time before being released on licence.
Jail for couple who ran drugs racket
A couple who ran a drug racket across south Manchester and Bolton have been jailed.
Mum-of-three Umi Noor let boyfriend Michael Hassan use the home she shared with her kids as a base for his drug dealing.
A stash of more than £115,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin was found her house in Moss Side, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Her partner Michael Hassan would store drugs, cash and phones at the property before taking them to Bolton where he dealt them.
Noor, a nursery nurse, 'fell in love' with Hassan and found it 'very very difficult' to break up with him, the court heard. She 'turned a blind eye' to his dealing, and used drug money to help set up a takeaway in Bolton.
Police raided Noor's home on St Bees Close in Moss Side in November 2019, and found the drugs in two tins in a wardrobe in her bedroom.
Hassan, 29, has been jailed for six years and eight months while Noor, 37, has been sentenced to four years and one month.
'Dodgy fish' conmen
Three conmen who sold dodgy fish 'unfit for human consumption' out the back of a van were jailed.
Matthew Dudding, 32, Paul Dudding, 60, and Daniel Whitley, 44, bullied the elderly and the vulnerable into buying huge amounts of poor quality seafood at exorbitant prices.
A court heard they conned more than 100 elderly victims out of £325,000 and deliberately targeted vulnerable and older people living in the North of England and the Midlands.
In June 2019, an un-refrigerated van full of fish was seized from the men in Castleton in Rochdale following reports they were 'pressuring' pensioners into 'paying hundreds of pounds for large quantities of fish they didn’t really want'.
Matthew Dudding, who was the principal beneficiary of the fraud, pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading.
He was sentenced to five years, 11 months and two weeks in prison.
Paul Dudding, of Lund Avenue, in Framwellgate Moor, County Durham, and Daniel Whitley, of Gladstone Street, Beamish, County Durham, were sentenced to 13 months each for their role in the crime after pleading guilty to contravening professional diligence, contrary to consumer protection legislation.
Violent robbers handed life sentences
Four robbers who were part of a violent gang which terrorised a family in their own home and shop workers over a six-month spree were handed life sentences.
The Sale-based organised crime group struck 29 times, including at Co-op and McColls convenience stores across Greater Manchester in shocking raids.
While commending the work of senior officers who brought down the gang, a judge said it was a 'wonder' how long the gang remained at large.
Michael Burke, 40; Jack Yarwood, 35; Stuart Watson, 40; and Daniel Adamson, 35, were handed life sentences.
Burke must serve a minimum of 15 years and three months; Yarwood a minimum of 10 years and 42 days; Watson a minimum of eight years and ten months; and Adamson a minimum of 11 years and 145 days.
Another robber, Michael Kedie, 30, was jailed for 12 years and three months.
Dad jailed over drugs racket
A 'hardworking' dad has been jailed for his role in a prolific drug racket which flooded the streets of Tameside with cocaine and heroin.
Steven Avery, 36, acted as a street dealer for an organised crime group, which was headed up by career criminal Richard Southward.
Ring leader, Southward, 41, was jailed for 15 years last month, after the gang were busted by police, who seized £200,000 worth of drugs from his home, as well as £33,000 in cash.
Avery, of Hurst Grove, Ashton, was jailed for 49 months after admitting being concerned in the supply of class A drugs, namely cocaine and heroin.
Southward, of Hurst Street, Ashton, was jailed for 15 years at Minshull Street Crown Court on May 26, this year.
