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Hello,
The head of Greater Manchester Police revealed the force is actively pursuing child sexual exploitation suspects currently in Pakistan to face possible criminal charges here.
GMP is 'seeking to bring suspects in from Pakistan' but Chief Constable Stephen Watson refused to elaborate further during an interview with LBC Radio due to 'judicial processes'. He didn't reveal how many suspects were involved, as Paul Britton reports.
His comments follow a visit to Rochdale by the Prime Minister and Home Secretary earlier this month. While there Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman launched a 'grooming gangs taskforce' to combat child sexual exploitation.
The PM pledged 'political correctness' would not get in the way of the crackdown and ministers promised tougher sentences and new support for local forces to protect children from abuse. Ethnicity data will also be used to support police investigations and part of the plan will see specialist officers assist local police forces to solve child sexual exploitation investigations as part of the taskforce.
Chief Constable Watson today said GMP will ‘hunt down people who commit these offences’. “We are in a position where I think that stuff that happens today will be dealt with quickly and professionally and sensitively. But the stuff that's happened in the past doesn't stay in the past because it happened a long time ago and it's in respect of that, we are bringing people to justice all the time and future announcements shortly to be made," he said.
Asked about child sexual grooming he said he did not believe it was happening ‘in the way that it was'. “If it is happening at all, they will be isolated cases. But the sort of group activity, the sort of unchecked kebab shop, taxi driver, cabal, all that sort of stuff, we and our partners are in a completely different place in this space and I am entirely confident that we are in a much better place,” he said.
Also during the interview, he called for more judges, magistrates courts and sitting court days amid a backlog of criminal cases.
He said his force is ‘punching its weight again’ after coming out of special measures but cases are not progressing through the courts system quickly enough.
"I think people are working really hard to sort it out. The fact of the matter is, I think in the broader courts system we probably need more sitting days, more judges. We need more magistrates courts. We have locally two additional magistrates courts just to deal with remand prisoners following weekends.
"So we are putting really, what I describe as beneficial pressure on the system because this is a positive pressure borne of GMP punching its weight again."
With arrests said to be up 60 per cent and the charges up by some 42 per cent, Chief Constable Watson said the figures showed 'necessary public work was being done'. "But I do think we have a bit of a challenge on our hands,” he said.
A vital role
Rochdale Boroughwide Housing has appointed a new chairman. Kevin Brady took over the role at the housing association - which was at the heart of the Awaab Ishak scandal.
The association has faced harsh criticism following Awaab’s death and was downgraded by the housing regulator last year after an investigation found RBH had waited two years to conduct checks on other properties following the toddler’s death - leaving hundreds of tenants living with harmful damp and mould.
The investigation by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) slammed RBH saying it 'does not have confidence that RBH is treating other tenants with fairness and respect'. The new chairman will play a 'vital role' in implementing the landlord's recovery plan and ‘rebuilding trust', according to RBH, Nicole Wootton-Cane reports.
Mr Brady says he is ‘delighted’ to be appointed to the role, though he recognises the ‘huge challenges ahead’. “As a resident of Middleton, I know how important it is that the Borough's main social housing provider is strong and successful,” he says.
Worker accused of taking secret data home
A former employee of a 'sensitive Government organisation' has appeared in court after allegedly risking damaging national security by taking top secret data home.
Hasaan Arshad, 23, of Chevron Close, Rochdale, is charged with an offence under the Computer Misuse Act after an investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court yesterday, speaking only to confirm his details.
The court heard that Mr Arshad had been employed by a 'sensitive Government organisation' before his arrest and the search of his home on September 22 last year. Prosecutors allege that before leaving his job on August 24, Mr Arshad took his work mobile phone into a top secret area and connected the device to a top secret workstation. He is said to have transferred sensitive data from a secure top secret computer to the phone before taking it home. Arshad allegedly transferred the data from the work mobile phone to a hard drive connected to his personal home computer.
Mr Arshad was granted conditional bail ahead of his next appearance at the Old Bailey on May 5.
Ultra marathon runner disqualified for using a car
This story certainly took me by surprise when I clicked on the link this morning. Leading ultra-marathon runner Joasia Zakrzewski has been disqualified from a Manchester race after tracking data showed she used...a car during part of it.
The 47-year-old GP, from Dumfries in Scotland, finished third in the gruelling, 50-mile GB Ultras Manchester to Liverpool race on Good Friday. But she is believed to have travelled 2.5 miles in a car after mapping data found she covered a mile in one minute and 40 seconds, according to reports today.
The matter has been referred to regulatory body UK Athletics, according to GB Ultras director Wayne Drinkwater - who confirmed Zakrzewski has been disqualified ‘having taken vehicle transport during part of the route’. Third place has been awarded to ultra-runner Mel Sykes.
Adrian Stott, a friend of the Zakrezewski, told the BBC she was 'genuinely sorry' and felt unwell before and during the race. “The race didn’t go to plan. She said she was feeling sick and tired on the race and wanted to drop out,” he said. “She has co-operated fully with the race organisers' investigations, giving them a full account of what happened. She genuinely feels sorry for any upset caused.”
In other running news, the couple who got engaged just metres from the finish line at the Manchester Marathon say they are elated.
Niall West got down on one knee to ask his girlfriend of nine years Beth Miller to marry him beside the finish line on Sunday. It was a moment captured on video by bystanders and has since been shared across social media.
Beth told reporter James Holt that Niall is ‘quite a private person’ and doesn't really use social media, but he ‘he did it for me’. "When it happened, all I was thinking was 'what is going on'? We had just finished the marathon and I didn't think my heart could take much more,” she says.
Beth - who previously ran the marathon alone - said she couldn't let Niall ‘steal my thunder’ when he signed up to join her this year. “We said we would both do it together. As it was getting nearer, he must have made the decision that he was going to propose but kept throwing me off the scent,” she says.
“We had obviously talked about marriage, but his sister Chloe is getting married, so he told me he wouldn't propose this year, so I never expected anything. He told me he was going to stick with me in the marathon so that we could finish it together. He was adamant on finishing the race with me, but I didn't think anything of it.”
'Glorious years' over three decades
Levenshulme lost one of its most beloved pubs when it closed for the final time last night.
Fiddlers Green owners Bridie and James have decided to sell the pub and retire so they can spend more time with their family.
The couple first bought Irish bar - formerly known as Dicey Riley's - in 1990 planned to stay short term but ended up residing for ‘32 glorious years’. “All down the years, we've had amazing support, so we're very emotional about selling up,” she told Jenna Campbell.
“I thought we would fade away, but when we told everybody we were leaving, we were astonished at the response. People that came here 32 years ago have come back to say goodbye, and we've received so many cards, flowers and chocolates. I would never expect anything so it's been unreal, people saying we're a real loss to Levenshulme.”
Bridie says she is ‘overwhelmed’ by the reaction from customers and ‘hugely grateful’ for all the support over the years. “We've spent our whole working life working, we've worked all our lives since we came to this country - I was 17 when I came here from Donegal and James was 19, and we've just decided we're going to have some time for ourselves and our family.”
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Weather etc
- Thursday: Sunny changing to cloudy by night time. 14C.
- Road closures: A571 Victoria Street, Wigan, in both directions closed due to water main work between Argyll Street and Arundel Street. Until April 19.
- A667 Ringley Road, Whitefield, in both directions closed due to roadworks from Stand Lane to Ashbourne Grove. Until June 30.
- Trivia question: When was the first Manchester Marathon?
Manchester headlines
- Jailed: A drunken man who was aggressive to cabin crew and launched an expletive laden tirade on a Manchester bound flight has been jailed. Wesley Haining, from Salford, was one of almost 300 passengers on a TUI flight from Montego Bay in Jamaica. He began shouting and swearing at his partner before a female member of staff intervened and warned him about his language - noting children were present. But Haining, 45, ignored the warnings and at one stage threatened to punch her. The captain was alerted but the aircraft could not be diverted as they were flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Now Haining has been jailed for 20 weeks after pleading guilty to being drunk on an aircraft and using threatening words or behaviour to the flight attendant at Manchester Crown Court. More here.
- Important site: Plans for apartments, shops, cafés and an enhanced riverside walk on the former Stalybridge Clinic site have been unveiled. Millson Group is planning to construct new one and two-bedroom apartments in the town and held a public consultation event this week. The prospective plot to be redeveloped, off Stamford Street and bounded by Old Street and the River Tame, has long been regarded by Tameside council as an ‘important riverside site’. The main building, which dates back to the 1960s, was occupied by Stalybridge Clinic until it moved onto Waterloo Road in 2004, and is ‘incongruous’ within the town’s conservation area, officers said. More here.
Closure: The boss at Eagles Nest Cafe, at Eagley sports complex in Bolton, has blamed the cost of living crisis for its sudden closure. Owner Paula says the cafe cannot not continue to operate and will close on Friday after nearly two-years. "It’s with great sadness that I have to announce the closing of the Café at 3pm on Friday 21st April for good! With the current cost of living situation and everything else spiralling out of my control it’s become unfeasible for me to continue,” she posted online.
Sign language: A screen displaying travel information for commuters in British Sign Language has gone live at Manchester's Piccadilly railway station. Network Rail bosses said they hoped the new feature would give deaf passengers and those with acute hearing difficulties added confidence to travel through stations and on board trains. The touchscreen displays key travel information in written form - including what platforms trains depart from, the times of their scheduled departures and arrivals and their destinations. A video of a signer underneath relays the same details to commuters using BSL.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: The first Manchester Marathon was run in 1908, starting and finishing at the Saracen’s head pub in Warburton, Trafford. It was a 20 mile race organised by Salford Harriers.
