A 20-year-old drug dealer shot in the elbow by a police firearms officer while trying to sell a potentially lethal gun is among those locked up in Greater Manchester this week. Lewis Hanson, who sold cannabis and cocaine from the age of 14, was arrested in Whitefield, Bury, while attempting to sell a modified Retay 17 blank firing pistol similar in design to a Glock 17.
Also jailed this week were Gabriel Levy, who made death threats to two mosques in Manchester days after the Heaton Park synagogue terror attack, and a prolific bike thief who launched a brutal attack on a biker. Prison terms were handed out to the worst offenders, with Manchester Evening News reporters covering the most serious cases heard before the region's courts.
Mosque threats and a gun plot
Gabriel Levy, 21, made an anonymous phone call to the Al-Sunnah Mosque in Cheetham Hill on the afternoon of October 4, 2025. Using a withheld number, he told the call receiver: "I'm going to come to your mosque and kill you." Police went to his home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, a few hours later and seized his mobile device. The CPS said it then emerged that a second threatening phone call was made.
Levy, who is Jewish, called the Iqra Mosque in Longsight on the same day and told a member of staff: "I am going to kill you Muslim." In a statement, the CPS said he admitted to being angry after watching news coverage of the October 2 synagogue attack, in which two men were killed at Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue in Crumpsall. Levy pleaded guilty to making threats to kill and was sentenced on Wednesday at Leeds Crown Court to 28 months in prison.
Lewis Hanson, of Parr Lane, Bury, was shot in the elbow by a police firearms officer during his arrest. A judge said it was 'frankly terrifying' that someone of his age could run a 'drugs enterprise' and seek to sell the weapon. Hanson pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of a class B drug, conspiracy to sell a prohibited weapon, possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate, possession of a class A drug with intent to supply, and possession of a class B drug with intent to supply. He was sentenced to a total of 82 months - just under seven years - in a young offender institution.
Violent bike thief and dangerous driver jailed
Kade Cox, 20, and two other masked individuals were caught on CCTV forcing a biker to crash into a wall on Melrose Avenue, in Sale, on April 17 last year. As the man fell to the ground, the group launched a violent attack, during which one repeatedly hit him with a machete. Despite attempting to hold on, the group stole his electric bike and fled. He was left with a number of serious injuries including a severe laceration to his thumb, and cuts to his face.
Cox, who was identified through an extensive CCTV trawl, was also found to be involved in three other thefts or attempted thefts of motorbikes and electric bikes between April and July 2025. Cox, of Walker Road, was jailed for 10 years after previously pleading guilty to robbery, burglary with intent to steal and a further two counts of burglary where bikes were stolen during both incidents.
Amin Akhoondi, 22, who was disqualified from driving at the time, reached speeds of 128mph on the M56 motorway as he tried to escape from police - before crashing at Manchester Airport. He also drove at speeds of 98mph on built-up urban roads with 30mph speed limits in Wythenshawe. Akhoondi ended up smashing the Volkswagen Golf he was driving into a steel barrier at Manchester Airport's Terminal Two, Manchester Crown Court. He suffered a 'significant' spinal injury in the crash and spent 10 days in hospital in the aftermath.
Cowboy builder jailed
At Manchester and Salford magistrates court on May 16, Akhoondi pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving whilst disqualified and driving without insurance. He was committed to the crown court for sentence, where he was jailed for 16 months.
Patrick Hartley, a cowboy builder who 'overpromised and underdelivered' left damage worth £1m to homes in Greater Manchester and Lancashire. The 40-year-old, from Bacup, Rossendale, would take customers' money before moving on to the next job, leaving work unfinished. His actions put families under strain as they took on more debt to have the work put right, Lancs Live reports. The court heard Hartley stung 13 families in a 30-month period from 2020. His fraudulent activity landed him a prison sentence of three years and nine months.
