A man who mocked a woman after raping her is among those locked up in Greater Manchester this week. Ainsley France, 28, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sexual assault and is now behind bars for over 10 years.
Also jailed this week was a killer driver who caused a fatal head-on collision two days before Christmas, and a robber who threatened a lone female shop worker. The Manchester Evening News has looked back on the cases before the region's courts this week.
Rape and sexual assault
A Radcliffe man who raped a woman then mocked her has been jailed. Greater Manchester Police says Ainsley France repeatedly stalked his victim while she was out in public with friends and family. The 28-year-old went on to rape and sexually assault her on multiple occasions, then compounded the abuse by mocking the woman.
France, of Lever Street, Radcliffe, was found guilty of two counts of rape and sexual assault, among other offences. He was jailed for 10 years and six months.
Robbery and drug offences
A robber threatened a lone female shop worker with a knife while demanding cash to feed his drug habit. Joshua Richards, 25, produced a large kitchen knife and ordered the woman to hand over cash at a convenience store in Stockport. She tried to resist but handed over £60, and Richards fled after ordering her not to call the police for 10 minutes.
He was caught more than three months later after a member of the public identified him from still images circulated from the shop's CCTV footage. Richards, who at the time had no previous convictions and had descended into drug abuse and homelessness, has now been jailed.
In a separate case, a major drugs ring was exposed after a stolen car driven by a 'runner' crashed into a bollard during a police pursuit. Hamza Rafique, who was behind the wheel, fled the scene but was chased and caught by police hiding in a shop. He had attempted to hide a plastic bag containing cannabis, but police found it and the network was uncovered.
Louis Williams, 32, of Milne Close, Gorton, has been jailed for four years and ten months. He pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, possession with intent to supply Class B drugs, being concerned in the supply of Class B drugs, and possession of criminal property. Rafique, also 32 and of Stamford Road, Manchester, was jailed in July for two years and eight months after admitting possession with intent to supply Class B drugs, dangerous driving, driving otherwise in accordance with licence, driving without insurance, and possession of criminal property. Both were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court, with Williams jailed earlier this week.
Fatal collision and fraud
A 'cowardly' driver killed a parent and their son in a fatal head-on collision two days before Christmas before blaming the other driver. Andrew Hall, 37, was driving down Ripponden Road, Oldham, when he veered onto the opposite side of the road and smashed into a Nissan carrying Clair Fitzharris, 42, Sam Fitzharris, 15, and Ms Fitzharris' 13-year-old daughter.
Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court heard that in the moments leading up to the collision at around 4pm on December 23, 2023, Hall had been driving at over 90mph. Three seconds beforehand, he had applied emergency braking, resulting in his BMW 5-series travelling at 73mph. Witnesses reported Hall to be overtaking other cars as he came off the junction on the M62 to join the road, which is governed by a 50mph speed limit before the collision. Ms Fitzharris, who used the pronouns they/them, and their son Sam, died from their injuries. In the aftermath, Hall was taken to hospital and his blood was tested for alcohol, giving a reading of 87 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal driving limit is 80 milligrams. At his sentencing hearing on Thursday, October 8, Hall was jailed for 13-and-a-half years.
A gambling addict who siphoned off almost £120,000 from the coffers of a junior football league to fund his betting has also been jailed. Roy Robinson, 69, had transferred the huge sum from the bank account of the Timperley and District Junior Football League to accounts controlled by him over a six-year period. He then sought to cover his tracks by creating doctored bank statements, and even assumed the identity of an auditor in a bid to claim that all was well. In fact he had almost drained the league's bank account, leaving it unable to pay for coaching courses and equipment which would benefit young footballers. Robinson, of Eastern Circle, Burnage, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
