Greater Manchester courts sentenced a range of offenders in October, including a registered sex offender described by police as posing 'a significant threat to children', a gunman who shot at a woman, and a former supply teacher who abused his position to take upskirting images of students.
Sex offenders among those jailed
Thomas Reeds, 25, of The Heys in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, was jailed for seven years and six months after he thought he was talking to a 13-year-old child online. He used an online platform to 'engage in sexual communications' and arranged a meeting in Reading, but was met by officers who arrested him on April 8.
The South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, which carried out the operation, said officers discovered Reeds was in communication with a number of other children, which he was prohibited from doing by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order. A spokesperson said: "Digital forensic examination of devices identified evidence of further offending involving children. Investigators established that Reeds possessed 15 indecent images of children." Reeds pleaded guilty to 18 charges in total.
Zak Waring, 26, from Derbyshire, was jailed after sending sexually explicit messages to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. Derby Crown Court heard he asked the girl to perform sex acts and send explicit photos and videos, pretending he was 16 years old. The girl was in fact a decoy set up by a group of self-styled paedophile hunters, and Waring has a previous conviction for a similar offence.
Gunman and dangerous driver sentenced
Adam Wass, 36, of no fixed address, was jailed for six years after shooting at a woman in Salford and barricading himself in a stranger's house. Greater Manchester Police said he put two innocent people through 'terrifying ordeals'. Wass attempted to shoot at a woman on St Joseph's Drive, Ordsall, on February 1; the weapon misfired, but he pulled the trigger again as she ran and took cover behind a car, firing a bullet. He then went into a nearby home and threatened a man inside, who fled unhurt. Armed officers were called at around 8.15pm, and after a four-hour standoff, Wass emerged and was arrested.
Ruhul Islam, now 18, was jailed for nearly seven years after he swerved through traffic and ran red lights before ploughing his brother's Nissan Micra into Terence James, 78, who died after being struck on Shawbury Street, Middleton, on September 29, 2024. Islam, who was 16 at the time and had taught himself to drive on YouTube, was seen overtaking and undertaking vehicles, running red lights and weaving between lanes before the crash.
Kayne Parr, 28, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 16 months after leading police on a 90mph chase. He was spotted driving a Ford Transit van with a false registration plate on September 2, reached speeds of 90mph on the M61, and collided with the central reservation. Prosecutor Nick Roxborough said: "The pursuit continued right before he turned right, and there was a large smash with a police vehicle, which looked to be a very serious collision."
Other notable cases
Abusali Rahman, 37, a former supply teacher, was sentenced to six years in prison at Bolton Crown Court for taking upskirting images of girls within schools and using AI to sexualise images of pupils. He admitted the 'horrendous' abuse of trust, and police found he had taken upskirting images of 12 girls aged between 13 and 16, who attended seven high schools across Bury, Bolton and Salford. Rahman had taught at 25 schools across the North West.
Jay Shaw, 49, and Katie Vernon, 31, from Leigh, were jailed after admitting sexual offences against children, including assaults and possession of thousands of indecent images. Shaw admitted four counts of sexual assault against a female child and one count against a male child.
Danielle Louise Fisher, 35, of Carr House Road, Halifax, was jailed for two-and-a-half years, and Graham McIndoe, of no fixed abode, was jailed for five years, after Border Force officers found 40 vacuum sealed packages containing 33.6kg of cannabis in Fisher's suitcase at Manchester Airport. The drugs were worth up to £100,000 or £3,000 per kilo.
Sanela Osmanovic, 44, of no fixed abode, was jailed for 16 months after pleading guilty to theft and battery for shoving an 82-year-old to the ground and stealing her handbag containing £300 and an iPhone. Lee Willson, 30, of Gratton Road, Blackpool, was jailed for over five years after pointing an imitation firearm at a cashier in a robbery. Faiser Hussain, 44, was jailed for his role in getting rid of a stolen Volvo used in a drive-by shooting that killed Ibrahim Ilyas, 20, in June 2006.
