The Manchester Evening News looks back on cases before our region this week
An asylum seeker who sexually assaulted a woman is amongst those who have been jailed this week in Greater Manchester.
Tadi Alemeyeha grabbed the woman and tried to kiss her before making a ‘cut-throat’ gesture to stop her from reporting him.
Also locked up this week was a sneaky accountant who stole £130k from her company in the form of unauthorised overtime, unauthorised credit card use and petty cash.
And a cocky thug who got a dressing down from a judge after laughing his way through his sentencing hearing.
Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders each week. And Manchester Evening News reporters are on hand to cover the most serious cases.
Here is a roundup of the cases heard before our courts this week:
Nicola Clarke
A head accountant for a top firm has been jailed after defrauding the company out of nearly £130,000. Nicola Clarke, 56, had been working for Business Computer Projects Ltd since 1987 and went on to be promoted to the head of accounts.
She held sole responsibility for all the financial aspects of the company, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. However, from 2008, she abused her to position to steal from them in three ‘discreet’ ways; by claiming unauthorised overtime payments, stealing petty cash and unauthorised use of the company’s credit card.
The total loss to the company was £128,352. Clarke, of Elm Tree Road, Bredbury, was jailed for 21 months.
Read the full story here: Sneaky bigwig accountant for top firm exposed as fraudster after stealing £130k
Tadi Alemeyeha
A man living in a hotel housing asylum seekers sexually assaulted a woman before threatening her and ordering her to stay silent. Tadi Alemeyeha, 23, was living at the Britannia Country House Hotel in Didsbury at the time.
He arrived in the UK a few weeks earlier, a court heard. He initially denied the attack in August, but changed his plea to guilty as he was due to face trial at Minshull Street Crown Court.
He followed the woman before grabbing her as she tried to move away, it was said. Alemeyeha tried to kiss her. When the woman ran off, he put his finger to his lips before making a cut-throat gesture.
Alemeyeha – listed in court documents as living at the Britannia Country House Hotel, Palatine Road – pleaded guilty to sexually assault and was jailed for 18 months. He was ordered to sign the sex offender register for 10 years and slapped with a restraining order.
Read the full story here: Man living in hotel housing asylum seekers sexually assaulted woman before making ‘cut-throat’ gesture
Kai Pritchard
A smirking thug who terrorised his ex-girlfriend was slammed by a judge over his antics in court before he was jailed.
Kai Pritchard, 26, smirked and shook his head as details of the shocking abuse he committed against his former partner was detailed. “I don’t know why you are smiling while in the dock,” Judge Suzanne Goddard KC told Pritchard.
“There’s always two sides to every story though, isn’t there?,” Pritchard replied during an outburst. “Your attitude in court was not impressive,” Judge Goddard told Pritchard, before jailing him for four years and ten months.
Read the full story here: ‘I don’t know why you’re smiling’: Smirking thug’s pathetic courtroom antics
Graham Tardif
A judge blasted a paedophile who continuously shook his head as she jailed him for historic sex offences. Graham Tardif, 78, had been convicted after trial of rape of a girl under 16; three offences of indecent assault of a girl under 14; indecent assault of a girl under 16, sexual assault of a girl by touching and four offences of sexual assault of a girl under 13 by penetration.
Manchester Crown Court that Tardif, of Oldham, had abused the three girls over a 20 year period dating back to the late 1990s. The victims cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Tardif, of Stephenson Street, Failsworth, was jailed for 14 years.
Read the full story here: Judge’s eight word blast as monster who abused three schoolgirls pleads: ‘It’s not right’
Alan Fawcett
A greedy loan shark who ran an illegal ‘payday loan scheme’ targeted vulnerable people and left them ‘living in fear’ when they were unable to pay back the high-interest funds.
Alan Fawcett claimed he ran a business on an online marketplace, buying and selling games consoles and TVs. He was actually handing out around £100,000 in loans to people in Greater Manchester, receiving an estimated £130,000 back in repayments over a two-year period.
When borrowers struggled to repay what they had borrowed – often charged with at least 50 per cent interest – the crook went on to threaten them, leaving some ‘living in fear’ for themselves and their families, Bolton Crown Court heard on Wednesday (February 4). One of the borrowers said they isolated themselves, ‘still close the blinds and don’t leave the house’.
Fawcett, 54 of Warrington Road, Ince, Wigan, was sentenced to four years in jail for money laundering and 18 months for illegal money lending.
Read the full story here: He said he ran an online business selling TVs, Xboxes and PlayStations – he left people ‘frightened for their children’s safety’
Jason Cunliffe
A serial robber lay in wait before pouncing on vulnerable women across Manchester. Ten separate incidents were recorded between August 17 and September 3 last year in Salford, Manchester and Bury.
It was reported to offers that a man had approached lone women in public spaces before forcibly stealing their handbags and belongings. He would often drag the victims to the ground and wrestle them during the robberies before fleeing on foot.
A search of a suspect’s home later revealed the man behind the crimes was Jason Cunliffe.
Cunliffe, of Wilton Road in Crumpsall, was jailed for 14 years.
Read the full story here: He preyed on women and pounced time and again
Adam Wood
A drug addict robbed a vulnerable disabled man and stole hundreds of pounds from him after exploiting his kindness.
Adam Wood, 35, ordered his victim to transfer £1,400 after turning up at his home in Eccles, Salford. Even after the man had allowed Wood to stay at his flat, Wood became physically aggressive and attacked him with the crutch he uses to get around.
At one point Wood picked up a knife and threatened to ‘slice him up’, Manchester Crown Court heard. Wood was sentenced to five years and four months in prison after pleading guilty to robbery; threatening a person with a bladed article; and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Read the full story here: ‘If I have to come back, I’ll kill you’: Drug addicted thug’s chilling words to disabled man as he threatened to slit his throat
Michael Harvey
A detective used police systems to track a woman he met in ASDA and convince her to go on a date with him before he began manipulating and controlling her, a court has heard.
Michael Harvey met the victim by chance at the supermarket in Rawtenstall back in 2012 before going on to use the police computer systems illegitimately, inputting her car registration plate to find out personal details about her, including her landline number.
The victim reported the offences to the police in July 2022 and the 64-year-old was arrested at his home in Eskdale, Skelmersdale, on October 9, 2023. He later pleaded guilty to engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour between December 2015 and July 2016. He also previously pleaded guilty to unauthorised access to computer material. He was cleared of three counts of rape after a separate trial in 2025.
The former officer worked as a detective in Lancashire Police’s Sexual Offenders Management Unit at the time of the offending before retiring from the Force in 2018. Appearing at Preston Session’s House on Thursday (February 5), he was jailed for 30 months and given a ten-year restraining order.
Read the full story here: Downfall of vile detective after meeting woman at ASDA