A former barrister who plotted a revenge attack with a gangster pal; a ‘highly organised’ burglary gang; and a ‘predatory’ sex offender are among the criminals locked up this week in Greater Manchester.
Samreen Akhtar told her criminal mate – and client – Tabish Ali ‘we get him, we kick the f*** out of him and we send him back with broken legs to whoever sent him’ after he was shot amid a ‘turf war’ between rival gangs.
Also locked up this week were two arsonists who targeted a business causing £300,000 worth of damage and two brothers who attacked a man after he claimed one of them had been ‘hitting his dog’.
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Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders. Each week Manchester Evening News court reporters are on hand to cover the most serious cases.
These are the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week…
David Owen, Wayne Jones, Lucas Staines, Rohan Brown and Liam Dodds
A ‘highly organised’ burglary gang brought terror to Greater Manchester in a £500,000 crime spree over 16 months, with children forced to hide as masked thugs broke into homes.
The gang were behind a ‘persistent burglary network’ which saw family gold and jewellery stolen from homes, as well as designer handbags and other valuable goods.
Greater Manchester Police said ‘affluent households’ across Salford, Bury and Trafford were targeted between January, 2024 and May, 2025.
Masked burglars smashed down doors and windows to access homes, with most of the break-ins taking place in daylight when the gang believed they would be empty.
But GMP said that in one burglary, a child hid inside a wardrobe while crooks searched a bedroom. In another break-in, another child also ran to a bathroom to hide as they tried to get inside.
David Owen, 24, of no fixed address, was sentenced to five years and four months for nine counts of burglary. Lucas Staines, 20, of HMP Forest Bank, was jailed for the same period for 15 counts of burglary.
Liam Dodds, 34, from Salford, got six years, four months in relation to eight counts of burglary. Wayne Jones, 23, of Dunedin Drive, Salford, was jailed for eight years for five counts of burglary.
Rohan Brown, 22, of Riverside Way, Salford, got five years, four months for seven burglaries.
Read the full story here: ‘Highly organised’ burglary gang brought terror to Greater Manchester in £500k crime spree
Samreen Akhtar
A barrister plotted a revenge attack with a gangster friend after he was shot by a would-be assassin amid a violent turf war fought between rival drugs gangs.
Samreen Akhtar, 38, was a qualified barrister specialising in criminal law. On September 14 2021, client and family friend Tabish Ali was shot in a violent incident in Blacker Road, Huddersfield. A court heard he was blasted as a bitter war between opposing gangs was fought.
The day after Ali was shot, Akhtar suggested in a recorded phone call they ‘locate and cause serious harm’ to the gunman.
Manchester Crown Court heard Akhtar suggested Ali that once the man’s location was known: “We get him, we kick the f*** out of him and we send him back with broken legs to whoever sent him.”
Akhtar, of Sufton Street, Birkby, was jailed for three years and three months.
Read the full story here: Barrister hatched revenge plot with gangster pal after he was shot by would-be assassin amid violent turf war between rival drugs gangs
Sohail Aurangzeb
A man left a pensioner with fatal injuries after smashing into her in his wife’s car. Sheila Rowan, 70, was knocked down by Sohail Aurangzeb in his partner’s Nissan Juke, which he took without her permission on the afternoon of August 10 last year.
Aurangzeb, 42, had no driving licence and wasn’t insured. He said he got lost and drove onto a rural, cobbled road in Ashton-under-Lyne. He claimed he drove into a ditch, which caused the car to swerve and hit Mrs Rowan.
Manchester Crown Court heard Aurangzeb drove away and didn’t report the incident. Mrs Rowan was found by passers-by who called 999. She died in hospital later that day.
Aurangzeb was jailed for seven years and four months. He earlier pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, with court documents stating Ms Rowan’s death was ’caused by accident’.
Read the full story here: When his wife finally got hold of him, he didn’t even mention the horrific events that unfolded hours earlier
Jacob Berry
A thug who ‘abused and terrorised’ four women has been jailed for life.
Jacob Berry left his victims with ‘lasting emotional and psychological trauma’.
Berry, 34, was found guilty of seven counts of rape; four counts of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour; and one count of assault by penetration following a trial, Greater Manchester Police said.
Read the full story here: Thug ‘abused and terrorised’ four women
James Davidson
A ‘predatory’ sex offender has been jailed again after he was found to have been posing as a teenage boy during sick chats with young girls.
James Davidson, 60, from Stockport, was first sent to prison in 2020, being sentenced to two years behind bars for attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to meet a girl under 16 following sexual grooming, and attempting to cause a child under 16 to watch a sexual act.
As part of his sentence he was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO), which restricted his online activity and was monitored by Greater Manchester Police’s Sex Offender Management Unit.
In March 2025, officers from the unit raided his home after a tip-off he was breaching the order. After interrogating a number of devices, they found he had been communicating with multiple girls while using aliases and pretending to be a 17 year-old boy.
Davidson admitted sexual communication with a child and 25 breaches of his SHPO and was sentenced to two years and seven months.
Read the full story here: The Stockport monster who said he ‘didn’t care about age’ and thought he could hide from police
Jody Lynam
Jody Lynam targeted an innocent family’s home by setting it alight.
Stuart and Claire Marsden had enjoyed a night out together before returning home and going to bed just before 1am. But they were woken up shortly after by a ‘loud crash’. Mr Marsden went to investigate and found a large fire in their rented end-of-terrace home in Bury.
He and his wife were able to escape the blaze, but their house was severely damaged and nine months on, remains uninhabitable. Their children had been staying elsewhere for the night.
Police recovered footage which showed Jody Lynam and a second, unknown offender approaching the house, at about 1.40am on January 18 this year. The unknown man smashed a window before Lynam poured petrol inside. An ‘explosion’ was caused and the pair fled.
Lynam was caught after DNA from a balaclava which he discarded nearby was traced to him. Minshull Street Crown Court was told that drug addict Lynam and his co-offender had been acting on orders from a drug dealer, who pressured them into targeting a rival dealer to ‘send a message’ and intimidate.
Lynam, of Hardfield Street, Heywood, pleaded guilty to arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered. He was jailed for six years and nine months.
Read the full story here: Innocent family caught up in gangland feud as men in balaclavas poured petrol into wrong home and set it ablaze while they slept
Reece Taylor and Paul Taylor
Two brothers brutally attacked a man in broad daylight after he claimed one of them had been ‘hitting his dog’.
Reece Taylor threw his victim to the floor before punching and kicking him outside a block of flats in Ashton-under-Lyne. Minshull Street Crown Court heard the ‘unprovoked’ attack came after the man had asked Taylor to stop ‘hitting his dog’.
Taylor denied he had hit his dog and was not convicted of an animal cruelty offence. He then proceeded to attack the man, before his brother Paul Taylor became involved after mistakenly believing his sibling had blood on his face, after the victim had sprayed Reece Taylor with red dye.
The pair have now both been handed extended sentences for public protection.
Read the full story here: ‘Dangerous’ brothers in the dock following ‘absolutely brutal’ attack – before one decides he can’t behave and goes back to the cells
Diogo Cabral and Emanuel Simoes
Arsonists were caught on CCTV breaking into a business and starting a fire while one of them was still inside. Portuguese nationals Diogo Cabral, 21, and Emanuel Feliciano Simoes, 36, organised the attack on Snapchat, carried out with an unknown third man.
“Let’s do this mission today,” one message discovered by detectives read. Manchester Crown Court heard they were seen pulling up in a car outside Shzsr Enterprises Ltd, on Broughton Street, Cheetham Hill at around midnight on March 1, 2023.
They prised open the shutters with crowbars before two of them ran back to the car and grabbing bottles of accelerant. One of the three remained inside the building after a door was smashed and a fire started.
There was a ‘spontaneous explosion of light and flames’, prosecutor Henry Blackshaw said. The third man, who was behind the shutters, was seen on CCTV fleeing like a ‘scalded cat’, appearing to be on fire.
After the flames died down, he joined the other two in the car before it sped off. Firefigthers raced to the scene and the blaze was extinguished. Around £300,000 of damage was caused at the bedding supply business.
Cabral, of no fixed address, was jailed for five years and four months. Simoes, of Smedley Lane, Cheetham Hill, was jailed for three years.
Read the full story here: ‘Let’s do this mission today’: Snapchatting arsonists thought they had the perfect plan – now they’ve been locked up
Cameron Caswell
A Salford drug dealer hid a gun behind the fridge at his mum’s house. Cameron Caswell, 23, was arrested after police made the discovery following a raid at the Salford property in 2024.
Manchester Crown Court heard cops executed a warrant on Aspinall Crescent in Little Hulton, on December 14. A black bag was found behind a fridge freezer in the pantry. Inside was a gun and ammunition.
Experts determined the weapon was a Turkish-manufactured Zoraki 917. Caswell was jailed at Manchester Crown Court on Friday (September 11).
Read the full story here: Salford drug dealer behind bars after police make discovery behind fridge at his mum’s house
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