PICTURED: The criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week including teen killers, a fraudster and a prison officer
Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders
As one grief-stricken family looked on, two other families wept as their young sons were led to the docks of Manchester Crown Court.
Nathaniel Shani was just 14 when he was brutally stabbed in the neck by a teenage boy. Another teenage boy had 'encouraged him', telling him to 'do it'.
Both were found guilty following a trial of the most serious offence on the criminal calendar. Both are facing life in prison. One is 14 and the other is 15 - they cannot be identified due to legal reasons.
The family of Nathaniel, or Natie as he was affectionally called, are urgently seeking for more to be done to raise awareness of knife crime.
In a poignant message, they said: “Say no to knives, no knife is too small”.
The two teen killers, Boy A and Boy B, are amongst those who are starting terms behind bars his week. Others include a fraudster who sold pirated Sky boxes, a prison officer who smuggled drugs and phones into prison and a thug who attacked the former Lord Mayor of Manchester for wearing a poppy and Armed Forces medals.
Michael Hornung
A fraudster who went on the run after being convicted of selling pirate boxes giving illegal access to Sky TV, BT Sports and Virgin is finally behind bars. Michael Hornung, then 38, of Hyde, Tameside, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in June 2022 for selling unauthorised decoders, selling articles for use in fraud and advertising unauthorised decoders for sale.
But he failed to show up to be sentenced, with Minshull Street Crown Court hearing he had fled to Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus, a territory with which the UK has no extradition treaty. On June 2 Hornung was arrested in Cyprus by Cypriot authorities following an operation by the National Crime Agency and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (F.A.C.T.) and agreed to be extradited to the UK to serve his sentence.
(Image: F.A.C.T.)1 of 5Farrah Jones
A prison officer has been jailed after smuggling over drugs and phones into Forest Bank Prison.
Farrah Jones, 28, a prison custody officer working for Geoamey, a transport service for inmates, was seen by colleagues going into the toilet at the reception at HMP Forest Bank.
The toilet was searched, with colleagues finding two plastic-wrapped packages in a paper bin. They were later found to contain yellow and white tablets and cannabis resin, Manchester Crown Court heard.
She was later caught with a friend, Steven Wimbleton, in her car with bags containing drugs and mobile phones, as well as a knife and a loaded gun containing Wimbleton's DNA.
Both were arrested and jailed.
(Image: GMP)2 of 5Boy A and Boy B
Two teenage boys have been jailed for life for the murder of 14-year-old Nathaniel Shani.
Nathaniel Shani sadly died after being stabbed to the neck in an alleyway in Harpurhey on September 15 2023. Two boys, Boy A, aged 15, and Boy B, aged 14, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were both found guilty of his murder following a trial at Manchester Crown Court earlier this year.
The court heard that Nathaniel died following a row over cannabis being stolen. Nathaniel and Boy A had met in an alleyway off Tavistock Square as part of a ‘fight to settle differences’, the court heard.
On the day of the killing, cannabis had been stolen from a friend of Nathaniel’s by Boy B. “Nathaniel viewed this as a loss of face to him and his group,” prosecutor Jason Pitter KC said.
An arrangement was made to meet to ‘sort things’, the court was told. "For Nathaniel this, the prosecution say, entailed a one v one fight with Boy A," the prosecutor said.
Nathaniel arrived in the square at about 6pm and met with Boy A and Boy B. During the ensuing confrontation Nathaniel punched Boy A, who produced a knife and stabbed him to the neck.
Nathaniel was seen clutching his neck after being knifed, before collapsing in the square. He was pronounced dead at 7.08pm.
(Image: GMP/family handout)3 of 5Mark Meredith
A man from Middleton attacked his own dad as he slept leaving him with a broken jaw. Mark Meredith, who had been drinking, set on his own father as he lay snoozing on a sofa, grabbing hold of him violently and he fell hitting his head on a brick wall.
Meredith, who has an appalling record of 50 previous convictions, has now been jailed for two years for the assault on his 'vulnerable' parent.
(Image: Cheshire Constabulary)4 of 5Adam Wood
A drunk thug launched a sickening attack on the former Lord Mayor of Manchester after seeing him wearing a poppy and an Armed Forces medal. Councillor Tommy Judge, 66, boarded a tram from Baguley when he saw Adam Wood, who was drinking from a bottle and being loud.
Wood began swearing, shouting and being abusive to Mr Judge. He then tried to rip the medals from him, telling him: "you're not a f***ing veteran you're wearing them on the wrong side."
Wood was jailed for two months.
(Image: Manchester Evening News)5 of 5
