“Despite several critical incidents that have drained CoM resources this past month, performance has continued to improve across most areas of business throughout the City of Manchester.
Due to the efforts people have put in, Grade 1 and 2 attendances have improved across most reliefs; backlogs of overdue bail, remand in custody cases and locate/trace have been significantly reduced; and open crime figures are in the best position they have been for a long time. There has also been good progress made with crime standards (PiP1 and VCoP) across most reliefs.
These aren’t meaningless KPIs, but instead directly relate to the quality of service that victims receive. We’re getting to the jobs faster, investigating crime to a higher standard and achieving better outcomes for victims, with ‘solved’ outcomes continuing to improve and push GMP up the national league tables.
There have been some exceptional arrests across all neighbourhoods, CID, Challenger and IOMs, and some of the nominals that cause the most harm to our communities have been locked up, including the arrest and charges relating to Operation Oxus and the arrest of a male for exploitation leading to a charge for child abduction, which led to the immediate reduction in missing from home reports from the child involved.
A male serving a 16-year sentence was also charged with a further seven counts of sexual assault of a girl under 13. This has been highlighted as one of the most successful results in CoM CPIU history. As a result, we can see a reduction in most neighbourhood crime categories, which means you’ve directly contributed to improved public confidence.
The HMICFRS inspection across CoM has been well managed by those of you who have participated. Staff have demonstrated a good understanding of their business and have showcased some improvements embedded since the last inspection.
We will always be striving for improvements, but I’m pleased with what you have achieved so far this year.
Thanks for your continued efforts.”
Chief Superintendent Rick Jackson
“Welcome to the very first bespoke district edition of The Brief, a publication which has been developed and created exclusively for each of the 10 districts across GMP. Our district officers and staff work tirelessly to protect the 2.8 million people who call this vibrant and diverse region their home.
Though united by their commitment to public safety, each district faces unique challenges and opportunities in connecting with the communities they serve.
Pages 1, 2, 11 and 12 of the district editions of The Brief will contain district specific content written by and for the colleagues of each GMP district to showcase and celebrate some of the fantastic work our officers and staff have undertaken, giving them well deserved recognition for the crucial service they provide.
September is a huge month for policing in the districts of GMP. The new model for response policing is being launched, as is the new Force Crime Management Unit (FCMU). These major changes, alongside the restructure to neighbourhood policing, give those in the districts clearer direction, strengthening our local policing model and ensuring
a more consistent level of service for victims of crime.
This new model provides three clear objectives:
• Response: Responding to incidents and emergencies
• FCMU: Investigating and solving crime
• Neighbourhoods: Reducing and preventing crime
I am confident that this new policing model will benefit both the organisation and Greater Manchester’s communities. I look forward to reading the upcoming district editions of The Brief and urge everyone within those districts to embrace this new internal publication. Look out for copies on your district or read your monthly magazine via the intranet.”
If you need any support with Bee in the Loop or would like to submit a story for the new district edition of The Brief, please get in touch with Georgia Holland or Jessica Allen-Millbank
Our new Roads Policing Unit at Whitefield Police Station will help us to make Greater Manchester safer and reduce the number of serious and fatal collisions on our motorways and roads.
That was the message from Roads Policing Chief Inspector Michael Parker following the unveiling of the RPU on Monday 21 August.
He said: “Following the uplift in specialist Roads Policing Officers over the past year thanks to a significant investment, we needed more space – and Whitefield is the ideal location for what is the force’s third RPU base.
“In fact, it was previously a roads policing base 15 years ago.
“Returning to Whitefield, which also houses Taser training, will enable us to provide improved coverage across Greater Manchester as well as better support for our districts – there is now a dedicated RPU car for each of our districts.”
Our other RPUs are based at Ashton and Eccles police stations.
CI Parker added: “Each of our strategically placed RPUs now cover a third of Greater Manchester’s motorway and road networks.
“The new Whitefield RPU covers the north of the force – the Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and City of Manchester North districts – whilst the Ashton and Eccles RPUs cover the east and west respectively.
“With our Roads Policing Officers all being based in the area they cover, they will get to incidents quicker and will also have more scope to concentrate on proactive roads policing in their specific RPU area.
“This will lead to more proactive enforcement of traffic legislation and targeting of high-risk drivers, denying criminals use of our road network and a reduction in serious and fatal collisions.
“RPU officers are specialists in all roads policing matters, and the restructure of our RPU operation will enable them to do their job more effectively for the benefit of the communities we serve.”
Whitefield RPU will house an Inspector, five Sergeants and 35 Constables, some of which have moved locations from the Eccles or Tameside RPU bases, whilst others have recently
joined roads policing from districts and external forces.
The new RPU was unveiled by our Chief Constable Stephen Watson.
He said: “Whitefield becoming our third Roads Policing Unit base is good news for the public, good news for Whitefield, good news for the RPU, good news for GMP and gives more power to our elbow collectively in looking after the people that we serve.
“They will now see operational colleagues working from Whitefield 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is always popular.
“It is also a symbol of a new resurgent GMP – more resources, better equipped, better focused and taking the fight to criminals like never before.
“That is why the force is performing so well at present. Our trajectory of improvement is large and is being noticed across the country.”
GMP officers are responsible for the policing of one of the most diverse road networks in the UK, with an area covering 492 square miles and a population of approximately 2.86 million.
Greater Manchester also has one of the busiest motorway networks in Europe, including the M62 Trans-Pennine motorway, M60 Ring Road, M66, M61, M602, M56, M67 and A627(M).
Our road section goes far beyond the motorways and includes not only the busy inner-city parts of Manchester but some of the most rural and secluded parts of Saddleworth Moor.
Our Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) carries out one of the most important and most rewarding roles in the force – and now they are playing a key role in a project to get national legislation updated to address new types of offences.
Offenders are utilising modern technology to provide depraved services for paedophiles all over the world. This includes utilising 3D graphics, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to create child sexual abuse material which is then sold via online platforms in the form of still images, videos and VR experiences.
Computer generated child sexual abuse material is also commissioned using supplied images of children that the ‘customer’ finds attractive.
With the developments in technology and the emergence of AI child sexual abuse material, the current legislation is not sufficient and there are a number of loopholes that can benefit offenders.
The South East Regional Organised Crime Unit’s Online Covert Child Investigation Team (OCCIT) is leading a project for the Home Office to address the legislative shortfalls.
GMP’s OCAIT have been tasked with looking after two ongoing test cases as part of this national project.
Based at Nexus House, OCAIT predominantly deals with intelligence referrals from the National Crime Agency (NCA) regarding people uploading and downloading child sexual abuse material via online platforms and the dark web.
Meet members of the team:
The team also proactively seeks, via covert systems, online offenders who share such material online.
OCAIT Detective Inspector Zoe Marsden said: “The team works every day to bring child sex offenders to justice and to protect and safeguard victims and other vulnerable children. There cannot be a more important job than that, and I have not got the words to express how rewarding it is when high risk paedophiles are jailed and children are safeguarded thanks to the work and dedication of my team.
“We have a 78 per cent positive outcome (suspect charged or cautioned) rate for our investigations, and in recent times the evidence we have gathered has secured significant custodial sentences against a number of prolific paedophiles, including Gerald Glancy (jailed for 15 years), Mathew Barrow (jailed for 12 years and five months), Anthony O’Neil (jailed for nine-and-ahalf years) and Philip Thompson (jailed for nine years and four months).
DI Marsden added: “In simple terms, we develop intelligence to identify an address or suspect and then execute a warrant at the address to seize devices
and/or arrest any identified suspects.
“The examination of devices then usually provides us with the evidence to be able to prosecute offenders.
“It also often identifies further suspects or victims, whether nationally or globally.
“We work to identify victims of firstgeneration images and those who have been sought out and targeted online and often coerced or threatened into sending indecent images of themselves. We are then able to safeguard them and put appropriate support measures in place.’
DI Marsden leads the team, which also consists of:
• Three investigation Detective Sergeants
• Twenty-four investigation Detective Constables
• One intel DS
• Two intel DCs
• Two intel Investigative Support Officers (ISOs)
• Two Victim ID Officers.
DI Marsden said: “We sometimes struggle to recruit new members to the team because people don’t understand the nature of our work and how interesting and rewarding it is.
“Yes we do often have to deal with distressing cases, but there is support available to the team and the positives of the job far outweigh the negatives.
“If anyone is interested in joining OCAIT and wants to find out more about our work, contact me via zoe.marsden@ gmp.police.uk.”
“I have worked in the team for around six years and have always thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a very close-knit team who are always supportive of each other, and the work that we do is so rewarding. Moving to OCAIT is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I have been involved in so much important work here.”
“I am fairly new to the team, having been her for around 12 months. Everyone has been so welcoming, and if anyone has an interest in this line of work I would recommend that they get in touch as and when vacancies arise. There is so much to learn, and the specific skills of everyone in the team are fully utilised.”
“Some people think that we look at child abuse images every day, but that’s simply not the case. There so much more to the job than that. You often go home thinking ‘I’ve really achieved something important today’, and there are not many policing roles with which you can say that. Moving to OCAIT six years ago was a wise decision for me.”
DC James Teggart DC Janice Briggs DC Alex Mulhall‘Jobs don’t come more important than ours’
The Child Sexual Exploitation Major Investigation Team, based at Nexus House, has secured its first convictions, with five men convicted of 22 offences relating to non-recent child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.
The convictions follow an eight-year investigation and the first of five ‘cohorts’ of charges under Operation Lytton.
Lytton follows three previous operations, also focussing on non-recent child sexual exploitation in Rochdale, which resulted in the convictions of 36 offenders in 2012 and 2015.
The two victims and survivors were teenage girls when they were subjected to horrific abuse between 2002 and 2006.
The offenders will be sentenced on Tuesday 31 October 2023.
Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jackson said: “These convictions are a testament to the true resilience of the victims and survivors who, thankfully, felt able to trust Greater Manchester Police and have confidence in the criminal justice system to support prosecutions.
“They demonstrated such bravery in testifying against these offenders on their journey to justice.
“This result is long-awaited – we are truly thankful to the victims and survivors for their continued patience and engagement as we followed due process to ensure sound prosecutions.
“We understand that CSE can often have a lifelong impact on those affected. As such, specialist services will continue to provide them with care for as long as they need.”
Formerly the Force CSE Unit, CSE MIT was established in 2021 and is dedicated to investigating the most serious and complex cases across Greater Manchester whilst supporting investigations led by district-based officers, ensuring that investigations into non-recent child sexual exploitations are of a consistently high standard. It is made up of police officers and staff who are specially trained to work with partner agencies to effectively identify and engage with victims, ensure safeguarding action is taken, locate and trace suspects and gather evidence for presentation to the Crown Prosecution Service.
ACC Jackson added: “These convictions are also a significant
milestone on our continuing journey to improve investigations into non-recent child sexual exploitation across Greater Manchester.
“Whilst we have had every confidence in the operating model of CSE MIT since its launch in 2021, we know those to whom we are accountable have been keen to see further judicial outcomes.
“At this point, it would be amiss not to recognise and commend the hard work and invaluable contribution of the Rochdale district, particularly in the six years before CSE MIT existed.
“Victims and survivors, members of the public and stakeholders now have some assurance that whilst investigations into non-recent CSE are complexed and can take some time, this police force is ready to respond, and that the victim-led, suspect-focussed approach taken in this case and others yields results in terms of justice for survivors, offenders and communities.”
GMP employees were treated to a unique visit to Hough End for Specialist Operations’ open day.
They brought their family and friends to GMP’s wonderful home for police horses and dog training on Wednesday 16 August.
Mounted Unit Inspector Susan Redfern, who arranged the day, said: “The open event was all about showcasing what the Specialist Ops unit has to offer.
“It was a fantastic family day with over 400 people in attendance, interacting with the officers and getting to know what we do.
“We rarely get to host days like this, but when we do it is always very popular and well attended.”
The visit started with a behind-the-scenes tour through the heart of the Mounted Unit, where most members of the force have never been, to get up close to some of the 20 horses we have.
Visitors were shown the equipment needed for both riders and the horses, which are all named after Charles Dickens characters.
Heading outside, the visitors discovered that there was an abundance of Specialist Ops cars on show.
From the small CCTV smart car to the new Tactical Aid Unit (TAU) van, visitors were allowed to get inside the vehicles and take a good look.
The motorbikes, with their loud sirens, were a big hit with the kids, as were the firearms teams and their equipment.
The drone team were also there, showcasing their impressive collection of machines, and the dogs were on their best behaviour as they displayed their skills on the practice field.
Brave trainers donned protective gear and were taken down by the dogs in training, much to the crowd’s delight.
They were also able to pet the much friendlier spaniels.
Inspector Redfern added: “The open day was a big success, and we hope that it will encourage people to apply for posts within Specialist Ops, now that they have seen what’s on offer.”
GMP is committed to becoming a police force with a prevention ethos.
As such, we have been forming a Prevention Branch from Neighbourhoods, Confidence and Equality (NCE) for the past 18 months. The aim of the branch is ‘fewer victims, fewer offences and less demand on policing, achieved by addressing underlying causes using partnership orientated problem solving’.
Chief Superintendent Emma Taylor: “The Prevention Branch has been created to help GMP on its journey to becoming an outstanding force.
“The force has made huge strides forward in improving our approach to prevention and problem solving.
“We now have a clearly defined approach to problem solving. Through the implementation of Prevention Hubs on every district, we have been able to embed a consistent approach and greatly improve the quality of our Problem Orientated Policing (POP) plans. Officers and staff in Prevention Hubs, neighbourhoods and other roles, including safeguarding teams, are following the SARA model and achieving some great results in tackling problems in our communities.
“The Prevention Branch are here to support operational colleagues and improve the service we provide to the public.
“By working together, we will continue our progress to becoming a force with prevention at its core.”
The Prevention Branch has:
• Embedded Mental Health Joint Response Vehicles (MHJRVs)
• Improved Integrated Offender Management (IOM) compliance
• Created district data packs to identify repeat demand and drive problem solving activity.
There are many work streams managed by the branch, with the teams are split into three areas:
Force Prevention Hub
• Problem solving: Governance and support for districts, monitored through the D-POP meeting. POP training is currently managed in branch.
• Right Care, Right Person (RCRP): An ongoing project to implement the national RCRP model in GMP and reduce attendance at non-crime incidents that are more suited to other agencies.
• Mental Health Co-ordination Unit: A central team that supports districts and liaises with mental health trusts and social care leads to improve partnership working and responses for those with mental health issues who require police contact.
• Crime Prevention Team (CPT): Crime reduction co-ordinators are aligned to districts and provide crime prevention advice and training. They have thematic responsibilities for specific areas of crime.
• Design For Security (DFS): This team of consultants engage with developers at the design stage to ensure opportunities for crime are minimised by environmental factors.
• Evidence-based policing: The EBP Board governs the use of evidence-based policing with academic partners. The EBP Hub supports academics and staff with research projects and shares good practice through regular forums and newsletters.
• Performance and governance: District data packs and demand profiles are produced by this team, which supports branch performance.
• Neighbourhood Support: The team has subject matter experts for anti-social behaviour, licensing, drugs early warning, wildlife matters, home watch schemes, PCSOs and the neighbourhood policing app.
• Victim Service Co-ordinators: An established team of senior strategic police advisors within the Prevention Branch, they have thematic and geographic expertise regarding victim rights, victims’ services and victim strategies.
• Confidence and satisfaction: Strategic advice and operational support across the force for service delivery improvement, predominantly victim satisfaction and public confidence.
• Integrated Offender Management: IOM teams now have central governance.
• Citizens in Policing: This team manages the central governance for Specials, Volunteer Police Cadets and Public Service Volunteers. They will support districts with CiP resources where possible.
• Equality and hate crime: The force subject matter expert provides support for the hate crime strategic lead and provides guidance to districts around equality and hate crime issues.
• Independent Advisory Group: The Force IAG is led by the team and provides guidance to districts around local IAGs.
• Independent Community Scrutiny Panels (ICSPs): The team supports districts by providing advice and guidance around their set up and governance.
• Stop search: Supporting the stop search strategic lead.
• Serious Violence Programme: Monitors Home Office funded activities to reduce serious violent crime across districts. A monthly briefing document is produced for each district outlining knife crime and violent crime data.
• Urban Street Gang interventions: Research and development into the membership of USGs across districts and problem-solving activity for both nominals and locations.
• Venture Team: Dedicated uniformed proactive unit deployed to identified violence hotspots across the force. They target known violent offenders and provide community assurance.
• School Engagement Officers: Central governance of SEOs is managed by the team to assist them in building relationships with young people and to support schools.
Check out the ‘Prevention Branch’ section of the intranet for more information, including contact details for each team.
Bringing eight men to justice for murder, saving the life of a retired GMP officer and the success of a project in tackling backlogs and issues relating to the forensic analysis of devices containing child sexual exploitation and abuse images have led to a trio a Chief Constable’s Commendations.
The recipients of the commendations handed out by CC Stephen Watson at an awards ceremony at the Hough End Centre and the standout work that they were recognised for are detailed below.
• Detective Inspector Heidi Cullum and Vehicle Examiner Jason Roberts: In February 2022 Christopher Hughes was kidnapped and brutally murdered. Major Investigation Team (MIT) Syndicate 8 commenced the murder investigation (Operation Feverfew). They established that Christopher, 37, had been wrongly identified as a rapist by a vigilante group. He was subjected to a horrific attack and sustained over 90 injuries. His body was then left in a field whilst the attackers decided how to conceal their crime. Severe weather hampered their attempts, and Christopher’s body was found by a member of the public. DI Cullum oversaw the investigation. One of the key pieces of evidence was the car used in the kidnap. The car had been cut into several pieces, but GMP Vehicle Examiner Jason diligently rebuilt it to enable vital evidence to be gathered. The Visual Evidence, Retrieval and Analysis (VERA) team trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage to trace the car, and eight men were subsequently convicted of kidnap and murder, all receiving life sentences. They were handed a total of over 235 years imprisonment between them.
• Police Constables Jenna Millward and Emma Millward: The married couple performed lifesaving CPR on David Bell after the retired GMP officer had suffered a cardiac arrest in their close. PC Jenna Millward, one of our Roads Policing Unit officers, and PC Emma Millward, who works for Lancashire Constabulary, were off duty at the time. They saw David, who is the father of one of their neighbours, after he had collapsed whilst taking out the bins. David had sustained an open wound to the side of his head from the fall and was not breathing. PCs Jenna and Emma Millward ran outside to help him. Barefooted and dressed in their pyjamas, they utilised
their extensive first aid training to give David CPR. They also called for an ambulance and asked a passer-by to bring them a defibrillator that the officers knew was located at a nearby garage. The officers subsequently used the defibrillator to restart David’s heart before the ambulance arrived. The attending paramedic has since complimented Jenna and Emma on their response and said that their actions saved David’s life.
• The Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Automation Project team of Digital Forensic Unit Manager Ryan Moulson, Digital Forensic Quality and Development Co-ordinator Chris Whiteley and Digital Forensic Investigators Lucy Carey-Shields, Dean Southworth, David McKeown and Dale Walker: The CSE Automation Project was introduced to address the problem of backlogs and issues relating to the forensic analysis of devices containing images of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Research showed that the increase in demand was having a negative impact on staff wellbeing, and delays were impacting on victims and witnesses too. The project introduced the use of robot technology, removing disconnected processes and reducing the need for repetitive and time intensive processing. GMP was the lead force on this project, and cases were processed 55 per cent faster. The work has been published nationally as a best practice model. It has also been showcased internationally. This is all down to the fantastic group of people involved in the project.
Detective Sergeants Jackie Watson and Paul Rees, Investigative Support Officers (ISOs) Toby Coshall and Stephen Eden, Major Incident Analyst Helen Hibbert and Crown Prosecution Service Case Worker Lisa Evans received Judge’s Commendations at the awards ceremony, for their key contributions to Operation Feverfew in identifying the victim, the offenders and the motive.
CC Watson said: “The fact that so many members of the force were presented with commendations at my monthly awards ceremony is testimony to the high standard of our officers and staff. The recipients have all done themselves and GMP proud and thoroughly deserve to have been commended for their standout work. They are a credit to the force.”
Check out the ‘Chief Constable award winners’ intranet article for more details of the awards.
and retired officers, PCSOs, Specials, Custody Detention Officers and police staff investigators – including CSIs and civilian investigators – who are members of the PTC. Visit the PTC website for further details.
as for the person who is offering their support.
If you would like more information about the role, email wellbeingvolunteer coordinators@gmp.police.uk.
Coming up in September
The Police Treatment Centre (PTC) has launched an Online Women’s Health Programme.
It provides officers and staff with access to fitness, nutrition and wellbeing advice from a multidisciplinary team of professionals with expertise in women’s health.
Those wishing to access the online service will receive an initial dual assessment with women’s health trained fitness and physiotherapy professionals, followed by a detailed treatment plan including signposting to appropriate services or resources.
The team can offer support with:
• Ante and post-natal fitness
• Menopause
• Pelvic floor
• Nutrition
• Weight management
• Fitness training
• Signposting to virtual resources, including PTC educational videos
The team are rehabilitation specialists with a wealth of knowledge and understanding of the demands of policing. They can support women to remain in their role or facilitate a confident return to work, as well as enjoying their home life and hobbies.
This service is available to all serving
The Greater Manchester Police Federation is hosting a Maternity Open Day at Progress House from 10am to 2pm on Thursday 7 September.
There will be a number of representatives from various teams attending to offer their support and advice, including Greater Manchester Shared Services/Payroll, HR policy, Wellbeing Co-ordinators, the DMS team, the Association for Women in Policing (AWP), maternity and family representatives, Federation reps and financial and charity partners.
Babies, partners and all police staff and officers are welcome to attend. There will be a private office for feeding and a bench in the unisex/disabled toilet.
Please share details of the event with those who will be going on maternity leave, those who have returned and those who are currently on mat leave.
Last year the Professional Standards Branch (PSB) and the Wellbeing Team worked together to launch the voluntary role of Welfare Peer, to provide wellbeing support for those under investigation.
There have been three Welfare Peer induction courses to date, and another one will be taking place in October.
This is a really valuable role which formalises the support offered to the individual under investigation as well
The theme for the Wellbeing Calendar this month is ‘finance’.
The Wellbeing pages on the intranet contain updated information on financial support, including details of GMP’s financial toolkit, Police Mutual, No1 CopperPot Credit Union and Simplyhealth.
There are also resources available on gambling, debts and savings.
Awareness in September
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Blood Cancer Awareness Month.
The month also sees a number of awareness days and weeks, including:
• Know Your Numbers! Week (blood pressure awareness): Monday 4 September to Sunday 10 September
• World Suicide Prevention Day: Sunday 10 September
• World Sepsis Day: Wednesday 13 September
• National Eye Health Week: Monday 18 September to Sunday 24 September
• Organ Donation Week: Monday 18 September to Sunday 24 September
Chief Constable Stephen Watson says that the high standard of this year’s district and branch award wins has left him with a headache.
In a new process for this year, all districts and branches were asked to hold their own reward and recognition event, with the winning teams and individuals being put forward for the Chief Constable’s Annual Awards.
GMP’s 2023 district and branch awards have now all taken place – check out the
‘Branch and district awards 2023’ intranet article for more details.
Attention now turns to the Chief’s awards, which will be held at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on Friday 13 October.
CC Watson said: “Congratulations and a big well done to all the winners of this year’s branch and district awards.
“The awards offered the chance to highlight, celebrate and reward the fantastic work being done by teams and
individuals across Greater Manchester Police. I look forward to doing the same at forcewide level at the Etihad Stadium in October.
“Before then, I have to select overall winners for each category.
“Considering the standard of this year’s district and branch award wins, that is going to be an extremely difficult task.”
The winners of the Chief Constable’s Annual Awards will be showcased in the November edition of The Brief.
From April until July 2023 CoM North Prevention Hub School Engagement Officers worked alongside The Message Trust to deliver the No More Knives tour to multiple schools in the North of the City of Manchester Division.
Assemblies were delivered to every year group in each school, designed to equip young people with the skills and knowledge they need to say ‘no’ to knives.
Combining music with powerful stories and the VRU knife crime presentation, the young people were informed about the legal impact, the community impact and the personal impact of carrying a knife.
There was also a concert at Middleton Arena at the end of the tour, which all the young people from the schools could attend.
The tour was a great success, and due to high demand PC Dan Pell from CoM North Prevention was able to secure an extra day in July for schools that had missed out.
This was a great input that was enjoyed by all pupils, staff and officers.
A spokesperson for Oasis Academy said: “The No More Knives tour is more than just a message, more than
a workshop. These are real stories and real people.
Students left with a real topic of conversation and understanding of how to make better choices. This tour is a lifeline to many students who needed to hear and say ‘no more knives’.”
The tour came to The Academy Theatre on Monday 24 April for students in Years seven to 10. The Message Trust, which organises the tour, explained the performances, saying: “Combining music with powerful stories and teaching, we deliver lessons and assemblies that equip young people with the skills and knowledge they need to say no to knives and start to discover their full value and identity.”
After the tour and sessions, the students were heard commenting about now they understood the consequences of carrying knives and why it was so important to avoid them.
Attracting over 1,000 attendees each week from across North Manchester, members of Manchester Youth Zone are from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, with 49 per cent from black communities, 19 per cent from other backgrounds (including Chinese and Arabic communities) and 32 per cent from white British backgrounds.
Led by Chief Inspector Simon Nasim and Police Sergeant Jeff Pearcey from the Prevention Hub, the City of Manchester North team have been engaging with members during sessions at the community space to break down barriers between young people and the police.
Working with harder-to-reach youth groups, officers have been interacting with three different age groups – eight to 11-year-olds, 11 to 14-year-old and 14 to 19-year-olds (and up to 25-year-olds with
additional needs).
During the group sessions, they were asked questions such as “If you could ask an officer any questions without getting into trouble, what would you ask?” and “What are the issues that affect you the most?”.
The groups were incredibly engaging with officers, especially when it came to the questions they would ask an officer, which ranged from “Why do you think
young people do not like you?” and “Why do you ruin fun?” to “How do you see young people?” and “How do you help the community?”.
The sessions completed so far have answered the questions raised and have provided young people taking part with a voice on how they feel whilst out and about within their communities.
Issues that were raised by groups across the age ranges asked included bullying, vaping, peer pressure, gang activity and police stop and search.
Since the sessions, several young people have emailed the team with issues that have been affecting them and have felt that strengthened relationships with the police enabled them to open up new channels of communication, with activity planned in the coming months to address any further concerns they have.
On Thursday 13 July 2023 GMP received a call from the North West Ambulance Service after a pedestrian versus car road traffic collision in Heald Place, Fallowfield.
Officers attended the scene, and it is alleged that the vehicle had been deliberately driven at a 14-year-old pedestrian before the passenger got out and chased him on foot.
It is then alleged that the driver drove over the boy before the vehicle fled the scene.
The victim was rushed to hospital with multiple injuries, including lacerations and a punctured lung, a laceration to his spleen, a fractured pelvis and a head injury.
He spent 10 days in hospital before being allowed to go home to recover.
A suspect was quickly identified, and with the support of TVIU, TAU and COM Central DTT, numerous efforts were made to locate the vehicle and suspect overnight.
The suspect was arrested on Friday 14 July 2023 and was subsequently charged with attempted murder and dangerous driving.
Through excellent teamwork and meticulous CCTV recovery, assisted by the VERA unit, evidence has been uncovered indicating a prior altercation between those involved in the RTC.
The officer in the case (OIC), IA Claire Simister, said: “This was a fantastic team job – every element of the investigation was thorough in a bid to ensure the best possible outcome for the teenage victim.
“Due to this, we were able to arrest the
suspect within a 24-hour period.
“He is now remanded in prison, and I am thankful to every person involved in this investigation.”
With a fast-paced investigation, all involved have shown professionalism, dedication and tenacity.
Investigations are ongoing to identify other people involved.
A huge thank you to the following in achieving this result:
• The OICs IA Claire Simister/DC Vanessa Redman
• C and D Relief at Longsight CID
• COM Central DTT
• Spec Ops – TVIU, TAU and SCIU
• VERA Unit (Steve Eden and Ben Perez-Amaro)
• Tier 5 Interview Advisor Matt Donnelly.
In January 2023, following on from an excellent investigation led by CoM Central CPIU team involving an initial joint approach from various departments, and continuation of the investigation by the officer in the case (OIC) Detective Sergeant Ben Redford, 51-year-old Christopher Matthews was convicted and sentenced for two counts of rape and one of attempted rape of a 12-year-old girl.
This followed guilty verdicts at trial in late 2022.
He received a 16-year custodial sentence for each rape and an 11-year custodial sentence for attempt rape, which will run concurrently.
This was an excellent result and a good example of the great work by DS Redford and the CPIU team, who all played a part in the investigation leading to Matthews being charged and remanded.
Credit must also go to officers from uniformed departments for their assistance in initial investigations and the DIU Team for their assistance in locating and arresting Matthews.
Since his conviction, the CPIU has been further investigating Matthews in relation to further serious sexual offences, and on 18 July 2023, after a thorough and excellent investigation, the OIC DC Beth Copplestone secured a further seven CPS charges for Matthews in relation to this investigation, including three for rape, two for attempted rape and two for observing a person performing a sexual act.
This is after a thorough and challenging investigation and brilliant work from the OIC and CPIU team.
This is such a significant achievement in bringing a high-risk child sex offender to justice, and safeguarding the victims involved, protecting the wider public and further children from harm.
The CPIU and DS Redford is dedicated to ensuring that every possible element of this case has been thoroughly investigated in order to secure further justice for a vulnerable 12-year-old child.