The Manchester Evening News looks back on the cases before our regions courts this week
Top: Paul Keevil and Jack Platt
Bottom: Bilal Jama and Michael Ogbeide-John(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
A chess champion who stalked a woman after she refused to rekindle an affair is amongst those who have been jailed in Greater Manchester this week.
Paul Keevil threatened to smear the woman as a ‘prostitute’ and resorted to ‘blackmail’ after she began a relationship with another man. He was locked up for over two years.
Also behind bars this week are two thugs who used Facebook Marketplace to ensnare their victims; and a 77-year-old paedophile who groomed a teenage girl before sexually assaulting her.
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Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders, and Manchester Evening News court reporters are on hand to cover the most serious cases.
Here is a roundup of those cases heard before the courts this week:
Paul Keevil
(Image: GMP)
A chess champion stalked a woman and threatened to smear her as a prostitute after she refused to rekindle an affair they began via a ‘sugar daddies’ dating site, a court heard. Married Paul Keevil, 55, had been gifting her money, but resorted to ‘effectively blackmail’ when she began a relationship with another man, the court was told.
Over a five month period, obsessed Keevil, who’s won UK chess tournaments and coached the game, vowed to publicly slur her unless she got back with him. He even sued her for £5,000 for the return of the cash, telling her she would face jail for fraud.
In one message Keevil told the victim: ”The best thing you can do right now is say ok and that means sleeping with each other (willingly), it means flirting with each other and it means nice messages and emojis. And yes it means telling a few people we’re together. If you do that, any threats will go.”
At Bolton Crown Court Keevil, of Fairman Drive in Hindley, Wigan, was jailed for 28 months after he admitted stalking the woman and sexually assaulting her. He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for 10 years.
Read the full story here: Chess champion stalks woman and threatens to smear her as a prostitute after she refused to rekindle ‘sugar daddy’ romance
Bilal Jama and Michael Ogbeide-John
Bilal Jama and Michael Ogbeide-John have been sentenced for their roles in a series of linked violent robberies(Image: GMP)
Two violent teenage thugs used alias profiles to find their victims on Facebook Marketplace before attacking or threatening them, a court has heard.
Bilal Jama and Michael Ogbeide-John, both aged 17, used various names on the social networking site to falsely advertise a bike they were selling before going on to rob and attack their victims when they met to pay for the items, a court heard.
Both were sentenced on Tuesday (October 14) at Manchester Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to three counts of robbery and one of attempted robbery. Ogbeide-John additionally plead guilty to possession of a bladed article.
Read the full story here: ‘Do you want me to stab you?’: The violent thugs who used Facebook Marketplace to lure their victims
Jack Platt
Jack Platt(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
A 77-year-old man sexually assaulted a teenage girl after grooming her.
Jack Platt had befriended the girl and would invite her, and her friends, round to his house on multiple occasions. Whilst there he offered them drinks, and would go on to hug the girl after each visit.
During one particular visit with friends, Platt put his hand under her shirt, leaving her feeling ‘creeped out’. She later realised her bra had been unclipped, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
On a further visit, he gave her pieces of jewellery and asked the group if they had a boyfriend, if they’d had sex before and stated that if they were his girlfriend he would ‘treat them better’.
It was during that visit that he showed her his aftershave collection before asking her for a hug, said prosecutor David Toal.
“He hugged her then walked her backwards onto the bed. He started touching her with his thumb on her thigh, she froze and didn’t say anything as he touched her [breast],” he said.
“He then touched her face and kissed her on the lips as she desperately tried to move away from him.”
He was jailed for 45 months.
Read the full story here: Man, 77, is finally where he belongs
David Dyet
David Dyet(Image: GMP)
A thug left his partner ‘petrified’ after flying into a violent rage and strangling her. David Dyet, 45, strangled his now ex, hit her and threatened to stab and kill her.
Minshull Street Crown Court heard his fit of rage began in their bedroom as Dyet issued foul-mouthed threats. Dyet, from Heywood, was sentenced to a year and six months.
Prosecuting, Emily Woodside said a row broke out between Dyet and his former partner in the early hours of June 27. She began recording what was happening on her phone, before Dyet began attacking her.
The woman could be heard ‘crying throughout’ in the footage.
Dyet told her: “Do you think I give a s*** if I knock you the f*** out?” He straddled her and put his hands around her neck. As she screamed, Dyet released his grip.
He then hit her around the head and told her she was ‘not going to leave the house alive’. Dyet repeatedly threatened to ‘stab and kill her’.
Read the full story here: ‘Do you think I give a s*** if I knock you the f*** out?’
Allan Sice
Allan Sice(Image: GMP)
A dad from Oldham was dragged back home from Brazil to face justice over a plot to import huge amounts of cocaine from South America.
Allan Sice, 49, fled the country in a bid to dodge justice. Previously, secret messages revealed he had been plotting with other criminals to import more than 100 kilos of cocaine from South America into the UK.
Manchester Crown Court heard how messaging revealed he was talking with contacts about cocaine potentially being smuggled from Ecuador while hidden in bananas, or from Colombia inside a cover load of coffee. EncroChat messages sent by Sice, who operated anonymously as the handle ‘LuckyNumberEight’ within the encrypted messaging system, revealed his role as a ‘middleman’ within the criminal underworld. No drugs were actually supplied or imported in the case.
A judge said he was sure that Sice had fled to Brazil after discovering that European law enforcement had infiltrated the EncroChat system and its contents.
After being extradited back to the UK, Sice has now been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Read the full story here: One-way ticket for Oldham dad who thought he’d be safe in Brazil