The Manchester Evening News looks back on the cases before our region’s courts this week
17:02, 20 Dec 2025Updated 16:44, 21 Dec 2025
Amongst those locked up this week in Chad James (left), Kristen O’Reilly (middle) and John Joyce (right)
Two drug dealers who tried to flee the country to escape justice are among those who have been jailed this week in Greater Manchester.
Chad James and John Joyce had both been involved in drug dealing at a large scale. As police closed in, Joyce fled to Dubai. James attempted to escape to Zurich. Both were caught up with at Manchester Airport and are now starting lengthy jail terms.
Also locked up this week was a ‘recluse’ who was exploited into being the ‘custodian’ of a bag full of guns, drugs and ammunition.
Prison terms are handed out to the worst offenders. Every day, Manchester Evening News court reporters are on hand to cover the most serious cases.
Here is a roundup of the criminals jailed this week in our region:
George Brusby
George Brusby(Image: Cheshire Constabulary)
A man has been jailed after his victim saw a video of him being shared by a group of paedophile hunters online. George Brusby, 28, was snared when a video of him was shared by a group who had used a decoy account to catch him sending sexual messages to someone he believed was a child.
After seeing the clip, the victim told police Brusby had sexually abused her in the Warrington area between the ages of 11 and 14, when Brusby was also a child, aged between 12 and 16.
A court heard how Brusby would rape the victim and sexually assault her, also inciting her to engage in sexual activity. She stated she never consented to any of it, but Brusby would use force to rape or assault her.
He was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
Read the full story here: Man jailed after victim saw video of him on paedophile hunters’ page
Damien Walsh
Damien Walsh has now been jailed(Image: Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)
A driver who killed a man after losing control of a high-speed Jaguar he bought within just months of passing his test has been jailed.
Damien Walsh, 23, was overtaking a learner driver near a blind bend at speeds of up to 73mph in his uninsured Jaguar XE R-Sport during the evening rush hour when he lost control of the car, a court heard. The car ploughed into George Pirtheesingh, 44, leaving him with multiple fatal injuries.
Tragically, he died on the scene on Chew Moor Lane in the Westhoughton area of Bolton, on October 28, 2024.
Walsh was locked up for seven years and eight months.
Read the full story here: Months after passing his test he bought a Jaguar he couldn’t afford, and it would end in tragedy
Chad James
Chad James
A drug dealer who was arrested before trying to leave the UK on a flight from Manchester Airport later continued with his operation from behind bars. Chad James was first arrested in February 2023 as he attempted to travel to Zurich.
James, 37, of HMP Wymott, later pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to supply class A and B controlled drugs, money laundering and conspiracy to supply a firearm. He was sentenced in August 2023 to 16 years in prison.
However, despite being behind bars, he continued to operate as a drug supplier from his prison cell, conspiring with associate Mark McGovern, 62, of Ingleway Avenue, Blackpool, who enlisted the help of others to courier and supply drugs and cash on their behalf.
James and the other members of the organised crime gang were all jailed earlier this month following the major operation from Lancashire Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit.
James was handed an additional four years 11 months on top of the previous sentence meaning a total of more than 20 years. That and the sentences for the rest of the gang totalled more than 100 years.
Read the full story here: He was arrested at Manchester Airport but still didn’t learn his lesson
Kristen O’Reilly
Kristen O’Reilly(Image: GMP)
A man was exploited into being the ‘custodian’ of a bag full of guns. Kristen O’Reilly was arrested after police searched his Chorlton flat.
Officers asked the 36-year-old if he had anything illegal in the property. O’Reilly walked them to a cloakroom with a bag inside. It contained four firearms. ammunition and drugs.
O’Reilly pleaded guilty to a string of offences on a basis that he was a regular drug user and was suffering with physical and mental heath problems. He said he was approached by someone he was afraid of, who asked him to store the bag.
He was jailed for five years and four months.
Read the full story here: ‘Exploited recluse’ locked up after police looked in his closet
John Joyce
John Joyce has been jailed(Image: GMP)
A ‘county lines’ drugs kingpin who was arrested at Manchester Airport has been jailed. Police say John Joyce fled the UK to Dubai in an attempt to evade justice.
The 28-year-old was caught running a county lines drugs network flooding the streets of Greater Manchester with crack cocaine and heroin. Officers uncovered that Joyce was the controller of the ‘CEE’ line – a mobile number used to distribute the class A drugs.
Greater Manchester Police’s County Lines Team discovered more than 31,000 text messages and 8,700 calls linked to drug dealing activity, with bulk ‘flare’ messages advertising drugs for sale. They also found CCTV footage showing Joyce purchasing top-up vouchers to run the drugs line, while forensic analysis linked Joyce to two personal mobile numbers and vehicles used as part of the operation.
Officers searched Joyce’s apartment, where they discovered more than 460g of crack cocaine, heroin, drug paraphernalia and cash. Having previously left the country, Joyce, of Stuart Street, Manchester, was arrested at Manchester Airport.
He was jailed for five years and three months.
Read the full story here: Police descend on Manchester Airport as wanted ‘kingpin’ desperately tries to flee to Dubai
Drugs gang
Top row, left to right: John Gannon, Jacqueline McNeely and James Hull / bottom row, left to right: Aaron Shaw, Daniel Proctor and Anthony Steenson(Image: GMP/M.E.N.)
Members of a drugs gang that flogging over 120kg of cocaine across the UK have been jailed. But the man named as the outfit’s leader, John Burns, is on the run, wanted by police.
The gang supplied cocaine ‘the length and breadth’ of the country, Minshull Street Crown Court heard. The operation was run ‘like a business’, with members of the group discussing costs, wages, trips and stock on WhatsApp.
People were employed as warehouse workers and couriers. When one was arrested, another would take their place. In February 2023, the group split up after discovering police were investigating.
John Burns – who acted like a ‘CEO’ or ‘operational director’ – fled the country with his partner, the court heard. He relayed orders to his second-in-command, John Gannon, who acted as ‘director’.
Read the full story here: Fugitive drugs gang boss’ underlings face justice as he hides out abroad