PICTURED: The criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week

Obert Moyo

Two children lay by their dying mother, one comforting her and the other praying for her life, after she was brutally stabbed by her jealous ex-partner who had stalked her for months. Perseverance Ncube, 35, and her two children ran away in terror after Obert Moyo broke into their home in Salford and began strangling her.

The children, aged 10 and 12, were woken up in the middle of the night by their mother's screams as Moyo launched the horror attack. They bravely tried to fight him off, allowing their mother time to try and escape.

But as mum - known as 'Percy' to friends - and the children ran from the house on Dukesgate Grove in Little Hulton in the early hours of November 10 last year, Moyo soon caught up and stabbed her in the heart with a skewer with 'severe' force. One of Ms Ncube's children laid by her in the street after she was stabbed, while the other child 'prayed for her mother's life'.

On Tuesday, Moyo, 46, was jailed for life - with a minimum term of 27 years - after pleading guilty to murdering Ms Ncube.

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Robert Bennett

A major drugs kingpin - described by police as 'a highly sophisticated and professional international trafficker' - was finally arrested as he prepared to watch Manchester City play Liverpool at Anfield.

Robert Bennett, 50, was described by the National Crime Agency as 'ghost-like'. They said he left 'little trace' and 'managed to stay off the radar for a long time'. But justice has now caught up with him and he's behind bars serving a 19-year prison sentence.

NCA officers swooped in to arrest him on October 3, 2021, as he walked into Anfield to watch Liverpool play Manchester City in the Premier League.

The agency said Bennett, from Wigan, was involved in the smuggling, or discussions around possible smuggling, of more than a ton of cocaine into Liverpool. Known by the handle 'Dior Six' on the encrypted communications platform EncroChat, he worked with offenders based abroad and in the UK to traffic cocaine, the NCA said.

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Shabaz Ali

A drug dealer crashed his car during a chase before he was later spotted by a police helicopter hiding in a nearby garden.

Shabaz Ali, also known as 'Greeneyes', was caught out when officers from GMP's Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit noticed a 'suspicious' white VW Golf GTI driving along Kingsway, Rochdale.

After failing to stop, officers engaged in a pursuit, with Ali reaching speeds of 90mph through 30mph speed limit zones. The chase took police through housing estates before Ali crashed the car into a kerb along Belfield Lane and fled the scene on foot.

After searching the car, Greater Manchester Police said a 'substantial' amount of crack cocaine and heroin worth £10,000 were discovered in the car. A total of 814 individual wraps were recovered, along with an additional package containing enough heroin for a further 130 individual wraps.

Ali, 32, of Deeplish Road, Rochdale, was later sentenced to seven years behind bars after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs, dangerous driving, and driving whilst disqualified.

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Matthew Jones

A killer who stabbed a man to death and then tried to behead him launched a desperate bid to cover his tracks. Matthew Jones murdered 39-year-old William Phelan in his victim's own home in Harpurhey, north Manchester.

After the sickening attack, Jones left Mr Phelan's body, and deliberately broke a key in the lock to the front door to hinder anyone trying to enter the flat. It was six weeks before the alarm was raised and Mr Phelan's body was discovered, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Prosecutors were unable to say exactly when the killing occurred, only that it was sometime in January 2018. Jones, 45, went on trial accused of murder in 2021 and was found guilty.

But he successfully appealed his conviction after his lawyers complained of a legal issue within the judge's directions to the jury. Following a re-trial, Jones was convicted of murder for a second time.

He has been handed a life sentence, and ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars.

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