Leon Atkinson, 35, was accused of plotting revenge on the Short family after a man slapped his mother Theresa during a boozy pub row. After the handover one customer was back in touch and said he wanted to buy another seven kilograms of drugs. When Manchester was known as . A revolver. Anthony Wilkinson, 33, from Beswick, Manchester, denies the murder of David Short, the attempted murder of Sharon Hark, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and causing an explosion. Immediately following the murders, Dale Cregan went to the police and turned himself in. Almost 800 people were arrested across the UK after French officials hacked the Encrochat platform enabling police to read text messages. Using the handles 'Carrothorn' and 'Maidenbear' Atkinson messaged the Cox clan to negotiate buying from them half of 1m worth of cocaine they had stolen from an infamous Liverpool crime gang. Jason and Craig Cox, Liverpool gangster, Richard Caswell, and hired hand, Ben Monks-Gorton, carried out a brutal burglary at the Liverpool gang's drugs stash house to get the 30kg of cocaine which had wholesale value of 1.2m, and was hidden in a storm drain. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. They beat me for two or three minutes, stopped, threw water at me and then pointed a gun to my head. When gang leader Leon Atkinson posted his grinning photo from his garden in Greater Manchester, officers were able to identify the others. The Shorts and Atkinsons war began more than a decade ago when Frank Atkinson allegedly threatened to kill Davids brother John only to be shot a few weeks later. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Jermaine Ward, 24, and Francis Dixon, 37, from Stalybridge, both deny the murder of David Short, the attempted murder of Sharon Hark and one count of causing an explosion. They included 88,000 violent crimes and 47 murders. His alleged sidekick Francis Dixon was also found not guilty of the murder of gun-and-grenade victim David. Organised crime is one of our top priorities at GMP and we continue to do all we can to rid our streets of drugs, gangs and violence that tear communities apart.. Cregan denies the Short murders and the attempted murder of the three others injured in the pub attack along with causing an explosion and the attempted murder of Sharon Hark in a separate attack minutes after the murder of David Short. Get your need-to-know Manchester City currently find themselves one point clear of Arsenal in the Premier League table, with Pep Guardiola's side also having a game in hand on the Gunners. "How is his knee?" The Detectives: Inside brutal Manchester turf war with dad - The Sun Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. And the situation isnt unique to Manchester. Warring members of the Short and Atkinson families held peace talks at Manchester's Arndale Centre in 2008, the trial has heard. They use people with physical, mental disabilities, children, women who are desperate for money, drug users. Manchester Crown Court was told Michael Nevin a courier working for the Cox family arranged to sell the drugs to Atkinson who sent a "mate" to meet him near Manchester City's training ground in . He was known for only having one eye, although the circumstances surrounding his injury remain unclear. He had a gun though. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. If someone else tries to muscle in on that, they will do everything possible to stop that. A new BBC documentary lays bare how Organised Crime Group (OCGs) are terrorising the city, as GMP's Major Incident Team work to bring down the most dangerous criminals. May bank holiday Monday opening times for Aldi, ASDA, Tesco, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons and Sainsbury's, Supermarket opening and closing hours for early sping bank holiday Monday, May 1, Man City's next six Premier League fixtures compared with Arsenal ahead of West Ham clash. We cannot reveal their names for legal reasons but they are being backed by heavies in Liverpool and a gangland figure in Nottingham, said to owe David a favour after he spared him in a bare- knuckle fight. Simon Atkinson is a British architect, currently the Mike Hogg Centennial Professor in Community and Regional Planning at University of Texas at Austin and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. ", "He said it was mistaken identity," said the defendant. He was really careless and behaved in an uncontrolled way. "He was," said Atkinson. Ahmad, who denied dealing in criminal property, was jailed for six years after a jury convicted him in February. The crackdown was part of Operation Venetic, which has targeted criminals using the EncroChat messenger and is the UKs biggest ever law enforcement operation. Ahmed was also jailed for six years after being found guilty of conspiracy to transfer criminal property and being concerned in an arrangement which facilitates the acquisition, retention, use or control of criminal property. What Manchester United need to secure top four Premier League finish & Champions League football, Erik ten Hag saw his side beat Aston Villa on Sunday to cement their place in the top four, LIVE from picket lines as nurses stage 28-hour strike with NHS braced for 'significant disruption' - updates, NHS England asked those who need non-urgent care to go to pharmacies or dial 111 as first port of call with staffing levels expected to be 'exceptionally low', 'I don't regret being an older mum - it meant I got to party in my 20s', Samantha Heathcock says she has no regrets about having children later in life, What Jadon Sancho told Bruno Fernandes to stop doing and more Man United moments missed vs Villa. He was arrested in June when he landed back in the United Kingdom but was released on bail. Dale Cregan was a notorious one-eyed killer, whose involvement in a decades-long feud with the Short family led to the death of two policewomen in Greater Manchester, England in 2012. Quite often organised crime takes place in the shadows or the back streets, she says. The court heard that the criminals involved in the handover used the password 'Man City' for the meeting. He had also developed an unhealthy obsession with knives. A gangland war is set to erupt over the murders of Mark and David Short. He is arrested and taken into custody for questioning after armed police raid a house in the Fallowfield area. He retaliated by slapping her, and this infuriated Atkinson, who texted her son Leon, demanding that they seek revenge on the Short family. Manchester City currently find themselves one point clear of Arsenal in the Premier League table, with Pep Guardiola's side also having a game in hand on the Gunners. You were hounding my family so I took it out on yous. Simon Atkinson - Wikipedia Drug dealer joked that his customer was 'fuming' over 'Man City password', Get the latest crime reports and stories from Liverpool Echo straight to your inbox. DNA which was found on a cap left at the scene of the second kidnapping is matched to another man, who has a long history of violence and armed robbery. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. 'It was crazy': Residents wake to 'almighty bang' and sirens following 'serious' crash on main road, One person was taken to hospital following the five-vehicle crash on Sunday morning (April 30), "My house looked like it had been burgled after my marriage broke down - now I help other hoarders clear out their clutter", Janine McDonald's house became cluttered after she lost her job and her marriage broke down, forcing her to live on just 800 a month. Sign up to the Daily Star's newsletter. Dale Cregan was found guilty of four counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, and subsequently sentenced to life in prison. At the handover Nevin sold six kilograms of cocaine to a criminal who used the Encro handle 'Festivetape.' Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? How smiling beer pic helped snare cocaine boss who thought he was "I had him a fight at that time. Frank was left in a wheelchair after his kneecap was blown across a pub in September 2003. 'We estimate Atkinson has been head of an organised crime group for the last ten years', Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the day's biggest stories sent direct to your inbox. He idolised Cregan, who lured police officers Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone to his home in 2012, before murdering them with a grenade and guns. Atkinson replied: "My father got shot 10 years ago in the leg. Greater Manchester Police and the North West Regional Crime Unit later arrested the main participants in the conspiracy. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. The court heard that the criminals involved in the handover used the password 'Man City' for the meeting. The talking points as Manchester City took on Fulham at Craven Cottage as the title race with Arsenal reaches the final stages of the season. The boss of a huge cocaine empire was caught after he posted a photograph of himself drinking beer on a secret messaging app being monitored by police. My brothers had fights with his cousins or nephews. He and four others admitted a raft of offences including conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and money laundering. But when you see a gunman burst out of a house, into a busy residential street and shooting, in broad daylight with people sitting in their front gardens, children playing, the sun shining, at teatime, that is horrendous. 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The major incident team comprises of 150 detectives divided into 10 units dealing with the citys most serious crimes. He was described in court as a 'regional' cocaine supplier who sold on drugs imported into the UK by a contact. In September 2012, Dale Cregan made a fake call to the police, reporting that someone had thrown a concrete brick at his property. Police believe Atkinson was aware the cocaine had been taxed from other criminals but did not know it had been stolen from such a potent Merseyside firm. When Manchester was known as Gunchester. Leon Atkinson hit David Short in the face in 2001 for "looking at him", the jury heard during the 12-week trial, creating a simmering tension between the two east Manchester families. "The gangs in Manchester still have their roots from the gangs that were around in the 80s and 90s," says DS Connor. The bounty has been on offer since the 34-year-old was placed behind bars in . Two males were seen to pick up the money, before making their way towards a Mercedes. With gangs its so important to get all of them, says DS Connor. Cregan was a known drug dealer, who began by dealing marijuana as a teenager and by the age of twenty-two, had graduated to dealing hard drugs like cocaine. Something went wrong, please try again later. Four men are captured on CCTV in connection with the second kidnapping, CCTV footage shows the men bashing the victim's head into the car and pistol whipping him, before he is bundled into the boot of the vehicle, Blake Evers (centre), Darren Berkeley (right) and Paris Bostock (left). Distributors Adam Marsden, 37, and Nathan Powell, 31, sourced and supplied over six stone (40kg) of cocaine between them. Leon Atkinson sent the image of himself to an encrypted group chat with fellow criminals using names like Carrothorn, Maidenbear, Mistersmallhead, Festiveape and Shaggyfarmer. That led to the death of Mark Short in the Cotton Tree in Droylsden and was then followed three months later by a fatal gun and grenade assault on the victim's father, David. Detective inspector Roger Smethurst, from the Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: This was an extremely sophisticated drugs gang that effectively distributed mass quantities of cocaine across the north-west. The killer of an eight-year-old girl, a Strangeways protester and an armed robbery gang are among the serious criminals who were locked up in Greater Manchester in April. His knee was blown across the public house.". On a hot sunny day in June 2018, just before 5pm, drug dealer Luke Graham and his associate Anton Verigota dropped some crack and heroin at a house in Birch Street, Ashton-Under-Lyne, and drove away in a silver van. DCI Hopkinson stressed that it was rare for gang violence to cross over into ordinary lives. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. DCI Liz Hopkinson, who headed up the investigation into 31-year-old Lukes murder, was shocked at the recklessness of the killers. It is alleged that Cregan and four others acted on the orders of Leon Atkinson, 35, to shoot a rival family in a pub in Droylsden, Manchester, last May. "I had a fight with one of their nephewstwo of their nephews. And theres definitely more access to guns as well.. Adam Marsden, 37, and Nathan Powell, 31, sourced and supplied more than 40kg of class-A drugs between them. Dave dragged him by his hair kicking and screaming. Of course comebacks were planned but with the trial on no one could do anything. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. "A very good friend of Dale Cregan?" The head of a cocaine ring has been caught thanks to a picture that he sent to other gangsters. Leon Atkinson led a gang involved in drug deals worth 9m in just three months, Greater Manchester Police said. Filmed in Manchester, with unprecedented access to police ops, the series followed the Major Incident Team (MIT) for two years as they tackle the growing rivalry amongst drug-dealing gangs. The source said houses are already being watched, and added: David Short was a popular and respected man. The chilling murder of dad-of-two Luke Graham features in tonights episode of BBC2s The Detectives: Fighting Organised Crime, and highlights the brutal and brazen violence plaguing the streets of the city. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Meanwhile, inside the address where the first victim is suspected to have been tortured, a paint removing gun, hot plates and tape with blood and hair are recovered. The 41-year-old was captured when detectives accessed messages on the EncroChat . I dont want to die for saying someones name to the police.. Leon Atkinson sent this smiling photo to Jason Cox of a Salford crime family which. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible.
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