A man has been jailed for four years after his ‘chop shop’ storing £240k worth of stolen vehicles was found when he mistakenly sold stolen parts to police on eBay.
Officers realised in 2018 that the online account belonging to Asad Mahmood, 31, was distributing parts linked to stolen models.
Police conducted a raid at an address on Pioneer Mill in Milltown, Radcliffe and uncovered a ‘chop shop’ with illegal parts inside worth almost quarter of a million; including engines, seats, and doors.
Officers also attended Mahmood’s home address in Oldham where they discovered a VW Golf rebuilt with stolen car parts and a Citroen van which had gone missing from the Reddish area in summer 2018.
Parts found in the chop shop were stolen between 2018 and 2019 from several areas in the north-west, including Hale, Rochdale, Atherton, Wilmslow, Hull, Blackpool, Stockport, Oldham, Sale, Altrincham, Accrington, Audenshaw, Manchester and Leeds.
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GMP
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Mossop, of GMP’s Operation Challenger, said that police had uncovered a “sophisticated set up”.
He added: “Cars are of both great value and sentimental value to some people and we understand that having a car stolen can have a huge impact both financially and emotionally.
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“We constantly monitor the number of burglaries across Greater Manchester and information is continuously gathered and acted upon.
“Teams from across GMP work together to deter, disrupt and ultimately dismantle organised crime groups on a daily basis.”
DCI Mossop also urged residents to exercise caution when leaving their cars.
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“Do not leave your car keys on show or where they can easily be reached when at home, always keep your windows and doors locked and for anyone who has a steering lock, I would encourage you to use it.”
“There are also other ways to help keep your car safe such as investing in a tracking device.”
Anyone with information about car thefts or anyone who believes suspicious activity is taking place at premises’ can call 101 or alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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New data estimates that 7.3m Oasis fans are set to miss out on 2027 tour tickets
Emily Sergeant
New data has revealed that as many as 7.3 million Oasis fans could be set to miss out on tickets to the band’s 2027 tour.
In case you need bringing up to speed a little, it was announced earlier this week that, following the unprecedented success of the reunion tour, Oasis Live ’25, last year, including five nostalgia-drenched gigs at Manchester’s Heaton Park, Oasis would be hitting the road once again in 2027, and this time around, they’re going BIG.
We’re talking 11 nights at the Etihad Stadium and a return to the iconic grounds of Knebworth for four special shows there too, kind of ‘big’.
The iconic Manchester band will also be taking to a range of other world-famous stages across the globe, including five nights at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, and major cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and Las Vegas.
But despite the elevated number of dates the Gallaghers and co will be performing, some new data has unfortunately revealed that millions of fans may still not be lucky enough to snag a ticket.
The ticketing system for Oasis Live ’27 is not what it was for the last tour, nor will it be similar to many other tours of a similar scale in the past either, as this time, the band and their promotors are taking necessary measures to ensure ‘genuine fans’ get their hands on the tickets and that dynamic pricing doesn’t creep in.
Instead of going into detail on that now though, you can read our full guide on how to get tickets for the Manchester and Knebworth shows here.
Experts at online ticketing platform TicketSource have analysed the scale of demand for Oasis tickets by comparing the 10 million fans worldwide who queued for the initial release of 1.4 million tickets for their 2025 tour, with the newly announced 2027 tour dates and stadium capacities.
With an estimated 2.67 million tickets available across 38 dates and 11 locations between 21 May and 19 September 2027, Oasis could still face huge demand from fans hoping to see them live.
But research reveals the band would need to play 112 Wembley-sized shows to accommodate everyone who tried to get a ticket in 2025.
The 2027 tour would accommodate just 26.7% of those who tried to get tickets last time, meaning almost three-quarters (73%) of them could miss out, leaving a shortfall of more than 7.3 million fans.
Fingers crossed you’re among the lucky lot that secure tickets, though.
Featured Image – Joshua Halling (Press Image – Supplied)
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Former GMP officer jailed after being found guilty of several online child sex offences
Emily Sergeant
A former police officer from Salford has been sentenced after being found guilty of a string of online child sex offences.
Following a trial back in July, 35-year-old Michael Aspinall was sentenced at Preston Crown Court earlier this week (Monday 14 September) after being found guilty of three counts of attempting sexual communication with a child.
It comes after Aspinall – who was employed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) at the time of the offences – was arrested in October 2024 by detectives from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU), and was immediately suspended from duty following his arrest.
The investigation began after evidence was obtained that Aspinall had been communicating online with individuals that he believed to be children, but he was in fact communicating with a police officer.
Following this series of interactions, he was charged with various offences.
In addition to his eight-month sentence – which has been suspended for two years – Aspinall will also be placed on the sex offender’s register for 10 years, subject to a five-year serious crime prevention order, and have undertake 20 days of rehabilitation, GMP has confirmed.
He has additionally been added to the College of Policing’s barred list.
An application to request forfeiture of Aspinall’s police pension has also been made to the Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester.
“Aspinall’s offending was clearly unacceptable for any right-minded member of society and particularly inappropriate for a serving police officer,” commented Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Humphreys, from GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate.
“His actions put the whole police service under scrutiny, but thanks to the hard work and diligence of undercover officers, he was arrested, found guilty, and has now received his punishment.”
DCI Humphreys concluded: “[Aspinall’s] actions take away from the hard work of the men and women who work so hard for their communities every day, and it is only right that anyone committing these sort of offences are rooted out.”
The Manc -
10th February 2021 
