A man who encouraged a vulnerable young girl to self-harm while sexually abusing her over a period of several months has been jailed for life.
Karl Davies, a 42-year-old from the Wirral in Merseyside, posed as several different men using fake social media profiles and adopted various different personalities, all in a bid to groom and manipulate his young victim.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) offences began back in June 2023, when a Snapchat account using the name ‘Ben’ messaged the victim – a girl who was aged just 13 at the time.
The communication soon led to image sharing, before ‘Ben’ encouraged the girl to share images with another account under the name ‘Chris’. Over the following weeks, several accounts contacted the girl, disappearing and re-appearing at various points, with phone calls and further image sharing taking place.
However the accounts were, in fact, all managed by Karl Davies.
ADVERTISEMENT
Davies used the accounts to alternate between blackmailing the victim to send indecent images, or acting supportive of her issues, and this continued for several months, with the girl sending multiple videos at the request of the different accounts – including being asked to send videos of her hurting herself, using items at the encouragement of the accounts.
Eventually, by June 2024, one of the accounts under the name ‘Sean’ told the girl that she had to meet his friend ‘Mark’ to engage in sexual acts.
ADVERTISEMENT
#JAILED | An abuser has been jailed for 20 years for sexual offences and encouraging a child to self-harm in a landmark GMP case.
That very same month, Davies – under the guise of ‘Mark’ – travelled from his home address in the Wirral to Stockport, where he picked up the girl, then aged 14, in her school uniform, and abused her in his car.
This occurred several times throughout June and July, and also during this time, some of the accounts encouraged the girl to hurt herself – with Davies providing her with a razor during one of their meet-ups for the purpose of self-harm.
In January 2025, the girl bravely came forward, and during an interview with police, went through all the details of the incidents.
ADVERTISEMENT
A police investigation was immediately launched, before Davies was subsequently arrested on 11 February this year and remanded in custody.
His sentencing came earlier this week (20 October 2025) at Manchester Crown Court, after he previously pleaded guilty to seventeen offences at his hearing on 22 May – including 10 counts of sexual activity with a child, four of grooming, and two of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence.
Davies additionally pleaded guilty to the offence of encouraging or assisting serious self-harm, and it’s this conviction that makes it such a ‘landmark’ case for GMP.
That offence – which falls under the Online Safety Act 2023 – is one of the first prosecuted in the country, and the first case prosecuted which involved a child.
“As a seasoned prosecutor of grooming cases I have never before seen such sophisticated methods used to target a young person,” commented Stacey Gosling, who is a Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I can only hope that as Davies begins his prison sentence, the victim can begin to move forward knowing her vile abuser has been brought to justice.”
Davies has been jailed for 20 years, with an additional five years on licence.
Featured Image – GMP
News
Manchester’s free summer picnic is coming back to Oxford Road
Danny Jones
Manchester’s free ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ is returning to the Oxford Road Corridor later this year, promising plenty of live music and entertainment, family-friendly fun, outdoor activities and lots more.
Coming back to Circle Square for the second time, the now annual and completely free city centre festival will set up for its sophomore edition right on Symphony Park.
Surrounded by numerous local businesses located within the thriving Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group neighbourhood, this mini-district is once again set to draw in crowds from all over Manchester.
With that in mind, get your coolers, picnic baskets and blankets ready: it’s time for some alfresco fanfare.
Kicking off next month for one day only, Circle Square‘s ‘Summer in the City Picnic’ 2.0 will get underway pretty much from the outset, with the organisers promising a full day of festivities.
Visitors can look forward to an even more jam-packed schedule than last year, with creative workshops and interactive experiences, DJs right through to the evening, alongside roaming steel drum performances and even silent disco adventures, just to name a few.
Other events include: sip and paint sessions, pop-up mini golf and basketball shoot-outs; ‘foot pool’, a seasonal bouquet bar, as well as a dedicated picnic space for dogs, complete with bespoke pup portraits. Adorable.
2025 saw plenty of furry friends steal the show and become local celebrities for the day, and we’re sure ’26 will be no different.
The long picnic tables will once again take centre stage, creating a relaxed space for families and friends to come together over great food from Circle Square’s wide mix of indie restaurants and cafes, such as Gooey, Onda, Hello Oriental, Half Dozen Other, Saffa Soul, North Bar, Monkey Trio and more.
Punters are, obviously, to bring along their own picnic bits, packed lunches and favourite scran, but it’s nice to have the option of treating yourself to stuff on-site.
Better still, Circle Square’s proximity not only to Oxford Road train station, but the St Peter’s Square tram stop and various bus routes (even Piccadilly isn’t really that far) means that this is super accessible for anyone interested – not to mention that it’s completely free and open to all members of the public.
Taking place on Saturday, 8 August, we hope to see you there and hopefully with the sun shining.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures/Jody Hartley (supplied via SH Comms)
News
UK set for another ‘potential’ heatwave next week after warmest June on record
Emily Sergeant
England could be heading towards another potential heatwave early next week, the Met Office has revealed.
While it’s obviously true that temperatures this week have returned to average for the time of year, bringing largely settled conditions for many, once next week rolls around, some parts of the country could be heating up once again – with the Met Office revealing what Greater Manchester residents should prepare for.
For the early part of next week, temperatures will definitely rise and perhaps reach what are considered heatwave conditions for some.
But if this is the case, the forecast suggests that it’s ‘unlikely’ to reach the high temperatures and humidity of last month’s heat, and the North West won’t be getting the worst of it.
The potential of next week’s heatwave comes after last month was officially declared the UK’s warmest June on record.
After a week of respite from the heat, high pressure moves in this weekend, dominating many southern and central areas for the next 10 days.
A defining feature of the month’s heatwave was the ‘exceptionally warm’ overnight temperatures, with frequent ‘tropical nights’ helping to drive the highest average June minimum temperatures on record.
Giving an insight into what’s to come as we head into the weekend, Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster, Tony Wisson, explained: “Toward the weekend, high pressure will continue to build in across most of the UK as it extends from the Azores. This will lead to more settled, warm or very warm conditions for many, especially across England and Wales, though some rain may still affect the far north.
“The forecast for this weekend suggests that temperatures could approach high 20s°C across parts of England, perhaps 30°C in parts of the southeast, with values of mid to high 20s°C in Wales.
“Although a return to heatwave conditions is looking increasingly likely for some areas, the likelihood of such extreme high temperatures or high levels of humidity as last week is currently low.”
Emily Sergeant -
22nd October 2025 
