Council responds after food truck arson victim has trading application rejected
Lekan Kamson Odesanya - who lost his food truck in a targeted arson attack - has been left 'living on handouts' after his trading applications were rejected.
Manchester City Council has pledged it will still do “everything in its power” to support the food truck owner left without a trading license since his business was burned to the ground.
Lekan Kamson Odesanya – also known as David Kamson – lost his Moston Suya food van last year after it was set alight in a targeted ‘racist attack’.
His story led to the community pooling together their money and raising thousands to buy him a new vehicle – but the chef has been unable to use it as his trading applications have been rejected.
A lack of income has apparently left Mr Odesanya living on ‘handouts’ and on the verge of eviction, with another GoFundMe page launched to help him ‘pay his bills’.
A new petition has called on the council to reconsider Mr Odesanya’s application to serve his food in a local car park.
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Responding to The Manc’s request for comment, Manchester Council published a timeline of correspondence with the Moston Suya owner; dating from October 30 until March 9.
A council spokesperson revealed that Mr Odesanya’s initial application was rejected due to missing data, and that his preferred trading site was not suitable at the time of his second application as the area was being considered for potential NHS Covid testing.
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After enquiring about a move to private land in Prestwich, the Moston Suya owner then made an application to trade on Bute Street instead – which was apparently under consideration before he asked for a refund of his application fee.
Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar called the arson attack against Moston Suya “a completely despicable act”, and said that the council had “worked with Mr Odesanya” ever since his successful fundraiser to get a new food van.
The Councillor stated: “We have had two licence applications from Mr. Odesanya, the first of which was incomplete and had to be rejected, and the second in relation to the private car park he did not have permission to trade in.
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“He also enquired about a potential new location in Prestwich, but was referred to Bury Council as Manchester City Council has no jurisdiction in this area.”
Councillor Akbar added: “We have also tried to connect the applicant with a charity who supports start ups, as well as trying to explore another location where Mr. Odesanya could trade.
“During this process Mr. Odesanya withdrew his application and his fees were refunded. If he were to come to us again we would do everything in our power to support another application to trade.”
More than £3,600 has been donated by the public so far to support the chef; with the fundraising page explaining that money will also go towards any future ‘legal fees and human rights appeals.’
The campaign has also urged Greater Manchester police to re-open the investigation into the crimes committed against Mr Odesanya as the culprits have not been ‘brought to justice’.
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Body of woman found in River Mersey last year finally identified after ‘extensive’ investigation
Emily Sergeant
The body of woman who was found in the River Mersey last year has finally been identified.
Following what has been described as an ‘extensive investigation’ by Greater Manchester Police‘s (GMP) Major Incident Team to determine the identity of the body, which was sadly discovered in the river adjacent to Chorlton Water Park on 21 March 2024, the family of the victim has now been informed and supported by specialist officers.
The victim has been formally named as 38-year-old Laura Stanley, who was originally from Derbyshire but was living in Stockport.
After the body was discovered, and ‘exhaustive and determined’ investigation by GMP officers began to identify here, including detailed checks of both national and international databases.
The Major Incident Team (MIT) also closely worked in collaboration with specialist forensic service providers to create an anthropological profile, which eventually culminated in the creation of a facial reconstruction image.
Following several media appeals, a relative of Laura contacted officers and then a DNA match was confirmed through a familial link.
“Laura was a kind and gentle person with a great sense of fun and adventure,” Laura’s family said in a heartbreaking tribute to her.
“She was generous, thoughtful, caring and always keen to volunteer within the community. Laura was a proud and loving mum and she will be greatly missed by her girls and all of her friends and family who loved her dearly.”
The River Mersey, across from Chorlton Water Park, where Laura’s body was discovered / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
While Laura has now been identified, police say further investigations will take place to understand her last movements, the events that led to her death, and her discovery in the river.
Additionally, as is standard practice, GMP’s Professional Standards Directorate is also reviewing a previous missing report relating to Laura in the time before the discovery of her body, which will determine prior contact relating to Laura, and whether the appropriate measures were enacted.
#UPDATE | A woman who was discovered in the River Mersey last year has been identified following an extensive investigation by officers in GMP’s Major Incident Team.
Thank you to those of you who have shared our appeals over the last year.
Anyone who knew Laura and thinks they may be able to assist with the investigation is asked to contact police by calling 101, or by using the Live Chat Service at gmp.police.uk, quoting log number 1191 of 21 March 2024.
Alternatively, you can contact the Major Incident Team Syndicate 3 directly on 0161 856 9479, or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
It is currently believed that Laura was last seen around January 2024.
Featured Image – GMP
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More than 70,000 home buyers set to pay thousands after missing stamp duty relief deadline
Emily Sergeant
More than 70,000 home buyers across England are estimated to have missed the stamp duty relief deadline.
This sadly means they’ll be required to fork out thousands of pounds extra.
In case you hadn’t heard, up until yesterday (31 March 2025), anyone who was moving and had bought a home in the past was not required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax, better-known as just stamp duty, on the portion of the property price up to £250,000.
But from today (1 April), this threshold has now fallen back to £125,000, which unfortunately means that property purchasers are facing an extra £2,500 in moving costs, on average.
While the end of the stamp duty relief will mostly affect those Greater Manchester buyers who had already previously purchased properties, first time buyers are sadly not exempt from the deadline changes too, as their current stamp duty threshold of £425,000 has now fallen back to £300,000 as of today.
Person holding the keys to a new house in their hand / Credit: Maria Ziegler (via Unsplash)
Given that the average property price for a first time buyer-type home is currently around £227,965, according to Rightmove, the new £300,000 threshold may hit those purchasing properties in more expensive areas – particularly the South East.
A third of those estimated 70,000 home buyers who have missed the deadline are thought to be first time buyers.
Leading property platform Rightmove published an analysis in February into just how much of an impact the end of the stamp duty relief would have on home buyers, all while calling on the UK Government to announce a short extension to the deadline to help people in the middle of the property purchasing process avoid potentially thousands of pounds in extra moving costs.
But despite these calls from industry leaders, there was no extension to the deadline announced in the last week’s latest Spring Statement.
“It’s extremely disappointing that the Government has not used the Spring Statement as an opportunity to extend the impending stamp duty deadline for those currently going through the home-moving process,” commented Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock.
“We estimate over 70,000 people are going to miss the deadline and complete in April instead, and a third of those are first time buyers.”
The Manc -
23rd March 2021 
