A former pub landlord has been jailed for 21 years after carrying out a series of sexual assaults on four young girls.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has confirmed today that Carl Marland – who was the former landlord of The Chequers pub in Ilford, London – was convicted of more than 20 offences in October 2021 after a trial at Manchester Crown Court, and was subsequently jailed for 21 years yesterday (24 May 2022).
Among the charges that Marland was found guilty of were three counts of rape, three counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, and secretly filming one of the girls while she undressed.
He was also found guilty of multiple counts of supplying class B and class C drugs.
The court heard how the 58-year-old would travel to Manchester from London most weeks from June 2020 to December 2020 to visit the girls – who were aged between eight to 16 at the time – to carry out his attacks, and he would groom them by giving them gifts of clothes and money, as well as drugs and alcohol.
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Marland was even found to have set up a bank account for one of the girls and transferred around £3,000 to her.
He would drive the girls around in his car, where much of the abuse took place, GMP said.
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Greater Manchester Police says it became aware of Marland when one of the girls’ mothers found inappropriate messages from him on her phone in November 2020, and detectives from GMP Rochdale’s Child Sexual Exploitation Team then worked closely with officers from the Metropolitan Police to co-ordinate Marland’s arrest on 27 January 2021.
Carl Marland was convicted of more than 20 offences in October 2021 after a trial at Manchester Crown Court yesterday / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“Marland spent the majority of 2020 travelling from London to Manchester in order to commit these offences, some of which are the most serious offences against children,” explained Detective Constable Andrew Sanderson, from GMP’s Child Sexual Exploitation Team.
“These crimes have had a huge detrimental impact on his victims and their families, and he has essentially stolen their childhoods.
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“I would like to praise the victims’ bravery in reporting these crimes.
“Hopefully following this sentencing they can have some closure and begin to move on and rebuild their lives.”
Given the horrific circumstances of this sentencing, Greater Manchester Police is also keen to remind people who may know someone who has been raped or sexually assaulted that they need not suffer in silence, and they can report it to the police or a support agency so that they can get the help and support they need.
A number of services, including Saint Mary’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Greater Manchester Rape Crisis, and Survivors Manchester, are currently available to provide support across the region.
A ‘lost town’ in Yorkshire has been discovered 650 years after being ‘swallowed by the sea’
Clementine Hall
The sunken town is dubbed ‘Yorkshire’s Atlantis’.
Britain’s lost Atlantis is thought to have finally been discovered after falling into the North Sea 650 years ago.
Historians believed it lay at the bottom of the ocean around a mile off from the Yorkshire coast.
Ravenser Odd is a town which sunk to the depths of the sea back in 1362, The Hoot Leeds reports.
Scientists have been in search of the town for years, and have likened its eventual discovery to Atlantis and Pompeii.
The sunken town, dubbed ‘Yorkshire’s Atlantis’, was once a popular stopping place for fishing boats and cargo ship that sat the mouth of the Humber Estuary.
Image: Unsplash
However, a new search closer to the shore has recently uncovered rocks and stonework beneath the water’s surface.
Specialist sonar equipment has been deployed in an attempt to discover the harbour walls of the lost town.
Professor Dan Parsons, a geoscientist at the University of Hull, is leading the search.
He told The Sun: “It’s fascinating, exciting, exhilarating. The exact location of this medieval town hasn’t ever been pinpointed.
“We now have the tools and the technology to go out there and locate it once and for all.”
The search team hope to find the footprint of the town including its sea wall, harbour and foundations.
This will allow them to map it all out and create a 3D map which divers could then use to explore the site.
Scientists say they now have all the data needed and will be analysing the area under the sea in the coming weeks.
After all this, they should be able to confirm whether the findings are infact the lost Yorkshire town of Ravenser Odd.
News
Hit Christmas market stall opens permanently at Piccadilly Gardens
Georgina Pellant
Crunch Korean Gansig has become a must-try foodie stall at the Manchester Christma Markets, now it’s pulled up at Picadilly Gardens permanently.
The hit Korean hot dog stall has wowed visitors over the past few years with its cheese, potato and meat-filled creations.
Deep-fried in a crispy waffle coating and then lightly rolled in sugar, these sausages on a stick come drizzled in sweet ketchup and mustard.
Incredibly moreish if we do say so ourselves, since first making their appearance at the 2021 Manchester Christmas Markets they’ve consistently been ranked one of the event’s best food traders.
Now, thanks to a new permanent stall popping up where it all began for the team, Manc foodies can enjoy their hot meaty and cheesy Korean goodies all year long.
Popular flavour choices include all-cheese, all-sausage and half-and-half versions, with a vegetarian-friendly cheese-filled version wrapped in a potato waffle coating, and halal-friendly options that are made using separate batter and fryers.
This really is a hot dog stand that caters to everyone. With owners having previously said they would work on a vegan hot dog once they got their own permanent stand, we don’t expect the plant-powered gang will be left waiting too much longer.
Sharing the news to Instagram, the Crunch Korean Gansig team wrote: “Hey guys, we’ve got exciting news to share! We are launching a new market stall in the Piccadilly garden street food market from tomorrow.
“After two years of successful Christmas trading, we are ready to take on a new challenge, and love to serve our hotdogs to you guys again!
“So come on down to the market and say hi, we love to see you there! See you soon!”
Fans of the Korean hot dog stall have responded to the news with enthusiasm, flooding into the comments to share their excitement.
One person wrote: “So excited we will have to go!!”
Another person said: “Nooooo stop!!! I’m so happy I could cry”
The Manc -
25th May 2022 
