Merseyside drug dealers involved in the transportation of heroin and crack called themselves ‘Mancs’ in an apparent attempt to point police in the wrong direction.
Alan Hughes, 21, and John Kirk, 33 referred to their gang as ‘Manc Joy’ in phone conversations, despite the fact they were operating out of Liverpool, reports Devon Live.
The group’s name was seemingly part of a mission to encourage law enforcement to look away from their area – as the duo smuggled £100,000 worth of drugs down to Exeter during lockdown.
John Kirk (Image: Exeter Police)
Police discovered that ‘Manc Joy’ had arranged over a dozen trips between the North West and Devon in 2020 – carting drugs to the south and returning to Liverpool with hundreds of pounds each time.
Images found on Hughes’ phone showed him posing with banknotes, with bank activity showing there had been numerous large transfers associated with his account.
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He was arrested twice during lockdown for drug-related offences – once in March and again in July whilst on release under investigation.
Driver Kirk was arrested on July 14 en route to Exeter with 1,080 wraps of Class A drugs.
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Exeter Crown Court (Image: Neil Owen)
Hughes has now been jailed for four years and a month, and Kirk for three years.
During sentencing at Exeter Crown Court, Judge David Evans said: ”The national lockdown started on March 23, so you, Hughes, were out and about not for the purpose of permitted exercise in defiance of the proscription on all other activities.
“You both, deliberately and knowingly, acted in furtherance of a supply operation, transporting drugs, people and cash halfway across the country, sometimes in defiance of the lockdown at the height of the pandemic.”
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Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
“A full flight schedule is expected to operate [today] but the airport may be busier due to rescheduled flights,” it added.
Passengers were then thanked for their ‘patience and understanding’ over the past 24 hours.
Featured Image – Ivan Shimko (via Unsplash)
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Hundreds of staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals to strike AGAIN next week
Emily Sergeant
Another round of strikes has been called at a handful of major Greater Manchester hospitals.
Amid ongoing disputes following the first set of strikes at the end of last month, it has now been announced that more than 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees – including nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers – who are members of the union UNISON will once again walk out for three days next week.
According to the union, the dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency called NHS Professionals (NHSP) to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, workers are entitled to time-and-a-half pay – however in some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, and some have even been missing out on more than £80 per shift, the union added.
Operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines in June, and although an option to resolve the row was initially tabled by NCA bosses, this has now fallen through.
Hundreds of staff at four of Greater Manchester’s hospitals are set to strike next week / Credit: Stephen Andrews (via Unsplash)
This means that staff at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary, and Fairfield Hospital in Bury are walking out next week on Monday 14, Tuesday 15, and Thursday 17 September.
The union’s North West regional organiser, Kevin Dolan, said the trust had given ‘no indication’ that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations, adding that operating theatre services were ‘chronically under-staffed’ and staff were choosing to work extra shifts to cover shortages.
Ahead of the August strikes, the trust declared a critical incident to help it secure extra support and keep urgent surgery running, while also announcing that some procedures would have to be postponed.
Understandably, some disruption is expected at each of the hospitals on strike days.
But Gertie Nic Philib, who is the chief people and strategy officer at the Northern Care Alliance, said that the trust will do ‘everything we can to minimise the impact on patients’ and ‘maintain high standards of care and quality at all times.’
“We also have contingency plans in place for emergency situations,” they concluded.
The Manc -
2nd November 2020 
