A new £20,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to the arrest of Thomas Dures.
Police have wanted to speak to the 20-year-old ever since the fatal stabbing of Matthew Daulby, who died last July.
The Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner’s office has now decided to match the £10,000 reward offered up by Crimestoppers, meaning anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of Thomas Dures could claim a huge £20,000 reward.
In a statement released this week, officers said that it is ‘high time he does the right thing and hands himself in’.
They also stressed that whoever is ‘assisting him in evading arrest’ will also face the courts.
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Matthew Daulby, 19, was found a short distance away from an ongoing disturbance at Railway Road in Ormskirk at around 12.05am on 29 July 2023.
He was found with stab injuries and despite the efforts of the emergency services, died in hospital as a result of his injuries.
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In March, Henry Houghton, 19, was jailed for life after being found guilty of Matthew’s murder.
But officers still want to speak to Thomas Dures as part of their enquiries into his death.
DCI Andy Fallows, of the Force Major Investigation Team, said: “It has now been over 12 months since Matthew’s murder and although one man has been found guilty, his family’s wait for justice goes on.
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“Thomas Dures has known that my officers have wanted to speak to him for some time and while Matthew’s family continue to search for answers about what happened that night, Dures is out there about to celebrate his 21st birthday. It is high time he does the right thing and hands himself in.
“We know that people are assisting him in evading arrest. I want to make it clear to those people that we will ensure they are arrested and put before the courts.”
Clive Grunshaw, Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire said: “My decision to match the Crimestoppers reward to £20,000 makes clear Lancashire Constabulary’s commitment to deliver justice for Matthew Daulby’s family.
“We know that sometimes it’s difficult for people to go to the police about what they know – and that can be for a range of reasons including fear of intimidation or loyalties. Matthew’s family, together with the wider community, deserve to know what happened.”
The new, combined £20,000 reward is only available to people who pass on information exclusively to the charity Crimestoppers, either via their website or by calling 0800 555 111.
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If you know the location of Thomas Dures call 101, quoting log 1007 of July 29, 2023. For immediate sightings call 999.
Manchester’s iconic inflatable monsters are set to invade the city centre again this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
Dozens of huge inflatable monsters are set to invade Manchester next month, as Halloween returns to the city for 2024.
Yes, it’s that time of year yet again… the monsters are back.
After several years of looming over Manchester‘s most-notable rooftops and lurking around famous city centre sites, it’s been revealed that the iconic MCR Monsters will be returning for another year of spooky celebrations next month, along with loads of other terrifying tricks and treats – with something for the whole family to get involved with.
Organisers CityCo and Manchester BID are gearing up to “roll out the blood-red carpet” for its legendary and monstrous guests in a couple of weeks time.
This year’s annual Halloween in the City celebrations will kick off with a week-long colourful invasion of the MCR Monsters, before being followed by a two-day family festival across the city’s popular shopping destinations.
Halloween is returning to the city for loads of spooky celebrations next month / Credit: CityCo (via Supplied)
Crawling their way back into the city from Friday 25 October through to Halloween itself on Thursday 31 October, the epic MCR Monsters inflatable art trail – which is created by artists Filthy Luker and Pedro Estrellas – will be taking over leading locations like Manchester Arndale, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Corn Exchange, and New Century, with many more sites set to be announced soon.
A brand-new monster called ‘The Leech’ will be heading to town to join to celebrations this year, alongside some other spookily-similar faces from years’ past.
Buildings across the city will also be turning a ghoulish green once the night falls, while you can also expect to see thousands of little pumpkin lanterns adorning the city’s streets once again.
There’ll be something for all the family to / Credit: CityCo (via Supplied)
Some of the other fan-favourite events on the jam-packed Halloween in the City lineup confirmed to be returning this year are the ‘Monsters Rock! Music Festival’, with spooky live bands and DJs, as well as gruesome games and competitions, the popular ‘Team Trick v Team Treat’ fancy dress challenge, and the hair-raising monster procession ‘Rock! Party Procession’ – which will feature giant puppet monsters, stilt walkers, and a live band marching their way through Manchester Arndale and on Market Street.
Thousands of families are expected to come into the city centre dressed in their scariest costumes over Halloween weekend on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October.
Jane Sharrocks, who is the Chair of Manchester BID, said Manchester is set to transform into the “ultimate Halloween playground” this year, and that organisers are planning 2024 to be the “most thrilling year yet”.
“As the first UK city to host these incredible creatures, Manchester has become the ultimate Halloween destination,” Jane added.
Halloween in the City officially returns to Manchester on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 October, with the monsters descending from Friday 25 October and the pumpkins potentially even earlier, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.
Featured Image – CityCo (via Supplied)
News
‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of homeless people in Manchester have now been helped “get back on their feet” thanks to a successful pilot housing scheme.
Greater Manchester’s ‘Housing First’ pilot scheme was rolled out in 2019.
The scheme is all about recognising that “a good home has to be the first step to a good life”, according to Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and since it was first introduced, it has primarily been helping people with chronic and long-standing experiences of homelessness into homes of their own, without preconditions.
Ongoing personalised wraparound support to manage issues, ranging from mental health problems to substance misuse, is also a key part of what the scheme’s all about.
Since 2019, the scheme then has helped a total of 413 people find “good, safe homes”, GMCA has revealed.
Around 75% of those housed have also sustained their tenancies too, with some even going on to form part of Housing First’s co-production panel – sharing their experiences, and making sure that the service continues to meet people’s needs.
Giving everyone a good, safe home is one of the best investments this country can make.
That’s why we want to take the lessons of our @GMHousingFirst pilot & follow @FinlandInUK by adopting it as our philosophy in Greater Manchester.
Because of the clear success of the pilot in our region, Greater Manchester and Mayor Andy Burnham are now calling on the Government to take the lessons learned from the scheme and embed them into a new approach to tackle the housing crisis nationwide.
Andy Burnham says he believes that giving everyone a good, safe home would be “one of the best investments the country could make”, as it would “take pressure off” other public services and public finances, and declared that our region is ready to follow in Finland’s footsteps by becoming the first UK city-region to adopt the ‘Housing First’ philosophy permenantly.
“The evidence is clear that it works, and when a pilot scheme gets results it shouldn’t end there – it should become the new normal,” Mr Burnham said.
A ‘life-changing’ scheme has helped house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people / Credit: Manchester City Council
“Housing First has shown that if you give people an unconditional right to safe and secure housing, backed up with personalised support, you set them up to succeed, so instead of winding it down, we should be scaling it up and turning it into a national mission.
“We’re starting that here in Greater Manchester.
“We’re bringing in new protections for renters, tackling bad landlords, and with the right powers and funding, we can deliver 75,000 new homes in this parliament.
“Our new Housing First Unit will drive this work forward, bringing together partners across our city-region with a clear goal – a healthy home for everyone in Greater Manchester by 2038.”
Daisy Jackson -
20th August 2024 
