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Police reopen investigation into death of Manchester man who was assaulted 10 years ago

Ashley Thomas was seriously assaulted in an unprovoked attack whilst walking home from a party in 2011.

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 23rd February 2022

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has reopened an investigation into the death of a man who died as a result of an assault over 10 years ago.

On Christmas Eve all the way back in 2011, 32-year-old Ashley McGurk – who was known locally as Ashley Thomas, and was from the Harpurhey area – was seriously assaulted in an unprovoked attack whilst walking home from a party near to Harpurhey shopping precinct, and was sadly left in a coma for several months.

As a result of the attack, Ashley was left severely brain damaged and was living in a care home in Rochdale, before he eventually passed away on 8 January 2021.

After an extensive report from the pathologist has confirmed that the assault 10 years ago proved to be the cause of Ashley’s devastating death, GMP has confirmed it has reopened the matter as a murder investigation

People are now being urged to come forward with any information.

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“Visiting my own son every day in his care facilities was absolutely heartbreaking to see and cope with for 10 long years and to know we still don’t have justice so many years on is so devastating,” Ashley’s mother said in a tribute.

“Both Ashley and his family deserve justice, which is why I would ask anyone to come forward with information.

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“We want this nightmare to end once and for all.”

GMP say that three arrests were made at the time of the incident, and two males were released with no further action taken, with one male being charged – but the case ended up being dismissed by the court.

Ashley Thomas was seriously assaulted in an unprovoked attack whilst walking home from a party in 2011 / Credit: GMP

Speaking on the reopening of the investigation, Detective Sergeant Paddy Connell – from the City of Manchester Division CID – said: “This was a devastating incident for Ashley’s family and we believe there will be people in the local area with information about the reported assault at the time that may be able to help Ashley’s family get the justice they deserve.

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“Ashley suffered such horrific injuries that he spent the last 10 years of his life in care facilities and was regularly visited by his mother who has suffered unimaginable emotional pain since the assault and has visited him every day over the last 10 years.”

Sergeant Connell also urged anyone with any information, “no matter how small it may seem”, to contact police.

“Someone out there will know something,” he said.

People can contact GMP on 0161 856 4409 quoting crime reference number CRI/06A1/0001614/21, or get in touch anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Featured Image – GMP

News

95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’, new study reveals

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Contactless payment

An eye-opening new study has found that only 5% of Mancs still use cash as their preferred method of payment nowadays.

It comes as no surprise that cash is less of a ‘king’ nowadays than it used to be, but now a new report by global financial technology company SumUp has suggests that only 5% of people in Manchester prefer to pay with cash, while 59% choose debit and credit cards, so that leaves one question… is Manchester on its way to becoming a cashless city?

To discover how payment preferences are evolving, SumUp conducted a nationwide survey to gather insights from UK consumers about their payment habits.

The company was particularly intrigued to not only discover payment methods people prefer, but what their concerns around certain payment methods, alongside how they feel about businesses that don’t accept digital payments.

95% of Mancs apparently want the city to be ‘cashless’ / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash) | Pexels

Firstly, before we go any further, it’s important to note that almost two thirds (63%) of Manchester residents said they have changed the way they make payments over the past year.

Unsurprisingly, debit and credit cards remain the top choice for the majority of Mancs, with over half (59%) saying it was their preferred method of payment, followed by mobile payment methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay at 24% – which is likely thanks to their ease of use and the ability to have multiple cards on one device.

While a third (31%) of Mancs said that they ‘don’t mind’ cash and still opt to carry it for situations where digital payments aren’t an option, a growing number of people in the city are feel that digital payments are more favourable, with 25% thinking that businesses should adapt to modern payment methods and whilst 28% finding it ‘inconvenient’ when a business doesn’t accept digital payments. 

A further 11% of people even say that cash-only businesses wouldn’t be an option they’d consider, and would actually avoid them wherever possible.

Card payment
Only 5% use cash as their preferred method of payment / Credit: Rawpixel

When it comes to concerns around digital payment methods, where do Mancs stand then? Well, the survey found that a third (33%) of people are worried about their reliance on technology, especially being unable to pay if their phone dies, for example, while an additional 32% of people are concerned about security risks such as hacking, fraud, or stolen card details.

Among other things, 26% of survey respondents also said they worry about the privacy aspect of digital banking and the tracking your data.

“While debit and credit cards continue to dominate as the preferred payment method, it’s clear that cash is slowly declining in use, particularly among younger generations,” Corin Camenisch, who is the Marketing & Growth Lead at SumUp, commented on the report.

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“That said, cash still holds its place for many.

“Looking ahead, we can anticipate a rise in innovative payment methods like digital wallets, especially as younger consumers increasingly embrace the convenience and flexibility they offer.”

Featured Image – Pavel Danilyuk (via Pexels)

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Met Office predicts UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Sunbathing in the park

The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for a ‘hotter than average’ summer this year.

Fresh off-the-back of the news that 2025 is already the hottest spring on record, with a recorded 630 hours of sunshine from 1 March until 27 May, beating out the previous sunniest spring in 2020 by just four hours, the Met Office is now predicting that the UK is on the verge of a summer that’s ‘hotter than usual’.

According to its three-month outlook, the Met Office has predicted that it’s 2.3 times more-likely than ‘normal’ that it will be hot in the UK between 1 June and 31 August.

The average temperatures during those months are set to range from 10-17°C.

After it was revealed that this has also been the UK’s driest spring in more than a century, meteorologists are warning Brits that there could heatwave conditions could be reached at various times throughout the summer.

The release of the long-range forecast – which gives an indication of possible temperatures, rainfall, and wind speed over a period as a whole – comes after temperatures soared to 8°C (46F) above the average for this time of year this Saturday just gone (31 May).

It is important to note, however, that the Met Office thinks these predicted temperatures are similar to those in recent years, and it does not guarantee ‘prolonged’ hot weather.

The Met Office is predicting that the UK is set for ‘hotter than average’ summer this year / Credit: Mylo Kaye (via Unsplash)

The Met Office said in a statement: “While the current three-month outlook shows an increased chance of a hot summer, the temperature signals for this summer are similar to those for recent years and consistent with our warming climate.

“The increased chance of hotter than average temperatures is not a guarantee of prolonged hot weather or heatwaves, but it does mean that heatwave conditions could be reached at times.

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“However, it’s important to bear in mind that an increased chance of hot conditions could also reflect a mix of hot and cool days, warm nights, or less extreme levels of warmth rather than continual heatwave conditions specifically.”

Featured Image – Garry Knight (via Flickr)

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