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Police urge Greater Manchester public for help in identifying ‘violent disorder’ suspects

"Get in touch and do the right thing."

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 20th August 2024

The Greater Manchester public is being urged to help identify suspects who took part in “violent disorder” earlier this month.

After widespread far-right protests and counter-demonstrations took place in towns and cities throughout the UK, following the devastating killing of three young girls and the injuring of several others during a knife attack in the Merseyside seaside town of Southport at the end of last month, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says it needs help in identifying its arrested suspects.

Hundreds of people have been detained and arrested by police nationwide over the last few weeks following the riots – including more than 100 here in Greater Manchester.

A Bolton man, 18, also became the first in the UK to be jailed for his involvement.

With several live appeals running, and investigations currently ongoing, GMP says its team of detectives and dedicated specialist officers have been “working hard around the clock” and taking “swift action” to identify and arrest those involved, but still needs the public’s help.

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“If you know or recognise anyone in the images, please continue to get in touch and do the right thing,” GMP said in its public appeal issued this week.

Assistant Chief Constable Colin McFarlane said GMP is “using all of [its] powers” to identify and arrest people.

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“These individuals were warned that they would face the full force of the law if they incited violence or took part in the violent disorder that we have seen over the last few weeks,” he explained. “And this remains as we are identifying more and more individuals who we are arresting and putting before the courts.

Greater Manchester Police has issued a statement as rumours of 'planned unrest' swirl. Credit: GMP
Police are urging the Greater Manchester public for help in identifying ‘violent disorder’ suspects / Credit: GMP

“A lot of work goes on behind the scenes following large-scale events of disorder, with officers and staff having been trawling through hundreds of hours of CCTV, phone footage, and officer’s body worn video footage to identify individuals involved.

“We are then working to build strong cases to take to court, their hard work has resulted in the arrests of 101 suspects to date and it’s work that they should be proud of.”

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ACC McFarlane says GMP is also appealing to anyone who has information or video footage of those involved to come forward.

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Dedicated portals for each incident have been set up on GMP’s website here.

Featured Image – GMP

News

Manchester’s iconic inflatable monsters are set to invade the city centre again this Halloween

Emily Sergeant 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.

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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)

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‘Life-changing’ scheme helps house hundreds of Greater Manchester’s homeless people

Emily Sergeant 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.

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.

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“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.”

Featured Image – Flickr

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