News

Two men charged with the murder of missing Failsworth man Ashley Walsh

Ashley Walsh was last seen on Kintore Walk at around 11pm on the 7 January 2022.

The Manc The Manc - 18th January 2022

Greater Manchester Police has confirmed this morning that two men have been charged with the murder of a missing Oldham man.

In a statement released this morning, the force revealed that 33-year-old Aaron Evitt of Brentnor Road, Manchester, and 45-year-old Gerrard McGlacken of Kintore Walk, Manchester, have both been charged with the murder of 34-year-old Ashley Walsh from the Failsworth area of Oldham.

The pair have been remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court this morning (18 January 2022).

Ashley Walsh was last seen on Kintore Walk at around 11pm on the 7 January 2022.

Officers then later found a body – which has since been formally-identified as Ashley’s – in a wooded area of Sandhills Park in Collyhurst.

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Ashley’s next of kin have been informed.

A 30-year-old woman has also been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice, but GMP confirmed that she has since been released on bail.

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Greater Manchester Police is urging anyone with information that may be of importance to contact police on 0161 856 6377 quoting log number 1819 of the 12 January 2022, or information can also be reported online or by using the Live Chat function at www.gmp.police.uk.

If you can’t report online, you can call 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Featured Image – Greater Manchester Police

News

Further disruption expected as more bus strikes announced across Greater Manchester

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

Further disruption is expected as even more bus strikes have been announced across Greater Manchester this autumn.

It comes after the strikes set to place this month from 19 to 22 September were announced a couple of weeks back, and now a second round will take place towards the end of this month and going into early October.

In case this is the first you’re hearing of the upcoming industrial action, 2,000 workers who are employed by Stagecoach, Metroline Manchester, and First Bus Rochdale – all of which are firms among those that make up the bus part of the Bee Network – are due to walk out in a co-ordinated strike amid an ongoing pay dispute.

Unite the Union says all the firms are ‘highly profitable’ and it’s therefore ‘disappointing’ that workers are being denied a fair wage.

More strikes have been announced on the Bee Network this month / Credit: TfGM

At Stagecoach, around 1,000 drivers based across the Oldham, Stockport, and Middleton depots have rejected a pay offer of 3.5%, and 1,000 Metroline Manchester members will also do the same after turning down an ‘unsatisfactory’ below-inflation pay offer.

Workers at both Metroline and Stagecoach believe the offer doesn’t address years of low pay they’ve recieved, especially given the ongoing cost of living crisis.

Then, over at First Bus Rochdale, 110 members have rejected this year’s pay offer of 6%, as they feel this does not go far enough to address the fact they’ve had years of being paid less than their counterparts at other companies, and are still the lowest paid in the region.

Stagecoach, Metroline, and First Bus Rochdale, part of First Group PLC, are all firms which have seen a rise in profits in recent years.

2,000 drivers are set to stage strike action over two different periods / Credit: TfGM

The second round of strikes will now take place from from 30 September to 2 October.

Speaking ahead of both sets of upcoming strikes, Unite General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “These companies are very profitable but are putting greed over their hardworking members of staff.

“Further strike action will be extremely disruptive, however this is a dispute entirely of the bus companies’ making and they could solve it easily by coming back with a better deal.

“Our members involved in the dispute have Unite’s complete support.”

Unite Regional Officer, Colin Hayden, added: “The strikes this week as well as the further action we have called will cause travel chaos in Greater Manchester. However, it is entirely the fault of the employers involved, who have failed to address the issue of low pay and reward their staff accordingly.

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“Unite is not afraid to escalate to more strikes, which will only intensify going forward.

“It is time for the employers to make an offer that is acceptable to our members to resolve this disruption.”

Featured Image – TfGM

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Police appeal after Bolton woman, 24, dies in collision following suspected ‘medical episode’

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant

An appeal for information and witnesses has been issued following a fatal collision in Bolton earlier this week.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) explained that at around 7pm on Tuesday (16 September), a car was travelling eastbound along Chorley Old Road, near to the Horwich area of Bolton, when it is believed to have lost control and collided with a wall.

Sadly, the driver of the car – a woman aged 24 – died at the scene, and it is believed she may have had a suspected ‘medical episode’.

No other vehicles were involved in the shocking incident.

The road was closed for large part of Tuesday evening, close to the junctions with Old Kiln Lane and Walker Fold Road – with at least six police cars reported to be in attendance at one point, as well as several paramedics and even an air ambulance.

Police are still investigating the full circumstances of the collision, and are now asking anyone who may have witnessed the incident to get in touch.

This also includes anyone with dashcam, CCTV, or doorbell footage which capturing the collision.

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Can you help? Anyone with information is asked to contact police via 101, or on the Live Chat at gmp.police.uk, quoting log 2921 of 16/09/25.

Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Featured Image – Google Maps

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