Hello
Blood-splattered walls, rat infestations, broken windows, smashed furniture and damp and mould. The full extent of the filthy and squalid conditions inside crisis-ridden Strangeways have been laid bare in new images published today.
It comes after a watchdog warned the skies above HMP Manchester have been ‘ceded to organised crime gangs’ using drones to smuggle drugs and weapons to some of the most ‘dangerous men in the country’. Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor said the problem is now so bad it has become a ‘threat to national security’.
In a report published on Tuesday, he said the 157-year-old prison had a ‘thriving illicit economy’ amid basic security measures such as outdoor protective netting and CCTV having fallen into disrepair. Mr Taylor found that prisoners were burning holes in supposedly secure windows to receive regular deliveries by drone. In October Mr Taylor called the prison ‘the most violent’ in the UK and said standards had completely collapsed.
READ MORE: Man at centre of Little Hulton murder investigation named and pictured for first time
READ MORE: LIVE: Forensics descend on Salford street with murder investigation underway – latest updates
A rat pictured inside Strangeways -Credit:HM Inspectorate of Prisons
Inmates face ‘catastrophic levels’ of drugs, high rates of violence and a rat infestation, the damning inspection found. There had been a ‘concerning decline’ since the last inspection in 2021 – and inspectors said organised crime gangs and the supply of drugs into Strangeways were ‘clearly undermining every aspect of prison life’.
Responding to the findings, Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, said: “The infiltration of criminal organisations into prisons is a serious and worrying development which these troubling inspection reports highlight. An illicit prison economy that is driven by drug dealing and criminality leads to increased debt and violence and can also have a serious negative impact on the wider community outside of prison.”
From ‘no-go’ zone to holiday homes
Ordsall resident Branwen Dale
Delivery drivers hated going there. Burnt out cars were a regular sight on its streets.
Now though, Ordsall has changed massively. Families and students and young professionals are steadily moving in. And short-term holiday rentals are also now popping up in the area, with some charging more than £100 a night.
“It’s not a ‘no go’ area anymore, it’s a really lovely place,” says Debbie Pownall, from New Barracks Tenant Management Co-Operative. Declan Carey has more here…
Sunday syndrome
Death, taxes and Northern cancelling trains on a Sunday. In recent months the train company has come under intense criticism over its regular cancellation of trains, particularly on Sundays.
And now they are looking at running a reduced Sunday timetable for the next four months. Politics writer Joseph Timan reports
True Blue
Tony Book at the start of the 1973-74 football season -Credit:(Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Some sad news emerged this afternoon, as Manchester City announced the death of club legend Tony Book. The full-back captained City as they won four major trophies, including the First Division title and European Cup Winners’ Cup, during the glory days of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later led them to further League Cup success as manager in 1976.
Among those paying tribute to Book, who spent much of his career at non-league Bath City and doctored his birth certificate to knock two years off his age when signing his first professional contract at Plymouth, was City chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who said Book’s ‘hopes and ambitions for his club were matched only by his incredible humility regarding his own significant achievements’.
Yellow peril
The yellow sticker aisle -Credit:Dominique Dyer
When it comes to the supermarket yellow sticker section, it seems anything is possible. Staff have been sharing their experiences of what it’s like to be discounting items when customers are flocking ‘like vultures’.
And shoppers have been giving their own accounts of what it’s like trying to get their hands on some of the cheaper goods. From black eyes, slapped hands and even full-on fights, here family writer Emma Gill shares some of the more hair-raising tales from the yellow sticker aisles.
Weather etc
Wednesday: Mist changing to overcast by late morning, 10C.
Trains: Rail services will stop running across several weekends in Salford this year while work on a £21m project to upgrade the city’s train stations takes place. More here
Manchester headlines
Nurse attack: A man has appeared in court accused of attempting to murder a nurse at the Royal Oldham Hospital. Romon Haque, 37, is alleged to have stabbed the staff member at around 11.30pm on Saturday night. Read more
Murder probe: A man at the centre of a murder investigation in Salford has been named as Terence Horan. Tez, as he was known to family and friends, was found dead at a property on Hope Hey Lane, in Little Hulton, on Sunday morning. A woman in her 40s has been arrested on suspicion of murder. More here
Pram death: A baby girl from Leigh died from a head injury after her pram was hit by a car, an inquest opening has heard. Six-month-old Sophia Kelemen was hit on the ground floor of a multi-storey car park in Tenby, south-west Wales, on January 2. An inquest into Sophia’s death was opened at Pembrokeshire Coroner’s Court this morning.
Worth a read
Jerelle is offering customers the chance to pay what they can this January
A Northern Quarter barbershop is letting customers pay as much or little as they can for haircuts this month. Jefe’s Barbers on Stevenson Square has brought in the scheme to help people who are strapped for cash at this time of the year.
Writing on social media, owner Jerelle Okoro said: “Yes! It says what it says. January can be a bit testing. It’s only a little but we hope we help a lot.” Ramazani Mwamba has more here