This is a small selection from today's local rag in Manchester.

Steven Lee Mulgrew 27, of Cornbrook Way in Old Trafford, was sentenced to six years in prison in his absence, for his part in the raid on Vic's Corner Shop in June 2006. He had failed to attend the hearing at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court, claiming he was sick
PEOPLE living on a prestige estate have seen a crime wave escalate around their homes - while a specially-built police station remains unmanned
A MAN had his finger sliced off during an attack in his own home by knife-wielding robbers
A 96-year-old woman was hit in the face during a robbery at her home
Shortly before 11.50pm police were called to Tameside General hospital following a report that a 24-year-old man had been shot in the neck while in his car
POLICE have appealed for help from the public as a 20-year-old man fights for his life following a shooting at a takeaway
Shortly after 2.15am on Saturday, police received a report of shots being fired on Ashton Lane, Sale. Officers attended and found that a number of shots had been fired outside the Ebony nightclub
A man suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead a short time later & two other men were injured in the same incident. A 27-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the back and was transferred to another hospital for further treatment. He remains in hospital. A third man, aged 23, suffered a minor graze to the head, possibly from shrapnel and the fourth man was not injured in the incident
What are the police doing about this?

BRITAIN'S bravest cop was among nearly 1,000 Greater Manchester police at a pay protest in London.

Geoff Hince, 32, was awarded the honour last year after being attacked by machete-wielding robbers when he went to the aid of post office workers in Salford.

Following a 22,000-strong march through the streets of the capital, the tactical aid unit Pc listened as colleagues urged MPs to dack-date their 2.5 per cent pay deal.
They're all on a jolly down London asking for a pay rise.



We have a force to be reckoned with though, in the form of Police Community Support Officers, who are on a dangerous mission, codenamed Operation MARLIN (they obviously mean business with this one) which will ensure the streets are safe from the threat of violent criminals.

I had this through my letterbox today.



Let's have a look at what they want to know.

I expect it will be all about fishing for the names of top villans who are terrorising the streets we live in.



Erm...

Maybe the next page is less about whether you're an asylum seeker & more about catching violent criminals?



They want to catch kids knocking bins over.

Old ladies mugged in their homes, shootings & fingers chopped-off all over the shop & they're asking if we think anti-social behavior is a problem? I would have hoped PCSO McLeod might've figured that one out on their own.

McLeod - where have I heard that name before?

The inquest was told that the two men had been recruited to carry out the hit by Moss Side gangster Ian McLeod
So it goes.