Other News In Brief

Appeal Over Missing Leeds Woman

West Yorkshire Police is appealing for information after a woman was reported missing in Leeds.

Leeds District CID said it would like to speak to anyone who has seen or has information about Anne Marie Gallagher, 20, who was reported missing on Saturday April 26.

She was last seen at her home in the Northcote Green area of Leeds on Friday evening and enquiries have been ongoing in the Harehills area to locate her.

Anne Marie is described as white, 5ft 3ins tall and of medium build with long dark hair.

Anyone who has any information as to her whereabouts is asked to contact North West Leeds CID on 101."

Merseyside RTC Death - Woman Named

Merseyside Police has named a 77-year-old woman who died following a road traffic collision in Meols on Saturday, 26 April as Joan Vivian Blackburn, who was known to her friends and family as 'Viv'.

Ms Blackburn was from the Moreton area. She was involved in a collision in Meols on Saturday, 26 April and died the following day at Arrowe Park Hospital.

The woman's family has been informed and a police family liaison officer has been appointed.

Anyone who was in the area at the time of the collision or witnessed what happened is urged to call officers from the MSOC Roads Policing Unit on 0151 777 5747.

West Midlands Tax Cheat Jailed

A convicted tax cheat has been jailed for working with his wife to try and hide his fortune in a network of personal and business bank accounts.

West Midlands Police say Stephen Oakley moved hundreds of thousands of pounds between accounts – some under his wife’s name – in a bid to thwart attempts to recover the stolen cash and put it back into the public purse.

Officers from the West Midlands Regional Asset Recovery Team (RART) and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) uncovered the scam and brought further charges.

The original case began when Stephen Oakley was found to be complicit in a multi-million pound tax fraud masterminded by a Solihull conman Thomas 'Tommy' Scragg, who is currently service a 17-year sentence after being jailed in 2012.

Oakley admitted Conspiracy to Cheat HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in March 2011 as part of that inquiry and was given a suspended prison sentence. The 58-year-old, from Little Wratting in Suffolk, then worked with his wife Lorraine Oakley, 58, to preserve the money gained in the initial incident.

An investigation by the West Midlands RART and HMRC uncovered the fraud and the pair were arrested and subsequently charged.

Stephen Oakley was jailed for two years at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday 25 April. His wife Lorraine was given a nine month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and was ordered to complete 100 hours of community service.

Coventry Man Jailed Over Series Of Rapes

A Coventry man has been handed a life sentence after admitting to a series of rapes and a sexual assault.

Phillip Clarke, 39, was already serving a 16-year sentence and was brought from HMP Hewell last Wednesday 23 April to face his additional sentence for a further five rapes and a sexual assault dating back to 2010.

Man Jailed After Manchester Assault

A man who told a taxi driver the woman he had just assaulted and robbed in a street in Manchester was his girlfriend and was drunk has been jailed.

21-year-old Keith Cross, of no fixed address, the Rochdale area admitted one count of robbery at Manchester Crown Court on 28 April. He was sentenced to three years and eight months.

The incident began at about 05:10 on Saturday 20 July 2013, when a 23-year-old woman was walking along Thomas Street, wearing headphones.

She was approached from behind by Cross, who had been following her.

He attacked the woman and, after handing over her phone, she ran off along Tib Street where she sought help from a taxi driver.

But Cross followed her and approached the taxi driver, telling him that the victim was his girlfriend and that he should ignore her as she was drunk.

He then walked off along Carpenter Lane before going to Shudehill bus station where he got on the 17 bus, which travels through north Manchester to Middleton and onwards to Rochdale Bus station. He was later arrested.

(IT)