Andrew Bardsley

Courtney Ambrose Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of seven years and 229 days, after admitting violent offences against two women in Tower Hamlets and Salford. He attacked a former girlfriend, falsely imprisoned her and strangled her, then later subjected another woman to a prolonged knife assault that caused life-threatening injuries. Lee was cleared of attempted murder but convicted of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and received an additional consecutive 18-month sentence for breaching a suspended sentence.

Former HMP Buckley Hall prison officers Jai Gascoyne and Elle Walton were sentenced to 16 and 13 months in prison respectively after admitting inappropriate relationships with jailed drug dealers Dil and Haq Nawaz. Evidence included Moonpig cards, jewellery, messages about romance and marriage, and money received from associates. The officers had completed anti-corruption training but continued the relationships; investigators found no evidence that they smuggled drugs or other contraband. The Nawaz brothers, already serving lengthy sentences for distributing up to £3.1 million of crack cocaine and heroin, received an additional year each.