Locked Up: The criminals jailed in Greater Manchester this week
26.09.2022 - 12:11
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A pervert who travelled 150 miles to meet up with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl was one of the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week.
Prison terms were also handed to a prolific thief who admitted to 15 counts of shoplifting.
A thug who took part in a 'grotesque' 12-hour campaign of torture against a drug dealer who they kidnapped, assaulted and sexually humiliated was also jailed in our region.
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Jail sentences are handed out to the worst offenders each week and Manchester Evening News reporters are in court to cover the most serious cases.
Here are some of the criminals dealt with in Greater Manchester over the last seven days.
A vile pervert travelled 150 miles to meet up with what he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. Instead, Andrew Masters was confronted in Manchester by a 'paedophile hunter' group who had been controlling a decoy Facebook account.
In a series of sick chats, Masters told the 'girl' to perform sexual acts on herself and asked questions about her underwear, despite being told that she was aged 13 "at the very start" of their communication. The 63-year-old sent 44 photographs to the account, including explicit images, and asked if he was "big enough", prosecution barrister Lisa Boocok told Minshull Street Crown Court.
He travelled to Manchester where he was met by the paedophile hunting group at a tram stop on July 26 and was arrested. Masters also had a can of 'artificial cream' on him, that he had previously discussed using on the girl in a sexual manner.
Masters, of Mortimer Common, Reading, pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a child to engage