GMP accused of not investigating crimes, again

Dear readers — last week’s collection of Mill stories starred a 4 foot 11 inch petty criminal from the mid-1800s who got caught up in dogfighting and a beloved swan slain before his time by an as-yet-unidentified assailant (also a dog, breed unknown) on New Islington’s marina. This week we’ll do our level best to run a schedule of stories devoid of dogs attacking or maiming people, swans or indeed each other. But no promises.

Catch up and coming up

• On Wednesday historian Thomas McGrath told the strange story of the Clabby family, residents of Manchester’s Irish immigrant community in the 1800s and, it turns out, a pretty violent bunch. “Yet again the Mill bringing new insights into my home city,” wrote reader Mohammed. 
• Thursday saw two mysteries in one edition. While Mollie (with the aid of a reporter in Nigeria) delved deeper into her groundbreaking University of Greater Manchester reporting, exploring a £1 million deal between the university and Ebonyi State, Jack tried to solve the question splitting New Islington down the middle: who killed a beloved swan?
• And at the weekend Ophira and Murtaza went to see how Manchester’s Indian community are faring. There was high praise indeed from Pam, who said it was even better than the Clabby family story...
• As for this week, well, it might just be even better still. On Wednesday James Gilmour is following up his popular recent piece about Manchester’s long-awaited economic boom and posing the question: who actually benefits from Manchester’s rapid growth?
• Then on Thursday paid members will receive Mollie’s latest investigation, which takes a look at a wild story happening within Manchester City Council’s rough sleepers team. 

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🌦️ This week’s weather

Tuesday 🌧️ Overcast with intermittent light rain during the morning. Drier in the afternoon, but remaining dull. 18°C.

Wednesday ⛅️ Mostly dry with hazy spells of sunshine. Feeling warmer. 20°C.

Thursday 🌦️ Largely cloudy and muggy with well-scattered showers. 20°C.

Friday 🌤️ Pleasant with sunny spells and the odd shower. 21°C.

Weekend ⛅️ Mostly dry and quite warm with variable amounts of sunshine.

We get our weekly forecast from Manchester Weather.

Your briefing

👮 Greater Manchester Police are facing fresh accusations of not properly investigating crimes, The Mill can reveal. Nearly five years ago an inspection report found the force had not been recording one in five of all reported crimes, nor one in four violent crimes. In the aftermath of the inspection report, the force was placed in special measures and the new chief constable Stephen Watson promised GMP would do better, pledging: “We will investigate all crimes and follow-up every reasonable line of enquiry." However, last week, an anonymous tipster leaked us an email sent on 2 June by Superintendent Justine Topping to all police managers, which revealed the force has now launched Operation Capella, which intends to shut down crimes that are “clogging the system”. Our tipster tells us "even in cases where offenders are known and evidence is available, the crimes will be marked no further police action" and accused the Force Crime Management Unit of “unethical” practice by closing down crimes that could be investigated and solved. In a statement, a spokesperson for GMP confirmed the existence of Operation Capella but argued that “any crimes closed will follow a strict process of initial review by an inspector” and if there are any cases “where it is found not all opportunities were exhausted” in investigating crimes, “steps will be taken to address this”. The spokesperson added that all crime is down 5% in the past year compared to the previous 12 months but admitted there are crimes in the system that may need to be shut down because “the crime has exceeded the six-month statutory time limit for prosecution”. 

🪧 The Mill was at Altrincham’s Cresta Court yesterday as the hotel housing asylum seekers became a flashpoint for far right protests, a year after rioting swept across the country following the Southport stabbings. Around 150 protesters turned up to protest against refugees being housed in the area. Protesters held placards saying “British men and women, take a deep breath and remember who the fuck you are” and waved Union Jacks. Activists from Stand Up To Racism were also present to counter-protest, chanting “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here”. The hotel has been the site of protest since asylum seekers were moved in towards the end of last year, as we covered back in November (videos posted online of self-styled citizen journalists interrogating the asylum seekers as they leave the hotel have garnered hundreds of thousands of views). One man present on Sunday, identified as Ryan Ferguson, was jailed last year for racially abusing a football player. Ferguson shouted into a loudspeaker that “National Action are coming back… we will show you what we are made of”.

Online posts indicated that the Great British National Party were also outside the hotel. Greater Manchester Police had to intervene to stop protesters clashing. After the counter protesters attempted to leave as a group, they were followed from the opposite side of the dual carriageway and trapped in the hotel car park. One of the protestors stated: “we’re going to follow them wherever they go”. After a brief period of uncertainty, a dispersal order was put in place by police and the far-right activists walked away in the opposite direction down the street, allowing the counter-protesters to be escorted by police to the tram station.

🏗️ Last Thursday, the long-running legal case between the GMCA and the landowner the Weis Group came to a close, with the GMCA winning on all counts. The Weis Group took the GMCA to court last summer over its Housing Investment Loan Fund, which the developer said was loaning disproportionate amounts to Renaker — the foremost builder of luxury high-rise developments in the city. The argument went that the GMCA was breaching the subsidy control act by giving hundreds of millions of pounds to one developer (£500m total), had “distorted” the Manchester property market and given Renaker loans at favourable rates. The judge said that the GMCA’s loaning process was “perfectly rational and not inherently defective” and that the allegation that Renaker received favourable rates due to its cosy relationship with combined authority officers is “clearly not the case”. The GMCA was praised for building homes without wasting taxpayer money and generating an income in repaid loans.

The Weis Group is looking at its grounds for appeal and is also turning its sights on Manchester City Council. The council's planning department has let Renaker off of building affordable units on the grounds they would make its towers “unviable”. But the judgement in the GMCA case has found they are viable schemes worth loaning millions to. “The appraisal submitted to the Council pleads poverty in order to avoid affordable housing contributions whereas their assessments to the GMCA shows the schemes producing a healthy profit,” the group said in a statement. “Only one of these conflicting viability assessments can be right.” 

Quick hits

🎶 James Murray, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, told BBC Breakfast the government is considering reforming the national licensing policy framework to force developers to take responsibility for soundproofing flats and apartments near music venues and pubs. It follows a high-profile dispute involving two residents living in a city centre flat that they called “uninhabitable” due to the noise from their neighbours, Night and Day Café in the Northern Quarter. A judge deemed the flat “faulty”, referring to the fact it wasn’t sufficiently soundproofed, and a city-wide row erupted (we highly recommend revisiting our long read on the dispute, which features a cameo from recent Glastonbury headliner Matty Healy).

🏛️ Prisoner Joe Outlaw (yes, really) stands trial today, accused of attempting escape from lawful custody after staging a 12-hour protest on the roof of Strangeways in spring 2023. Outlaw graffitied “FREE IPPZ” on the roof, referring to imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences, which allow prisoners to languish in jail indefinitely with no set date for release. It’s thought the trial will be the first time that the mental anguish caused by indeterminately long sentences will be used as a legal defence. 

⚽ The family of local Lioness Ella Toone watched England’s nail-biting win over Spain in last night’s Euros Final — as always — at the Union Arms in Tyldesley. The pub is also where Toone used to go as a child after training with her late father. The BBC has the write-up.

Home of the week

Peak city centre young professional living with a vaguely Edgar Allan Poe twist (all black bathroom, mysterious owls in the hallway) here for £300,000. Nonetheless, a lovely apartment and ideal for exposed brick superfans.

Our favourite reads

Free speech target or terrorist gang? The inside story of Palestine Action — and the plan to ban it — The Guardian 

“If this interview had taken place in a week’s time, Huda Ammori might have been arrested,” begins this Guardian long-read following the Palestine Action, whose co-founder, Ammori, is a former student at the University of Manchester. Now that proscription has taken place, being a member of Palestine Action or inviting support for them will carry a maximum sentence of 14 years. Ammori is determined to keep going though: “there’s a lot of unity in terms of wanting to fight this and not crumble to pressure,” she says.

The War on Coffee — The New Yorker 

We thought we’d throw back to this nice little page-turner from 2020, in the New Yorker. It’s about a book called Coffeeland that follows a certain James Hill. Born in Manchester during the industrial revolution, Hill went to El Salvador and by the 1920s had “imposed a program of modern serfdom on the indigenous Salvadoran people in order to grow coffee on an unprecedented scale.” The piece highlights the relationship between the growers of coffee in the global south and its consumers elsewhere, and coffee’s role in enhancing our lives as well as regimenting them. It might make you rethink that mid-afternoon latte.

Southport is more than just anger and grief — The Post

Our colleagues at The Post, in Liverpool, published this moving piece about the legacy left by Axel Rudakubana's attack and the ensuing rioting in Southport last summer. As the town tries to move on, its residents are dealing with their home becoming a byword for tragedy and outrage. “When I moved up here, nobody, none of my southern friends, knew where Southport was. Now everybody does.”

Our to do list

Tuesday

 ✍️ Tomorrow there is a networking event For women, trans and non-binary creatives being held at the Foundry Project, tailored for a range of creative interests from writers to actors to photographers. Starts 7:30pm. Tickets £5 each.

🚲 Chorlton hosts the first of six Women’s Bike Maintenance Workshops, with hands-on sessions teaching you how to mend your own bike. Running from 6-8pm. Tickets here.

Wednesday

🎶 Book clubs and poetry readings are familiar enough among our weekly to-dos, but have you heard of “Song Chats”? Gather with fellow music lovers to listen to and discuss a pre-selected set of tunes tomorrow in the Civic Quarter from 7-8pm. The first session is free.

📽️ Or, take in some cult cinema classics with Cult Cinema Club. Tomorrow they are showing DellaMorte or “Cemetary Man”, with free pop corn and licensed bar. Tickets are £5 and you can bring a friend for free.

Thursday

🎸 The Carlton Club host Steve Williams and the Most Wanted Band. The band draw on a range of musical interests from country to blues. Starts 7pm and entry is free.

🎭 As part of Manchester Fringe Festival, “Missed Calls” is a tale of romance without dialogue – everything is communicated through left voicemails. Tickets are £7.50.

Got a To-Do that you’d like us to list? Tell us about it here.