The houses lining the small courtyard are handsome, stately, newbuild red brick; the cars parked outside glossy 24 plate Minis and 4x4s.
It’s just before 6am on a chilly October morning in Stretford. Beyond the back gardens, the water of Bridgewater Canal is inky black and gleaming.
Aside from occasional birdsong or the rumble of a distant passing train, all is quiet in suburbia. But then: SMASH. The dawn air was suddenly filled with the sounds of crunching glass as GMP tactical aid officers dispatched the rear glass doors of a property as easily as if they were made of tissue paper. READ MORE: The two Manchester suburbs where homes are flying off the shelves Officers then carried out a sweep of the house.
The man they wanted was in; he soon appeared in the living room in his underwear, looking bleary-eyed from the early wakeup call.