Predatory police officer, teen killers and a sick couple amongst those jailed in Greater Manchester in June

A predatory police officer who sexually assaulted teenagers in his own ‘grooming playground’ is amongst those who have been jailed in Greater Manchester this month.

Also locked up from Manchester’s courts in June are teenage killers, a sick couple who abused children and an ‘embarrassed’ paedophile.

Prison sentences are handed down to the worst offenders each week at our region’s courts. The M.E.N. has dedicated court reporters on hand to cover the most serious cases day-in-day-out.

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Here is a roundup of the most serious offenders in June:

An elderly food bank volunteer lost her mum's wedding ring in a callous handbag snatch by a prolific sneak thief as she shopped in Aldi. The 73-year-old was browsing the aisles when 37-year old Martin Stokes crept up to her trolley before grabbing the bag and walking off.

Her handbag contained a yellow wedding band belonging to her mum plus a Samsung J12 phone, a red purse, her car key, bus pass and driving licence. Police arrested Stokes after CCTV of him walking away from the store at the Crownpoint retail park in Denton was posted on Facebook, a court heard.

It emerged Stokes had carried out a string of other thefts - the court heard another elderly woman had her purse stolen, containing £100, after Stokes asked her for help to find chicken in a Tesco supermarket.

Another theft involved a 'switcheroo' distraction con, a judge was told, in which Stokes stole an £2,750 Omega watch from a jeweller whilst replacing it with a cheap replica he had in his pocket.

When quizzed he initially claimed he had no memory of the thefts due to previously being in a medically-induced coma following a heart