The Mancunian Way: He needed help

Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.

I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I spent it with a dear friend who visited from across the Pennines and actually managed to get here, by train, on time. He also got a seat. Quite the achievement.

As he said when he arrived: “When they’re alright, they’re alright actually.” Not exactly a glowing review of our rail system but he's not wrong.

Clearly keen to bottle that enthusiasm and encourage customers onto their trains, Northern this morning issued a press release which seemed to rather contradict itself. The operator is offering a 75 per cent discount to groups of ten or more and has suggested that stag, hen and ‘sten’ parties might want to take advantage of the offer. But, in the same breath they warned them to ‘moderate their alcohol in-take on-board’. Hmm.

Although it’s not just pre-wedding parties Northern is hoping to attract. “Sports teams, walking parties and other social groups are also eligible for the discount,” they say. I hear there’s nothing rambling groups like better than sharing a carriage with men and women dressed in a white veils and L plates.

On to the news. In today’s edition we’ll be discussing the impact of delays to the Clean Air Zone and an attack on one of Manchester’s most iconic buildings. But first, we’re taking a look at a tragic case that shines a light on the conditions faced by inmates and staff at one of Greater Manchester’s busiest prisons.

When Michael McDonagh died at HMP Forest Bank in February 2019, he was the third inmate to pass away at the jail in the space of seven months.