Family hounded out of home by ‘terror campaign’
A PROMINENT Moss Side community campaigner and her young family were forced to move out of their home after being subjected to a ‘campaign of terror,’ a court heard.
Rosalind Wilding and husband Tim had bricks and concrete slabs thrown through their window and at their CCTV cameras during a series of attacks over more than a year.
Jake Ankers, 26, a lettings manager at Beech Properties, described as the ‘orchestrator’ of two of the incidents, said he had received a parking tickets while leaving a vehicle in sight of the family’s CCTV. He believed the camera, trained on a spot outside Beech’s former Moss Side base, led to the tickets, the court heard.
Ankers, from Bolton, recruited Paul Marshall, 28, a former Manchester City youth player who now plays for Curzon Ashton FC, to commit the damage.
Marshall in turn recruited 26-yearold Steven King and in March 31, 2015, three men were seen throwing bricks towards CCTV cameras. King’s DNA was later recovered on a cap nearby.
About a week later King and Marshall were seen using a pole in a bid to damage the CCTV camera.
Ankers, Marshall and King all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit criminal damage. At a Manchester Crown Court sentencing hearing, the three admitted their roles in the events of March 31 and April 7, 2015.
Mrs Wilding is involved in the Avenues and Alleyways project, which aims to tidy up the area.
The family had been traumatised by a number of other incidents.
In a victim impact statement, the family, who have three young children, said they were living in ‘constant fear of attack.’
In mitigation, barristers for the three defendants said they were not aware of the criminal damage the family had experienced previously.
For Ankers, Richard Dawson said: “It’s an unfortunate coincidence of this case that these victims had such vulnerability.”
He described Ankers, who has no previous convictions, as a hardworking, constructive and productive young man.
Defending Marshall, Max Saffman described the two incidents as a ‘week of madness for the sake of a few pounds.’
He said Marshall, who earns £300 a week from Curzon Ashton and also works for an electrical company, is a ‘positive role model for his two children and his younger brother.’
Defending King, Waheed Baber said his client had remorse.
Sentencing the trio on Monday, July 17, Judge Martin Walsh said: “These two incidents were experienced by a family under siege, and the terror and trauma experienced by them is a factor I must have regard to.”
Ankers, of Bradford Park Drive, Bolton, was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison suspended for two years. He got 100 hours’ unpaid work and a 7pm to 7am curfew.
King, 26, of Selhurst Avenue, Clayton, was sentenced to three months’ jail, concurrent to a 51-month prison sentence he is already serving. A restraining order was also granted.
Marshall, of Endcott Close, Gorton, got eight weeks’ prison, suspended for two years and told to undertake 120 hours’ unpaid work.
Beech Properties declined to comment. Curzon Ashton FC have not responded to requests for comment.