Man who attacked bus driver in riot jailed

A man who launched a "violent and unprovoked attack" on a bus driver during a riot in Manchester has been jailed.

Jack Cregan, 32, told police he had been committing crime in Derbyshire when violent disorder broke out in Oldham Road in Newton Heath on 31 July so they had got the wrong man.

But videos on his mobile phone, which he had hidden but left on vibrate, showed he had been there.

He was sentenced to two and a half years.

Analysis of the mobile phone showed Cregan, of Argyll Close, Failsworth, was on Oldham Road during the riot.

GMP said they found his phone taped under a kitchen cabinet at his home after he left it on vibrate, saying "all it took was one phone call to unravel his lies".

So far 20 people have been sentenced for disorder at Newton Heath, it added.

Another man, Colin Brown, 37, was jailed for two years and four months for his role in a riot in Piccadilly Gardens in the city on 3 August.

Brown pleaded guilty to violent disorder and robbery.

GMP said he was in the group that breached the metal barriers and shouted and goaded other protests groups and stole a scarf after pulling it from someone's face.

He was also part of a group that attacked a man, the force said.

Det Ch Insp Jill Billington said officers were committed to protecting communities, and was continuing to investigate those involved in "deplorable and unnecessary violence".

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