Locked Up: The criminals jailed in Greater Manchester this week

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A former award-winning chef who harassed his former partner and led police on a 29 mile high-speed chase was one of the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester this week.

Prison terms were also handed to an 'obsessive' stalker who travelled 4,000 miles to confront his ex-girlfriend after she dumped him then - and then held her cousin hostage.

An abusive thug who headbutted his partner before filming and mocking after claiming she was 'winding him up' was also jailed in our region.

Read more: Ex-England footballer turned drugs boss snared at Manchester Airport after living glam life with 'Led Zeppelin'

Jail sentences are handed out to the worst offenders each week and Manchester Evening News reporters are in court to cover the most serious cases.

Here are some of the criminals dealt with in Greater Manchester over the last seven days.

A dad-of-two who led a double life as a ‘lynchpin’ of a £40 million drugs conspiracy has been jailed for 23 years. Bolton businessman Irtiza Bashir used Encrochat to concoct elaborate plans to smuggle huge quantities of cocaine and cannabis from Holland to the North West.

Bashir, 46, kept ‘meticulous’ notes on his Encrochat profile ‘Weststreet’, including a proposed import route and plans to hide the drugs in frozen chicken vans , a court heard. There were also references to more than 500kg of heroin, cocaine, and cannabis.

His plans came crashing down when the Encrochat system - used exclusively by members of organised crime groups to plan criminal activities - was hacked by police. After a nine day trial, a jury at Bolton Crown Court unanimously found him guilty of two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, conspiracy to supply Class B drugs, conspiracy to fraudulently