It's the penultimate week before we leave August behind and say hello to September but for our region's courts , it's been another busy week of dishing out prison sentences for all manner of criminal offences .

And the M.E.N were there to cover some of the most serious prosecutions.

There was two separate and unconnected incidents of prison officers and guards being sprayed with urine.

In a shocking case, there was the drunk thug who repeatedly thumped his pregnant girlfriend in stomach and threatened to stab her three-year-old daughter.

Then there was the story of a man who tried  to rape an unconscious woman just eight days after taking part in a terrifying raid on another woman's home

Here is a run-down of the criminals sent down in the last week:

Illegal pit bull to be destroyed and owner jailed after it attacked a guide dog

Tracey Clarke, 48, was jailed for 24 weeks

A shoplifter with hundreds of convictions has been jailed after her illegal pit bull attacked a guide dog.

Tracey Clarke, 48, was sentenced to a total of 24 weeks in prison for a series of offences at Manchester Magistrates Court this week.

The court heard she has an appalling record of convictions stretching back to 1985, including 157 offences of dishonesty.

She was back before the bench on Thursday to be sentenced for two offences of shoplifting alcohol, candles and cake from Slattery's in Whitefield, as well as owning a fighting dog, namely a pit bull called 'Skye'.

Magistrates were told that Clarke's offences came while she was still subject to a suspended sentence from a previous conviction.

They activated this sentence and said she must serve 16 weeks in prison.

Clarke also received two weeks for each of the shoplifting offences, and a further four weeks for the dog offence meaning she must serve a total of 24 weeks.

No costs or compensation was awarded as the court heard her only income is £190 a month in Universal Credit.

The dog Skye must also be destroyed.

Prison officers sprayed with urine and faeces by Strangeways inmate

Ailing HMP Manchester is full to capacity

An inmate threw a bottle of urine and faeces at a female prison officer's face, neck and nose in a 'humiliating' attack at Strangeways prison.

Baillee Fairley, 25, was serving a public protection sentence and had been in prison for eight years when he launched the revenge attack on two prison officers.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the attack had been premeditated by Fairley, who wanted to seek revenge on a prison guard following an incident three days prior.

The prisoner prepared his 'weapons' inside his cell, filling a bottle of baby lotion and shower gel with a mixture of urine and faeces.

He singled out the male prison officer he held a grudge for and chased him, before launching the bottle towards the guard.

Fairley, of HMP Manchester, was sentenced to three years after being convicted of two offences of administering a noxious substance.

He refused to appear for his sentence and was not represented in court.

Due to nature of his current indeterminate sentence, Fairley will have to serve half of his latest sentence before he can be considered for parole.

Career criminals used doctor's stolen debit card to buy euros and sportswear after he was robbed and beaten in Northern Quarter

Ibrahim Ahmed, Anis Said and Abdullah Mohamed

Three criminals used a doctor's stolen debit cards to buy thousands of pounds worth of euros and sports clothes after he was beaten and robbed during a night out in Manchester.

Ibrahim Ahmed, 27, Anis Said, 26 and Abdullah Mohamed, 27, blew the victim's cash just hours after he had been hospitalised for the attack which occurred in the city's Northern Quarter.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the victim, who worked as a locum doctor, had been on a night out with friends when he became heavily intoxicated.

During the course of the evening, he became separated from his friends and was befriended by a group of males, the court heard.

At some stage, the man went to a nearby convenience with the group of men and withdrew a sum of money, prosecutor, Jane Greenhalgh said.

Ahmed of Taylor Street, Gorton , was jailed for 21 months.

Mohammed, of Westmam Drive, Manchester , was jailed for 12 months and Said of Darras Road, Manchester, was jailed for 14 months.

Eight days after robbing one woman he tried to rape another - now he has got a life sentence

Joseph Lee, 33, from Orell, Wigan, given life sentence for attempted rape of women in her own home.

A man who tried  to rape an unconscious woman just eight days after taking part in a terrifying raid on another woman's home has been jailed for life.

Joseph Lee, 33, must serve a minimum of six years before being released.

Bolton Crown Court was told that Lee, of Langdale Crescent, Orrell, Wigan, tried to have sex with a woman after she had passed out on a sofa.

Lee was at her home on January 12th this year with a mutual male friend.

At around 3.10am, the friend left the address to go to a nearby shop as the victim slept in the living room.

When he returned around 5-10 minutes later, he found Lee attempting to have sex with her, despite the fact that she appeared to be sleeping.

The man immediately confronted Lee, who then stopped and left the address after a short confrontation between the two.

The friend contacted the police a short time later and Lee was arrested the following day.

On January 4th Lee  and another man had taken part in an early morning break-in at a house in Marsh Green, Wigan.

In that incident a woman was sitting in her living room at about 3am.

She had left her door insecure and saw an intruder come into her home.

She went outside and saw two men standing by her car which they then tried to steal. The victim sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle and screamed for help causing neighbours to come out and the raiders fled.

Lee was given a sentence of three years and four months after pleading guilty to robbery for that offence.

A thug who launched an attack on a woman taking part in a parkrun was detained by brave joggers

A thug who launched a random attack on a woman taking part in parkrun was detained by fellow joggers.

The victim had joined runners and walkers as part of the 5km event held every Saturday in Platt Fields park in Fallowfield.

According to Greater Manchester Police, a man launched an 'unprovoked assault' on the woman last Saturday morning.

Fortunately, she did not suffer serious injuries but was left concussed and 'considerably shaken up'.

Members of the public, believed to be fellow runners, detained the suspect at the scene.

Michael Grainger, 41, appeared at Manchester Magistrates' Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to one count of common assault.

He was jailed for 16 weeks.

Grainger is of no fixed abode and appeared in court in December last year to admit having failed to comply with a community order imposed by Birmingham and Solihull Magistrates Court.

According to the court register, he was convicted of assaulting another woman in Birmingham last year.

Woman was given job at pasty shop specifically for ex-criminals - now she's back in prison for torching it

Kimberley Francis, 29, started the blaze at HM Pasties in Droylsden.

A woman who was jailed for arson has been sent back to prison after she set fire to a pasty shop specifically designed to help offenders back into the community.

Kimberley Francis, 29, started the blaze at HM Pasties in Droylsden in revenge, after she was sacked from her job for turning up to work drunk and claims she had stolen money from the till.

The bakery is specifically designed to provide employment for ex-offenders, like Francis, and help rehabilitate them back into the community

Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Francis had secured the job in 2018 - some time after being released from a two-year prison sentence for setting fire to her rented house in 2014.

Francis, of Fifth Avenue, Clayton , was jailed for two years and six months after admitting arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Francis will serve half her sentence in custody before being released on license.

Man jailed for dangerous driving over M60 horror crash which left bits of his car scattered across carriageway

The crash left debris scattered across the carriageway

A man has been jailed following a horror crash on the M60 which left a taxi driver seriously injured.

Pieces of Akinmdeje Akinleye's smashed-up hire car were left scattered across the carriageway after the collision near Cheadle last year.

A court heard how on October 27, the 38-year-old's black Hyundai Tucson was spotted being driven the wrong way down the motorway in lane three.

The vehicle then collided with a black cab near junction 2, leaving its driver with serious injuries.

When police arrived, Akinleye, of Broadoak Road in Wythenshawe , was behind the wheel of the Hyundai still trying to drive despite all the airbags having deployed.

He was sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on August 9 to 16 months in prison.

He was also disqualified for six years and eight months and ordered to take an extended test and pay a victim surcharge of £140.

'I'm going to punch that baby out of you'... drunk thug repeatedly thumped pregnant girlfriend in stomach and threatened to stab her three-year-old daughter

Mark Cottrell

A father-to-be repeatedly thumped his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach during a vicious beating after they had a hypothetical discussion about who might get custody of their unborn child if they were to split up.

Mark Cottrell, 32,  flew into a rage at her then savagely beat her saying: '‘I’m going to punch that baby out of you.’'

Cottrell also dragged her by the hair, threatened to stab her and her three-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, and kill their dog.  He eventually produced a knife and said he was going to stab himself instead.

His victim suffered heavy bruising and clumps of hair were found to be to have been ripped out of her scalp. She subsequently ended her relationship with Cottrell and is thought to have since given birth to a healthy girl.

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Cottrell, of Sale, was jailed for 26 months after he admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He claimed he could not remember the incident as he had been drunk on gin.

The court heard Cottrell had previous offences of common assault and ABH as well as four offences of battery, all against ex-partners on his record.

Cottrell was also given a five year restraining order banning him from contacting his victim.

Woman sexually assaulted after attending attacker's dinner party

Robert Linegar, 53, of Greetland Drive in Blackley, was jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a woman at his home

A woman was subjected to a 'degrading and humiliating' sexual assault after going to her attacker's house for a dinner party.

Robert Linegar's victim was barely conscious when the 53-year-old pounced and was unable to defend herself.

A court heard how Linegar and his wife invited the woman over for a dinner party at the family home in Greetland Drive, Blackley , on April 2 last year.

After his wife went to bed, the victim started to feel unwell and unable to move. 

The next thing she knew Linegar was kissing and touching her before he then sexually assaulted her. 

The following day the woman, who is in her 40s, went back to the house with a friend and confronted Linegar who was arrested a few days later. 

He pleaded guilty to three charges of sexual assault at Manchester Crown Court , and was sentenced today to two-and-a-half years behind bars.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years.

'I can't even kill someone. Rather pathetic really'... son tried to batter frail dad to death after knowing for 20 years that he was a convicted paedophile

Daniel Green

A tormented son tried to batter his elderly father to death in a nursing home after he was forced to live with the knowledge for 20 years that the old man was a convicted paedophile.

Daniel Green, 31, throttled 78-year old widower David Green and bludgeoned him over the head with a porcelain statuette after he snapped and attacked the frail pensioner during a family visit.

Staff alerted to the 'explosive' assault in the lounge of Ravenswing Manor care home in Blackburn, where David Green was living with dementia.

The found the old man sat in an armchair covered in blood and the broken statuette on the floor nearby.

They then spoke to his son who promptly confessed to the beating, which happened while they were watching TV together.

Daniel Green, from Blackburn, admitted attempted murder and was jailed for eight years and eight months.

Strangeways inmate threw urine on guards then shouted 'Allahu Akbar' while battering them

The attack happened in the K wing of HMP Manchester

A Strangeways prisoner may never leave jail after carrying out a terrifying 'potting' attack on two guards while shouting 'Allahu Akbar'.

Simeon Nicholls, 29, threw urine on a guard from his cell window, then flew into a violent rage when prison officers came to investigate.

He claimed he was praying when the officers entered his cell and that he was acting in self-defence.

But a jury at Manchester Crown Court saw through his lies and he was convicted of one count of administering a noxious substance and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was cleared on a second count of assault.

Nicholls, who was already serving a sentence for robbery, was jailed for two years and three months for throwing the urine, and a further nine months for the assault.

It is understood he is on a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP), meaning he will only be released if the Parole Board can be convinced he is no longer a threat.

Police told robber Ricky Smith they were coming for his teeth - but now they'll settle for £57,000

Ricky Smith

When cops caught robber Richard 'Ricky' Smith, they joked they would come for his teeth.

But police have settled now settled for £57,000, following a Proceeds of Crime hearing at Manchester Crown Court.

Smith's pearly white veneers, like the rest of his life, had been funded by theft.

GMP  detectives bantered about seizing them as Proceeds of Crime.

But he and his friend Patrick McDonagh have both been ordered to pay back thousands of pounds, or they could face more time in jail.

The pair were part of Greater Manchester's most prolific cash-in-transit robbers.

Smith and his gang committed seven robberies between February and August 2017, netting £288,000.

Smith, 38, of Pegwell Drive, Lower Broughton,  Salford , was given a ten year sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to rob, two counts of robbery, and one of attempted robbery.

Patrick McDonagh, 38, of Ridge Crescent,  Whitefield , pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob and two counts of robbery and was also jailed for 10-and-a-half years.

On Friday, a judge ordered Smith to hand over £57,000 within three months or face another 16 months on his sentence.

At the same hearing, McDonagh was ordered to pay back £71,700 within three months or face an extra 18 months in prison.