395 people held in police swoops

A MASSIVE police crackdown on booze-fuelled violence across Greater Manchester saw 395 people arrested in a 24-hour blitz.

Operation Portcullis was launched at 6am on Friday with early morning raids targeting violent offenders across all divisions.

By 10am, 126 arrests —one for attempted murder — had been made, with the figure rising to 150 by lunchtime.

Police were hunting criminals responsible for alcohol-fuelled violent assaults, as well as those who had jumped bail and were on the run.

The crackdown saw two people arrested on suspicion of rape and brought 38 people directly before the courts.

A sawn-off shotgun with 50 live cartridges was seized from a house in Gorton, along with drugs believed to be crack cocaine and six kilograms of cannabis.

Cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £40,000 were also discovered at a house in Rochdale.

Officers were out in Oldham town centre on Friday night working with the licensing trade to highlight their role to promote responsible drinking and making sure they stick to their licences.

In Manchester city centre, metal-detecting safety arches were placed in potential trouble spots in a bid to stop people carrying weapons and officers had dogs trained to sniff out drugs.

Social workers were also involved, taking to the streets with officers to identify under-age drinkers at risk of exploitation and carrying out on-the-spot assessments of vulnerable youths.

More than 40 young people were referred to youth agencies, police said.

Terry Sweeney, Assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said: “Violent crime is something that people always tell us they want tackling so it was important we made this operation a success.”