A TEENAGER has become the final person to be sentenced after an Oldham woman was dumped and tortured on Saddleworth Moor in a ‘disgusting and cruel’ ordeal.
Marshall Atkinson, 19, was the last of five people to be put away after the “frightening and humiliating ordeal” at the hands of a loan shark.
The 28-year-old victim had been walking along Victoria Street in Lees on January 7, 2025 when she was lured into a house by Kimberley Green, who told her there had been an urgent phone call for her.
However, the 43-year-old had been recruited by local money lender Janzib Rigby, who had previously given to the victim at extortionate interest rates so she could pay for drugs.
Once inside, the woman was set upon by the 31-year-old as well as Atkinson – who was 17-years-old at the time, 19-year-old Cody McGiffen and 18-year-old Aaron Cook, who began to repeatedly taser her across her face and body while demanding she pay her debt.
Green then took the woman upstairs and subjected her to a strip search, where she stole £450 that she had been keeping in her underwear.
Greater Manchester Police was alerted to the kidnapping after the woman called her mother to plead for money in exchange for freedom.
However, she was then taken to a second property on Wildmoor Avenue before officers could reach the scene. Negotiators were said to have remained with her mother all day.
Hours later, the victim was taken to Saddleworth Moor, where she was kicked out of the car in little clothing while it snowed.
In what Judge Sarah Johnston described as “nothing more than sport” for the perpetrators, the victim was then tasered repeatedly as the group drove around her.
The group was finally caught after police intercepted the car as it made its way back to Wildmoor Avenue after nearly 12 hours of “utter torment”.
Following his arrest, Atkinson was found to have taken more than 30 videos of the torture on his phone and had numerous text messages to other people bragging about what the group was doing.
But speaking at the first sentencing hearing, the victim said she had “spiralled out of control” as a result of their behaviour.
“I have spent three stints in mental health units since what happened,” she told Manchester Crown Court in January. “I suffer from complex PTSD as well as hallucinations and flashbacks.
“I have tried to take my own life on five occasions. I can honestly say this is directly as a result of what happened to me.
“I think about it every day, every hour, every minute, the fear and humiliation that I suffered.
“I started to self harm. It is the only release I have to take my mind away from what happened.”
In her sentencing remarks, Judge Johnston described the torture as “utterly inhumane” and a “frightening and humiliating ordeal” for the victim.
She said the perpetrators had “nothing but contempt” for the woman, and described Rigby’s remorse as “superficial”.
At the end of the hearing, Rigby, Green, McGiffen, and Cook were all sentenced for their crimes.
Rigby, of Salisbury Street, Shaw, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment, robbery and two counts of kidnapping. He was jailed for eight years and handed a restraining order against the victim.
Green, of Victoria Street, Lees, was found guilty of robbery, kidnapping and two counts of false imprisonment. She was sentenced to five years.
McGiffen, of Lawn Close, Oldham, pleaded guilty to only one count of kidnapping. He was then found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and another of kidnapping.
He was given an 18-month community order, which required him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity days. He was also given a three-year restraining order.
Finally, Cook pleaded guilty to using the taser and was then found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and one of kidnap. He was given a one-year youth rehabilitation order.
During the trial, Atkinson, of Wood Crescent, Oldham, pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment, one count of possession of cannabis and using the taser.
He was likewise given a restraining order against the victim, though had his sentencing deferred for six months.
He has now been sentenced to two years in a young offender institution, suspended for two years, and must undergo drug rehabilitation activity for three months.
He will also be forced to attend up to 20 days of rehabilitation activities, as well as 180 hours of unpaid work.
An order has also been made to destroy the cannabis and mobile phone that police seized upon his arrest.
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