City News In 250 Words: Wednesday 21 December

A STUDENT at the University of Manchester has been jailed for Christmas after pulling a sickie from jury service. Matthew Banks, 19, told the courts he was too ill to attend the fifth day of the trail so he could go to London to watch the West End hit musical Chicago. However, the language student was rumbled when court officials called his home and his boyfriend told them ‘he’d gone to London to see a show.’ Banks has now been sent to Forest Bank Young Offenders' Institution for 14 days after admitting contempt of court.

MAGISTRATES in Salford and Rochdale will sit for the final time today before the courts close. Salford cases will instead be heard in Manchester, whilst Rochdale cases will move to Bury. Salford City Council had opposed the closure, arguing that there had been a court in the city for 1,000 years, but HM Courts Service said the changes would be “cost-effective.”

THE FUNERAL of a pensioner who died after having a bag containing her husband’s ashes snatched from her will take place later today. Nellie Gerghty, 79, was found in an alleyway in Shaw with serious head injuries on 24 November. The funeral procession will go through Shaw town centre from 12:15pm today.

LIVERPOOL’S Luis Suarez has been given an eight-match ban and fined £40,000 after being found guilty of racial abusing Manchester United fullback Patrice Evra. The club’s official statement has questioned the FA’s decision, which has caused kop fans to feel rather aggrieved.

This week in 1836 the body of opera singer Maria Malibran was exhumed from a grave in Manchester Cathedral, in the early hours of the morning.

Thanks to @revealmcr