Oldham criminals jailed February 2026: rapists, attempted murder

February was a grim month for Oldham's courts, with some of the borough's most dangerous offenders locked up for crimes that have left lasting scars on their victims. From a 78-year-old sexual predator who abused girls over nearly three decades to a hospital patient who tried to murder a nurse with scissors, the cases heard at Minshull Street Crown Court paint a disturbing picture of the threats facing our community.

The most shocking case involved Romon Haque, who attacked nurse Achamma Cherian at Royal Oldham Hospital in January 2025. After being denied methadone, the 38-year-old stabbed Ms Cherian with scissors in what the court heard was an act of revenge. A colleague intervened to stop the attack, but Ms Cherian suffered long-term physical injuries.

Meanwhile, Graham Tardif, a 78-year-old from Stephenson Street in Failsworth, was jailed for 14 years for sexually abusing three girls over nearly 30 years. The court heard he raped one victim at least 10 times when she was a teenager. His defence counsel admitted he will likely die in prison due to his age.

The digital age brought new dangers, with Ryan Greenhow, 37, from Oldham, jailed for seven years and four months for exploiting children through social media. He contacted six victims aged 12 to 15, sending them indecent images and threatening them to obtain more. In a separate case, Shaun Grenfell, 37, from Sharples Hall Street, was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years for raping a woman while she slept and assaulting a man, leaving him with two black eyes and needing hospital treatment.

These cases have left the Oldham community shaken, with hospital staff now more vigilant about patient safety, parents concerned about online grooming, and residents questioning how such predators operated undetected for so long. The sentences handed down send a clear message that such crimes will not be tolerated, but the trauma inflicted on victims will take far longer to heal.