A convicted murderer who set fire to a flat to conceal his crime has been jailed and will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Alan Maidment, 40, of Ludlow Avenue, Salford was jailed yesterday, 9 October, at Manchester Crown Court. He was found guilty of murder and pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery at an earlier hearing.
He was sentenced to life in prison with a whole life tariff.
Maidment was also given a six-year prison sentence after committing five knifepoint robberies, and a further two years for possession of a bladed weapon.
On 21 March, Maidment stabbed a man, who lodged with his ex-girlfriend in Swinton, 32 times and then set fire to the flat.
Ten days later, Maidment went to a snooker hall where he began drinking and taking cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis before committing five knifepoint robberies on Coalshaw Green Park in Chadderton in a short, five-minute period.
He then went to a McDonalds, again armed with a knife, and told staff to contact police, confessing he had committed a murder.
Officers attended and arrested Maidment on suspicion of murder. Two people who were previously arrested were released without charge.