Age: 29
Sex: male
Date: 13 May 2021
Place: Pike End Road, Rishworth, Calderdale
Rhys Thompson was found dead on moorland off Pike End Road in Rishworth, Calderdale.
His body was found at about 6.40am on 13 May 2021 by a dog walker in a private track off the road.
He died from serious head injuries caused by a weapon which was thought had been inflicted somewhere in the Manchester area.
The police said that they thought that Rhys Thompson and three friends had been involved in an earlier disturbance in Delaunays Road in Crumpsall, Manchester. His body was found three hours later.
The earlier dispute in Delauneys Road was thought to have been a drugs dispute with an Albanian gang. It was thought that there had been an attempt to 'tax' an Albanian cannabis farm there. It was thought that Rhys Thompson had been chased by the Albanians as he fled, but that he had been caught. The Albanians had used poles to attack a white van outside in the street, smashing its windscreen and driver’s side window. The van was left abandoned in the street with its keys still in the ignition.
His murder was connected with a shooting in Salus Street, Burnley on 4 February 2021 for which the police operation was called Operation Callaway. Two men received gunshot injuries during the incident. The raids on 12 July 2021 were connected with Operation Callaway and saw nine people in all arrested at that time.
A detective said:
The operation into Rhys Thompson's murder was called Operation Linnett.
Multiple people were arrested during the police investigation.
Four men were arrested soon after on 17 May 2021.
A 35-year-old man was arrested in Cambridgeshire on Sunday 23 May 2021.
On 13 July 2021, 9 people, including 6 men and a woman aged between 24 and 46, were arrested following raids in Cheetham Hill in Manchester, Oldham, Radcliffe and Prestwich in Bury and Brierfield in Pendle, with four men being held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. The raids were carried out as part of both Operation Callaway and Operation Linnett. People arrested included:
A 30-year-old man was arrested on 20 October 2021 in Wythenshawe on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.
Rhys Thompson had been from Moss Side.
Nothing more is known about the progression of the charges or any court cases.
