Charges and arrests
The two criminal damage counts concern a property on Littleton Road and relate to October 18 and 22. Greater Manchester Police said Brito, of Chapel Road in Prestwich, had been released on bail until his appearance at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on March 3, 2027.
The wider investigation covers attacks on as many as 50 houses in Salford, Tameside and Stockport in recent weeks. Police have arrested five men, a woman and a 13-year-old boy on suspicion of criminal damage and conspiracy to cause criminal damage.
Ashlea Simon, 37, the former co-leader of the far-right Britain First party, is the woman arrested. She said officers detained her at Manchester Airport on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage. Police confirmed the arrest of a 37-year-old woman on that suspicion.
Damage across three areas
An earlier police tally, released on October 22, 2026, recorded damage to 46 properties since October 5. Salford accounted for 41 of those properties, with three in Tameside and two in Stockport.
The attacks have involved graffiti bearing the messages "No HMO" and "Stop the boats", according to October reporting by ITV News and the BBC. A pig's head was also left outside one home.
HMOs are properties occupied by at least three people who are unrelated. Police said some buildings were attacked because they were wrongly believed to be HMOs.
Neither of the two targeted properties in Heaton Norris, near Stockport, was in use as an HMO, despite social media claims. One was understood to be for sale; the other was the subject of a pending application to Stockport Council for conversion into an eight-bedroom HMO.
Police examine social media and possible exploitation
Police regard the wave of vandalism as "racially or religiously motivated", a senior officer said in a BBC report published on October 22, 2026.
Chief Superintendent Marcus Noden said social media was partly driving the attacks. Footage showing criminal damage was circulating widely, he said, "followed by comments and discussions". People were also using the platforms to "push the message out across different areas".
Another line of inquiry concerns suspected exploitation. Police believe vulnerable people, including children, may be receiving money to damage buildings they think are HMOs. Noden stressed that this was one line of inquiry being pursued.
Tameside leaders condemn vandalism
The four party leaders on Tameside Council jointly condemned the vandalism on October 22, 2026, and pledged to work with Greater Manchester Police. The statement came from Labour's Eleanor Wills, Reform UK's Allan Hopwood, the Conservatives' Andrea Colbourne and the Independent Group's Ged Cooney.
They said criminality, violence, aggression and intimidation in Tameside "will not be tolerated".
