Week in court: here are the latest criminal cases before the courts involving people from Wigan borough

Liam Harris, 34, of no fixed address appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to 17 thefts from shops in Wigan and Leigh including Poundland, Asda, Premier, One Stop Shop and The Range from which he snatched items totalling more than £1,900.

Goods stolen included patio furniture, confectionery, alcohol, cleaning products and deodorants.

Harris also admitted to assaulting a woman by beating on July 15 last year as well as a bail breach on September 11 this year.

The thefts took place between July 2025 and last month. he was given an 18-week custodial sentence but it was suspended for a year.

He must also undergo 12 months of supervision and 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

A Wigan woman has appeared in court charged with attempted robbery.

Kerry Davison, 43, of Sandway, Beech Hill, is accused of trying to steal money from a man on July 11 last year.

Wigan magistrates adjourned the hearing until December 21, when she will be asked to enter a plea.

A Leigh man has been charged with possessing an imitation firearm in public.

Aaron Heaton-Crosby, 38, of Dakins Road, is alleged to have had a revolver-style air pistol on Bridgewater Way - the towpath for the canal - on September 28.

He was remanded on unconditional bail until a hearing before Wigan magistrates on December 22.

A Leigh thief has admitted stealing items worth hundreds of pounds from the same shop and a £3,000 bicycle.

Neil Grimes, 61, of Shadwell Grove, pleaded guilty to three counts of theft from One Stop in Leigh and one of theft of a pedal cycle when he appeared before Wigan justices.

He stole laundry products worth £50 on August 15, then took alcohol and household items worth £195.45 and alcohol and laundry products worth £276.48 in two incidents the following day.

He also stole a bicycle worth £3,000 in Leigh on June 7, while an allegation that he took a second bike that day was withdrawn.

Grimes was remanded on conditional bail while a pre-sentence report is prepared and will go before magistrates on December 22 to receive his punishment.

A Leigh man who admitted riding an e-bike without due care and attention has been banned from the roads.

Westleigh Hayes, 23, of Chatham Street, also pleaded guilty to riding the Sur-Ron off-road electric bike on Holden Road on July 31 without a licence and insurance.

Wigan magistrates imposed a 12-month disqualification and £200 fine, while he must also pay £85 prosecution costs.

A Wigan woman received more than £28,000 in universal credit after giving false information about childcare costs.

Jenna Taylor, 39, of Crediton Drive, Platt Bridge, has pleaded guilty to dishonestly making a false statement to obtain £28,337.03 between February 17, 2021 and June 23, 2024.

She was remanded on unconditional bail and will be sentenced at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on January 11.

A Wigan man has admitted driving a stolen car dangerously.

Thomas Rowan, 25, of Bainbridge Avenue, Lowton, got behind the wheel of the Range Rover Evoque on October 26 last year, knowing that it had been taken without the owner’s consent, and drove it dangerously on Church Lane, Slag Lane, Sandy Lane and Newton Road.

Damage was caused to the vehicle, Wigan magistrates were told.

An interim driving disqualification was imposed and Rowan will be sentenced in the same court on January 19.

He was remanded on unconditional bail.

A Leigh man will be sentenced in the new year after confessing to burglary at a supermarket.

Sean Jackson, 36, of Cecil Street, went into Aldi, on King Street, Leigh, with intent to steal on August 7.

He was remanded on unconditional bail until sentencing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court on January 19.

A Wigan man has been jailed and a woman was handed a suspended prison sentence for using someone else’s bank card and a car taken without the owner’s consent.

Gary Bennett, 37, of no fixed address but previously of Billinge Road, Pemberton, and Amy Rebecca Steward, 28, of no fixed address but formerly of Bag Lane, Atherton, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, after using the bank card to try to buy goods on September 29.

Bennett also admitted taking a Fiat Punto without the owner’s consent between September 28 and 29 and driving it without a licence and insurance.

Steward pleaded guilty to being carried in the stolen Fiat Punto and being in possession of class B drug cannabis.

She had been charged with taking the vehicle without the owner’s consent, but that was withdrawn.

Manchester magistrates sentenced Bennett to 16 weeks’ imprisonment and banned him from driving for 12 months.

For Steward, they imposed a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and told her to do 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

A Wigan man who stalked a woman for five weeks has been jailed.

Jonathan Proudman, 40, of Ince Green Lane, Ince, admitted stalking a woman between August 19 and September 28, including contacting her an “excessive” number of times using no caller ID, posting her details on Facebook with “derogatory” comments and sending “numerous” messages, some of which were said to “allude to threats”.

Manchester magistrates imposed a 10-week prison sentence and a 10-year restraining order, while he must pay a £154 surcharge.

Hard drug dealing charges have been brought against a Wigan borough man.

Joseph MacNaughton, 46, of Central Avenue, Leigh, appeared at the local law courts charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin between February 5 and 29 2024.

He is further accused of possessing both of these class A substances on May 29 that year with intent to supply them.

No pleas have yet been entered and the case was sent to Liverpool Crown Court on unconditional bail until he makes his first appearance there on November 5.

A Wigan 34-year-old has denied subjecting a woman to more than three years of domestic abuse.

Joshua Jones, of Atherton Road, Hindley, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to plead not guilty to a charge of controlling and coercive behaviour towards a named female between January 1 2023 and April 19 2026.

The charge alleges that he used tracking devices, made abusive comments, threats and caused actual damage to property.

It also says he accused her of cheating which included checking underwear for semen, forcing the complainant into lie detector tests and threatened to shoot, kill and throw acid on friends and family.

Jones also denied causing £5,000 damage to the woman's property and assaulting her by beating on April 19 and the intentional strangulation of another woman on the same day.

He was remanded on conditional bail until a pre-trial review on August 10 next year.

A Wigan 25-year-old who admitted to attempted theft and two assaults has received a community punishment.

Adham Khamis, of Heath Street, Golborne, had been charged with mugging a named male for a £6,000 gold chain and assaulting another male by beating on May 10.

He was further alleged to have tried robbing another male of a £5,000 chain on May 29.

But on appearing at Manchester Crown Court in the summer he pleaded guilty to attempted theft, rather than attempted robbery - which was accepted by the prosecution - plus two counts of assault by beating.

He has now been handed a 12-month community order, which includes completing 100 hours of unpaid work.

The robbery charge will lie on file.

A Wigan 53-year-old has denied poisoning another woman with oven cleaner.

Lynnie Brooks, of Millgate, appeared before a Liverpool Crown Court judge to plead not guilty to administering the toxic substance to a named female on May 5.

She also denied assaulting the woman by beating and stealing her mobile phone on the same day.

A trial date of October 4 2027 was set at the same court and she was bailed until then.

Dangerous drink-driving while banned charges have been brought against a Leigh man also accused of attacking a woman and her property.

Nathan Lovell, 38, of Henry Street in Leigh, appeared before Wigan justices charged with dangerously driving a white Ford Transit van on Bright Street, Leigh, on October 1 and that he did so when more than double the legal alcohol limit (92 microgrammes in 100ml of breath), that he had no insurance or licence and that he was disqualified from the road at the time.

On the same day it is further alleged that he assaulted a named female by beating, smashed windows at her home and caused £500 criminal damage to her caravan.

He has yet to answer any pleas and was granted conditional bail until making a further appearance before Manchester and Salford magistrates on November 6.

A Wigan 31-year-old who admitted to violently assaulting a woman has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Jordan Belshaw, of Simpkin Street, Abram, had previously denied a single charge of causing a named female actual bodily harm on March 16 2024. The case was delayed several times and by the time a trial had due to start, he changed his plea to guilty

Now back at Bolton Crown Court for sentencing, he was given a 12-month custodial term but it was suspended for 21 months.

He was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, pay a £187 victim services surcharge and a five-year restraining order was imposed forbidding any contact with his victim.

A teenager has denied raping a schoolgirl of 14 in Wigan.

Logan Green, 18, from Manor Square in Winsford, Cheshire, appeared before a Liverpool Crown Court judge to plead not guilty to a single charge of sexually attacking the youngster on June 11 2022 when he himself was a minor.

A trial date of February 10 2028 was set, before which the defendant is on conditional bail.

A Wigan 25-year-old who finally admitted to dangerous driving and other motoring offences has been spared an immediate custodial sentence.

Lewis Roberts, of Warrington Road, Ince, had originally appeared before borough magistrates to deny driving a Citroen C1 dangerously along various roads in Ashton-in-Makerfield on June 13 last year.

He also pleaded not guilty to failing to stop for police, the aggravated taking of the vehicle in that it was damaged before it was recovered, and driving without insurance or a licence.

But at a later hearing he changed his pleas to guilty.

Roberts attended Liverpool Crown Court where a judge gave him a 12-month jail term although it was suspended for 18 months.

The sentence also has an 18-month probation requirement and he was banned from driving for the same period.

Honey was remanded into custody until a further hearing on February 22 next year.

A Wigan woman has been cleared of breaking into a house to steal a valuable bicycle.

Kirsty Taylor, 39, of no fixed address, had previously appeared before borough justices to face a charge of burgling a home on Bedford Street on May 2 2025 to snatch a red and black Scott Syncros bike worth £3,500.

But the charge has now been dropped after the prosecution offered no evidence.