Wigan's week in court

Joshua Brookfield-Murphy, 19, of Derwent Road, Hindley, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to plead not guilty to a single charge of maliciously wounding Joseph Bleakley with intent in Wigan on September 10 last year – the most serious form of assault after attempted murder.

He was granted conditional bail until his trial begins at the same court on September 15 2026.

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A young Wigan man who tried to steal a police pedal bike has been given a community punishment.

Ben Birchall, 22, of Jasmine Road, Worsley Hall, stood before borough justices to plead guilty to the single charge of attempted theft.

The hearing was told he tried to snatch an officer's bicycle on October 21 but was caught.

He was given a 12-month community order which includes completing 10 days of rehabilitation activities. He must also pay a fine and court costs totalling £125.

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A Wigan man has appeared in court accused of being in possession of class A drugs and intending to supply them more than three years ago.

Paul Littlewood, 44, of Sussex Close, Hindley, is charged with having crack cocaine and methadone, with intent to supply them, in Manchester on December 4, 2020.

He has not yet entered pleas and Wigan justices sent the case to Bolton Crown Court, where he will appear on November 27. Littlewood was remanded on conditional bail.

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A Wigan woman has pleaded guilty to having both a knife and class A drugs in a public place.

Shelley Barnes, 51, of Crompton Street, Platt Bridge, was found with a kitchen knife on Beal Drive, Platt Bridge, on September 1.

She admitted being in possession of class A drug cocaine on the same day. Barnes further pleaded guilty to stealing cheese and washing up liquid worth £50 from Heron Foods, in Leigh, on August 15.

She was remanded on conditional bail until a sentencing hearing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on January 10.

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A man who stole a barbecue, alcohol and other items has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Daniel Wilcock, 29, of Leader Street, Scholes, pleaded guilty to the theft of laundry products worth £40 from The Range in Leigh on July 29.

He then took laundry products worth £52.65 from One Shop in Leigh and meat worth £215.08 from Aldi in Leigh on August 9, a barbecue worth £580 belonging to Dale Alldred on August 12, and alcohol worth £45 from Asda in Leigh on September 9.

Wilcock also pleaded guilty to stealing steak worth £60 from Asda in Wigan and using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, both on October 19.

Wigan justices handed down an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, as well as six months of drug rehabilitation and 10 days of rehabilitation activities. He must pay £85 towards prosecution costs.

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A Wigan man has been charged with threatening a woman with a hammer.

Craig Roden, 55, of Ellesmere Road, Pemberton, is alleged to have made the threat in a public place in Norley on September 15.

He is also accused of sending a message that was "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character" on the same day.

Roden was remanded on conditional bail until a hearing at Bolton Crown Court on November 27.

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A Wigan woman will find out her punishment next month after pleading guilty to a host of criminal offences.

Georgia Green, 39, of Winstanley Road, Bamfurlong, admitted the common assaults of three people on August 2, one of whom was a police officer.

She also admitted two counts of criminal damage on the same day, which included damaging a pavement by throwing paint on it and damaging a vehicle.

Green made threats to smash a woman's windows on September 2 and admitted twice breaching her bail conditions.

She also pleaded guilty to four counts of assault by beating on October 17, with two of the complainants being police officers.

She was remanded in custody until a sentencing hearing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on November 8.

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A Wigan man will be sentenced later this month after he admitted being involved in drug dealing.

Jordan Beach, 25, of Belmont Avenue, Bickershaw, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class B drug cannabis between January 22 and February 26.

He also admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply it on February 26 and possession of the same drug on October 23.

Beach was remanded in custody by Wigan magistrates. He will be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on November 21.

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A Wigan man has pleaded guilty to twice attacking a woman.

Ryan Caulfield, 31, of Maple Avenue, Lowton, admitted assaulting the woman by beating her on October 23 and on another date between July 1 and September 30.

He was remanded on bail until he is sentenced by Wigan justices on January 24.

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A Wigan borough 35-year-old who denies a serious assault almost four years ago will only face trial next autumn.

Sean Shovelton, of Car Bank Street, Atherton, had previously stood before local justices to deny causing Mark Walsh grievous bodily harm on December 31, 2020.

He is also accused of three bail breaches in May, July and October this year, the last of these allegedly involving tampering with an electronic tag.

Walsh has now appeared before a judge at Manchester Crown Court Minshull Street who fixed his trial date for September 24, 2025 and released him on conditional bail until then.

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A Wigan 30-year-old has been hit with a restraining order and community punishments for making a threatening phone call to a woman.

Liam Redford, of Winstanley Road, Bamfurlong, appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to a single charge under the Malicious Communications Act in that he rang a named female and made a distressing threat against her on April 8 last year. He had initially denied the allegation but then changed his plea.

Redford was put under supervision, ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and five days of rehabilitation activity and will be the subject of a restraining order preventing any contact with his victim until at least April 2026.

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A Wigan man has admitted to making and possessing vile images of child abuse.

Robert Newport, 30, of St James Crescent, Bickershaw, stood before borough magistrates to plead guilty to making three indecent moving and still pictures of children which fall into the most serious legal category - A - four category B films and 11 category C. He also admitted to possessing one category C image and possessing a prohibited image of a child.

He will be sentenced by a Bolton Crown Court judge on November 15.

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A Wigan 39-year-old is facing domestic abuse charges.

James Turner, of Canberra Road, Marsh Green, appeared before borough justices accused of intentionally strangling and assaulting a named woman causing actual bodily harm on October 16. He has not entered pleas to those charges but denies breaking a named male's mobile phone on the same day.

He was released on conditional bail until he makes a first appearance at Bolton Crown Court on November 22.

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Stalking and strangulation charges have been brought against a Wigan man.

Fernando Volpe, 44, of Manor Street in Newtown, stood before borough magistrates accused of intentionally throttling and causing a named woman actual bodily harm on June 27 and to harassing her, causing fear of serious harm between June 26 and October 13.

The stalking charge alleges that he repeatedly attended the complainant's home and engaged in unwanted contact which had a "substantial adverse effect on her usual day-to-day activities."

Volpe, who has not yet entered any pleas, was remanded into custody until he appears at Bolton Crown Court for the case to be heard before a judge on November 25.

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A Wigan man crashed a vehicle he had just carjacked, a court heard.

Dean Cunliffe, 39, of Bluebell Avenue, Beech Hill, appeared before borough magistrates to be accused of the aggravated taking of a Toyota Aygo on November 16 last year which was then damaged when it ploughed into a wall on Wellfield Road, Beech Hill.

He is further charged of driving while over the limit (he allegedly gave a reading of 52 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the limit is 35), driving without insurance and a licence all on November 17, then to breaching bail on October 19.

The bench granted him conditional bail until a trial takes place at the same court on May 21 next year.

Two men who allegedly plotted to carry out a gun attack against the Jewish community have appeared in court.

Walid Saadaoui, 37, of Crankwood Road, Abram, and Amar Hussein, 50, of no fixed address, are accused of plotting an Islamic State-inspired terror attack in the North West. Both are charged with the preparation of terrorist acts between December 13, 2023 and May 9, 2024. They appeared at the Old Bailey so administrative matters could be discussed and the case was adjourned for a plea and trial preparation hearing on December 20 at the same court. A trial has been provisionally scheduled for October 25, 2025 at Preston Crown Court, but the date will be confirmed at the next hearing.

Co-defendant Bilel Saadaoui, 35, of Fairclough Street, Hindley, did not appear at the hearing. He is accused of making arrangements for Walid Saadaoui – who is his brother – after his death.

A Wigan man who carried out a mugging more than two years ago has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Paul Lafrenz, 21, of Norfolk Close, Hindley, was jailed for 16 months, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of drug rehabilitation.

He had previously denied taking £170 from Harold Winstanley in a robbery on March 29, 2022, but changed his plea to guilty ahead of a trial at Bolton Crown Court.

Two people accused of robbery will have to wait nearly two years to stand trial. Shaun Carter, 44, of Glebe Street, Standish, and Natalie Todd, 42, of Car Bank Street, Atherton, pleaded not guilty to robbery when they appeared at Bolton Crown Court. A trial was fixed for September 30, 2026 at the same court.

A teenager has appeared in court charged with two counts of attempted burglary.

Brodie Humphreys, 18, of Warrington Road, Ince, is alleged to have tried to break into two houses on Lavender Road, in Farnworth, Bolton, on August 26.

Humphreys was remanded on conditional bail until a trial at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on May 20.

A Wigan man accused of blackmail will have his case heard in the crown court.

Joe Fisher, 42, of Oakland Road, Lowton, is charged with demanding £10,000 from a woman on April 8 last year.

Wigan justices sent the case to Bolton Crown Court for a plea and trial management hearing on November 29. Fisher was remanded on conditional bail.

A Wigan borough man has admitted making hundreds of indecent images of children.

Christopher Ogden, 27, of Coronation Drive, Leigh, pleaded guilty to making 454 images in category A (the most serious), 228 category B images and 101 in category C between June 26 and September 20, 2023. He also admitted possessing a prohibited image of a child and an extreme pornographic image involving a dog between the same dates.

He was remanded on conditional bail until a sentencing hearing at Bolton Crown Court on November 22.

A Wigan man has been charged with falsely imprisoning someone with the intention of committing a sexual offence.

Kevin Molyneux, 32, of Robson Place, Abram, is alleged to have committed the offence on October 22.

Wigan magistrates sent the case to Bolton Crown Court for a hearing on November 29 and he was remanded in custody.

Two people have appeared in court accused of assaulting a man - with one also charged with escaping custody.

Kaysha Jones, 33, of Bedford Street, Leigh, is charged with assaulting the man by beating him on October 23, while Robert Kitson, 39, of the same address, is charged with common assault.

Jones is also accused of escaping from lawful custody on the same date, while Kitson is charged with assaulting another man by beating and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour, which were racially aggravated.

Jones has not yet entered pleas and her case was sent to Bolton Crown Court for a hearing on November 29.

Kitson pleaded not guilty to the three charges and was remanded on conditional bail until a trial at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on December 18, 2025.

A Wigan borough man has been charged with intentionally strangling a woman.

David Pearson, 36, of Holt Street, Tyldesley, is alleged to have attacked the woman on October 24.

Magistrates sent the case to Manchester Crown Court, where he will appear on November 29.

He was remanded on bail until then.

A Wigan man who had denied stalking a woman for almost four months has now changed his plea to guilty.

Dean Brook, 38, of Birkside Close, Hawkley Hall, admitted stalking involving serious alarm or distress between May 21 and September 10 when he appeared at Bolton Crown Court. The charge states he contacted the woman on numerous occasions, in a threatening manner; attended her home refusing to leave and damaging her property. Brook will be sentenced at the same court on December 10.