Wigan's week in court

Christopher Bradley, of Thicknesse Avenue, Beech Hill, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge charged with four counts of gross indecency with a girl aged between eight and 13 in the years 1998 to 2002 and three counts of indecently assaulting a boy between the ages of eight and 11 by sexual touching in the years 2004 to 2008.

Bradley has yet to be arraigned but the court was told that he would be pleading not guilty at the next hearing.

That will be a pre-trial preparation hearing on May 19, 2026, with the trial scheduled to begin on January 18, 2027.

The defendant is on bail until then.

A Wigan 36-year-old who threatened a man with a kitchen knife in the street has narrowly avoided being sent straight to prison.

Sean Kenyon, of Wigan Road, Ashton, had previously appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to menacing Christopher Rock with a blade on August 6.

He was sent to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing where he has now been given a 34-week custodial term although it was suspended for two years.

Kenyon must also complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities.

A Wigan 39-year-old has denied domestic abuse charges and now faces a long wait for a trial.

James Turner, of Canberra Road, Marsh Green, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to plead not guilty to intentionally strangling and assaulting a named woman causing actual bodily harm on October 16.

He has pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage though.

Turner was bailed to re-appear at the court for the trial set to begin on November 24, 2026.

A Wigan teenager has admitted terrorising somebody with a knife.

Jacob Grant, 18, of Colwyn Drive, Hindley, appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to possessing a blade in a public place - namely Amber Gardens in Hindley - on March 8 and using threatening or abusive words or behaviour against a named male on the same occasion.

He was released on conditional bail until he returns to the same court on February 21 for sentencing.

A Wigan borough 44-year-old has confessed to being a serial shoplifter.

John Moody, of Bolton Road, Atherton, stood before local justices to admit to five counts of theft from shops over several months during which foodstuffs were exclusively targeted.

He snatched £30 worth of chocolate bars from the Whelley Shell garage on March 29, protein bars of unknown value from Hindley Tesco on both March 26 and April 1, three joints of lamb worth £36 from Aldi in Leigh on June 13 and five steaks plus blocks of cheese worth £48 from the same store on July 31.

Moody will be sentenced at the same court on February 21 before which he is on bail, conditional that he does not enter any of the shops from which he stole.

A young Wigan man was found armed with a now banned zombie knife in the grounds of Wigan parish church, magistrates heard.

Owen McCann, 20. of Moore Street in Whelley, appeared in court to plead guilty to having the offensive weapon in a public place on September 23, 2022 and also to possessing cocaine on the same occasion.

He was granted unconditional bail until returning to the court for sentencing on February 17.

A 26-year-old from Wigan has pleaded guilty to sexual communications with a girl aged under 16.

Callum Porter, of Gray Close, New Springs, appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court to admit the single offence committed between June 25 and 28 this year.

Conditional bail was granted until sentencing on January 24.

An interim disqualification has been imposed on a man caught three and a half times over the drink-driving limit in Wigan.

Vitezlav Bohm, 36, of Grasmere Road, Norley, stood before borough justices to admit giving a reading of 122 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when police stopped him near his home in a Ford Mondeo on October 12.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Sentencing takes place on February 21.

Charges that a Wigan man stole items from shops on five occasions, two of them taking Macmillan charity Advent calendars, have been denied.

Christopher Brown, 39, of Warrington Road, Ince, appeared before borough justices to plead not guilty to snatching £240 worth of whisky from Marks and Spencer on April 28, taking charity calendars and gift sets worth £240 from Boots on November 3, returning there two days later to steal £360 worth more of calendars and £278 worth of Jean Paul Gaultier aftershave from Superdrug on November 6.

Conditional bail was granted until August 26 next year when a trial will take place at the same court.

A 28-year-old Wigan motorist has been given a suspended prison term and further disqualification from the road after being caught driving while banned.

Josh Cumberbatch, of Downing Close, Platt Bridge, pleaded guilty to being at the wheel of an uninsured Peugeot 207 on Martland Mill Lane, on March 27.

He had denied possession of a knife in public on the same occasion and was cleared after a trial at Wigan Magistrates' Court.

For the offences to which he pleaded guilty, he was given an 18-week custodial sentence which was suspended for two years and further banned from driving for 36 months.

Dropped fag ends have cost two Wigan people £433 each.

Julia Hill, 43, of Leigh Road, Hindley Green, was convicted by Tameside justices, using the single justice procedure, of discarding the cigarette butt on Aytoun Street, Manchester, on January 18 this year.

The bill includes a £220 fine plus court costs and a victim services surcharge.

Likewise Ema Saeers, 41, of Heyford Road, KItt Green, dropped a dog end at Piccadilly, Manchester, on January 19.

He received exactly the same punishment after being prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act.

A Wigan drug-driver has been banned from the road for 18 months.

Liam Rigby, 32, of Frog Lane, appeared before borough justices to admit driving an Audi on Bickershaw Lane on May 21 when under the influence of both cocaine and cannabis.

He also pleaded guilty to possessing quantities of these two illegal substances on the same day.

As well as the disqualification from driving, Rigby must complete 15 days of rehabilitation activities and pay a fine, costs and a victim surcharge totalling £319.

A young Wigan borough man will be sentenced in the new year after admitting to creating vile videos of child abuse.

Callum Sharrock, 20, of Royal Drive, Leigh, stood before Manchester justices to plead guilty to making 23 images that fall into the most serious category of abuse: A.

He also made 10 category B films, eight category C and possessed 34 banned images of "extreme pornography" involving humans and dogs.

The offences all took place between September 2022 and June 2024.

Sharrock will be sentenced by the same court on February 11.

A Wigan holidaymaker who drunkenly abused fellow passengers on a flight home from Tenerife after downing a bottle of gin, has narrowly avoided an immediate spell behind bars.

Farrah Drury also hurled racist abuse at a police officer who had been called aboard to remove her from the plane at Manchester Airport.

The 31-year-old, of Tatton Drive in Ashton, had previously appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to being drunk on an aircraft on August 9 and to the racially or religiously aggravated harassment of PC Khan that same day.

She was sent to Manchester Crown Court for sentencing where she received a six-month prison sentence, although it was suspended for two years.

The judge had previously told her that concerns over care for a young child of hers would be the only reason not to put her immediately behind bars.

The hearing was told that Drury had been on holiday to Tenerife and bought a bottle of spirits at the island airport's duty free which she then proceeded to drink before and during the flight to Manchester.

As the journey proceeded, she became increasingly disruptive, by insulting and abusing other passengers and failing to follow instructions from the flight staff.

The incidents were reported to the captain who messaged ahead, requesting police assistance and PC Khan boarded to arrest Drury for her disorderly behaviour.

It was then that she racially abused the officer too.

At the same magistrates’ court hearing, Drury also admitted to attacking three female police officers in Tameside on December 11 last year, two being common assaults of PC Ogden and Sgt Young and the other being the assault by beating of PC Friday.

As well as the suspended sentence, Drury was ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activities and pay a £187 victim services surcharge.

A Wigan dangerous driver who then dodged a breath test has been punished by a judge.

Dean Winstanley, of Wentworth Road, Ashton, had already appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to driving a Vauxhall Insignia dangerously around Wallgate, The Saddle Junction, Tyrer Avenue and Mesnes Avenue, Worsley Mesnes, on September 16 and then failing to give a roadside breath test to police and so failing to provide a breath specimen.

He had been committed to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing where he has now received a 12-month prison sentence which was suspended for two years.

Winstanley was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activities while paying a total of £337 to victim services and the courts.

A Wigan 26-year-old has been charged with eight offences, some involving violence, all alleged to have been committed on the same day.

Sean Roberts, from Marsh Green, appeared before Bolton magistrates accused of causing a woman actual bodily harm on November 11 and on the same day assaulting her by beating, causing criminal damage both to her door and a weight loss pen, the common assault of a male, and riding an off-road motorbike along Kitt Green Road without a licence or insurance.

He admitted to the two motoring offences, denied the two lesser assaults and has yet to plead to the criminal damage and ABH charges.

Roberts was remanded into custody until he reappears at the same court on Christmas Eve.

The courts have jailed a man whom police pulled over for suspected drink-driving in Wigan and found out that he was banned from the road too.

Oliver Crozier, 35, of Laxey Crescent, Leigh, appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to driving an Audi A6 along Kirkless Street, Scholes, on November 25 while disqualified, for doing so without insurance and a licence and to giving a reading of 43 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the limit is 35.

The bench gave him a 16-week custodial term and further banned him from driving for 40 months.

He must also pay a £154 surcharge and £85 in costs.

A Wigan 42-year-old is facing serious domestic abuse charges.

Christopher Watson, of Heysham Road in Orrell, appeared before borough justices to plead not guilty to twice assaulting a named woman causing her actual bodily harm and engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour towards her between July 1 and November 24 this year.

He was remanded into custody until he next appears before Bolton magistrates on January 17.

A jury has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a 45-year-old accused of raping a woman in Wigan.

Gregory Padin, of Liverpool Road, North Sefton, had denied the sexual attack alleged to have taken place on a woman in her 20s in Bickershaw on February 13, 2022.

And a trial took place in November at Bolton Crown Court after which the jury was unable to decide his guilt or innocence.

The judge has now ordered a retrial which is scheduled to start at the same court on January 12, 2026.

Padin has been bailed until then.

A Wigan teenager will go on trial for aggravated burglary next year after his bid to have the charge thrown out was rejected by a judge.

Lewis Higham, 18, of Pennine Lane, Golborne, is alleged to have broken into a home in Church Street, Golborne, on September 1 this year, while armed with a knife and a designer bag and training shoes were stolen.

He has denied the charge and a hearing was held at which his legal representation made an application at Bolton Crown Court for it to be dismissed.

But the application was not accepted and the judge ruled that the trial will take place on March 4 next year.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Wigan man accused of drug peddling and handling stolen goods.

Benjamin Worsfold, 31, of Wainfleet Close, Winstanley, was to have appeared at the borough's magistrates' court to face charges of possession of cocaine with intent to supply it and having a stolen Rolex watch and two e-bikes at his home address on January 6, 2022.

But he failed to attend and so the bench ordered police to track him down and arrest him.