Wigan court round-up

A man has been accused of robbery, snatching a Wigan milkman’s float and then crashing it. Christopher Mather, 37, of Beaumont Grove, Orrell, appeared before borough justices charged with taking the electric vehicle without the owner’s consent and causing damage to it before it was recovered. He is further accused of robbing Terence Smith of an android device and bank card, and to driving without insurance. He was bailed until March 17.

The case of a Wigan man accused of having a “pen gun” and ammunition in Wigan has been sent to a higher court. Craig Walker, 31, currently of HMP Whatton in Nottinghamshire, stood before Wigan justices accused of having the disguised weapon in Golborne without a firearms certificate or permission from the secretary of state in Golborne on September 27 plus 27 .22 cartridges, also without a certificate. The case will next be heard by a Bolton Crown Court judge on April 6.

A trial date has been set for a Wigan man who denies inflicting serious assaults on two people.Benjamin Devlin, 26, had previously stood before Wigan justices accused of causing Leticia Cook and Stefan Gradwell grievous bodily harm in Wigan last July 14.An inmate of HMP Berwyn, he has now appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to learn that his trial will begin on June 20. It is scheduled to last for four days.

A 41-year-old Wigan man is facing charges concerning the possession of indecent images of children and animals. Christopher Dickinson, of Cheltenham Avenue, Ince, stood before borough magistrates accused of having 188 pictures which fall into the most serious category of abuse: A. There are further charges of possessing 123 category B images, 105 category C, and one prohibited picture of a child, plus 22 “extreme porn” images of intercourse between humans and animals. Because of the seriousness of the charges, the case was immediately sent to Bolton Crown Court where Dickinson will make his first appearance before a judge on March 30. Yet to enter pleas, Dickinson is on unconditional bail until then.

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