Wigan week in court

One of two teenagers charged with the murder of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey has pleaded not guilty.

Brianna, a transgender girl from Birchwood in Warrington, Cheshire, was found with fatal stab wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park shortly after 3pm on Saturday February 11.

Two 16-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were charged with her murder.

At a case management hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester one of the defendants entered a not guilty plea.

The other defendant did not enter a plea. Reporting restrictions prevent the identification of which of the defendants entered the plea.

Neither defendant can be named because of their age.

Parents of both teenagers, who appeared separately in the dock, were in court for the hearing.

Mrs Justice Yip told the court “It’s a case in which I know emotions are likely to run high, that’s very understandable.

"There has been a lot of publicity about it already.

“We’re going to make sure that this case proceeds in a calm manner in court in a way that is going to be entirely fair to everybody.”

A further hearing will be held on October 4. A trial has been set for November 27 and is expected to last three weeks at Manchester Crown Court.

The girl, from Warrington, and the boy, from Leigh, are both currently held in secure accommodation.

The five-day trial of a Wigan 65-year-old accused of a series of child sex crimes has been fixed for August 2024.

James Williamson, of Trevore Drive, Standish, previously appeared in the dock at Bolton Crown Court to plead not guilty to six charges relating to alleged incidents between May 2018 and May 2020.

One accuses him of sexually assaulting a girl of 13 and two more involve getting a girl of 15 to engage in sexual activity.

A further two concern communications of a sexual nature with an under-16 and one count of indecent exposure.

His trial was due to start on Monday, July 17, but has now been rescheduled for August 19 next year.

He is on bail in the meantime.

A Wigan man appeared in court charged with making dozens of indecent images of children.

Simon Blakeney, 60, of Grove Place, Standish, has previously pleaded not guilty to making four of the most serious – category A – pictures of children, 10 category B pictures and 42 category C pictures between July 2018 and March 2021.

A trial was due to get under way at Bolton Crown Court on Tuesday, July 18, however it did not go ahead and the case will next be heard on Monday, August 14, when it is listed “for mention” only.

A new trial date has yet to be fixed. Blakeney was remanded on unconditional bail in the meantime.

A callous Wigan thief is now behind bars after he admitted stealing a collection tin for a charity that helps terminally ill children.

Christopher Kiely, of no fixed address, appeared at Bolton Crown Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to snatching the When You Wish Upon A Star charity box at Wigan North Western railway station's Express Cafe on March 17 last year.

It was not known how much money was inside at the time.

The charity works to make dreams come true for children with life-threatening illnesses, which can be anything from a trip to Disney World to meet Mickey Mouse to being a soldier for the day.

Kiely was also in breach of suspended sentences for robbery and burglary at the time of the offence, and was jailed for a total of three years and nine months for those.

The four-month sentence he was given for the charity box theft will run concurrently.

A Wigan man has admitted causing the death of a dad of six by dangerous driving.

Jamie Evans, 30, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared at Bolton Crown Court. He was charged with fatally injuring Gareth Roper in a road smash on Lily Lane, Bamfurlong, in the early hours of New Year's Day 2022.

How Mr Roper, a 35-year-old rugby player from Bryn, came to be there is the subject of a separate investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Earlier that night police were called to his home over reports of a domestic incident there.

Mr Roper was arrested for a breach of the peace and put in the back of the police van without any shoes on.

Allegations have been made that he was then taken to Platt Bridge where he was assaulted by officers, "de-arrested" and abandoned in the town centre to make his way home several miles to Bryn in his bare feet.

It was while making this journey that the fatal crash took place.

Evans was remanded on bail to return to Bolton Crown Court on Friday, September 22, when he will be sentenced. In the meantime, he was given an interim driving disqualification.

In February the Wigan Observer reported that the IOPC had completed a probe into the circumstances leading up to Mr Roper’s death and it said that there could be a case to answer for those officers involved.

It has since referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service.

A Wigan man is accused of causing damage worth £1,000 at a Preston shopping centre.

Mark Baker, 54, of Woodcock Drive, Platt Bridge, is charged with damaging a door at St George’s Shopping Centre on June 8.

He was remanded on bail at Preston Magistrates’ Court on June 10, but failed to return on June 29.

Baker has now appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court, where he admitted failing to surrender.

Justices remanded him on unconditional bail until a hearing in Preston on August 2.