Wigan's court round-up

Two brothers have been banned from driving after they were caught on the road under the influence of cannabis - one in a car and one on a motorbike.

Daniel Long, 32, and 28-year-old Taureen Long, of different addresses in Kitt Green Road, Kitt Green, appeared before Wigan justices to admit having taken the class B drug before riding a Keeway motorcycle and Volkswagen Scirocco respectively in Withington Lane, Aspull, last August 9. Each received a 14-month road disqualification and ordered to pay fines, costs and victim services surcharges totalling £239.

A young Wigan woman has pleaded guilty to supplying drugs. Michaela Dean, 20, of Chequers Street in Wigan town centre had been charged with possessing cannabis with intent to supply. And on her first appearance before a Bolton judge she admitted to the crime. Sentencing was adjourned until February 10.

A Wigan man has been accused of bad driving. Bogdan Stanculescu, 20, of Bolton Road, Aspull, appeared before Wigan magistrates charged with driving an Audi A3 without due care and attention in Bolton on August 3 2019 and that at the same time he was neither insured nor had a licence to be at the wheel. Stanculescu has yet to plead and the case was adjourned until March 9.

A woman has to pay a police officer she assaulted £150 in compensation. Amelia Walsh-Grounds, 26, of Hardbutts in Scholes, stood before Wigan justices to admit attacking PC Pickavance in Wigan on September 17. She was also put on an eight-week electronically-monitored curfew between the hours of 7pm and 7am during which time she must stay at either her home or an address in Warrington Road, Newtown. With court costs and a victim services surcharge to stump up as well as the fine, her total bill comes to £330.

A dangerous driver on drugs who led police at speed through the streets of Wigan and went through red lights has been jailed. Simon Jones was eventually found cowering in a garden after abandoning his car, Bolton Crown Court heard. The hearing was told it was little wonder that the 33-year-old of Cinnamon Avenue, Hindley, wanted to evade capture because he was already banned from driving and had taken cocaine before getting behind the wheel. The court heard that police in a patrol car tried to stop Jones’s car, a Seat Leon, on July 8 2020 at around 8.30pm in Hindley Green because it was uninsured.

The defendant failed to stop and the police pursued the vehicle. Jones drove through red traffic signals and contravened traffic bollards, heading along Long Lane and turning into Sherborne Avenue where he got out of the car and ran off into the Alders Green Road estate.

There he hid in one of the back gardens but officers located him and arrested him. A subsequent drugs test showed he had also been driving while over the legal limit for cocaine. Pleading guilty to dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and driving while under the influence of a class A substance, Jones was given an eight-month custodial sentence and banned from the road for a further four years and four months after which he will have to take an extended driving test if he wants to be allowed to drive again.

A man who had denied drink-driving while banned from the road has changed his pleas. James Ward, 41, of Nottingham Place, Whelley, was charged with driving a Jaguar XJ on his home street when disqualified, that he was not insured to be at the wheel and that he gave a reading of 56 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35. He initially pleaded not guilty to all three charges, but on reappearance before Wigan magistrates he had a change of heart. Sentencing was adjourned until March 23 and he was released on conditional bail until then.

A man who assaulted a police officer and vandalised a car and a door has been given a community sentence. However charges against Lee Seddon claiming he attacked two more police officers were dismissed. The 39-year-old of Highfield Grange Avenue, Winstanley, re-appeared before Wigan magistrates to be ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and pay a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £560 handed down for damaging a Vauxhall Astra owned by Alin Marlita-Barbu and a door belonging to Edward Davies on May 15 2019. He had further admitted to being drunk and disorderly on Wallgate on March 16 last year and changed a previous not guilty plea to guilty that he assaulted a PC Armstrong on the same occasion. But he had denied attacking PCs Brown and Hall on that day of vandalism and the case was dismissed by the bench.

A trial date has been set for young woman who denies assaulting a paramedic. Michelle Rogerson, 22, previously of Grizedale Drive, Ince, now of Tamar Grove in Leigh, has previously appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to assaulting a PC Dougill on October 18 last year, but denied an assault on ambulance worker Susan Bullock on the same occasion. A trial is now set to take place on June 21 at the same court and Rogerson is on unconditional bail until then.

A young woman has denied launching a Christmas Day attack. Chelsea Firth, whose address was given as the Premier Inn in Marus Bridge, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead not guilty to assaulting Linda Lowe by beating on December 25 last year. She was bailed on condition that she does not enter Marsh Green nor has contact with Ms Lowe and that she resides at an address in Broadway, Hindley, until her trial at the same court on April 12.

A man has admitted trying to incite a girl under the age of 13 to engage in sexual activity.

Harry Brookfield, 24, of Spilsby Square, Hawkley Hall, also pleaded guilty to a charge of communicating with her with the intention of having sex after communicating with her and knowing her to be under age. Wigan magistrates released him on conditional bail pending his sentencing by a Bolton Crown Court judge on March 3.

A motorist has been branded a “danger to other road users” by Wigan justices after he was caught drink-driving for the third time. Moreover, when police found him to be four times over the limit and arrested him last August 28 it was discovered he had already been stopped by officers for being at the wheel with a similar level of intoxication hours earlier, borough magistrates were told. Wayne Lowe, 44, of Greenside Close, Standish, appeared in the dock to admit to a single charge of drink-driving and was given a 20-week prison sentence whichn was suspended for 18 months.

The court was told that when officers halted his Seat Altea on Wigan Road he later gave a read of 256mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

The chair of the magistrates said, “It would appear that you were arrested in August 2020 for a like offence and then bailed by the police. Within hours of release and whilst on bail for that offence you then committed this offence. The earlier offence was in excess of four times the drink-drive limit. This offence was also some four time the legal limit of alcohol in your blood. You have presented a danger to other road users, that is abundantly clear to this bench.” But he added that the magistrates felt able to suspend the sentence because he was addressing mental health issues. That said they banned him from driving for five years after which he must complete an extended driving test in order to be allowed back on the roads; they ordered that he be supervised for 18 months, he undergo a night-time curfew until April 27 and attend 15 days of rehabilitation activities. Court costs and a victim services surcharge combined mean he also has £213 to pay out.

A white van driver who admitted to being at its wheel when more than four times over the legal drink-drive limit has been spared an immediate jail term. Wigan and Leigh magistrates heard that 35-year-old Scott Darbyshire of Bolton Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, was stopped in his vehicle by a police patrol in nearby George Street on December 14 last year after raising suspicions about his capability to drive safely. And when he was breathalysed, he gave a reading of a massive 153 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal alcohol limit is 35 microgrammes. After pleading guilty to a single charge of drink-driving, Darbyshire was given a 16-week prison sentence but it was suspended for 18 months.

The bench told Darbyshire that he had been given a custodial sentence because of the very high reading, his erratic driving and the fact that he tried to evade police capture.

There was an alcohol treatment requirement to his community punishment and he must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work. A bill of £209 towards court costs and victim services was also handed down.

A man who denied molesting a Wigan schoolgirl will only be tried next year. Lairbi Hajoui, 58, of Dickens Place, Worsley Mesnes, has previously appeared before borough justices to plead not guilty to a charge of sexually touching the 15-year-old without her consent. On his first appearance before a B olton judge a trial date of January 17 was set, although there will be a ground rules hearing before then on May 6.

A woman who admitted hurling racially aggravated abuse and knife possession has been give a suspended prison term. Lisa Bradley, 24, of Close Lane, Hindley, had previously appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to abusing Lauren Seddon and carrying a blade while on Durham Street, Whelley. Returning for her sentencing hearing, Bradley was given a 20-week jail sentence although it was suspended for 18 months. A total of 25 days of rehabilitation activities must be completed along with 100 hours of unpaid work as a further part of her punishment. There is also £209 to pay towards victim services and court costs.

A woman who admitted hurling racially aggravated abuse and knife possession has been give a suspended prison term. Lisa Bradley, 24, of Close Lane, Hindley, had previously appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to abusing Lauren Seddon and carrying a blade while on Durham Street, Whelley. Returning for her sentencing hearing, Bradley was given a 20-week jail sentence although it was suspended for 18 months. A total of 25 days of rehabilitation activites must be completed along with 100 hours of unpaid work as a further part of her punishment. There is also £209 to pay towards victim services and court costs.

A young man has been convicted of two attempted burglaries and taking a car without the owner’s consent. Ziyad Saleh, 23, of no fixed address, appeared before Wigan and Leigh magistrates to deny breaking into the Betfred Tote buildings on Chapel Lane and an industrial unit on Bradford Street, Wigan, between May 15 and 18 and making off with a Nissan Qashqai on March 13.

But he was convicted of all these in trials by Wigan magistrates, including the vehicle crime in his absence, although Saleh had already plead guilty to driving that same car on City Road, Kitt Green, the same day without a licence or insurance. He was remanded in custody until sentencing on February 15.

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