Wigan's court round-up

A community order has been imposed on a Wigan man for assault and criminal damage. Jonathan Cadman, 49, of Rose Court, Lower Ince, appeared before Wigan justices to admit to beating Sanjeevan Satkunanathan and smashing his £170 glass panelled door on May 18 last year. He also pleaded guilty to failing to appear before the courts in June 2020. He was ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and complete five days of rehabilitation activities. Cadman was also ordered to pay compensation, courts and a victim services surcharge together worth £248.

A man who tried breaking into six cars and stole from two of them has been jailed for 22 weeks. Gavin Barker, 34, of Millers Lane, Platt Bridge, appeared before Wigan justices to admit to interfering with two Mini Coopers, three Audis and a Vauxhall Vivaro in Hindley on March 19, on one occasion stealing a key chain, battery booster and tyre pump from one and Ralph Lauren sunglasses and an emergency tool bag from another. Having been arrested for the crimes he then failed to surrender into custody on an appointed date. Barker was told he was being locked up because he had spurned post-sentence help when previously given a suspended prison term. He must also pay £128 to victim services.

A second Wigan pensioner to butcher a tree has been hit with a large bill. William Dodd, 73, of Warrington Road, Abram, had denied two counts of wilfully damaging, topping or lopping trees with intent to destroy them. And while one of the charges was dismissed by borough magistrates, he was found guilty of the other offence committed in contravention of the Town and Planning (Tree Preservation) regulations of 2012 between May and July 2019. He was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs and victim services surcharge totalling £1,439.91.

Earlier this year William Grundy, 77, of Lee Lane, Abram, was hit with two £1,500 fines for damaging the sycamores with the intent of destroying them. The hearing was told the prosecution related to nine trees large enough for experts to conclude they had been there for up to 60 years. They were protected by a tree preservation order and yet they were destroyed without permission from the council. He had initially denied the charges but then changed his plea before the matters went to trial. With costs and a victim services surcharge added, he faced a £3,637 bill.

A man who stalked and assaulted a woman he was banned from contacting by the courts has been spared an immediate jail term. Wigan magistrates heard that David Cross assaulted Leah Caunce on October 26 and harassed her in Leigh between December 1 and January 9 - this while the subject of a restraining order. The 24-year-old of Duke Street, Birkenhead, had initially denied all three charges but then changed his pleas before a trial could take place. The bench gave him a total custodial sentence of 26 weeks but suspended the term for 18 months, noting that he had previous for similar offences, some of which involved the same victim. He was ordered to complete a programme requirement of 29 days and 15 days of rehabilitation activities. A new restraining order lasting until July 2025 was imposed and he must pay £472 to the courts and victim services. The hearing was told that no compensation order would be made because the victim wanted closure.

A man accused of attacking three people in the same family has had two of the charges dropped. Daniel Jackson, 31, of Fielders Close, Worsley Mesnes, had stood before Wigan and Leigh magistrates to plead guilty to assaulting Dean Gregory by beating on August 15 but denied the same charges against Isobel and Jim Gregory.

At the latest hearing the two latter charges were discontinued and he was made the subject of a 90-day alcohol abstinence order and told to pay £180 to the court and victim services for attacking Dean Gregory.

A year-long road disqualification has been imposed on a 30-year-old Wigan motorist caught driving under the influence of cannabis. Carlton Reid, from Silverdale, Swinley, was stopped by police while at the wheel of a Mercedes in Bolton on November 28 and he failed a subsequent drug test. He had initially denied the charge but then changed his plea to guilty on his latest appearance before Wigan magistrates who, as well as banning him, ordered that he pay a fine, court costs and victim services surcharge of £289.

A woman accused of selling puppies without a licence has walked free from court after magistrates heard that others had been pretending to be her. Rachel Higham, of Plane Avenue, Newtown, faced two charges of breaching the Animal Welfare Act by selling animals while unlicensed and breaching the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations by making false representation that the puppy sale enterprise was legal. But the charges were dropped when the court was told that other people had been using her name.

A motorist who was found to be more than three times the drink-drive limit has received a 25-month road ban. Damian Hill, 43, of Douglas House, Scholes, was stopped by police on Tonge Moor Road in Bolton on December 17 2019 in a BMW X3 and gave a reading of 111 microgrammes in 100ml of breath, Wigan magistrates heard. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Hill had denied the charge but was found guilty after a trial. He was ordered to go on an alcohol rehabilitation programme and can reduce the disqualification to 25 weeks if he completes a state-sanctioned course for drink-drivers. He also had a fine, a victim services surcharge and a hefty fine to pay which came to £920.

A man who admitted attacking two police officers after trying to kick in a front door has been given a community punishment. Keiron Wood, 33, of Livingstone Street, Ashton, admitted smashing a £100 glass panel on Charlene Draper’s door and to assaulting PCs Bunn and Billingsley by beating on May 1, having initially denied the second two charges. Returning for sentencing he was put on an alcohol treatment programme and must complete 40 days of rehabilitation activities. He is under night-time curfew until September 15 and has £600 to pay in a fines, compensation, court costs and payments to victim services.

Charges have been dropped against a farmer who denied menacing firemen trying to put out a blaze. It had been alleged William Threlfall, 63, of Close Lane, Hindley, obstructed crews by threatening violence and using plant machinery on April 3 last year. But at a new hearing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court the case collapsed after the prosection offered no evidence.

A motorist has been banned from the road for 25 months after being caught when almost three times over the drink-drive limit. Aurelian Gherghina, 36, of Darwen Drive, Platt Bridge, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to having 103 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when police stopped his Vauxhall Astra on June 18. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Charges of driving without insurance or a licence were discontinued. Gherghina must also complete 40 hours of unpaid work as part of his punishment but can reduce the driving disqualification to 25 weeks if he takes a state-sanctioned course for drink-drivers. There is also £180 to pay to the courts and victim services.

A vulnerable woman was maltreated and fleeced out of her savings by her carer, a Wigan court has heard. Carrie Chadwick, 40, of Alder Avenue, Pemberton, is accused of stealing £25,800 from the woman. The alleged victim was said to have lacked mental capacity when cash was taken away from her between January 2014 and December 2018, the hearing was told. Chadwick faces three charges of making false representation by claiming that the complainant was of sound mind by accessing her bank accounts for the defendant’s own financial gain. There is another charge that Chadwick ill-treated or willfully neglected the woman, in whose care she was, knowing that she was vulnerable. And she is further accused of stealing an unspecified amount of money from a man in 2018. The bench directed trial by jury and Chadwick was released on unconditional bail until she makes a first appearance on August 25. No pleas have yet been entered.

A Wigan man who made and distributed indecent images of children must sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years. Darren Burns, 49, of Keats Avenue, Worsley Mesnes, was sentenced for seven offences by a judge at Bolton Crown Court. He had earlier pleaded guilty to making 23 pictures which fell into the gravest category of seriousness (A), as well as two category B images and 26 category C.

Burns was also charged with distributing nine category A images, one B category picture and two category C, along with possessing extreme pornographic images of intercourse with a horse. All the offences happened between July 20, 2018 and December 23, 2019. The judge imposed a 36-month community order, which includes nine months of treatment for alcohol dependency, attending the Horizon programme for sex offenders for 27 days and 15 days of rehabilitation activities. Burns must sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years and is banned from accessing the internet on a device without risk management software installed.

A young Wigan man has been accused of torching a home. Jack Balmer, 24, of Baker Street, Poolstock, appeared before borough magistrates charged with committing arson at an address in nearby Rednal Walk on July 9 being reckless as to whether it would damage property or endanger life. Because of the seriousness of the allegation, the case was immediately sent to Bolton Crown Court. He was bailed subject to a curfew which involves his staying at a home in Holcroft Drive, Abram, pending his first appearance before a judge on August 16. Balmer has not yet entered a plea.

A teenager who admitted riding an off-road bike carelessly on a Wigan main road is facing a big court bill. Cameron Spear, from Golborne, had pleaded guilty to four motoring offences. Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court heard the 18-year-old, of May Street, was caught helmetless and aboard the unregistered vehicle on Ormskirk Road on October 30. Returning to court for sentencing, he was fined and ordered to pay court costs and a victim services surcharge, bringing his bill to a total of £684.

A Wigan man’s home has been hit with a closure order. Borough magistrates were told that David Conlin’s house at 7 Brabazon Place, Marsh Green, had been a magnet for anti-social behaviour. They ruled that only occupants of the address could go there for the next three months.

A motorist who threatened a woman, fled the scene of an accident and refused to give police a breath specimen has been spared an immediate jail term. Stephen Yates, 35, of Ashdale Road, Hindley Green, appeared before borough magistrates to admit menacing Janice Fisher, damaging a Toyota Prius on Belle Green Lane, Ince, and then driving off in his Audi A3 and failing to co-operate when officers wanted to breath test him. The bench was told that he had a previous conviction for drink-driving. Yates was given a 12-week prison sentence although it was suspended for 12 months and banned from driving for two years although he can get that term reduced if he takes a state-sanctioned course for drink-drivers. He was told that another aggravating element of his offences was that he had passengers in the car when it was involved in the accident. He has £263 to pay to victim services and the court.

A man who admitted attacking a woman and two police officers who came to arrest him has been jailed for a total of 16 weeks. Christopher Miller, 37, of Greenhey, Orrell, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to three counts of assault by beating against Kelly Hare and then PCs Grimshaw and Barker on March 31. Explaining why Miller was receiving a custodial sentence, the chair of the bench told him, “These are assaults on police officers which have had a major impact on them. The officers had to call for back up to get the situation under control. You have previous convictions for domestic violence and for assaulting police officers. No other sentence is appropriate.” Miller was also ordered to pay compensation and a victim services surcharge totalling £328.

A man has denied two counts of sexual assault in Wigan. Chaudhary Anwar, 34, of Hope Street in Leigh, is charged with intentionally sexually touching a female without her consent on December 9 and 22, 2019. He was released on conditional bail until November 2 when his trial will take place at the same court.

A motorist who broke the speed limit by more than 30mph is facing a hefty bill. Jiandong Li, 26, of Warrington Road, Abram, appeared before Wigan justices to admit driving a Nissan on the M62 westbound between junctions 12 and 11 at 82mph when a 50mph limit had been imposed on the smart motorway. Five penalty points were put on his licence and a fine, court costs and payment to victim services mean that he also has to fork out £517.

A man with a long criminal record has been jailed for a further theft. Jake Farrell, 31, of Wakefield Street, Golborne, appeared before Wigan justices to admit stealing binoculars, three knives and clothing belonging to Niall Bradley on May 13. The bench told him he was being sent to prison for eight weeks because of his “many previous convictions for dishonesty” and the fact that he has previously disregarded court orders and committed this offence while on licence. Farrell was also ordered to pay £128 to victim services.

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