Wigan's crime round-up - including a dirty protest, animal porn offences and a police officer being bitten

A man staged a “dirty protest” in a police cell after being arrested for assault and criminal damage. David Smith, 55, of Bridge Street, Hindley, appeared before Wigan and Leigh magistrates to plead guilty to assaulting Adele Young by beating on April 24, smashing window panels at her home the following day and then wiping faeces around his Wigan police station cell after officers had detained him. The bench gave him a community order involving a three-week electronically tagged night curfew and completing 33 days of rehabilitation activities. He also has to pay compensation to his victim and the police plus a victim services surcharge, the total of which came to £427.

A man who was more than two and a half times over the drink-drive limit has been banned from the road for 24 months. But Daniel Coates, who admitted to being at the wheel of the Ford Transit in Enfield Street, Pemberton, while under the influence of alcohol, was told by Wigan magistrates that the disqualification can be cut to 24 weeks if he takes a state-sanctioned course for drink-drivers. The 29-year-old of Duke Street, Goose Green, was also told to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £180 to victim services and the court.

A man has admitted being armed with three knives and a bottle. Anthony Sharrock, 27, of Gantley Avenue, Billinge, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to having two lock knives, a wallet knife and the bottle when police stopped him on Winstanley Road on May 18. He further admitted to assaulting a police officer on the same occasion and refusing to give a breath specimen the following day when suspected of drink-driving. He was released on conditional bail pending his sentencing at Bolton Crown Court on June 16.

Two men who admitted to attempted burglary have been made the subject of community orders. Michael Shaw, 48, of Rathen Avenue, Ince, and Daniel Verey, 29, of Hardybutts, Scholes, had previously appeared before Wigan and Leigh justices to plead guilty to illegally gaining entry into a property on Baclaw Close in Scholes with intent to steal on April 5. On sentencing day they were both given 7pm to 7am electronically tagged curfews until August 19 and must each pay £180 to the court and victim services. But Shaw has 25 days of rehabilitation activities to complete and Verey 10.

A Wigan van driver has been banned from the road for having a dangerously secured load on his vehicle. Gerard Ward, 36, of The Mews, Hindley, was found guilty by borough magistrates of not having a load restraint on his Ford Transit which posed a risk of injury to others as it drove along the M60 at Eccles on February 20 last year. As well as being disqualified from driving for six months he must pay a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £569.

A thief who attacked a policeman who arrested him for shoplifting has been given a suspended jail sentence. Shaun Cleworth, 36, of Orchard Street, Wigan, appeared before borough justices to admit stealing £66.79 worth of items from B&M Bargains in Leigh then to assaulting a PC Hulme who came to detain him. The hearing was told that the offences - on October 27 last year - had been committed while Cleworth was the subject of a suspended sentence. The bench sentenced him to 20 weeks in custody but suspended the term again for 12 months. He must also complete 20 days of rehabilitation activities and pay a fine, compensation, costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £363.

A man has finally admitted to possessing animal porn. Nathan Greeley, 28, of Blackberry Drive, Hindley, had appeared before Wigan magistrates in January to plead not guilty to having 10 grossly offensive images of a human having intercourse with animals, and creating one image of child abuse which falls into the second gravest category of seriousness. At a new hearing he changed his plea over the animal porn to guilty while no evidence was offered by the prosecution for the indecent image charge and so that was dismissed. Greeley was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £220 to victim services and the court.

A shoplifter who was jailed for biting a police officer and attacked a security guard is back behind bars for failing to keep appointments. Josh Andrusjak, 26, was sent to prison for four months last July for stealing meat from Wigan’s Lidl store and, when detained, assaulted PC Powell and Lawrence Coles. Now he has been back before Wigan and Leigh magistrates to admit failing to adhere to his supervision requirements following release. As a result he has now been given another two-week sentence.

A Wigan man who admitted to dangerous and drink-driving on his 40th birthday has been hit with a four-year road ban but spared an immediate jail term. Adam Nicholls, of Avondale Street, Standish, pleaded guilty to driving a Peugeot 207 dangerously on Atherton Road, Hindley, on April 8 and that he did so with 74 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath - double the limit. Having been sent by Wigan magistrates to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing, Nicholls was given a two-month prison term which was suspended for two years as well as his road disqualification. He was also ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and make a payment to victim services.

One of Wigan’s most prolific criminals is back behind bars after a police appeal. Zara Fairhurst, who is a regular visitor to Wigan Magistrates’ Court mainly for shoplifting offences, was at large earlier this month when wanted for several offences in Wigan and Merseyside. After her capture the 30-year-old of Vulcan Road, Marsh Green, appeared before borough justices to admit entering Wigan Asda on May 16 when barred from doing so by a criminal behaviour order, stealing various items from B&M Bargains in St Helens then issuing threats on April 16, then following her arrest, failing to surrender to custody and appear before Liverpool Knowsley and St Helens magistrates on April 27. Noting her “prolific offending and disregard for court orders”, Fairhurst was sentenced to a total of 10 weeks in prison.

A Wigan man who terrorised a woman will learn his fate from a judge. Steven Slater, 32, of Wigan Road, stood before borough magistrates to admit threatening Rebecca Riley and causing her to fear for her safety between August 8 and 23 last year. He was sent to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing on June 21.

A man has admitted attacking a woman and two police officers who came to arrest him for it. 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. He was released on unconditional bail until he is sentenced at the same court on June 9.

A judge will sentence a Wigan motorist who admitted to dangerously driving while banned and uninsured. Thomas Simm, 33, of Clifton Road, Ashton, stood before borough justices to plead guilty to the three offences while at the wheel of a Mercedes GLA on May 16 in Haseldine Road, Richmond Road and Grange Road. He was released on conditional bail pending his sentencing at Bolton Crown Court on June 14.

A man has denied threatening to murder two people. Nathan Sale, 26, of no fixed address, stood before Wigan justices to plead not guilty to threatening to kill Rebecca Williams and Stefan Rigby on October 19 and a third charge of telling a PC Clarke of his intention to end Ms Williams’s life two days later. He was released on conditional bail until June 29.

A Wigan man has been convicted of four times contacting a woman while banned by the courts from doing so. Jordan Crosby, 31, of Saddleback Road, Norley, appeared before borough magistrates to deny breaching a restraining order protecting Paige Brew on March 27 and 28 then April 19 but he was found guilty after a trial and given a six-month prison sentence although the term was suspended for two years. The latest of those incidents, the bench was told, involved Crosby ringing his victim and turning up at her home address. He was also convicted of smashing one of his victim’s windows costing £150. Crosby must complete 20 days of rehabilitation activities and observe an electronically tagged night-time curfew until August 24. There is also £128 to pay to victim services.

A Wigan shoplifter who stole steak and alcohol from Tesco has been jailed for two weeks. Borough magistrates heard that Anthony Connor, 33, of Viscount Road, Marsh Green, had a suspended sentence hanging over him for credit card fraud and theft when he committed the latest crime just a few days later on April 6. He was also ordered to pay £8 in compensation.

A man who admits assaulting three people and verbally threatened and abused two others -one of them racially - has been spared an immediate prison term. Steven Richardson, 53, of Warrington Lane, Scholes, appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to the assault by beating of one man and two women on March 3 and menacing two men last November 28.

He was sentenced to a total of 22 weeks in prison although the term will be suspended for two years. The bench also ordered him to attend an alcohol treatment programme and pay compensation totalling £250.

A Wigan man has denied not being in control of a pet dog which attacked a woman. Damien Pulman, 32, of Aylesbury Crescent, Hindley Green, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead not guilty to a charge that a fawn and white American bully was dangerously out of control in Westhoughton Park on May 17 last year and during that time it injured Amanda Grundy. A trial date of September 20 was set at the same court and Pulman was released on unconditional bail until then.

A Wigan woman will face a judge after being accused of dangerous driving while under the influence of alcohol. Amanda McVinnie, 30, of Rectory Lane, Standish, appeared before Wigan magistrates of driving a Dacia Logan dangerously on Wessex Close and later giving a reading of 50 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35. She faces a further charge of smashing the windscreen of a Vauxhall Mariva belonging to Sarah Hynes on the same day, April 15. The cost of the damage was said to be £250. McVinnie has yet to plead and the case was sent to Bolton Crown Court where she will make her first appearance on June 16.

Brothers have denied smuggling drugs into Wigan’s jail. Jordan and Martin Gavin appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge charged with sneaking cocaine, cannabis and two types of steroids - testosterone and Stanozolol - into Hindley Prison between November 9 and 16, 2018. Jordan Gavin, 20, from Baxendale Street, Astley Bridge, Bolton, and Martin Gavin, 22, of Hope Hey Lane, Little Hulton, also pleaded not guilty to shipping phones, sim cards and chargers into the institution.

They will stand trial on May 10 next year.

A Wigan man has denied committing a string of sex crimes against one schoolgirl over a four-year period. It is alleged that Anthony Simpkin, 36, of HMP Forest Bank, molested the youngster from the ages of 14 to 17 on seven occasions and that the sexual touching was without consent. He faces a further charge of incident exposure. The offences are alleged to have taken place between November 2016 and February 2020. He will make his first appearance before a Bolton Crown court judge on June 16.

A man who stole a wallet and its contents then used a bank card to go shopping has been given a community punishment. Marc Moore, 36, of Lamberhead Road, Pemberton, stood before Wigan magistrates to admit the theft from Steven Meehan on January 18 and the subsequent use of one of his cards to make purchases totalling £46.93. He was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities. Moore must also pay £180 to the court and victim services.

A year-long road ban has been imposed on a young motorist who had taken cannabis before driving. Dominik Stonehouse, 20, of Upland Drive, Ashton, stood before Wigan justices to admit having illegal quantities of the banned substance in his system when stopped at the wheel of a Vauxhall Corsa in Yewdale Road last December 5. A fine, victim services surcharge and court costs mean that he also has £373 to pay.

A Wigan teenager has admitted trying to contact a 14-year-old schoolgirl for sex. Connor Lammiman, 18, of Lower Longshoot, Scholes, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to communicating with a girl he knew to be under 16 in order to set up an encounter that would have involved a crime under the Sex Offences Act.

Lammiman also admitted that this communication on May 17 also put him in breach of a sexual risk order imposed on him by justices in January. He will be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on June 16, before which he has been released on bail conditional on his sleeping at his home address and not having any internet-enabled devices.

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