Wigan's Week In Court

A Wigan man who went on a thieving spree has been jailed for 16 weeks.

Clifford Faulkner, 36, of Orchard Street, Wigan, appeared before borough magistrates to admit to stealing a sat-nav, anorak and shopping bag from three different victims on May 1.

The bench told him he was getting an immediate custodial sentence because of his “flagrant disregard for the public and property” aggravated by his record of offending.

As well as the prison sentence he was ordered to pay £50 to each of his victims by way of compensation.

A motorist has been hit with an 18-month driving ban and a bill for £745 after police caught him drink-driving in an uninsured car - almost three and a half years ago.

Wigan and Leigh magistrates heard that on Christmas Eve 2017 Cezar Arvinte, 40, of Gordon Street, Ince, was stopped on Manley Street in a Peugeot 407 by a patrol who then breath-tested him.

He was found to have 61 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Arvinte was only finally brought to court after being arrested on warrant. He pleaded guilty to both drink-driving and not having the proper insurance on the vehicle.

He was fined £400 for the drink-driving and £200 for the insurance offence and also ordered to pay costs and a surcharge.

Exasperated magistrates have sent a Wigan motorist to prison after he breached a road ban for the THIRTEENTH time.

Worse still, Wigan justices heard, John Gallagher wasn’t just in a car when stopped by police in Henry Street, Accrington, on November 11 last year, but an HGV with a Ford Mondeo on the back.

The 40-year-old of Liverpool Road, Platt Bridge, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and also to doing so while uninsured.

But the bench handed down a 20-week jail term, justifying it by telling Gallagher: “The offence is so serious because you have a flagrant disregard for court orders, because this is your 13th conviction for driving whilst disqualified. ”

Gallagher was also disqualified from holding a drivers’ licence for three years and he was ordered to pay a £122 surcharge to fund victim services.

A woman was arrested at the wheel when almost five times over the drink-drive limit, Wigan magistrates heard.

Catherine Farrimond, of Leigh Road, Hindley Green, is said to have been stopped by police in Hindley on April 5 and when breathalysed, gave a reading of 165 microgrammes in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

The 42-year-old is also accused of driving a Fiat car in Leigh on the same day without insurance or a licence.

Farrimond has yet to enter a plea and the bench adjourned the case until July 29 on account of the Covid-19 restrictions.

A man who sexually assaulted two women in their broken down car in Wigan has been jailed. The early hours attack on the hard shoulder of the M6 at Standish happened shortly after Michael Brett attacked a taxi driver who had been giving him a lift.

Bolton Crown Court heard the 34-year-old cabbie picked Brett up in Broughton, Preston, to take him to Liverpool. But near junction 27 on the M6 he began hitting the driver on the neck, shoulders and head.

The taxi driver hit the panic button while Brett made him pull over. Brett scrambled out of the car and ran off down the hard shoulder.

A short time later two women, aged 29 and 28, were in a car on the hard shoulder waiting for the RAC due to a problem with a wheel when Brett clambered inside and sexually assaulted them. The hearing was told he got out of the car and they locked the doors and called the police. As he walked away, he exposed himself to them.

Brett, from Waterloo, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault, one of indecent exposure and another of assault. He was given a total of 18 months in prison.