Wigan's week in court

Here is a round-up of the people dealt with by borough magistrates recently.
Wigan and Leigh magistrates courtWigan and Leigh magistrates court
Wigan and Leigh magistrates court

A man has been accused of threatening a mother and her three-year-old child with a machete.

John Robinson, 27, of Robert Street, Atherton, is one of three defendants accused of menacing Amanda Hearns and Sophie Jones but he is also accused of having the weapon to threaten Ms Hearns and the infant.

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Robinson denied the charges plus one of causing £600 damage to a car bonnet when he appeared before Wigan magistrates.

Christopher Anderson, 25, of Spring Gardens, Atherton, has pleaded not guilty to threatening the women and machete possession while Thomas Brookman-Miller, 37, of Richmond Drive, Leigh admitted using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour against Amanda Hearns and Sophie Jones between August 17 and 18, but denied the claim that he had a sword in Spring Gardens that same night.

All three will go to trial at Bolton Crown Court and were released on conditional bail until September 16.

A warrant has been issued for a man facing a string of accusations of possessing and supplying drugs in Wigan.

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Police are now looking for Craig Abbott, from Liverpool, after he failed to turn up at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court.

The 37-year-old, of Carley Road, faces four charges relating to illegal substances in a case which stretches back some two years.

Abbott is accused of having the Class A drug diamorphine with him in Wigan and intending to supply it to someone else on January 26 in 2018.

He also faces charges of supplying quantities of diamorphine and crack cocaine in Wigan between January 16 and 27 in that year,and of having crack cocaine in his possession on February 26, 2018.

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A motorist stopped by police while double the drink-drive limit has been banned from the road and faces a stiff court bill.

Christopher Beard, 29, of Sandalwood Drive, Beech Hill, appeared before Wigan justices to admit to having 81 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when tested by police stopped his Vauxhall Insignia on May 5. The legal limit is 35. The bench disqualified him from driving for 18 months, imposed a £400 fine and also ordered that he pay court cost and a victim services surcharge together worth £125.

A young Wigan man is awaiting sentence after admitting he launched an attack.

Waite, 21, of St David’s Crescent, Aspull, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to causing Bradley Green actual bodily harm on May 31. He was released on unconditional bail until he learns his fate at the same court on September 11.

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A man who attacked a woman and smashed a window at her home is facing a large bill.

David Kinsley, 27, of Beech Tree Houses, Ashton, admitted to assaulting Rebecca Velozza by beating and causing £300 damage to the window on August 7 when he appeared before Wigan magistrates.

He was ordered to carry out 40 hours’ unpaid work, complete 20 days of rehabilitation activities and pay £580 in compensation, court costs and a victim services surcharge. The court also imposed a year-long restraining order against Kinsley.

A man has denied being armed with a baseball bat. Anthony Unsworth, 38, of Mesnes Road, Swinley, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead not guilty to having an offensive weapon on Victoria Street on April 23.

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The bench ordered that the case be sent to Bolton Crown Court for trial and he is due to make his first appearance before a judge on September 21.

A man who attacked his Wigan ex and threatened to burn her house down has been spared an immediate jail term.

Simon Gregory appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to assaulting Gulavazarrie Gregory by beating and telling her that he would torch her home.

The bench imposed a six-month custodial sentence but suspended it for 18 months, telling him that the crimes had been aggravated because the assault had gone on for a prolonged period and it had taken place with a five-year-old child in the home.

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The 45-year-old of Argyle Street, Heywood, Rochdale, was also hit with a restraining order which lasts until February 23, 2022, he must carry out 20 days of rehabilitation activities and attend a 30-day “building better relationships programme.”

A driver caught over the alcohol limit will serve an 18-month road ban.

Darren Simpkin, 35, of Woodcock House in Scholes, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to having 64 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when police stopped his Peugeot 208 in Baucher Road, Worsley Mesnes, on April 10. The legal limit is 35. A fine, victim services surcharge and court costs mean that he also has a £232 bill to pay.

The case of a woman who denies a £1,500 benefit fraud has been further adjourned. Nicola Halsall, 32, of Browning Avenue, Goose Green, is accused of receiving credits of £1,207 and £317 knowing that she wasn’t entitled to them and did nothing to ensure they were cancelled. After she pleaded not guilty to both charges Wigan magistrates in June and now a trial date has been set for November 16.

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A motorist has been disqualified from driving for a further three years after police caught him at the wheel while banned.

Mohammedamin Hafejee, 37, of Baycliff Close, Hindley, stood before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to breaching a road ban, not being insured and obstructing a police officer. Hafejee must also complete 200 hours’ unpaid work and pay court costs and a victim service surcharge totalling £175.

A man has been charged with having £1,530 in cash branded the proceeds of crime. Robert Prescott, 42, of Close Lane, Hindley, has yet to plead and Wigan magistrates adjourned his case until September 11.

A community order has been imposed on a man for assault and criminal damage. Shane Smith, 31, of Orchard Street, Wigan, admitted to assaulting Victoria Barrington by beating and smashing Ian Barrington’s £125 mobile phone on August 1.

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Borough magistrates ordered that he complete 40 hours’ unpaid work, attend 20 days of rehabilitation activities and pay Mr Barrington £125 in compensation. A 12-month restraining order also prevents Smith from going new the Barringtons’ home in Elmfield Avenue, Atherton.

A trial is to be held for a man accused of an attack, issuing threats and being armed with an axe. Ryan Kearsley, 23, of Fieldway, Platt Bridge, was remanded in custody by Wigan magistrates after pleading not guilty to assaulting Alex Woodthorpe by beating him, threatening to use unlawful violence and possession of a bladed weapon. He is scheduled to reappear before borough justices on September 18.

Two men accused of carrying out a serious attack on another man at a Wigan prison will face a crown court judge.

Dean Lee and James Muldoon are both accused of unlawfully and maliciously wounding Callum Tombs as well as a charge of intending to cause him grievous bodily harm (GBH).

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The incident, which the police say happened at HMP Hindley, occurred on October 8 last year.

Lee, 26, and 40-year-old Muldoon have now been sent for trial to Bolton Crown Court following an appearance this week at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court.

Lee, who gave an address on Alnwick Drive in Ellesmere Port, has been given unconditional bail.

The duo will appear before a judge in Bolton on September 16.

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A man accused of carrying out a vicious attack inside a borough prison and having a contraband item behind bars will face a crown court judge.

Wayne Jones appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court by video link to answer the charges against him this week.

The 32-year-old, of HMP Berwyn, is charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm (GBH) on Nathan Powell at the Hindley jail on April 23 last year.

Jones is also accused of having a black Zanco mobile phone while at HMP Hindley in contravention of the Prison Act.

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The bench sent Jones to face trial by jury and he will now appear at Bolton Crown Court on September 16.

A Wigan woman accused of carrying out a violent attack on another woman in a pub in the borough will face a judge at the crown court.

Demi James, from Platt Bridge, denied the charge of maliciously wounding Stacey Finney when she appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court.

The alleged incident is supposed to have happened at the Mountain Dew pub in Atherton on or about July 5 this year.

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Having pleaded not guilty 24-year-old James, who gave a care of address in Ingram Street in court, will now face a jury trial.

She will next appear at Bolton Crown Court on September 16. She was given unconditional bail.

A Wigan man accused of trespassing in a mini-supermarket and stealing thousands of pounds will face a crown court judge.

Paul Robinson, from Scholes, appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court accused of making off from the Tesco Express in Whelley with a massive ill-gotten haul.

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The 50-year-old, of Morris House, is charged with getting into the store as a trespasser and then stealing £2,820.

The alleged incident happened at the Whelley store in November 2018.

Robinson will now face trial in front of a jury and is next slated to appear at Bolton Crown Court on September 16. He was released on unconditional bail.

A Wigan man has denied driving while banned and under the influence of drugs.

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Anthony Seddon, 56, of Collett Close, Scholes, is accused of having both cocaine and cannabis in his system when stopped driving a Volkswagen Touareg on Manchester Road, Astley, while disqualified from the road. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and one of driving while not insured. All the offences are alleged to have happened on January 28. Wigan magistrates adjourned the case to November 16.

A man has been found guilty of molesting a woman in Wigan.

Abdelkader Taboubi, 40, of Bolton Road, Ashton, had appeared before Wigan magistrates to deny intentionally sexually touching a female over 16 without her consent.

But he was found guilty following a trial and the bench ordered that he be remanded in custody until he is sentenced by a Bolton Crown Court judge on September 14.

A community order and a £330 bill have been imposed on a man who admitted to launching an attack.

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Graham Lucas, 27, of Avon Road, Norley, pleaded to the assault by beating of Cooper Greeley on May 25 when he appeared before Wigan magistrates. The bench fined him £150, ordered that he pay his victim £95 and a further £85 in court costs. Lucas must also complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities.

A man convicted of shoplifting has been given a 12-month conditional discharge.

Michael Ashurst, 30, of Saddleback Road, Norley, had denied stealing batteries from Euro Car Parts last December 28 when he appeared before Wigan magistrates but was found guilty after a trial.

As well as the discharge he was ordered to pay £300 court costs, £60 in compensation and £21 towards victim services.

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A Wigan sex offender has been sent back to prison - for failing to tell the authorities he had completed his last jail term.

Craig Dean was given a 12-week prison term on August 3 for having outraged public decency by performing a lewd act in public, but because he had previously been remanded in custody he was free to go on the day of sentencing.

But before August 6 he should have notified the police of his liberty under the terms of the Sexual Offences Act and so he was re-arrested.

Re-appearing before Wigan magistrates, the 32-year-old of no fixed address pleaded guilty to breaching the terms of his release and was sent to jail for 16 weeks. Dean must also pay a victim services surcharge of £128.

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A man has denied stealing a bank card and assaulting a police officer.

David Dahl, 48, of School Street, Ince, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead not guilty to taking Ralph Gregory’s card plus £60 in cash on January 25 and to attacking Pc Sean Robinson three days later.

A trial will take place at the same court on November 10.

A teenager has been charged with stealing a car at knifepoint from a Wigan graveyard visitor.

At around 1.45pm on Friday August 21, police were called to a report of a carjacking on Westwood Lane.

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The incident occurred while the victim was visiting Lower Ince cemetery.

The victim had parked the vehicle, a black Hyundai, on Westwood Lane. The car was later found abandoned after appeals for its whereabouts flooded social media.

The 17-year-old suspect, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with one count of robbery, possession of a bladed article, taking a vehicle without consent and driving without a licenses and insurance

He has already appeared at Manchester and Salford Youth Court and was due to appear at the same courthouse on Wednesday, September 2.

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A motorist with an “appalling record of traffic offences” has been jailed for flouting a driving ban.

John Anthony Woods appeared before Wigan magistrates to admit to being at the wheel of a vehicle on Manchester Road, Ince, on July 8 while disqualified.

The 37-year-old of Warwick Drive, Hindley, also pleaded guilty to having no insurance and obstructing a police officer.

Sending him to prison for 16 weeks, justices told him they were locking him up because of his track record, the fact that the offences were committed within three months of completing a suspended sentence and because he had a “total disregard for other road users and court orders.”

The bench also imposed a new, five-year traffic ban and ordered that he pay £128 towards victim services.