Wigan's week in court

A man who admitted driving a car while under the influence of drugs has been banned from the road for 18 months.

Barry Lawrence, 31, of Kitt Green Road, Marsh Green, was stopped in a Ford Fiesta by police on Orrell Road and, when tested, was found to have levels of cocaine and cannabis in his system higher than the legal limit.

As well as the driving disqualification, Lawrence must attend an alcohol treatment programme, complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and observe a 12-week night time curfew. There is also a £170 bill for victim services and court costs to settle.

A woman caught at the wheel when more than four times the legal drink-drive limit after a series of crashes has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.

Laura Murray, 35, of Smethurst Lane, Pemberton, was given a 12-week prison term but Wigan and Leigh magistrates suspended it for 12 months, telling her: “This was a very high reading.

“You were incapable of controlling your vehicle and you obviously have a prolonged dependency on alcohol.

“There was an accident which caused major damage to a number of vehicles and also minor injuries.”

The court had been told that when police tested Murray she gave a reading of 144 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The limit is 35 microgrammes.

She was also banned from driving for three years, fined and ordered to pay costs and a victim services surcharge, the financial penalties coming to £393.

A man has been charged following an investigation into alleged child sexual exploitation in Wigan.

Harry Bowman, 19, of Whitlow Avenue, Golborne, has been charged with 37 offences:

- Three counts of engaging in controlling/coercive behaviour

- Sexual assault

- Two counts of rape

- Causing a child to watch a sexual act

- 13 counts of causing/inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity

- Two counts of sexual assault

- Six counts of making an indecent photograph of a child

- Two counts of causing/inciting a child to prostitution/pornography

- Five counts of distributing an indecent photograph of a child

- Making threats to damage/destroy property

- Sending letter/communication/article conveying a threatening message

The offences relate to nine victims who were children at the time and are alleged to have taken place in Wigan between October 2016 and July 2019.

Bowman appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court and was remanded until his next appearance at Bolton Crown Court on October 14.

A 16-month road ban and £383 bill has been imposed on a 21-year-old caught at the wheel when four times the legal drink-drive limit.

Alex Billinge, of de Havilland Way, Skelmersdale, admitted to having 133 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml when breathalysed by police in his Honda Civid on Gathurst Road, Orrell on March 12.

The limit is 35 microgrammes. The cash payment included a £264 fine.

A man has appeared in court accused of peddling hard drugs in Wigan.

David Colborn, 46, of Ruskin Avenue, Goose Green, faces charges of possessing crack cocaine and diamorphine (medical heroin) on July 1 with intent to supply them.

He has yet to plead and Wigan magistrates ordered that his case be sent to Bolton Crown Court.

He was released on unconditional bail until that first appearance on October 26.

A former Wigan convict has been sent back to jail for flouting the terms of his release.

Wigan magistrates were told Stuart Martin had failed to keep appointments with his supervisor, missing his Building Better Relationships programme and not living at an agreed address.

The 20-year-old from Prestt Grove, Worsley Mesnes, admitted to these breaches of his post-sentence supervision licence and was given another 14 days behind bars.

A man has denied carrying out a vicious attack inside the borough’s prison and having a contraband item behind bars.

Wayne Jones appeared before a Bolton Crown Court by video link to answer the charges against him.

The 32-year-old, currently of HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, is charged with unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm 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.

A trial date was set for January 18.

A motorist who went through a Wigan pedestrian crossing on red has admitted to careless driving.

Luke Cowing, 40, of School Lane, Skelmersdale, had four points put on his licence for the bad driving in his Ford Kuga on Cross Street, Hindley, on June 17, and when fines, a surcharge and court costs are put together, he also has a £548 bill to pay.

A shoplifter who threatened two people has been given a community punishment.

Sophie Price, 24, of Crawford Avenue, Aspull, admitted to Wigan magistrates that she snatched £27 worth of washing tablets from Asda and two candles worth £40 from Boots on April 16 and on the same day menaced or abused two people.

Price also pleaded guilty to another theft of washing items and chocolate from Right Choices on June 26.

The bench ordered her to attend a drug rehabilitation programme and complete 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

Compensation to victims, fines and a victim services surcharge also meant she must pay £255.

A crook who threw a mobile phone at a Wigan prison officer’s head after he was found with it has been given an extra four months behind bars.

Stephen Fletcher, 24, was an inmate at Hindley Prison when he assaulted emergency worker Christopher Miller and was found to have the electronic device in contravention of the 1952 Prisons Act.

The chair of the bench at Wigan Magistrates’ Court told him: “You knew full well that the possession of the iPhone was unlawful whilst you were serving a custodial sentence.

“You have no excuse for throwing the phone at the head of the prison officer.

“Luckily no injury was caused but it easily could have been otherwise.

“You are quite experienced as to how the justice system works.

“As your solicitor has pointed out you have spent most of the last five years in custody and when you are released you are going to be on licence or supervision until 2024.”

Fletcher, from Lichfield Close, Netherton, in Liverpool, was ordered to pay a £128 victim services surcharge.

A motorcyclist failed a breath test and was found to be armed with a knife, Wigan magistrates heard.

Adam Collier, 21, of Repton Avenue, Ince, pleaded guilty to having a folding knife with a blade longer than 3ins when police stopped his bike on Riverway.

His breathalyser reading was also 44 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

The legal limit is 35. He was given a total of two months in prison for the offences, although the sentence was suspended for six months.

Collier was also banned from driving for 12 months and must pay a total of £213 in costs and a victim services surcharge.

A man who assaulted a health worker has been given a community punishment.

Christopher Beard, 30, of Scholes in Scholes, pleaded guilty assaulting NHS domestic staff member Gloria McNamee by beating when he appeared before Wigan magistrates.

He was given an eight-week curfew running from 7pm to 5am and ordered to pay £230, some of which was compensation to his victim and the remainder court costs and a victim services surcharge.

A man has admitted banking £1,500 worth of benefits to which he wasn’t entitled.

Kieron Jones, 34, of Browning Avenue, Worsley Mesnes, had been charged with failing to cancel two credit payments - of £1,207 and £317 - to which he knew he had been wrongfully paid.

Wigan magistrates fined him £300 and he must also pay a £30 victim services surcharge and £85 towards court costs.

A woman accused of assault, criminal damage and issuing threats has walked free from court after the cases against her collapsed.

Anne Marie Seddon, 40, of Arcade Street, Wigan, had been charged with attacking Kyle Hughes, using violence to get into a house on Woodhouse Lane and causing £600 damages to carpets and walls inside.

But after the prosecution offered no evidence, Wigan magistrates dismissed the cases.

Four people accused of smuggling prohibited items into Hindley Prison will enter their pleas before a Bolton Crown Court judge on November 23.

Colleen Banks, 48, of Maple Crescent, Leigh, along with Katherine and Martin Smith, aged 42 and 48 respectively of Church Drive Orrell, and Kieron Harrop, 23, of Grasmere Avenue, Warrington, are charged with conspiring with others to bring contraband into the Wigan jail between August 11 and September 6 2018.

The prohibited articles are not identified in the charge, but Harrop is further accused of having a Kazam Life B2 mobile telephone and sim card in jail in contravention of the 1952 Prisons Act. A provisional trial date has been set for September 23 next year.

A motorist caught driving when almost three times the legal liquor limit has been banned from the roads for two years.

Maciej Waliuk, 33, of Scholefield Lane, Scholes, admitted to having 100 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath (the legal limit is 35) when police stopped him in his Ford Focus on New Miles Lane, Shevington, on June 6.

Waliuk was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and pay £180 towards victim services and court costs.

A man accused of possessing a noxious incapacitant spray called Pava will have to wait almost a year before the matter goes to trial.

Similar to pepper spray, Pava can be used to blind someone temporarily and its legal use must be with the approval of the Home Secretary.

Don Redcliffe, 44, of Sefton Road, Goose Green, denies the charge and also further charges of possessing a quantity of cocaine with intent to supply and £1,840 in cash which prosecutors called “criminal proceeds.”

A Bolton Crown Court judge bailed Redcliffe until his trial which has been set to begin on September 23, 2021 due to the backlog of cases caused by pandemic restrictions.

A man has been found guilty of an attack, issuing threats and being armed with an axe.

Ryan Kearsley, 23, of Fieldway, Platt Bridge, had pleaded not guilty to assaulting Alex Woodthorpe by beating him, threatening unlawful violence and possession of a bladed weapon on August 14.

But he was convicted on all three counts by justices after a trial.

He has now been committed to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing by a judge on October 26 and he is remanded in custody until then.

A 47-year-old man has been accused of having tens of thousands of indecent photographs of children.

Dean Shaw, of Rowland Street South, Atherton, is charged with having one which falls into the most serious category (A), 10 category B while the vast majority - 30,446 were said to be in category C.

Wigan magistrates directed that he be released on bail until he appears before a Bolton Crown Court judge on October 26.

A visitor to Wigan who arrived at the main railway station armed with a machete has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.

Jamie Morgan was given a four-month custodial sentence for having the weapon with a 12ins blade at Wigan North Western on July 13 this year.

But Wigan magistrates suspended the term for a year.

The 20-year-old from St Margarets Road, Morecambe, who pleaded guilty to having the offensive weapon, must complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and pay £241 in court costs and a victim services surcharge.

A man who admitted smashing a car’s rear window faces a hefty bill.

Wigan magistrates gave Craig Threlfall a 24-month conditional discharge for the criminal damage to Lucy Birch’s vehicle but also ordered that he pay his victim £200 in compensation.