Wigan's week in court

A man who denies being armed in a Wigan street with a Samurai sword and meat cleaver will go on trial next summer. Paul Fisher, 48, of The Hawthorns, Manchester, pleaded not guilty to possessing the weapons in Chapel Green Road in Hindley on April 13. On his first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court, judge Fisher was given a trial date of June 29 2022 and released on bail until then.

A banned motorist caught at the wheel has received a further six-month road disqualification and cash penalty. Wigan magistrates heard that Corey Purdy, 30, of Adams Drive, Worsley Mesnes, was found driving a Vauxhall Corsa on Orchard Street, Wigan, on October 8 while banned and uninsured. Admitting both charges he was ordered to pay a fine, court costs and victim surcharge totalling £329.

Justices have ordered that two Wigan homes that have been focal points for anti-social behaviour become a no-go zone for all but their occupants. No-one other than Sean and Amy Darbyshire can enter 140 Marlborough Road, Ince, for the next three months and the same goes for Dillon Prior at 81 Yewdale Avenue, Ashton, after being made the subject of unrelated court closure orders.

A Wigan 43-year-old is facing charges of making indecent images of children. A total of 50 are said to have fallen into the most serious category of image (A) with a further 102 category B and 376 category C. Ian Mellor, of Moor Road, Orrell, was sent by Wigan magistrates to appear before a Bolton Crown Court judge on December 1.

A woman has been spared an immediate jail sentence for an attack which left her victim with multiple injuries. Rachel Yilmaz, 37, of Princes Avenue, Astley, appeared before Wigan justices to admit to assaulting Claire Gambles by beating in Tyldesley on December 20 last year. She was given a 12-week prison term suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activities. Because Yilmaz had initially denied the charge, thus prolonging court proceedings, her bill was bigger than would otherwise be. She must pay £300 in costs plus £128 to victim services.

A young Wigan man has admitted to having a library containing hundreds of “child porn” images. Robert Newport, 26, of St James Crescent, Bickershaw, appeared before Wigan and Leigh magistrates to plead guilty to possessing 695 prohibited images of children and creating 227 images which fall into the most serious category of abuse (A). He further admitted to creating 230 category B images and 1,000 category C. The offences took place between 2014 and 2019. He was sent to Bolton Crown Court for sentence on November 24 and must in the meantime sign onto the Sex Offenders’ Register.

A notorious Wigan thief is back behind bars after another week-long crime spree. Zara Fairhurst, 31, of Vulcan Road, Marsh Green, stood before borough justices to admit to her latest shopliftings. Despite being barred from the Asda supermarket and Robin Park Boots, she paid four visits to the superstore and one to the chemist to take hundreds of pounds worth of items between October 13 and 27. In committing those crimes she four times breached a criminal behaviour order imposed bye the court. Fairhurst was given a four-month custodial sentence and ordered to pay £128 to victim services.

A man who admitted running a cannabis farm and stealing electricity to do so has been spared an immediate jail term. Thomas Morrissey, 32, of Constantia Street, Ince, had previously stood before Wigan justices to plead guilty to drug production and the illegal abstraction of electricity. Committed to Bolton Crown Court for sentencing, he was given a 12-month custodial term but it was suspended for two years. He must also complete 140 hours of unpaid work and forfeit the drugs and related paraphernalia.

A woman who sent malicious emails has been given a suspended prison term. Samantha Hilton, 35, of Wright Street, Wigan, stood before borough justices to admit dispatching threatening or distressing messages to Paul Dagnall on March 3 and in doing so breached a suspended sentence which had been imposed for breaking a restraining order. She was given a 12-week jail term which was suspended for 12 months. Hilton must also complete 32 day of rehabilitation activities and pay a fine, victim services surcharge and court costs totalling £313.

A Wigan man who finally admitted to cannabis dealing has been sent to prison for five months. Stephen Bailey, 32, of Dixon Avenue, Shevington, had denied peddling the class B drug when standing before borough magistrates, but on a later appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge he changed his plea to the charge supplying the substance between September and November 2018. Now he has been given the custodial sentence, must forfeit the drugs and pay £115 to victim services.

A 30-year-old Wigan man who admitted to both theft and burglary has been given a suspended jail term. Craig Wilde, 30, of Victor Close, Marsh Green, stood before borough justices to plead guilty to stealing £1,500 of electrical goods from Dean Whittington and taking a bike and £820 worth of tools after breaking into a house in Gathurst Road, Orrell, both on October 5. He was given a total of 36 weeks in custody but the sentence was suspended for two years. He must also pay £128 to victim services.

A man has admitted to knife possession and plundering more than £3,000 worth of goods including medicines during a veterinary hospital break in. Stuart Trickett, 45, of no fixed address, appeared before Wigan justices finally to plead guilty to raiding Luuk van Dijk’s business on Wigan Lane on July 7 and having a lock knife on Standishgate on September 10. He had previously denied the offences. Wigan justices sent him to be sentenced by a Bolton Crown Court judge on November 25. Meanwhile the bench imposed a six-week prison term on him for also stealing a bike and failing to adhere to the terms of a community order the court had imposed earlier this year for stealing a purse from a fish and chip shop. The bench said they had imposed a custodial sentence because of his previous convictions. He must also pay £128 to victim services.

A man has been accused of attacking a woman twice within days. Mark Seddon, 39, of Scholes, is charged with causing Chantelle Hurst actual bodily harm between October 10 and 15 and then again on October 20. He has yet to plead and the case was sent to Bolton Crown Court where he is due to appear on November 26, before which he is on conditional bail.

A Wigan pub landlord has been accused of stealing £1,200 from a cancer charity. Andrew Westwell, licensee of the Commercial Inn on Heath Road in Ashton, is charged with taking donations raised at a fund-raising event held in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, borough justices heard. The 52-year-old is further accused of “committing fraud while occupying a position, namely as a fund-raising agent of Macmillan, in which he was expected to safeguard, not to act against, the financial interests of Macmillan Cancer Support and that he dishonestly abused that position, intending to make a gain, by failing to pay the value of all such donations to Macmillan Cancer Support and keeping it for himself.” The case was adjourned and transferred, at the request of the prosecution, to Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court where Westwell will make his first appearance on November 12. He has yet to enter any pleas.

A man who attacked a woman has been given a community sentence. Kyle Hesketh, 31, of Belmont Avenue, Bickershaw, stood before Wigan magistrates to change a previous not guilty plea to assaulting Anaya Bancroft to guilty. He had already admitted earlier this year to a second charge of damaging Ms Bancroft’s bedroom door during the same incident on March 27. He was ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activities. There is also £95 to pay to victim services and a further £400 to the courts in costs, the bill being higher than usual because of his initial denial which wasted more court time.

A Wigan woman has finally admitted to launching an assault. Dionne Baker, 36, of Withington Lane, Aspull, appeared before borough justices accused of causing Samantha Bagnall actual bodily harm on October 25 2019 in Skelmersdale. She had initially denied the charge, but on her latest appearance before magistrates, she changed her plea. She was committed to Preston Crown Court for sentence on November 23 and is on unconditional bail until then.

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