Wigan's week in court

A Wigan man has denied committing rape when he was an 18-year-old. Nathan Owen, 21, of Market Street, Hindley, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to enter a not guilty plea to the single charge relating to an offence alleged to have happened on September 22 2019. He was bailed pending a plea and directions hearing on November 1. A date for a five-day trial was also set for August 7 next year.

A man who hurled threats and twice vandalised a car is awaiting his fate. Thomas Wood, 37, of Keats Avenue, Worsley Mesnes, stood before Wigan justices to admit to two counts of criminal damage, one of £1,316 to a vehicle on October 20 last year and another of £50 on November 21. He had denied using threatening or abusive behaviour on the first occasion but was found guilty after a trial. Wood also admitted he failed to answer court bail on

July 27. He was released on conditional bail until he is sentenced at the same court on October 13.

A Wigan man who first appeared in court charged with cocaine dealing and committing two rapes early last year will now only face trial in August 2023. Zak Mortimer, 42, of Portland Street, Pemberton, made his first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge over the charges in February 2021 and entered three not guilty pleas. A date a year ahead was set for the start of his seven-day trial but then it was postponed until September 19. It emerged recently that that was the date of the Queen's state funeral, but proceedings could not go ahead thereafter because barristers are still on strike. He has now been bailed to reappear before the court on August 14 next year.

A Wigan man whose stalking of a doctor included placing a tracker on her car will be sentenced in November. Kelvin James, 58, of Church Drive, Orrell, has previously appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to the single charge of pursuing a course of conduct which he knew or should have known amounted to harassment and stalking. The hearing was told that James had been hired by the London-based medic to carry out work on her parents' home. The offence was committed between November 3 and 20 last year. Sentencing will now take place at Bolton Magistrates' Court on November 1, before which time James is on bail conditional that he does not have any contact with his victim.

Sentencing has been delayed of a man convicted of entering a Wigan social club with intent to steal. Daniel Simm, 31, whose address was given as homelessness charity The Brick, had denied going into Whelley Labour Club on May 28, but was found guilty after a trial. The case was adjourned so a pre-sentence report could be prepared. Simm had been due to be sentenced by Wigan justices this month but he will now learn his fate on October 12 and he was further remanded on conditional bail until then.

A homeless Wigan man has been sent back to prison for breaching the terms of his licence after serving a custodial sentence. Mohammed Hussain, 45, of no fixed address, appeared before borough justices to admit failing to comply with supervision requirements in July following a spell in jail. He also pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly at the Mercure Oak Hotel on Orchard Street, Wigan on June 25. He was given 14 days behind bars for the licence breach and must pay a fine, victim services surcharge and court costs totalling £159 for the public order offence.

A young Wigan woman is being prosecuted for leaving a mess at the back of her home. Chantelle Brown, 24, of Rathen Avenue, Ince, is charged on January 9 2021 with having 10 bin bags full of household rubbish plus cans and bottles which had been burnt and dumping them on land at the rear of her property without a waste management licence and contrary to the 1990 Environmental Protection Act. Borough justices adjourned the case until October 12.

A Wigan resident whose overgrown home was said to be blighting the neighbourhood has been handed a hefty court bill for failing to sort it out. Richard Marklew, 55, of Woodview in Shevington, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to failing to comply with a notice issued by Wigan Council on January 14. It gave him two months to carry out the following: Cut all vegetation from front a rear garden to 150mm of the ground and dispose of it; Remove all ivy from brickwork and the roof; replace or repair the front and rear guttering; Prior to repainting, clean and prepare the porch door, its frames, window frames and fascia boards around it, removing any flaking paint and replacing any rotten or perished timbers with replacement woodwork ensuring they are are appropriate for repainting; On completion of the porch work, re-paint the door and frames, fascia board and around porch roof so they are "in keeping with the property and surrounding area and to abate the injury to the amenity of the area.” Marklew was prosecuted under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. He was fined £700, but when costs and a victim services surcharge are added, the bill comes to £1,402.

A man accused of domestic violence has walked free from court after the case against him collapsed. Kevin Banks, 40, of Bolton Road, Ashton, had entered a not guilty plea to a single charge of assaulting Kay Thompson by beating her on May 9 in Golborne. But at the latest hearing the case was discontinued and the defendant was told he was free to go.

An August 2023 trial date has been set for a young Wigan woman accused of peddling cocaine and cannabis. Samantha Cunliffe, 25, of Linney Square, Scholes, denied the charges on appearing before a Bolton Crown Court judge and the case was adjourned until October 19 for a short hearing and the trial beginning August 16 next year. A co-accused, Ben Smith, 27, of Scholes in Scholes, faces the same charges but has yet to be arraigned.

The sentencing of a Wigan motorist for dangerous driving and other offences has been adjourned because he has Covid-19. Derek McGlagan, 48, of Sycamore Avenue, Golborne, had been due to learn his fate from a Bolton Crown Court judge after admitting to the motoring offence, failing to provide a urine sample and stealing a £313 bottle of whisky at Tebay on February 14. But due to his diagnosis the hearing was postponed until October 12.

The case of a man accused of possessing two class A drugs with intent to supply them has been adjourned because he had no legal representation when due to appear before a judge. Warren Grady, 46, of Avon Road, Worsley Hall, is alleged to have had crack cocaine and diamorphine on July 7, 2021. Wigan magistrates had sent the case to Bolton Crown Court but on the due date the judge had to adjourn the case because of the ongoing barristers' strike. The hearing will now take place on October 19.

A Wigan teenager has denied handling stolen goods and being a drug peddler. Bobbi-Jo Mayson, 18, of Rose Hill Avenue, Pemberton, stood before borough justices to plead not guilty to possessing cannabis with intent to supply it on November 14 2020 and to having criminal property, namely designer clothing, on May 7 last year. She was released on conditional bail until she makes her first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge on October 19.

The case has collapsed against a man who denied handling a stolen £16,000 car. Callum Riley, 25, of Beech Trees, Skelmersdale, had been charged with being in possession of a stolen Ford Kuga on Otcober 22 last year and had entered a not guilty plea at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court. But at the latest hearing the case was discontinued and Riley was told he was free to go.

A young woman has been hit with a 12-month road ban for driving under the influence of cannabis. Suzanne Yates, 23, of Battersby Street, Ince, stood before Wigan justices to admit failing a drug test after police stopped her BMW 1 Series on Belle Green Lane on October 5 last year. As well as the driving disqualification she has £465 to pay by way of a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge.

A Wigan business manager has admitted defrauding his employer out of more than £28,000. Simon Hindley, 38, of Chestnut Grove, Hindley, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to a single charge that he "committed fraud in that, while occupying a position, namely manager, in which you were expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of MKW Heating Controls ltd, you dishonestly abused that position intending thereby to make a financial gain for yourself." The hearing was told that he salted away £28,606.51 between August 1 2017 and May 31 2021 while employed by the heating equipment supply on Swan Lane, Hindley Green. Hindley was granted unconditional bail until he appears before a Bolton Crown Court judge for sentencing on October 19. He was prosecuted under the 2006 Fraud Act.

A young Wigan man has been accused of twice throttling a woman. Jordan Pyke, 28, of Queen Street in Pemberton, appeared before borough justices to

plead not guilty to intentionally strangling Lorraine Molyneux on September 2 and 19. He also denies assaulting her by beating on those dates. Pyke was remanded in custody pending his trial at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court scheduled for October 21.

An arrest warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Wigan woman accused of restraining order breaches and drug possession. Rebecca Winstanley, 35, of Thompson Street, Whelley, was due to appear before borough justices accused of going to an address in Church Lane, Shevington, on August 3 and 5 when barred from there by the courts and on the second occasion having with her a quantity of cocaine. She is further accused of breaching bail conditions on August 8 by failing to appear before magistrates.

Several parents have been hit with fines for failing to ensure their children regularly attended school in Wigan. Those who pleaded guilty were treated more leniently than they otherwise would have been. Alison Clark, 39, of Park Road, Wigan, admitted to not preventing her son's regular truanting from St John's CE Primary in Pemberton between January and April. A fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge meant she has £174 to pay. The same sentence was imposed on Lindsay Murphy, 43, of Tunstall Lane, Pemberton, who pleaded guilty not making sure her daughter regularly attended classes at Dean Trust Wigan. A much bigger bill is heading to the home of Graham Hunt and Leanne Murray, of Hartley Grove, Pemberton, for not ensuring the attendance of two sons at Dean Trust Wigan just round the corner. Murray pleaded guilty but Hunt failed to appear and was found guilty in his absence. With two defendants and two children involved, the total in costs, fines and surcharges came to £628.

A Leigh town centre shopkeeper has been accused of selling counterfeit cigarettes. Diyar Mohammedi, of Shop and Go on Railway Road, faces six charges of having hundreds of packets of illegal tobacco masquerading as popular brands such as Amber Leaf, Lambert and Butler, Sovereign, Richmond and Dunhill on February 9. The business itself faces the same six charges which were brought under the Trademark Act and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016. Mohammedi has yet to enter a plea and the case was adjourned until October 21 when an interpreter will be required.

A hefty court bill has been imposed on a 27-year-old Wigan man for flytipping. Ricky Elliston, of France Street, Hindley, stood before borough magistrates and pleaded guilty to a single charge of dumping, without a licence, a builder's bag full of household waste at the rear of a home in Fairclough Street, also in Hindley, on September 3 2020 in breach of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. A fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge mean that he has £534 to pay.

A trial date has been set for a former Wigan local election candidate accused of harassment. Alan Baines, 65, of Alderley Road, Hindley, had previously appeared before local justices to deny a campaign of intimidation of Jason Metcalfe between April and September last year, namely that he repeatedly swore, laughed, shouted stared at him. The case was moved to Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court where his trial has now been fixed for December 12. He is on bail until then although there is a list of people he must not contact or streets he must not visit during that time as part of the conditions. Baines stood as an independent in May 2021’s council elections.

A Wigan man has been accused of sexually assaulting and strangling a woman. Damian Lukasiewicz, 30, of Irwell Place, Norley, appeared before borough justices to face charges of sexual touching, causing actual bodily harm and throttling a named woman on June 13. He was released on conditional bail until he appears before a Preston Crown Court judge on March 20 next year. Lukasiewicz has yet to enter pleas on these charges although he did admit to a bail breach.

A 29-year-old has denied twice burgling a popular Wigan pub. Darren Turner, of Ince Green Lane, Ince, stood before borough magistrates to enter not guilty to the charges that he entered The Venture in Highfield on both October 1 and November 13 last year with intent to steal, and that he also stole £40 worth of scrap metal from St William's Club on November 6. The case was adjourned until October 21 before which he is on bail conditional that he observes an electronically tagged night curfew at his home and reports to police when instructed.