Wigan's week in court

A good Samaritan who tried to save a man from being robbed and stabbed but was then arrested for involvement in the attack has spoken of his relief of being cleared of the crime.

Andrew Stretton was one of three men who stood trial at Bolton Crown Court earlier this year for attacking Paul West in an incident in an alleyway behind Wigan’s Grand Arcade in the middle of the day on August 4 2021.

But he was actually an innocent bystander who bravely came to the aid of the victim who had suffered a knife wound, by preventing one of the assailants from further injuring him by throwing a brick at his head.

CCTV footage offered as evidence by Mr Stretton’s defence team showed the now 41-year-old from Parbold wrestling with Christopher France-Sergeant and not making an escape with the two muggers.

The hearing was told that the victim himself had at first thought Mr Stretton was involved in the crime and he was arrested at the scene.

Kieron Mercer, 27, of Orchard Street in Wigan, and 35-year-old France-Sergeant, of Ince Green Lane, Ince, were both convicted of robbery and given prison sentences of four years, six months and four years respectively by the judge.

But volunteer Mr Stretton was found not guilty by the jury and he was told he was free to go.

He told the Wigan Observer: “I had nothing to do with these men. I didn't know them and I wasn’t involved in a bad way.

"I was just heading towards the railway station, minding my own business, to catch a train because I was going to see my mum, when I came across them attacking and robbing Mr West of his bag in an alley at the back of the Grand Arcade.

"I tried to step in and managed to stop one of them from throwing a brick at his head.

"They ran off and I stayed behind and was arrested because the victim must’ve thought I was one of the gang.

"But CCTV shown at the trial proved otherwise and I was very glad to have my name cleared.”

A Wigan man has been accused of being four times the drink-drive limit.

It is alleged that Rodney Heaton, 46, of no fixed address, was at the wheel of a silver Peugeot in Orrell Road, Orrell, on July 29 when he gave a reading of 138 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

Heaton has yet to enter a plea and was remanded on unconditional bail until he reappears before Wigan magistrates on January 25.

A man who smashed in a door, causing £1,000 damage has been ordered to pay compensation.

Keith Topping, 31, of Orchard Street, Wigan, appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to the criminal damage belonging to Your Housing Group on January 4.

He was given a 12-month conditional discharge and when court costs and a victim services surcharge were added to the £500 compensation bill, there is £607 to pay.

A man who twice breached a non-molestation order by driving past his ex's house will learn his fate from justices in the new year.

Lee Turner, 35, of Harvey Lane, Golborne, had denied the charges of cruising past Sarah Flynn's home on July 9 and 19 but was convicted by magistrates in his absence.

He also admitted to breaching bail on October 5.

The order had only been imposed by magistrates a month previously, the court heard.

He will be sentenced by the bench on January 5.

In the meanwhile he is on bail conditional that he does not approach Ms Flynn unless via solicitors nor go to her Ashton home.

Magistrates will sentence in a month's time a man who finally admitted menacing a woman along with vandalising her motorbike.

Lee Probert had denied threatening Leela Tyler with unlawful violence on August 5 while confessing to causing £200 damage to her vehicle.

But on returning to court he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour and the unlawful violence threat charge was dismissed.

He was released on conditional bail until he returns to Wigan's courts for sentencing on January 30.

A man who threatened someone with an axe in a supermarket car park has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Adam Willerton, 39, of Sandringham Drive in Leigh, wielded the axe at John Saro outside Asda in Leigh on July 2.

Judge Timothy Clayson imposed a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, when Willerton appeared at Bolton Crown Court.

He must do 30 days of rehabilitation activities and pay a victim surcharge of £187, while the axe must be forfeited.

A Wigan teenager who burgled a Cumbrian Boots store, stealing £3,231 worth of perfumes and an electric razor has been given a youth rehabilitation order.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Wigan Youth Court to admit the break-in at the retailer's Cockermouth store on October 17.

In total 29 bottles of perfume were stolen.

The crime put him in breach of a previous rehab order imposed by the courts for mugging a man for his wallet only days earlier.

His punishment includes completing 100 hours of unpaid work, being electronically tagged while subject to a three-month curfew and attending appointments with a responsible officer.

He must also pay £26 to victim services.

A bogus Wigan dentist who worked from a canalside flat has been hit with a hefty court bill.

Dr Jonathan Saunders appeared before borough magistrates to admit to practising dentistry unlawfully on a named female on May 11 and 12 when not registered as a dentist and to a separate charge of unlawfully carrying out dentistry when not registered.

All the offences were breaches of the 1984 Dentistry Act and were committed at Saunders's flat at Trencherfield Mill which was doubling as a surgery.

He was hit with fines, costs and a payment to victim services totalling £3,440.

A Wigan man who shared racist and anti-Semitic material online has been jailed for 16 months.

Stuart Sutton, 45, was identified by intelligence after posting anti-Semitic and other racist content on social media platforms over an eight-month period in 2021.

A search warrant was executed at his home on Broadway, Hindley, in February and he was arrested in an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW). Sutton faced five charges of sharing written material that was “threatening, abusive or insulting intending thereby to stir up racial hatred or having regard to all the circumstances, whereby racial hatred was likely to be stirred up”.

He was prosecuted under the 1986 Public Order Act and pleaded not guilty when he appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court last month.

The case was sent to Bolton Crown Court and Sutton changed his pleas, admitting the five offences as he stood in the dock.

The Honorary Recorder of Bolton Judge Martin Walsh jailed him for 16 months for each offence, to be served concurrently.

Sutton must also pay £156 to fund victim services and his phone must be forfeited and destroyed.

Amanda Bomsztyk, northern regional director of the Community Security Trust, said: “CST welcomes this outcome which follows our alerting CTPNW to Sutton’s incitement just over a year ago. "It is important that such extreme Jew-hatred and racism leads to arrest and imprisonment.”

Det Supt Andy Meeks, of CTPNW’s investigation department, said: "We would always encourage people to report acts of racial hatred, whether that's in person or online, and this can be done via the police or at www.gov. uk/ACT."

Two men who attacked five people and stole alcohol from two supermarkets on the same day have been sentenced by a crown court judge.

Jordan Collier, 29, of Fell Street, Leigh, and Callum Hugill, 24, of Back Market Street, Leigh, had pleaded guilty to a host of offences that took place on January 17.

They assaulted Alam Kabir and Rohan Kenny at Asda in Leigh, stole a bottle of prosecco worth £30 from the supermarket, and took a crate of beer worth £16 from Lidl in Wigan.

On the same day, Collier assaulted PCs Clarke and Olson-Hill and Hugill assaulted Special Constable Lavery.

They were also sentenced for a burglary.

Hugill was jailed for 21 months in total and must pay £156 to fund services for victims.

Collier was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for two years.

He must comply with six months of mental health treatment and 30 days of rehabilitation activities, plus pay a £156 victim surcharge.

Two Wigan men have been jailed for a total of more than 10 years on charges connected with the death of a borough grandmother.

Jordan Winstanley, 28, of Butler Street in Scholes, was sentenced to six and a half years in prison for aggravated burglary and Robbie Arnold, 23 of Suffolk Grove, Leigh, received a total of five years for possessing an imitation firearm and production/supply of class A, and supply of class B drugs at Bolton Crown Court.

Bethany Twist, 22 of Emerald Avenue, Leigh, received a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months, together with 70 hours community service and 20 rehabilitation days. Her boyfriend Adam Guy, 25 of Turner Street, Leigh, received an eight-month sentence suspended for 18 months, with 120 hours community service, 15 rehabilitation days and was subject to a drug rehabilitation order.

These sentences were handed down as the result of a complex and lengthy investigation by Greater Manchester Police called Operation Alsace.

Officers were called to a home in Manchester Road, Leigh, on St Patrick's Day 2019 by the ambulance service to reports that a woman had been stabbed.

Debbie Twist, a mother of three and grandma of three, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 25-year-old man was also taken to hospital for treatment to arm injuries.

An inquest was opened in April 2019 but was then adjourned pending the outcome of criminal investigations.

It was reported that a man had been in his home on the Leigh street earlier with his pregnant girlfriend, when a gang of people, who all wore face coverings, burst in and threatened him with a firearm, which later proved to be fake.

The victim picked up a knife off the kitchen counter to protect himself, fending off blows from the group.

He received numerous injuries to his nose and hands during the attack and at this time, Debbie Twist suffered a fatal stab wound.

A 39-year-old man was arrested for murder but investigating officers released him, telling him that no further action would be taken against him.

The court heard that the son of the victim of the aggravated burglary had run up a debt of £170 for cannabis, supplied to him by the Twist family.

He himself had been attacked by Debbie Twist two days earlier, when she demanded repayment of the drugs debt.

He agreed to pay back the money he owed on March 18 2019.

On March 17, Twist, her son and daughter, and other friends Guy and Arnold all met at a local pub for drinks.

It was on their walk back home that she pointed out the victim’s address and identified him as the father of the man who owed her money.

At this point, the debt had been reduced to £70.

She asked her son and Robbie to knock on the door and ask for the return of the money.

At 6pm that evening, the group returned and when they received no response from knocking, they all made their way to the back of the property and burst in.

When police searched the Manchester Road address, they recovered a plastic bag containing a claw hammer and a machete.

A search of Arnold’s home recovered a paintball gun, which had also been used in the attack.

Det Ch Insp Wes Knights of the Major Incident Team said: “We are extremely pleased with today’s results, which reflect the severity of this attack.

“This has been a very lengthy and complex investigation owing to the circumstances, whereby, unusually someone has tragically lost their life during the commission of a crime which cannot be forgotten.

“We are grateful to the victim and his family for all the support they have given us during our investigation, in what can only be described as an extremely distressing time for them.

“I would also like to thank the Crown Prosecution Service for their assistance in this case which has presented many challenges – at the forefront, has been an ethical and transparent investigation interrogating all facets of this tragedy.

“The overriding message from these unfolding events being that any form of violent offending will always be pursued relentlessly by the Greater Manchester Police to prevent any further offending and protect the public.

“The evidence against these four individuals was overwhelming and I would like to thank my Major Incident Team for all of their hard work in securing these convictions.”