Wigan's week in court

A schoolgirl of 14 has been barred by the courts from Wigan bus station.

The youngster, who cannot be named, appeared at the borough's youth court as the bench received an application to post an anti-social behaviour injunction on her.

It was granted and means that she cannot enter an area around the terminus (as described on a map) before January 25 next year.

The station is a regular focal point for youth nuisance and has been targeted in several police crackdowns in the last year.

A Wigan woman who failed to properly care for two dogs has been given a hefty fine.

Scarlett Orlik, 23, of Lincoln Drive, Ashton, had denied failing to provide a suitable environment and diet for the dogs and failing to allow them to exhibit their normal behaviour patterns on March 7. However, she was found guilty after a trial at Bolton Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard she had one dog for nine days and the other for seven days, and they have since been in kennels.

Orlik was fined £120 and ordered to pay £310 for prosecution costs and £34 to fund victim services.

She must also pay £500 to Greater Manchester Police.

Magistrates decided not to ban Orlik from keeping dogs, after hearing she lives between her mother’s and grandmothers’ homes and they both have dogs, which she helps to care for, so would have to find alternative accommodation.

A teenager who tried to steal a scooter has been fined by magistrates.

Corey Bascombe-Glover, 19, of Downall Green Road, Ashton, pleaded guilty to attempting to take the vehicle from Platt Bridge on May 2.

He was ordered to pay a £120 fine, £85 prosecution costs and £34 victim surcharge.

A Wigan man has been ordered to do unpaid work after keeping more than £3,000 incorrectly paid into his account.

Adam Aspey, 29, of Bluebell Avenue, Beech Hill, pleaded guilty to two counts of knowing a wrongful credit had been made and failing to have it cancelled.

The offences took place on January 17, 2019 and June 10, 2019 and involved £1,525.44 each time.

Wigan magistrates imposed a community order with 60 hours of unpaid work.

Aspey was ordered to pay £90 to fund services for victims and £85 prosecution costs.

A Wigan man has been charged by detectives as part of an investigation into the supply of drugs.

Officers from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit charged Cain Turner, 31, of Sarah Street, Hindley Green, with conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

Reece Barnes, 30, of Elim Grove, Windermere, was charged with the same offence.

The men have both appeared at Barrow Magistrates’ Court and were remanded to appear at Carlisle Crown Court on Thursday, March 9.

A Wigan woman has been charged with refusing to disclose who was at the wheel of a car she owns when it was involved in an offence.

Melissa Rothwell, 32, of Wakefield Crescent, Standish, is charged with failing to give information relating to the identification of the driver of an Audi A6 which was alleged to have been guilty of an offence on May 4 last year.

She will be summoned to a hearing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on March 24.

Two Wigan men have been separately prosecuted for failing to protect their pet dogs from animal cruelty.

Both had denied illegally cropping the ears of their American bullies - and these charges were dismissed for lack of evidence - but they eventually changed pleas to guilty on the charges that they didn't prevent these offences from being committed by someone else nor seek medical attention under the Animal Welfare Act afterwards.

First in the dock at Stockport Magistrates' Court was Jamie Evans, 29, of Keble Street, Ince, who was charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a dog called Riga on January 17 2021 by not seeking veterinary care for its cropped ears and not taking steps to prevent the prohibited procedure in the first place.

Also appearing that day, and facing the same charges, was 23-year-old Joshua Kwiatkowski, of Rose Avenue, Beech Hill, who, the court heard, had failed to prevent the suffering of his American bully Ace on December 12 2020.

Both were remanded on unconditional bail until March 21 for the preparation of presentence reports.

They will learn their fate from Wigan and Leigh magistrates on that date.

The American Bully is a modern breed of dog that was developed as a companion dog, and originally standardised and recognised as a breed in 2004 by the American Bully Kennel Club. Its published breed standard describes the dog as giving the "impression of great strength for its size".

American bullies are legal to keep and breed in the UK, the only breeds that are banned being the pit bull terrier, the Japanese tosa, the dogo Argentino and the fila Brasileiro.

A Wigan motorist is facing a big court bill after being convicted of failing to tell the authorities who was driving his car when it was involved in a traffic offence.

Neil Hines, 49, of Queens Road, Orrell, failed to appear before Wigan and Leigh justices when charged with refusing to disclose who was at the wheel of a BMW X5 when an alleged violation took place on June 21 last year and he was found guilty in his absence.

Six points were put on Hines's licence and when a fine, court costs and victim services surcharge are added together, he has £1,174 to pay out.

Two men found guilty of failing to show £7.10 train tickets have been ordered to pay hundreds of pounds.

Steven Critchley, 39, of Springfield Street, Swinley, told staff at Manchester's Oxford Road station that he had bought a ticket at Wigan North Western with cash and lost it on the train. He failed to reply to a letter asking for proof of the payment and a fixed penalty notice went unpaid, so the case went to court.

Magistrates found Critchley guilty of failing to show the ticket when requested on June 11. He was ordered to pay a £220 fine, £150 costs, £34 victim surcharge and £7.10 compensation for the ticket.

His neighbour Stephen Harrell, 36, also of Springfield Street, made the same journey that day without a ticket.

He was fined £220 and must pay £150 costs and £7.10 for the ticket.

Harrell was also convicted of going to a prohibited part of Manchester Victoria station on the same day. He was fined £440 and must pay £150 costs.

He was further convicted of making the journey from Wigan North Western to Manchester Oxford Road without a ticket on June 9 and received another bill totalling £465.

Magistrates have fined a Wigan man who travelled by train to Blackpool without a ticket.

Dale Doolan, 33, of Warrington Road, Abram, did not show his ticket when requested upon arrival at Blackpool North on June 7.

A letter was sent requesting the £14.90 fare, followed by a fixed penalty notice, but they both went unpaid. Magistrates found him guilty of travelling without a ticket.

He was told to pay a £220 fine, £150 costs, £34 victim surcharge and £14.90 compensation for the rail fare.

A man who did not pay £2.80 for a rail journey from Ince to Wigan North Western has been ordered to pay hundreds of pounds.

Paul Fairhurst, 39, of Acacia Crescent, Beech Hill, then failed to pay a penalty fare notice so the case went to court.

Magistrates convicted him and ordered him to pay a £220 fine, £150 costs, £34 victim surcharge and £2.80 for the fare.

A Wigan teenager who travelled from Deansgate to Manchester Oxford Road without a rail ticket has been convicted.

Harvey Tickle, 19, of Grasmere Avenue, Ince, failed to produce a ticket showing he had paid the fare on June 8 and then did not pay a penalty fare notice.

Magistrates imposed a £220 fine and told him to pay £150 costs, £34 victim surcharge and £2.60 compensation for the ticket.

A motorist has been banned from the roads after failing to tell police who was driving a car.

Peter Manning, 57, of Osborne Court, Atherton, was asked to provide the identity of the driver of a Toyota alleged to have committed an offence on May 6.

He was disqualified from driving for six months and told to pay a £660 fine, £90 costs and £66 to fund victim services.

A Wigan man, who was the controller of a “graft” phone used to advertise the purchase of cocaine has been put behind bars.

Christopher Clarke sent almost 7,000 text messages to multiple people who suffer from addiction between August and November last year.

Clarke, of Neville Street, Platt Bridge, was part of an organised crime group that was running a county lines network – a term renowned for exporting illegal drugs both in Greater Manchester and across the country, often using violence and coercion towards vulnerable people and children along the way.

The 35-year-old’s criminal activity was uncovered during an investigation by Greater Manchester Police’s County Lines Team.

On a daily basis vulnerable people received messages such as "trigazon prime deliveries on time” and “on ‘til late get on me”.

However, the messages came to an end on November 1 when a warrant was executed at his property and officers seized the phone found hidden underneath his bed along with £600 in cash.

Clarke was found on the landing after officers burst through the door, and he was swiftly arrested.

A search of a vehicle located a few streets away uncovered cocaine prepared for individual deals.

At an earlier hearing he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court to 31 months in prison.

Det Sgt Chris Woodburn, from the County Lines Team, said “Once again we have removed the controller of the phone that was crucial in reaching vulnerable people who the county line networks use to make illegal profits.

“Clarke, like many of the drug dealers, are relentless in sending out these messages but we are hot on their heels and determined to remove the phone to protect these vulnerable people.

“Help us, help them by providing information on drug activity that you believe could be taking place in your community, and we will do the rest.”

To spot the signs of drug activity visit GMP’s website and to report information contact them via 101.

Alternatively, you contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

A man who breached two different conditional discharge sentences by attacking a policeman is awaiting his fate.

Byron Garner, 23, of Mayfield Road, Up Holland, stood before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to assaulting PC Alexander McNamee during the course of his duties on November 14 last year.

In doing so he broke the terms of a 12-month conditional discharge handed down by Swansea justices for being drunk and disorderly on January 12 last year and another one of the same length imposed by Lancashire magistrates for another attack on a police officer in Skelmersdale on June 9 2022.

Garner was released on unconditional bail until he returns to the court to be sentenced on March 16.

A young man whom Wigan magistrates say has a "flagrant disregard for people and property" has been given a six month jail term for threatening unlawful violence.

Callum Hugill, 23, of Back Market Street in Leigh, appeared before the bench to change a previous not guilty plea to guilty on a charge concerning threats on March 9 last year. The offence in turn put him in breach of a conditional discharge the court had previously handed down for being armed in Wigan town centre with a knife also in March 2022. As well as the prison sentence he has to pay £154 to victim services.

A motorist has admitted flouting a driving ban.

Donald Callaghan, 47, of Danbers, Up Holland, stood before Wigan justices to admit being at the wheel of a Ford Focus outside his home on September 28 when he was disqualified from the road.

He also pleaded guilty to not being insured to be driving at the same time.

He will learn his fate at a sentencing hearing on March 23 by which time a pre-sentence report will have been prepared.

In the meantime Callaghan is on unconditional bail.