Wigan's week in court

Two brothers accused of smuggling drugs into Wigan's jail will now only face trial in 13 months’ time - six years after the crimes are alleged to have been committed.

Jordan and Martin Gavin have previously appeared before a Bolton judge to plead not guilty to sneaking cocaine, cannabis and steroids into Hindley Prison between November 9 and 16, 2018.

Jordan, 21, from Baxendale Street, Astley Bridge, and Martin, 23, of Hope Hey Lane, Little Hulton, also deny shipping phones, sim cards and chargers into the institution.

They were due to stand trial in May last year but the case was postponed until this month.

Now, after a brief further hearing, the case has been taken out of the schedule once again due to a "lack of court time" and is now set to take place on March 18 2024.

The pair remain on bail until then.

A young Wigan motorist who broke the speed limit by 30mph is facing a hefty bill.

Bradley Marshall, 22, of Thirlmere Avenue, Norley, appeared before borough justices accused of driving a Ford Fiesta Zetec at 80mph on the M62 westbound on May 18 last year when a 50mph restriction was in place on the smart motorway.

He had six points put on his licence and when a fine was added to court costs and a victim services surcharge he was told that he also has £816 to pay.

Three young men are facing life sentences for the brutal murder of a Wigan borough 30-year-old.

Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard that Ben Dawber 19, Kane Adamson 19, and Joshua Prescott 20, knifed Thomas Williamson to death after wrongly identifying him as someone with whom they had been in an altercation earlier.

It is the second time this year that Wigan men have been convicted of murder based on mistaken identity.

Eight vigilantes were convicted of killing Marsh Green dad Chris Hughes after wrongly thinking he was responsible for a girl’s rape.

Thomas had simply gone out for a walk in Tyldesley to clear his head on that fateful night in September 2021.

A post-mortem examination concluded that he had died from multiple stab wounds, including one to the neck and another to the heart and lungs, during the attack in Charles Street.

Dawber and Adamson, both of no fixed address, and Prescott, of Walter Street in Leigh, all denied both murder and alternative manslaughter charges, but were found guilty of the more serious offence by the Manchester jury after a four-week trial.

Adamson and Dawber pleaded guilty to an attempted robbery earlier in the night on Stanley Street in Atherton.

Nicky Moore, senior Crown prosecutor with CPS North West’s Complex Casework Unit, said “Dawber, Adamson and Prescott were out that night looking for trouble.

"They carried out a brutal, unprovoked and senseless attack on a stranger.

“The CPS worked with GMP’s Major Incident Team to build a compelling case to place before the jury, including CCTV evidence, eyewitness testimony, mobile phone evidence and mobile phone positioning data to show the three were together before and after the murder.

"The jury found all three guilty of murder.

“My thoughts are very much with Thomas’s family.

"Nothing can bring him back, but I hope knowing Thomas’s attackers have been brought to justice will bring them some comfort at this difficult time.”

Sentencing will take place at the same court on March 17.

A serial Wigan shoplifter was put back behind bars for a week after breaching the terms of his prison release.

Magistrates said that Joshua Hughes, 24, of Kendal Road, Ince, deserved further incarceration because he had a "flagrant disregard" for court orders.

The hearing was told that after being allowed out of jail, Hughes had failed to maintain contact with his responsible officer between January 23 and 31 this year, thus putting him in breach of his supervision order.

Hughes, who has many thefts on his criminal record, admitted to the breach and was sent down for seven days.

A young Wigan woman who ignored orders to turn her loud music and TV down has been fined.

Borough magistrates heard that 22-year-old Chloe Winstanley was a nuisance neighbour from Whelley who regularly disturbed fellow Ellis Street residents' peace with her selfish antics.

So much so that she was eventually served with a noise abatement notice by Wigan Council officers.

But, the hearing was told, she flouted the order by continuing to create anti-social amounts of noise between May 26 and June 9 last year.

As a result she was prosecuted under the 1990 Environmental Health Act and pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the notice.

She must pay a fine, legal costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £224.

A Wigan borough shopkeeper has been fined after admitting he was stocking hundreds of packs of phoney cigarettes.

Diyar Mohammedi, 30, of Shop and Go on Railway Road in Leigh appeared before justices to plead guilty to a series of charges relating to the sale of all kinds of different famous tobacco brands, including Lambert and Butler, Amber Leaf, Sovereign, Dunhill and Marlboro, whose packaging did not include the required trademarks and health warnings.

The hearing was told that the goods were seized by trading standards officers during a visit to the business - whose official name is Leigh Road Off-Licence Ltd - on February 9 last year.

Both Mohammedi and Shop and Go were prosecuted under the 1994 Trade Marks Act and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations of 2016 and the bench took their guilty pleas into consideration when handing down sentence.

Fines, costs and a victim services surcharge mean that £2,540 must be paid.

The trial of a 58-year-old Wigan woman who denies harassing and abusing four people - one of them twice - has been delayed for several months.

Margaret Armstrong, of Conway Drive, Aspull, has previously appeared before borough justices to enter not guilty to charges of using threatening or insulting behaviour against Rita Seddon, Christopher McVeigh and Sharon Green on January 27, harassing Nicola Newlove the following day and then Ms Seddon again on February 3 last year.

She had been due to stand trial at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court in January, but that hearing has since been postponed until May 2.

A drunken Wigan man who threatened a woman and damaged her motorbike has been given a community sentence.

Lee Probert, 41, of Frog Lane, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to menacing Leela Tyler and causing £200 damage to her vehicle on August 5 2021.

His punishment includes an alcohol rehabilitation order, completing 15 days of rehabilitation activities and 40 hours of unpaid work.

Probert must also pay £200 in compensation to Ms Tyler and £95 to victim services.

A Wigan motorist has admitted being on the phone while driving.

Simon Murphy, 38, of Old Laurel Gardens, Hindley, had initially denied using his hand-held mobile while at the wheel of an Audi A4 in George Street, Hindley, on June 7, but has since changed his plea to guilty.

Borough justices adjourned the hearing until March 24 while they consider if there are mitigating circumstances (including exceptional hardship) for not banning him from the road.

A Wigan businessman must pay more than £500 for his role in blocking the distribution of oil from a fuel terminal.

Alan Woods, 58, and six fellow Just Stop Oil supporters were found guilty of aggravated trespass after a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The court heard how they arrived at the Esso fuel terminal in Birmingham at 4am on April 3 and stopped all distribution for around 12 hours.

The Just Stop Oil supporters were demanding that the Government halts licences and consents for any new fossil fuel projects in the UK.

During the trial, the defendants claimed that Esso – a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil – had led a campaign of misinformation over the role of fossil fuels in climate breakdown. Woods, a company director for Alan’s BMX in Wigan town centre, alleged that Esso knew about climate change as long ago as 1979 and “robbed humanity of a generation’s worth of time to reverse the damage their product has caused”.

He said “I participated in this action in order to highlight this and to demand the UK do not license any further fossil fuel projects.”

Woods was given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay costs of £500 and a £22 victim surcharge.

The same punishment was given to Paul Barnes and Paul Fawkesley, while Oliver Clegg, Jon Deery, Harley Brewer and Diana Hekt must pay costs of £250 each.

Naomi Goddard and Sylvie More were both declared not guilty, as the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against them.

Just Stop Oil said a further four supporters involved in blocking the fuel terminal on the same day were recently acquitted.

A young Wigan man is awaiting sentence after admitting to throttling a woman.

Martin Mazar, 22, of Grenfell Close, Worsley Mesnes, stood before borough justices to admit intentionally strangling a named female and assaulting her the same day: October 2 last year.

He further pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis on that same occasion.

The bench committed him to Preston Crown Court for sentencing on February 28.

A 25-year-old motorist has admitted driving a car dangerously through the streets of the borough while high on illegal and prescription drugs.

Keegan Nolan, of Wigan Lane, Wigan, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to having illicit levels of cocaine, cannabis and diazepam in his system while dangerously driving a Kia Stonic around the roads of Leigh and Westhoughton on October 17, 2021 and while not having a valid licence nor insurance.

He was given an interim disqualification from driving and ordered to reside at his home address as a condition of bail until he returns to the court for sentencing on March 24.

A Wigan motorist who has admitted to three serious driving offences will have to wait another month until he learns his fate.

Jamie Smith, 33, of Atherton Road in Hindley, was due to be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court this month for two counts of dangerous driving and one of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

But it was first delayed by a day and has now been moved in the schedules to March 24.

He had pleaded guilty to all three charges at earlier hearings.

The long delayed trial of a Wigan borough man accused of drug production has been put off again - until next year.

Neil Arnold, 50, of Suffolk Grove in Leigh, has previously denied knowingly permitting the production of cocaine in his home but admitted cannabis possession.

Robbie Arnold, 23, of the same address, appeared as long ago as July 2021 to plead guilty to producing cocaine and possessing both cocaine and cannabis with intent to supply them.

But he will only be sentenced for those offences at the end of his relative's trial which has now been rescheduled for January 18 2024.

Robbie Arnold is already in prison though, having been jailed in December for 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.

A 44-year-old Wigan woman has denied attacking a man and being armed with a blade in public.

Christina James, 44, of Winstanley Road, Bamfurlong, appeared before borough justices to plead not guilty to charges of assaulting Ian Chew by beating and being in possession of a knife on December 2 2021 in Imperial Drive, Leigh.

The proceedings were adjourned until March 9 for a case management hearing, before which James is on bail conditional that she does not go to Imperial Drive or have any contact with Ian and Susan Chew.

A vile Wigan paedophile has been convicted of a litany of child sex abuse crimes plus an horrific physical assault.

Sean Johnson, 32, of Roundhouse Avenue, Aspull, was found guilty by a Bolton Crown Court jury of 27 offences committed against one girl between April 2018 and November 2019 when she was aged 12 to 14.

He had denied all the charges against him but is now awaiting sentence on April 21 after the eight-day trial ended in a long series of guilty verdicts.

He was convicted of two counts of assaulting a child under 13 by penetration; three of sexually assaulting an under-13; the attempted rape of a child under 13; two of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity; 14 of sexual activity with a child; four of causing a child to engage in sexual activity and one of inciting a child into sexual activity. Johnson has also pleaded guilty to a separate charge of intending to cause a named male grievous bodily harm (the most serious assault charge after attempted murder) on July 25 last year.

He is in custody pending sentence.

A 37-year-old woman has made her first crown court appearance charged with murdering a Wigan father and businessman.

Rachel Fulstow, of Andrew Drive in York, is the second person to be accused of killing 38-year-old Liam Smith last November 24.

He was found with a fatal gunshot wound and doused in acid and alkali substances outside his home in Kilburn Drive, Shevington.

Fulstow is further charged with perverting the course of justice.

At the brief hearing at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, she was told that a pre-trial and preparation hearing will take place on March 27, the same day that co-accused Michael Hiller, 39, of Ecclesall Road, Sheffield, is due to make his latest appearance facing the same murder charge.

She has yet to enter a plea and was remanded into custody until then.