Wigan's week in court

A Wigan man who denies assaulting a woman and possessing a sledgehammer as an offensive weapon will now only be tried in more than a year's time.

Lucca Curri, 48, of The Paddock, Ashton, had previously stood before borough justices to plead not guilty to the weapon charge and to causing Kerry Whittle actual bodily harm on November 18 2022.

A trial, lasting three to four days, had been due to take place at Bolton Crown Court this month but the slot was vacated and the case adjourned to June 4 2024.

Nicola Jensen, 39, of the same address, has also denied causing Ms Whittle ABH and will face trial at the same day as Curri.

Both are on bail in the meantime.

A Wigan man has made his first appearance before a judge to face three charges of child rape and other sex crimes.

Cory Barrett, 22, from Wigan, is one of 13 men who is appearing at Bolton Crown Court accused of serious child grooming sex offences.

They are accused of numerous offences against multiple girls, aged between 14 and 17, between 2016 and 2018 – mainly in the Blackrod and Adlington areas of Bolton.

They were arrested following Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Pavarotti, the force’s investigation into child sexual exploitation allegations in the area.

Barrett is charged with three counts of rape of a female under 16, two of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16 and two counts of sexual assault of a female under the age of 16.

Ashley Darbyshire, 26, of Westhoughton, is charged with two counts of causing/inciting sexual activity with a child, five rapes of a female under the age of 16, and seven counts of sexual activity with female under the age of 16.

Harvie Aspden, 23, of Bolton, faces four counts of sexual activity with a female under 16.

Daniel Flatters, 32, of Bolton, is accused of one count of rape of a female under the age of 16, two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16 and one count of aggravated taking a vehicle without consent.

Jack Poulson, 29, of Bolton, is charged with four counts of rape of a female under 16, five counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16 and one count of sexual communication with a female under the age of 16.

Jamie Fitzgerald, 34, of Bolton, is accused of one count of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Elliott Turner, 34, of Bolton, is charged with one count of rape of a female under the age of 16.

Ross Corley, 28, of Bolton, faces two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Brandon Harwood, 23, of Bolton, is charged with one count of rape of a girl aged 14 and two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Richard Haslam, 34, of Bolton faces three counts of rape of a female under the age of 16 and two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Michael Linfoot, 21, and Thomas Rae, 21, are each accused of one count of the rape of a girl aged 15 in the Rivington area of Lancashire in 2018.

And Callum Hesketh, 22, is accused of making indecent Snapchat videos of a child in the same area at the same time.

Barrett was bailed pending a case management hearing on October 6 while a provisional trial date has been set for September 23 2024.

A Wigan van driver has been spared a road ban despite a speeding conviction taking him over the threshold that usually triggers one.

Tameside justices heard that 57-year-old Darren Smith, of Ashfield Avenue, Hindley, would lose work if unable to drive and so took pity on him, imposing another three points on his licence, taking him over the 12 that commonly leads to disqualification, and ordering him to £412 in the form of a fine, costs and a victim services surcharge.

The court heard he drove a Vauxhall Vivaro Sportive panel van on Atherton Road, Hindley, at 38mph on June 21 last year where the limit is 30mph.

A motorist who flouted a driving ban has been jailed for eight weeks.

Donald Callaghan, 48, of Danbers, Up Holland, had previously 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.

As well as the custodial sentence, Callaghan was further barred from the road for 18 months and must pay £154 to victim services.

A Wigan borough man has been accused of a series of child sex crimes including rapes dating back half a century.

Peter Wilson, 65, of Bowling Green Row, Atherton, appeared before justices to face seven charges involving girls and boy.

The two most serious are accusations of raping a girl under 16 between 1972 and 1974.

A third charge is of indecently assaulting a woman over the age of 16 between 1973 and '74.

Wilson also faces a charge of indecently assaulting a girl under 14 between 1984 and 1985, indecently assaulting a woman over 16 between 1994 and 1995 and inciting a boy of under 13 to engage in sexual activity between 2011 and 2013.

The most recent allegation is of sexually touching a girl under the age of 13 between September last year and March 1 this year.

He was remanded in custody pending a first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge on June 5.

A Wigan teenager has been cleared of trying to inflict serious injuries on another young man.

Joshua Seddon, 18, of Linney Square, Scholes, stood trial before Wigan and Leigh justices after denying that he maliciously and with intent, attempted to cause Ben Waterworth grievous bodily harm on August 14 last year.

And following the hearing he was found not guilty.

He had previously admitted to causing £100 damage to a window belonging to Mr Waterworth and possessing a knife on the same occasion, as well as sending threatening or abusive texts to another named male between August 14 and 18.

For these offences he was referred to a youth offender panel for four months and he must also pay £100 compensation for the window.

A Wigan man who did not pay a £3.10 train fare has been left with a bill of more than £400.

John Martin, 22, of Rydal Avenue, Hindley, was convicted in his absence of travelling between Hindley and Wigan Wallgate stations without a ticket on September 23.

Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court heard he then failed to pay an unpaid fares notices and a fixed penalty notice.

Justices ordered him to pay a £220 fine, £150 costs, £88 victim surcharge and £3.10 compensation.

Olivia Vizard, 23, of Christleton, Shevington, has pleaded not guilty to failing to produce a ticket for travelling between Salford Crescent and Manchester Piccadilly on September 6, 2020.

She will stand trial at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on July 7.

A woman who will stand trial for murdering a Wigan dad has now also denied trying to throw police off the scent.

Rachel Fulstow, 37, of Andrew Drive in York, has previously pleaded not guilty to killing electrician Liam Smith who was found with a fatal gunshot wound and his body doused in acid and alkali substances outside his home in Kilburn Drive, Shevington, on November 24 last year.

At a pre-trial preparation hearing at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square, Fulstow entered a second not guilty plea, this time to a charge of perverting the course of justice. Also accused of – and denying involvement in – Mr Smith’s murder is 39-year-old Michael Hiller, of Eccleshall Road in Sheffield.

Three men, aged 22, 25 and 35, have previously been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and since been bailed.

In January, the family of Mr Smith, who was originally from Chorley, said he was a “devoted” and “adoring” father to his two boys, aged 15 and 11.

Both Fulstow and Hillier are currently remanded in custody and are now due to appear before a judge and jury for their trial which is scheduled to begin on July 10.

Sentencing of a Wigan man for serious motoring offences including causing a crash which left a victim gravely ill has been delayed yet again.

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 in the latest in a series of delays - the most recent caused by the defendant's ill health - the hearing had to be postponed once more.

The judge instructed that sentencing would definitely go ahead on June 22 unless a full medical report was presented that backed a further postponement.

Smith has pleaded guilty to all three charges at earlier hearings.

A trial has been scrapped after a man who had initially denied Wigan burglaries, arson threats and possession of a machete changed most of his pleas to guilty.

Nathan Massey, 33, of Findlay Street, Leigh, had been due to appear before a jury at Bolton Crown Court charged with two counts of threatening fire raising, two concerning break-ins and one of having an offensive weapon in Beech Hill.

But before the trial could start he entered guilty pleas to all but one of the arson threat charges.

The trial was vacated and sentencing will take place on June 16.

What happens to the one not guilty charge will be decided upon then.

A Wigan borough man has appeared before a judge accused of manslaughter.

Sean Orrell, 32, from Leigh, is accused of unlawfully killing Joshua Hughes during an incident outside a Lancaster nightclub last year.

Emergency services were called to Dalton Square in Lancaster, shortly before 4.30am on Sunday June 12 2022.

It was reported that Morecambe 22-year-old Mr Hughes had been punched during the incident, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground.

He spent four days in intensive care before losing his battle for life.

Orrell was released on conditional bail pending a further hearing on October 9 and, although he has yet to enter a plea, a provisional trial date of December 4 was set.

A Wigan motorist who was caught at the wheel when almost four times over the drink-drive limit has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Rodney Heaton, 47, of Gathurst Road, Orrell, stood before borough justices to admit giving a reading of 138 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when the limit is 35.

He was caught under the influence when driving a silver Peugeot on Orrell Road, Orrell, on July 29 last year, justices heard.

He was told he was receiving a custodial sentence because of the "exceptionally high" alcohol reading and because the offence was committed while he was on bail for another matter.

He was given a 10-week jail sentence suspended for two years, disqualified from driving for five years, ordered to take part in an alcohol rehab programme and he must also pay £239 to the court and victim services.

A Wigan civil servant has narrowly avoided jail after admitting she repeatedly awarded herself benefits to which she wasn't entitled.

Susan Barlow, 47, of Warrington Road, Ince, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to nine charges of illegally processing universal credit claims for herself while an employee of the Department for Work and Pensions in Wigan.

She was prosecuted under the 2006 Fraud Act, the charges accusing her of "dishonestly abusing her position" when she should have been working in the interests of the DWP, not against them.

The crimes took place at regular intervals between May and July 2021, the hearing was told.

Barlow was given a six-month custodial sentence but it was suspended for two years.

She must also complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activities.

A young Wigan man will face a magistrates' court trial after denying a £5,700 benefit fiddle.

George Williams, 23, of Clap Gate Lane, Goose Green, appeared before borough justices to plead not guilty to four charges of retaining credits that had been wrongfully paid to him and dishonestly failing to cancel them.

The crimes are alleged to have been committed in Preston between August 2019 and August 2021.

Williams was released on unconditional bail pending his trial at the same court on September 26.

Two Wigan men have admitted to unrelated acts of animal cruelty by attacking pet dogs.

Samuel Jolley, 25, of Columbus Street, Ashton, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to inflicting blunt force trauma to a female brindle Staffordshire bull terrier type dog called Nala on around September 12 last year.

Meanwhile 61-year-old Michael Hilton, of Sanderson Croft, Leigh, also stood in the dock to admit beating a male tan lurcher dog called Ben on December 6, again causing blunt force injuries.

Both men were remanded on unconditional bail while presentence reports are prepared and they will learn their fates on June 1.

A man's Wigan home has been made the subject of a three month closure order after it became a magnet for anti-social behaviour.

Borough justices imposed the order on 81 Scholes, an address whose resident was named as Darren Kay.

It means that no-one other than residents and visitors authorised by the courts can enter the home or they themselves will be prosecuted.

A Wigan woman is awaiting sentence after admitting to neglecting her pet dog and rabbit.

Sarah Murgatroyd, 45, of Broom Road, Worsley Hall, stood before borough justices to plead guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a black Netherland dwarf rabbit called Noah by failing to investigate and address the cause of the animal’s poor bodily condition and ill health between April 13 and 27 last year.

On that second date she also confessed to not addressing a dog named Teddy's needs by failing to provide parasitic control leading to alopecia and flea infestation.

She was released on unconditional bail until she is sentenced on June 1, before which a report on her will be prepared.