Wigan's week in court

A Wigan teen who handled stolen car keys has been given a community punishment.

Alexis Riley, 18, of Leader Street, Scholes, was found in possession of the keys, belonging to Fiona Salthouse, on November 12 2021 and knew them to be stolen, borough magistrates heard.

His sentence involves completing 240 hours of unpaid work, 30 days of rehabilitation activities and a nine-month alcohol treatment programme.

A trial date has been set for a man accused of repeatedly fly tipping at a Wigan beauty spot.

Desmond Alker, 50, of Beacon Road, Bickershaw, appeared before borough justices accused of three counts of illegally depositing waste at Bickershaw Country Park.

The first charge is of dumping bags of household rubbish there in July 2020, the second concerns leave a mental drum at the park in January last year, and the third accuses him of leaving more household waste, including a black bin bag, clothing, a wooden cupboard door, DVDs and a broken vacuum cleaner on November 15 in 2022.

All the waste disposals were alleged to have been carried out without the proper permit and thus he was in breach of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act.

A trial is now scheduled to take place at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on October 9.

A Wigan 47-year-old will stand trial next year accused of fly tipping.

Martin Lindsay, of Bolton House Road, Bickershaw, is alleged to have dumped seven black bin bags in a large, discarded fridge and two more bags in a smaller discarded fridge on land at the rear of Chapel Street, Bickershaw on or around February 17 2020.

A trial has been scheduled before Wigan justices on January 4 2024.

A Wigan man has admitted to the assault and harassment of a woman, having previously denied the charges.

At his latest appearance before Manchester and Salford magistrates, 32-year-old Dean Atherton, of Lime Street, Scholes, changed pleas to guilty that he attacked Samantha Hilton on October 31, having repeatedly harassed her over the previous month.

He had initially denied the charges, along with one of sending a threatening text.

Over the last of these he maintained his innocence and the charge was dismissed when no evidence was offered.

Justices sent Atherton to Bolton Crown Court to learn his fate because these offences had been committed while already serving a suspended sentence for another crime.

He is on conditional bail until then.

A 49-year-old Wigan man is to face trial after denying racially aggravated harassment.

Edward Williams, of Crompton Street, Wigan, also pleaded not guilty to an alternative charge of harassing Audrick Malemo without the racially-aggravating feature although he does admit to possessing cocaine on that day, March 19 2022.

The case at Wigan Magistrates' Court was adjourned until December 12 when a trial is due to take place.

The trial of a man and woman who deny having an out-of-control pit bull which savaged another man has been delayed.

Shane Evans, 26, and Joanne Washtington, 45, of Oak Avenue, Golborne, have pleaded not guilty to failing to prevent the dog from attacking John Anders on May 29 2021 in Nook Lane.

Wigan justices sent the case to be heard at Bolton Crown Court where the trial was originally to have taken place in September last year.

It was then adjourned until June this year but now the trial has been rescheduled again to July 10.

The pair remain on bail.

A man has been jailed for five and a half years after killing a Wigan dad in an assault outside a town centre pub.

Roy Halliwell, 61, from Scholes, suffered a brain injury when he was attacked outside The George pub, on Wallgate, on Thursday, December 22, and died in hospital a week later. Carl Sinclair has now been jailed for five years and six months by a judge at Bolton Crown Court, after pleading guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that before the attack, 58-year-old Sinclair was seen shouting nonsensically at Mr Halliwell and making threats.

Sinclair followed him to a pub, where he violently pushed Mr Halliwell to the ground, causing him to hit his head and suffer a brain injury.

Sinclair then left him in the street and despite being rushed to hospital for treatment, he died on Thursday, December 29.

Police spoke to witnesses on the night of the incident and quickly identified Sinclair, of Cemetery Road, Ince, as the attacker.

He was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, before being re-arrested and charged with manslaughter after Mr Halliwell’s death.

Det Insp Chris Preston, of Greater Manchester Police’s Wigan division, said “Sinclair’s actions that night were callous and reckless, and they have devastated the lives of Roy’s family and friends.

"They must now live with the consequences of this man’s drunken and violent behaviour for the rest of their lives.

"The thoughts of the investigation team remain with Roy’s family.

“From the beginning this was a fast-paced investigation with multiple witnesses to interview.

"Local officers who were called to the incident and the investigation team have worked very hard on this case and I want to thank them for their efforts.

“Sadly, this case demonstrates how devastating an assault can be and how a split-second decision to act with violence can destroy many lives.

"I urge people to think very carefully about their actions when consuming alcohol as it can have grave consequences and lead to a lifetime of regret.”

An online appeal set up after Mr Halliwell’s death by his family raised £500 towards funeral costs.

A Wigan man has admitted to assault and witness intimidation but will no longer face loan shark charges.

Alan Fawcett, 52, of Warrington Road, Ince, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to plead guilty to assaulting and intimidating a named male who was due to testify in a trial with the intention of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

These incidents took place on April 1 this year.

However Fawcett denied separate charges that between February 1 2021 and April 1 2023, he "carried on a regulated activity, namely money lending, when not an authorised or exempt person."

The prosecution accepted these pleas.

The case was adjourned until August 22 when he will be sentenced.

In the meantime he remains on conditional bail.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Wigan shoplifter who failed to turn up for sentencing at court.

Lisa Fisher, 41, of Eastwell Road, Beech Hill, had been due to learn her fate from borough magistrates after finally admitting to stealing £370 worth of ornaments from Accessories 4 U in the Grand Arcade.

She had initially denied that charge but immediately pleaded guilty to smashing an ornamental vase on the same occasion - March 11 last year.

However, after missing her court appointment, an arrest warrant was issued by the bench.

A passenger was seriously injured and a police officer hospitalised after two reckless car chases through Wigan ended in road smashes, a court heard.

Jamie Smith was this week beginning a four-year prison sentence after admitting to two counts of dangerous driving and one of causing someone serious injury because of it.

The 34-year-old from Atherton Road, Hindley, will also be banned from the road for six years.

A Bolton Crown Court judge heard that on October 22 2019 Smith was at the wheel of a Ford Mondeo which was being pursued by police along Atherton Road and Liverpool Road, Hindley.

The patrol car lost sight of the vehicle for a period but then came across its wreckage, Smith having crashed it.

Inside was a 26-year-old passenger who had suffered a bleed on the brain and fractures to a hip socket, left shoulder blade and several ribs.

After that horror, the court heard, right-minded people would have learnt a chastening lesson.

But in February 2020, Smith was again involved in another car chase, this time around the streets of Atherton, including Gloucester Street, Bag Lane and Car Bank Street.

The hearing was told at the start of the police pursuit, his vehicle shot through a red light and then continued to tear through junctions without braking while driving at speeds of more than 50mph in a 30mph area.

As before the pursuing patrol lost sight of Smith’s car, but not for long as the officer soon heard a loud bang.

This time he had crashed into the back of another police car.

The shunt caused the male officer inside to suffer bruising and an air bag burn which needed hospital treatment.

Smith pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and two counts of driving dangerously, but his sentencing had been delayed for months for various reasons, including a barristers’ strike, his illness and running out of court time.

This time he received a 36-month sentence for injuring his passenger and 12-month sentences for each of the other charges, one to be served concurrently and one consecutively.

After serving his road ban, which was backdated to his arrest, he must also take an extended driving test.

There is also a £181 surcharge to pay to victim services.

A woman convicted of cruelty to three ponies on a Wigan farm is finally to be sentenced - almost six years after the verdict.

It was in November 2017 that Lorraine Ashurst was found guilty of neglecting the animals by not seeking treatment for their lameness.

But then she twice failed to turn up for sentence the following year, thus breaching bail, and only now is justice catching up with her.

The 59-year-old of Cameron Street, Leigh, had pleaded not guilty to mistreating the animals on Barlow’s Farm at Hindley.

RSPCA prosecutors had brought charges in relation to a Palomino mare, a chestnut gelding and a grey mare, which were each found with injuries after inspectors visited the site off Close Lane.

The Palomino was lame with laminitis and a foot abscess, the gelding too had an abscess of his foreleg and the grey mare was suffering osteoarthritis to her foreleg.

The court heard that Ashurst failed to take medical measures that would ease their suffering and also neglected to seek parasitic worm control treatment for them.

Appearing before Manchester and Salford magistrates, Ashurst was remanded on bail conditional that she resides at her home address until sentencing which is to take place on July 7.

Pre-sentence reports are now being drawn up.

A young Wigan man has been accused of dealing heroin and cocaine in Cheshire.

Vidzais Burkevics, 28, of Gidlow Lane, Gidlow, stood before Stockport justice to face charges of possessing cocaine and diamorphine (medical heroin) in Macclesfield with intent to supply them on July 9 2021.

The case has now been sent to Cheshire Magistrates' Court where Burkevics is due to make his first appearance on July 18.

The case of a man facing multiple attack charges has been delayed.

Daleroy Zinyemba, 28, of Union Street, Leigh, has been charged with four counts of assault and one of criminal damage.

They relate to a series of incidents in Leigh town centre in which several people were injured, some seriously, on the evening of Monday May 15.

Making his first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge, Zinyemba did not need to answer the charges and was released on bail pending a further hearing on August 22.

A Wigan woman has admitted allowing two cats to starve to death.

Donna Laithwaite, 48, of The Lawns in Hindley, re-appeared at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court to answer charges of failing to provide adequate nutrition for two tabbies found dead at a house in Derby Street, Wigan, on October 11 2021.

She also pleaded guilty to neglecting a tabby and white cat called Bobby by failing to get him treated for a mite and flea infestation in the weeks up to that date and thus causing the pet unnecessary suffering.

She also admitted to a third charge of not feeding, providing parasitic control or a suitable environment for all three animals, nor attending to them regularly.

Laithwaite has been prosecuted under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.

She will return to court in August to learn her fate, before which pre-sentence reports will be prepared.

A Wigan motorist has admitted to being at the wheel when three times the drink-drive limit.

David Peet, 31, of Grange Road, Ashton, appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to having a reading of 96 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath when his car was stopped on Nicol Mere Road, Ashton, on February 22 this year.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol.

He also admitted that he was not properly insured on the same occasion.

Peet was released on unconditional bail pending sentencing on August 7 but an interim disqualification from driving was imposed by the bench.

A Wigan mum is finally to be sentenced after being convicted of failing to stop her children's truanting six years ago.

Amanda Roe, 42, of Golborne High Street, had denied neglecting to ensure the boy and girl attend Golborne St Thomas's Primary School regularly in the spring term of 2017 but was found guilty by magistrates after a trial.

Only now though is she to learn her fate.

A sentencing hearing has been fixed for July 21.