Wigan's week in court

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Wigan man accused of fiddling more than £5,000 in benefits.

Brendan Lund, 37, of Woodside Avenue, Ashton, had been due to appear before borough justices to face six charges of wrongfully keeping credit to which he wasn't entitled and dishonestly failing to take steps to cancel the payments which came to a total of £5,454.59.

But he failed to attend on the appointed date and so a warrant was issued.

A motorist has finally admitted to careless driving.

Keith Breeze, 47, of Church Lane, Lowton, had initially denied driving a Ford ST on October 21 2021 without due care and attention.

But at the latest hearing before Wigan magistrates he changed his plea to guilty and received a 12-month conditional discharge, five points were put on his licence and he was ordered to pay costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £107.

A 25-year-old has admitted driving a car that wasn't his while three and a half times over the alcohol limit.

Callum Mawdsley, of Chesterton Close, Worsley Mesnes, appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to taking a silver Ford Focus on September 1 without the owner's consent and, when stopped by police on Ascroft Avenue, Wigan, gave a reading of 126 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

He also drove the car without either a licence or insurance.

Mawdsley was remanded on conditional bail for the preparation of reports and is due to return to court for sentencing on November 21.

Two Wigan people are facing hefty fines after admitting to fly-tipping offences.

Sacks of household waste, builder's rubble, a travel cot and mattress were among the rubbish 39-year-old Kelly Bakra dumped at the rear of Walthew Lane in Platt Bridge where she lived, as well as nearby Sydney Street.

Borough justices heard that the detritus was left on February 4 and March 12, 2020 and was in contravention of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act as she did not have a waste disposal licence.

Fines, court costs and a victim services surcharge mean Bakra has £884.83 to pay.

Meanwhile, 31-year-old Dean Barrington, of Chestnut Road, Whelley, appeared in court to plead guilty to dumping an old couch and cushions on Standish Wood Lane, Beech Hill, on or before June 24, 2020, again when he didn't have a waste disposal permit.

He too was fined and ordered to pay a victim services surcharge and courts, the total coming to £858.64.

A Wigan 15-year-old has admitted to robbing another boy of his £900 electric mountain bike.

The teen, who cannot be identified, appeared at the borough's youth court to confess to the crime committed on November 3 last year.

He was referred to the youth offender panel for nine months and was ordered to pay his victim £520 in compensation.

A 17-year-old from St Helens has also admitted to the same offence but has yet to be sentenced.

He will next appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on December 14.

A woman has been fined for entering a Wigan home hit by a closure order.

Alison Martin, 52, of Sydney Street, Platt Bridge, stood before borough justices to plead guilty to visiting 72 Prestt Grove in Worsley Mesnes on October 26, when it was the subject of a court order preventing anyone but the occupants and certain authorised parties to go inside because it was a magnet for antisocial behaviour.

She was fined £25.

A Wigan single dad who failed to ensure two child passengers were wearing seatbelts has been spared a road ban because it would cost him his job.

Daniel Parkinson, 41, of Belle Green Lane, Ince, would under normal circumstances have gone over the 12-point threshold for disqualification after admitting two youngsters in his care - one under 14, the other under three - weren't properly secured in his Seat Leon on Southgate on January 7 and that he was driving without insurance.

But Wigan justices heard he was a single parent, that the loss of his licence would mean being sacked and not being able to seek alternative employment.

It would thus leave him unable to pay his mortgage and unable to look after his family.

This includes one child with special needs, another who relies on him for lifts to work and another who would be unable to attend dance classes.

Parkinson's licence was endorsed with six points and he was fined and ordered to pay a victim services surcharge totalling £196.

A Wigan borough man is awaiting his fate after admitting to a sex attack and false imprisonment charges.

Robert Shepherd, 60, of Fell Street, Leigh, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a female and detaining her against her will on September 26 this year.

He was remanded in custody pending sentence on December 1.

Young Wigan sisters have admitted being drunk and disorderly at a town railway station.

Kia Croston, 18, of Westcroft, Platt Bridge, and 22-year-old Tegan Croston of Woodcock Drive, Platt Bridge, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to making nuisances of themselves at Wigan North Western on October 7.

They were both handed 12-month conditional discharges and ordered to pay £110 each to the courts and a victim services surcharge.