Wigan's week in court

A suspended prison sentence has been handed to a man who twice breached a restraining order.

Lee Hales, 35, of Rowland Street North, Atherton, went to an address from which he was banned on October 13 and 30.

Wigan magistrates imposed a 16-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Hales must do 25 days of rehabilitation activities and pay £85 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £154.

A Wigan man found with cocaine has been ordered to pay a fine.

Liam Dean, 28, of Keats Avenue, Standish Lower Ground, pleaded guilty to having the class A drug.

He must pay a £266 fine, plus £85 prosecution costs and £40 surcharge.

A man has admitted being in possession of drugs, as well as driving while over the legal alcohol limit.

Robert Smith, 44, of Oldbridge Drive, Hindley, had class A drug diamorphine and class C drug diazepam on November 15.

He also pleaded guilty to drink driving on the same day, when he had 46 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath.

The legal limit for driving is 35mcg.

He must pay fines totalling £200, along with £85 prosecution costs and £80 victim surcharge.

A conditional discharge was given to a Wigan man who admitted having both cocaine and cannabis.

Jamie Malone, 38, of Windermere Road, Ince, pleaded guilty to having the drugs in Wigan on November 16.

Wigan justices imposed a 12-month conditional discharge, prosecution costs of £85 and a £26 surcharge.

A man has admitted assaulting a woman by beating her and damaging her front door. It follows an incident in Leigh on October 20.

Robert Moyle, 38, of Sydney Avenue, Leigh, will be sentenced at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court on September 12 and was remanded on unconditional bail until then.

A Wigan man caught drink driving has been banned from getting behind the wheel.

Jason Rawsterne, 46, of Downall Green Road, Ashton, pleaded guilty to driving on Moor Road, Orrell, on November 28 while over the limit.

He had 67 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, exceeding the prescribed limit of 35mcg.

He also admitted being in possession of class C drug cannabis on the same day.

Rawsterne was disqualified from driving for 18 months and fined £311.

He must also pay a £124 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

A man has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a woman and damaging her phone and car wing mirrors.

Jack Edgar, 24, of Viscount Road, Marsh Green, will appear at Bolton Magistrates’ Court on June 13 and was remanded on conditional bail until then.

A Wigan man who had denied harassing a woman has been jailed after changing his plea to guilty.

Jack Fowler, 26, of no fixed address, admitted going to the woman’s house uninvited, making phone calls and sending text messages between October 14 and 27, 2022.

He was jailed for 16 weeks and a restraining order was imposed which forbids him to contact the woman for two years.

A trial date has been set for a young man accused of a string of motoring offences following a collision at a Wigan fun fair in which a woman was badly injured.

Jordan O’Reilly, 21, of Croal Avenue, Platt Bridge, is charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving, disqualified driving, not having insurance and perverting the course of justice.

The charges relate to an incident on Wigan Road, Hindley, at around 8.20pm on Saturday October 7 when it is alleged that a silver Ford Focus failed to stop for police officers and a woman was injured at a funfair being held on Hindley Market Square.

He has yet to enter pleas, but a Bolton Crown Court judge ruled that he will spend Christmas remanded in custody while awaiting a pre-trial preparation hearing on January 9 while the trial date itself has provisionally been set for April 30.

A 36-year-old man from Haydock has appeared before a judge accused of committing a catalogue of child sex offences.

James Blundell, of Wesley Avenue, Haydock is charged with nine counts of sexual offences against a child under 13, three counts of making indecent images of a child under 13 and a breach of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Although he has yet to enter pleas, a trial date of May 15 was set for next year at Liverpool Crown Court.

A pre-trial preparation hearing is also fixed for January 22 before which Blundell is remanded in custody.

Two men who stripped away lead from a Wigan town library, leaving it vulnerable to the elements have been spared jail.

Sean Roberts and Callum Holgate had originally pleaded not guilty to their roles in scavenging the metal flashing from Ashton Library's roof in March 2020.

But they later changed their pleas to guilty.

At Bolton Crown Court Roberts, 25, of Beverley Road, Marsh Green, was given an 18-month community order involving 30 days of rehabilitation activities and 100 hours of unpaid work, while 20-year-old Holgate, of Falkirk Grove, Norley, received a 15-month custodial term in a young offenders' institution which was suspended for 18 months.

He was also ordered to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activities and 150 hours of unpaid work.

Earlier this year Lee O’Shea, 35, of Petticoat Lane, Ince, also pleaded guilty to the lead thefts and was jailed for eight months.

That was to be served consecutively to a 12-month prison sentence for causing actual bodily harm and six months for dangerous driving.