Wigan's week in court

​Ingrid Taylor, 42, of City Road, Kitt Green, had appeared before borough magistrates to plead not guilty to fraud by false representation by turning up at Wigan Infirmary on February 22 this year dressed in full nurses uniform with fake identification badges and other paraphernalia, intending to make a gain, namely self-gratification. She had also denied a separate charge of possessing articles – namely nurses uniforms and identification documents – for the purposes of committing fraud.

But at her first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge the prosecution said it was discontinuing the case and the defendant was told she was free to go.

A sentencing date has been set for a Wigan man who admitted to a charge of wounding.

Louis Vickers, 41, of Kay Gardens, Lowton, had confessed to the crime at a previous appearance at Bolton Crown Court. Now he has been informed that sentencing will take place on February 18.

Two young men have admitted to breaking into a Wigan home and stealing a £22,000 car.

Dylan Livesley, 21, of Hind Road in Marsh Green, and 20-year-old Tyler Michaels, of Laithwaite Road, Worsley Hall, stood before a Bolton Crown Court judge to face a single charge of burgling an address on Norley Hall Avenue to snatch a Ford Puma on or before June 18. They will be sentenced on January 10.

A trial date has been set for a Wigan borough man accused of multiple assaults, harassment and witness intimidation.

Scott Boon, 27, of Richmond Drive, Leigh, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge charged with four counts of assaulting a named woman by beating her and one of common assault between February and September this year.

He is accused of harassing her without causing fear of violence between August 22 and September 19 and to intimidating her as a witness on September 11.

A trial has been scheduled to begin on December 2, 2026. A case management hearing will be held on April 1 next year.

Sentencing of a Wigan borough man for assault, one of them very serious, has been delayed.

Gareth Thomas, 38, of Wordsworth Avenue, Atherton, had previously appeared before a Bolton judge to plead guilty to intending to cause John Rourke grievous bodily harm (the most serious form of assault after attempted murder and also known as section 18 wounding).

On the same day - May 13 - he also admitted to the common assault of Kristina Barton and the theft of an A34 mobile phone belonging to Ethan Shaw in the Moon Under Water Wetherspoons pub.

He had been due to be sentenced this month but, due to lack of court time the hearing has now been rescheduled for January 8.

A notorious Wigan shoplifter is back behind bars after flouting a ban on entering the town centre.

Arthur McClean, who has a long string of convictions to his name, appeared before Manchester justices to admit breaching a criminal behaviour order, imposed by magistrates only 17 days earlier, by going into Wigan on December 12. He also admitted to stealing razor blades and deodorant from Boots on November 9.

The court heard that "the number and nature of the offences shows that the defendant is operating as a professional criminal."

He was jailed for 16 weeks, ordered to pay £76 in compensation to Boots and £85 to victim services.

A young Wigan woman has admitted to vandalising a car and having a knife in public.

Kayleigh Martin, 21, of Viscount Road, Marsh Green, appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to having a blade in public and causing damage to Stephen Gaskell's Ford Fiesta on April 3. She was released on conditional bail until sentencing on March 21.

A Wigan 64-year-old who made tens of thousands of child abuse films and pictures has been given a community punishment.

Michael Hall, of Kenyon Road, Swinley, had previously appeared before borough justices to plead guilty to creating 132,702 indecent images of children that fall into the lowest legal category - C - between June 2015 and October 2023. He further admitted to making 57 category A images and 232 category B images, plus possession of an extreme porn image involving a human and an animal, all over the same period.

Attending Bolton Crown Court for sentencing, he was given a 36-month community punishment which included 12 months of psychiatric treatment and the completion of 40 days' rehabilitation activities.

He was also ordered to sign on the sex offenders' register for seven years, was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period and must surrender his computer equipment.

A provisional trial date has been set for a Wigan man accused of assaulting or neglecting three children and a campaign of domestic abuse lasting eight years.

John Bullock, 57, of Heritage Way, Wigan, appeared before a Bolton Crown Court judge charged with the ill-treatment or abandonment of three girls, thus causing suffering on January 24 this year.

He is also accused of coercive and controlling behaviour against a named woman from December 2015 to January 2024 and also to a bail breach on October 5.

Bullock has still not entered any pleas, but in case he denies any of the charges a trial has been scheduled to take place on April 13, 2026.

A pre-trial review is also in the diary for January 16 next year.

In the meantime Bullock has been granted conditional bail.