Wigan's week in court

A Wigan pensioner has appeared in court to face a dozen historical sex abuse charges.

Rab MacDonald, 72, of Broadmead, Parbold, is alleged to have indecently assaulted the same girl 12 times between 1993 and 1998 between the ages of 11 and 16.

The complainant cannot be named for legal reasons.

Because of the seriousness and number of the charges, the case was immediately sent by Wigan justices to be heard at Preston Crown Court where MacDonald will make his first appearance on April 10.

A Wigan borough 49-year-old has been accused of stalking.

Christian Morgan, 49, of Twist Lane, Leigh, appeared before local magistrates to face a charge of causing serious alarm or distress through stalking by making and sending abusive calls, emails and texts to a named woman on March 7.

He has yet to plead and the case was adjourned until April 22, before which time Morgan has been remanded in custody.

A man has been left with a hefty bill after stealing jackets from the same shop four times within a matter of days.

Paul Oualnan, 47, of Hill Crest Avenue, Leigh, pleaded guilty to stealing from Next in Leigh on February 14, 15, 16 and 23.

He took six women's jackets in total. Wigan justices ordered him to pay £470 compensation, £120 fine and a £48 surcharge.

A Wigan man who breached a non-molestation order has been jailed.

Connor Bentley, 26, of St John's Road, Aspull, pleaded guilty to visiting a woman on March 2, which he was prohibited from doing by the order.

Wigan magistrates imposed an eight-week prison sentence and a 12-month restraining order which bans him from contacting her again.

The case of a Wigan man facing three charges of breaching a sexual harm prevention order has been sent to the crown court.

Matthew Hellman, 30, of Atherton Road, Hindley, is accused of using a device capable of accessing the internet, possessing a device capable of storing images and taking an intimate photograph, and setting up a dating account.

He was banned from doing these things by a sexual harm prevention order imposed at Manchester Crown Court in 2020.

Wigan magistrates sent the case for a trial at Bolton Crown Court.

Hellman was remanded in custody until a plea and trial preparation hearing there on April 17.

A Wigan man has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a police officer.

Jason Naughton, 54, of Botesworth Close, Hindley Green, is charged with assaulting PC Seddon by beating him on November 5.

A trial will be held at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on December 5.

He was remanded on unconditional bail.

A Wigan town centre shopkeeper has a four figure court bill to pay after being convicted of selling an e-cigarette to a minor.

Adnan Kako had faced a single charge of breaching the Nicotine Inhaling Products (Age of Sale and Proxy Purchasing) Regulations 2015 and the Children and Families Act 2014 on August 9 by letting an under-18 buy a Crystal Pro Max, 4000+ puff, Prime Ice Pop flavour at the Euro Shop on Wallgate.

And after failing to turn up for a trial, he was found guilty by Wigan justices in his absence.

He now has to pay a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £1,260.

A young Wigan man who drove an off-road motorbike down a main street has been hit in the pocket.

Jordan Kiss, 23, of Belmont Avenue, Bickershaw, was convicted of riding the two wheeler along Warrington Road on August 1 last year when he was not insured to do so.

He must pay exactly £1,000 in court costs, a victim services surcharge and a fine.

An allegation of aggravated vehicle-taking has been brought against a Wigan 20-year-old.

Connor Wooton, of Millers Lane, Platt Bridge, appeared before borough magistrates to deny forcibly taking a Suzuki Bandit motorbike, using threatening or abusive language and assaulting a man by beating on March 13.

However he did admit to riding the Suzuki without a licence or insurance.

The case was adjourned until February 25 next year for a trial at the same court, before which he is on conditional bail.

A young man who attacked a woman, smashed a window and wrecked her mobile phone has been given a community punishment.

Kian Liptrot, 20, of Vincent Way, Marsh Green, had previously appeared before Wigan magistrates to plead guilty to assaulting a woman, causing her actual bodily harm and damaging her phone on February 1 and to breaking the window the next day.

After spending several days remanded in custody he returned to the court to receive a sentence which includes 20 days of rehabilitation activities and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He is the subject of a restraining order preventing contact with his victim and he has to pay £85 in court costs.

A 36-year-old has denied groping a woman in Wigan.

Przemyslaw Wolny, of Darwen Drive, Platt Bridge, appeared before borough justices to plead not guilty to sexually touching a female over 16 without her consent on March 29 last year.

He was bailed unconditionally until May 24 when he makes another appearance before the same court.

A Wigan teenager convicted of making indecent images of children has now admitted to breaching a sexual harm prevention order against him.

Kyle Turner, 18, of Bridgewater Street, Hindley, admitted failing to make a previously registered device available for inspection and for disposing of a phone on October 13.

He was remanded in custody pending sentence at Bolton Crown Court on April 19.

Turner was initially convicted of making indecent images of children in January and February 2022 – 152 of the most serious (category A) images, 273 category B images and 97 category C images.

A man who admitted to interfering with cars, drug possession and attempted burglary has been sent for drug rehab.

Dean Boyer, 32, of Orchard Street, Wigan, had stood before Manchester justices to plead guilty to possessing cocaine and amphetamine, tampering with two cars and trying to break into a metal container on December 30.

Now attending Wigan Magistrates' Court for sentencing, he was ordered to complete a six-month drug programme and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

There is also £184 to pay in the form of a fine, costs and a victim services surcharge.

A Wigan borough man has appeared in court charged with being drunk and disorderly at a hospital.

Christopher Ward, 43, of St Nicholas Road, Lowton, pleaded guilty to disorderly behaviour while drunk at Manchester Royal Infirmary on February 11.

Manchester city magistrates imposed a six-month conditional discharge and ordered him to pay a £26 surcharge.

A man has been charged with trying to steal a bicycle and going equipped for theft.

Antonio Nita, 21, of Leigh Road, Leigh, is alleged to have had a wire cutter for use in a theft and attempted to steal a pedal cycle in Leigh on September 19.

He will appear at Manchester City Magistrates' Court on April 16.

A Wigan woman found guilty of assault has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Nicola Roberts, 37, of Lancaster Road, Hindley, had denied assaulting a woman by beating her on March 4 last year, but was found guilty after a trial at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court.

She pleaded guilty to failing to attend court while on bail on July 4 and on March 12.

She was sentenced to a total of 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months.

Magistrates also told her to do 150 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months and pay £200 compensation.

A Wigan man must carry out unpaid work as part of his punishment for assaulting a woman.

Jeffrey Harter, 51, of Crook Street, Wigan, pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman by beating her on October 14.

He must comply with an 18-month community order, which includes attending the Building Better Relationships programme for 29 days, 35 days of rehabilitation activities and 60 hours of unpaid work.

Harter was told to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £114 surcharge.

A man who assaulted two police officers on the same day is now behind bars.

Roy Bannister, 33, of Worsley Street, Pemberton, pleaded guilty to assaulting the constables on December 19.

Wigan justices sent him to prison for four weeks.

Brothers have finally admitted to smuggling phones into Wigan's jail - six years after the crimes were committed.

Jordan Gavin, 23, from Baxendale Street, Astley Bridge, and Martin Gavin, 25, of Hope Hey Lane, Little Hulton, had initially denied shipping phones, sim cards and chargers into Hindley Prison between November 9 and 16, 2018.

The matter had been due to go to trial at Bolton Crown Court this month but before it could start, they changed their pleas to guilty.

They have continued to deny taking cocaine, cannabis and steroids into the institution around the same time and that matter will be dealt with by the judge when they are sentenced on April 22.

A Wigan man who admitted trying to engage in sexual communication with a child has narrowly avoided an immediate spell behind bars.

Andrew Hunter, 31, of Park Road, had been accused of having tried to contact a boy under 16 between February 23 and March 6 last year.

Appearing before a Bolton Crown Court judge for sentencing he was given a six month custodial sentence but it was suspended for 24 months.

Hunter must also complete 30 days of rehabilitation activities, undergo a three-month curfew confining him to home from 8pm to 6am and be the subject of a seven-year sexual harm prevention order.

He must sign on the Sex Offenders' Registers for the same period.

A Wigan man who threw a four-month sickie has been prosecuted in the courts.

Safina Rayani, 45, of Ashwood Avenue, Abram, declared himself unfit to work for the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust from August to December 2021 when he was in fact well enough, borough justices heard. He pleaded guilty to a breach of the Fraud Act by dishonestly making false representations about his state of health, thus exposing the trust to a risk of loss.

He was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and must pay a victim services surcharge and court costs totalling £595.

A Wigan borough man has admitted to begging in Manchester city centre.

Richard Pennington, 39, of Bexhill Drive, Leigh, appeared before city magistrates to illegally collecting alms in Piccadilly Gardens on December 20 in contravention of the 1824 Vagrancy Act.

He was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £26 to victim services.

An arrest warrant has been issued for a Wigan borough man accused of trying to throttle a woman.

Imran Ibrahim, of Back Market Street in Leigh, had been due to appear before Manchester justices accused of attempting to strangle a woman on July 23 last year.

But when he failed to appear, the bench issued a warrant to police ordering them to arrest him.

A Wigan 61-year-old has been banned from the road for 12 months after being caught driving while under the influence of cocaine.

Stephen Roscoe, of Thorburn Road, Pemberton, appeared before Manchester justices to admit to having taken the class A substance before police stopped his Renault Modus on Warrington Road last August 25.

As well as being disqualified from driving, he must also pay a fine and court costs totalling £205.

Four Wigan men have been accused of conspiring to supply cannabis.

Benjamin Cunlffe, 33, of Bryn Street, Ashton, Christopher Cotterell, 35, of Warrington Road, Ashton, Adam Sinnott-Clark, 30, of address unknown, and 25-year-old Ross Pilling, of Withill Walk, Ashton, appeared before Manchester magistrates charged with conspiring to supply a quantity of the class B drug between November 2022 and March 2023.

They are all also accused of conspiracy to conceal, disguise, convert, transfer or remove criminal property, namely cash.

They have yet to enter pleas but were all remanded into custody pending their first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge on April 24.

A Wigan motorist caught flouting a driving ban on the motorway will learn his fate in May.

Nathan Pygott, 32, of Kerscott Close, Ince, appeared before Manchester magistrates to admit being at the wheel of a Volkswagen Transporter van on the M66 at Bury on March 21 while disqualified from driving.

He also pleaded guilty to driving while uninsured and cannabis possession on the same occasion.

He is due to be sentenced at the same court on May 15.

He is on conditional bail until then.

A 64-year-old man is awaiting his fate after being convicted of attacking and threatening family members.

Frank Jenkinson, of Holly Road, Golborne, had denied assaulting Barbara Jenkinson by beating and making menacing phone calls to Michelle Jenkinson on May 7 last year, but after a trial at Tameside Magistrates' Court he was found guilty on both counts.

He was released on conditional bail pending sentence by Wigan justices on April 19.

A warrant for the arrest of a 19-year-old accused of dealing crack and heroin has been issued by Wigan magistrates.

Harry Daley, of Dearden Way, Up Holland, had been due to appear before borough justices charged with possessing the two class A drugs with intent to supply them, but failed to attend.

An arrest warrant was issued to police.