Wigan's week in court

A Wigan youth tried to get a 14-year-old schoolgirl to have sex with him in a hotel, a court heard.

The then 17-year-old was staying at a Travelodge hotel in Telford while working in the area and began sending the child Instagram messages.

A judge heard that he told her his correct age, asked if she was a virgin and if they could “kiss and cuddle and more if you would.”

She agreed to meet him and he asked if she would have sex and send him nude photographs of herself, said Andrew Page, prosecuting. “Will you 100 per cent have sex?” he asked but she did not respond.”

Mr Page told Liverpool Magistrates’ Court that she asked his room number but she did not turn up.

Meanwhile she had told a friend who had also had Instagram messages from him inviting her to his hotel room for sexual activity.

She contacted him saying he was asking “some random girl” three years younger than he was to go to his hotel room.

She called the police on the girl’s behalf but was not willing to provide details of conversations they had had.

Police arrested him at the hotel and his two telephones and tablet were seized.

They were examined and messages via Snapchat and Instagram were found asking if the girl was coming to his hotel.

“He agreed he had sent messages to the victim and knew she was 14 and knew it was bad but thought it would be OK because he was under 18.

"He said he had offered to pay for a taxi to the hotel but not for services.

“He said he was bored in the hotel, he worked long hours and did not think it was that bad.”

Quizzed about asking her if she was a virgin he replied that, “he would not let it go that far, it was just in his head.”

He said he knew asking her for nude photographs was “going too far.”

He continued that, “He was just being a lad. It was all in his head and it would not have led to anything."

He was also found to have two videos of extreme pornography on his phone, one involving a man and a cow and the other a woman and a dog.

Mr Page said that these had been downloaded in May 2018 when the defendant was 15.

The defendant pleaded guilty to arranging the commission of a child sexual offence in February 2020 and possessing extreme pornographic images.

Ben Stanley, defending, pointed out that there had been a considerable delay in the case reaching court and the defendant is now 20.

The videos had been sent to him when he was 15 by friends on Snapchat but he accepts how serious the offences are.

“He fully admits the messages were sexual in nature.”

Mr Stanley said that the defendant had brought the conversations to an end and told the girl he would re-arrange their proposed meeting till the next evening - when he knew he would not be there any longer.

He added that the now 20-year-old lives with his parents and is working, bringing in a good income.

“He was immature at the time and has begun steps to get his life back on track.”

District Judge Timothy Bosworth told him: “They are very serious offences.”

He said it had taken a long time for the case to get to court and if he had been sentenced when still a juvenile he would had received a referral order and the court had to take as its starting point the sentence that would have been imposed then.

The judge consequently imposed an 18-month community order and ordered him to carry out 200 hours’ unpaid work and 35 days’ rehabilitation activities.

He must attend the probation service horizon programme for sex offenders and pay £205 costs.

“Your immaturity is a theme throughout the probation report and there is work to be done for you to fully realise the impact that this behaviour can have and to reduce the risk of repetition.”

DJ Bosworth pointed out that if he had been an adult when he committed the offences he might have been sent to the crown court and received a custodial sentence.

A homeless 21-year-old has admitted to stealing a collection box for a charity that helps children with life-threatening conditions.

Christopher Kelly, of no fixed address, appeared before Manchester and Salford magistrates to plead guilty to snatching the When You Wish Upon A Star charity box at Wigan North Western railway's station's Express Cafe on March 17 last year.

The hearing was told that it was not known how much money was inside at the time.

Kelly was committed to Manchester Crown Court, Minshull Street, for sentencing on April 28, before which he was remanded in custody.

A Wigan woman has been accused of launching an attack.

Rebecca Pownall, 29, from Bickershaw, appeared before borough justices charged with assaulting Lisa Parry on January 6 this year.

She has yet to enter a plea and the case was adjourned until April 28.

Pownall is on bail but it is conditional to her not having contact with the complainant not entering a particular address on Kent Avenue, Platt Bridge.

A Wigan 51-year-old is awaiting sentence after admitting that he molested a woman.

Brian Snowden, of First Avenue, Springfield, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to the single charge of sexually touching a female aged over 16 without her consent at Wigan North Western railway station on May 21 last year.

The hearing was adjourned until May 11 for the preparation of a presentence report.

Until then Snowden is on unconditional bail.

A Billinge man made sinister threats to his ex-partner and also repeatedly messaged her older daughter despite a court ban.

The ban had been imposed after Simon Scott assaulted both of them and also the woman’s 11-year-old daughter.

He was barred from contacting either child in April last year and the couple’s seven-year-relationship continued for a while but was over by September when he began sending texts and Whatsapp messages to the 15-year-old daughter.

Scott’s jealous struggle to cope with events landed him with 19 months behind bars, which included activation of ten months of the suspended jai sentence imposed for assaulting the trio.

Scott, of Braeside Crescent, pleaded guilty to three offences of breaching a restraining order, sending threatening messages and breaching the suspended prison sentence. Derek Jones, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that in messages to the older daughter he was asking her to have a word with her mum.

He also asked if she was engaged as he had seen a photo of her wearing a ring.

Mr Jones said that the psychological pressure on the child included him stating, “I can’t handle handle this any more, I’m going to end my life, I have got nothing.”

When she told him to leave her mum alone he replied, "I can’t, I love her too much”.

Two weeks later he asked her not to go to the police saying he did not want to go to jail, “it isn’t fair”.

She told him: “What is not fair is you stalking my mum, you effing weirdo.”

Mr Jones said that on October 11 Scott started messaging his ex-partner and said he was a mess as she was having an affair, which she denied.

He used foul language to insult her and said that Scousers “were going to sort **** out, I’ve had enough.”

He also sent messages implying he had been watching her home, said Mr Jones.

She saw his van outside her home one morning and noticed it passing her one day and she took a photo.

Ian Morris, defending, said that Scott, who has three previous convictions for six offences, had pleaded guilty and was remorseful.

He said that Scott, who has a new job and has secured a tenancy, had been struggling with his mental health at the time of the offences.

Recorder Michael Blakey jailed Scott and also imposed a five-year restraining order to keep away from his ex and her two children.

A Wigan man has appeared in court to face three charges of child rape and other sex crimes.

Cory Barrett, 22, from Inward Drive, Shevington, is one of 13 men who stood before Bolton magistrates accused of serious child grooming sex offences.

They are accused of numerous offences against multiple girls, aged between 14 and 17, between 2016 and 2018 – mainly in the Blackrod and Adlington areas of Bolton.

They were brought into court in groups of three or four for brief hearings at Bolton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday April 4.

Peter Williams, prosecuting, told justices the alleged offences were serious and needed to be dealt with before a judge.

No pleas were entered and all 13 were bailed until May 10, to appear at Bolton Crown Court.

The bail conditions are not to have contact with a female under 16, not to contact any complainants, not to contact any co-accuseds and not to attend a specified address in the area. All must also live at their home address, given to the police.

They were arrested following Greater Manchester Police launching Operation Pavarotti, the force’s investigation into child sexual exploitation allegations in the area.

Barrett is charged with three counts of rape of a female under 16, two of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16 and two counts of sexual assault of a female under the age of 16.

Ashley Darbyshire, 26, of Westhoughton, is charged with two counts of causing/inciting sexual activity with a child, five rapes of a female under the age of 16, and seven counts of sexual activity with female under the age of 16.

Harvie Aspden, 23, of Bolton, faces four counts of sexual activity with a female under 16. Daniel Flatters, 32, of Bolton, is accused of one count of rape of a female under the age of 16, two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16 and one count of aggravated taking a vehicle without consent.

Jack Poulson, 29, of Bolton, is charged with four counts of rape of a female under 16, five counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16 and one count of sexual communication with a female under the age of 16.

Jamie Fitzgerald, 34, of Bolton, is accused of one count of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Elliott Turner, 34, of Bolton, is charged with one count of rape of a female under the age of 16.

Ross Corley, 28, of Bolton, faces two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Brandon Harwood, 23, of Bolton, is charged with one count of rape of a girl aged 14 and two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Richard Haslam, 34, of Bolton faces three counts of rape of a female under the age of 16 and two counts of sexual activity with a female under the age of 16.

Michael Linfoot, 21, and Thomas Rae, 21, are each accused of one count of the rape of a girl aged 15 in the Rivington area of Lancashire in 2018.

And Callum Hesketh, 22, is accused of making indecent Snapchat videos of a child in the same area at the same time.

A Wigan motorist has been spared a road ban despite busting through the 12 licence points threshold with his latest act of lawbreaking.

Simon Roberts, 33, of Alexandra Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to driving at BMW 330E M Sport at almost 30mph over the speed limit on the eastbound carriageway of the M62 between junctions 11 and 12 on April 8 last year.

Under “totting up” procedures, the six points put on his licence as part of his punishment for the offence would normally have taken him over the limit for automatic disqualification.

But the bench looked leniently on him after Roberts's defence solicitor explained that he did a lot of driving for his job, that to lose his licence would cost him his employment and that he lived in a town poorly served by public transport.

He was ordered to pay a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £631.

Sentencing of a Wigan 29-year-old for an horrific attack on a woman and other offences has been delayed for more than two months.

Nathan Dawber, of Rivington Drive, Bickershaw, had been due to appear before a Bolton Crown Court judge for sentencing this month after admitting that he launched a vicious assault, produced cannabis and breached bail.

But the hearing has been postponed until June 16.

As far as the assault is concerned Dawber had been charged with intending to cause Brogan Redford grievous bodily harm on March 26 last year.

The drug charge relates to an incident a day later.

Until the new sentencing date Dawber has again been remanded on bail, conditional that he resides at the Rivington Drive address, does not go within two miles of a named home on Wigan Road, Wigan, and is subject to an electronically-tagged curfew that confines him to home between 7pm and 7am.