Wigan's week in court

A Wigan woman who failed to tackle her rabbit’s ill health, or meet the needs of her dog, has been banned from keeping animals for five years after an RSPCA prosecution.

Sarah Murgatroyd, 45, of Broom Road in Worsley Hall, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act and appeared for sentencing at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court.

The court was told that the defendant had failed to realise how ill her Netherland dwarf rabbit, called Noah, was until a neighbour pointed it out to her.

By the time she handed Noah over to RSPCA inspector Deborah Beats on April 27 last year the pet had collapsed and was gravely ill with a brain infection.

A vet later decided that the kindest thing to do was to put the rabbit to sleep to end his suffering.

Murgatroyd also presented her dog, a Shar Pei cross, called Teddy, to the inspector and said she wasn’t able to look after him.

He was suffering from a moderate flea infestation and alopecia, which he was treated for after he was signed over into the care of the RSPCA.

A vet who examined Noah said that he was underweight (with a body condition score of one out of five) and he was so cold that his body temperature could not be measured with a thermometer.

A post-mortem examination showed evidence of encephalitozoon cuniculi infection, which is a common parasite affecting the kidneys and brains of rabbits.

The vet said: “Noah was suffering for a period of at least two weeks, but more likely longer.

"He had a significant amount of weight loss and was visibly underweight.

"He had a disease that is common in rabbits that was left untreated.tHE

“A responsible owner would have sought veterinary care when first noticing the clinical signs.”

The magistrates told Murgatroyd to complete 15 rehabilitation activity days and 80 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order.

She was also ordered to pay £300 court costs and a victim surcharge of £114.

Murgatroyd was prosecuted under sections 4 and 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

A mum and young daughter were left injured after an unqualified driver from Wigan borough drove into their car while making an illegal overtaking manoeuvre.

Aiden Dodd, who was only a provisional licence holder and was uninsured, struck the victim’s Renault Clio while attempting to overtake a car on a blind bend.

Liverpool Crown Court heard that fortunately Hayley Hughes, a horse riding instructor, managed to swerve as Dodd’s black VW Golf headed towards her.

Her car was written off and she and her eight-year-old daughter suffered seat belt injuries but luckily were not more seriously hurt and her sleeping two-year-old son was unscathed in the back seat.

Dodd’s car skidded and ploughed into a telegraph pole on the verge and he fled the scene, Holcroft Lane, Culcheth, across adjoining fields.

The court heard that he later tried to hand himself in to police but was sent away as there was no warrant for his arrest.

When he was later arrested he frankly admitted his involvement.

Jailing him for 14 months Judge Neil Flewitt, KC, said: “You clearly posed some risk to members of the public from the way in which you drove on this occasion.

“It was a highly dangerous manoeuvre with total disregard for the rules of the road, overtaking when you should not have done and putting at risk oncoming traffic.

It is simply too serious for a suspended sentence order.”

He banned 23-year-old Dodd, of Hope Carr Road, Leigh, from driving for two years and seven months.

The defendant had pleaded guilty to driving dangerously, failing to stop after an accident and driving without insurance and in accordance with terms of his provisional driving licence.

Derek Jones, prosecuting, said that the incident happened about 4pm on Saturday April 1 this year along a country lane which has a 50mph speed limit.

The female driver had just reached a blind bend with an unbroken centre line when Dodd, who was coming in the opposite direction, overtook a car and was attempting to overtake a Kia Sportage when he struck her car a glancing blow. Rear camera footage from the Kia was played to the court.

Mr Jones said that Ms Hughes suffered seat belt injuries to her chest and neck and bruising.

Her daughter had an abrasion to her neck from her seat belt and was kept in hospital overnight.

They had both been badly affected mentally and Ms Hughes has moved her horses as she no longer wants to drive down that road and has also lost her confidence driving.

She was left out of pocket as she only had third party insurance and also had to pay £250 to get her belongings from her wrecked car.

She is self-employed and lost a month’s income.

Her daughter is now a very nervous passenger and cannot go past the crash scene, said Mr Jones.

Ben Berkson, defending, said that Dodd had fled on foot “in a moment of madness in a blind panic when he realised what he had done.

He cannot watch the footage, such is his shame.”

He has committed 17 previous offences but this was his first for dangerous driving.

He suffers from posttraumatic stress syndrome after he and a friend were stabbed, he said.

Mr Berkson said Dodd had had a difficult childhood and has lost contact with almost all his immediate family.

He is due to become a father for the first time in February and is looking forward to that.

Four Wigan people have appeared before justices to face separate animal cruelty charges.

Steven Corbett, 26, of Enid Place, Bamfurlong, pleaded guilty to neglecting two female cats called Snowy and Nestle between December 23 last year and January 3 this year by failing to provide them with adequate food and drink, leaving them unattended and not given them toileting facilities.

The case was adjourned for sentencing on September 21, before which reports will be drawn up.

Samuel Jolley, 25, of Columbus Street, Ashton, had previously appeared at the court to plead guilty to inflicting blunt force trauma to a female brindle Staffordshire bull terrier type dog called Nala on or around September 12 last year.

He has now received a community punishment which includes completing 100 hours of unpaid work and 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

The dog was taken away from him and he was banned from keeping pets for five years.

Jolley must also pay a victim services surcharge and court costs totalling £514.

Meanwhile 25-year-old Jack Maunder, of Bevington Street, Ashton, faces charges of allowing two horses and a dog to starve at Alder Lane, Warrington.

He is accused of failing to provide adequate nutrition, water, parasite and veterinary treatment to a piebald cob colt and piebald cob gelding between January and February this year while keeping them in an area which didn't allow them to exercise properly and was heavily contaminated with faeces.

Over the same period and at the same location he is further charged with allowing the malnutrition of a Caucasian shepherd dog.

Maunder has yet to enter any pleas and the case was adjourned until September 21. And David Farrimond, 46, of Chatsworth Avenue, Ince, appeared before borough justices charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and failing to keep her in an hygienic and hazard-free environment.

It is alleged that he did not ensure that the dog, called Bella, was provided with timely and appropriate veterinary care for the causes of its weight loss, an eye infection and/or a tumour between February 7 and 21 this year.

The case was adjourned until August 16.

A Wigan teenager has admitted to dangerously driving a motorbike.

Cole Lyszkiewicz, 18, of Malvern Crescent, Ince, appeared before borough magistrates to plead guilty to the serious offence committed on Warrington Road, Ince, on February 12.

The case was adjourned for sentencing until August 31, but Lyszkiewicz was hit with an interim road ban in the meantime.

A 45-year-old man has been ordered to pay compensation to a policewoman whom he attacked.

Sebastian Matacz, of Nixon Phillips Drive, Bickershaw, appeared before Wigan justices to plead guilty to assaulting a PC Willans during the course of her duties on December 15 2020.

He was given a conditional discharge and must pay compensation, a victim services surcharge and costs coming to £211.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a man accused of attacking three people at Wigan Wallgate station on two separate days.

Shahow Kader, 33, of Woodhouse Lane, Beech Hill, is charged with the assault by beating of Rebecca McCarthy on July 3 and the common assault of Grant Scott and Gillian Hughes on July 7.

He had been due to appear before borough justices but on his failure to attend, an arrest warrant was issued.

Wigan parents have been punished for their children's truancy.

Rosa and Adam Boltuc, of Millers Lane, Platt Bridge, themselves dodged attendance at the borough's magistrates' court when accused of not ensuring two sons' regular classroom presence at Ashton's Cansfield High School during the spring term this year.

But justices proved them culpable in their absence and they were hit with fines, costs, a victim services surcharge totalling £1,432.

Nicola Jones, of Grasmere Avenue, Ince, faced a much smaller penalty for her daughter's truanting from Sacred Heart Primary because she turned up for the hearing and pleaded guilty.

Her court bill came to £268.

However Nicola Swanton of Acacia Crescent, Beech Hill, has pleaded not guilty to failing to ensure her son's regular attendance at Beech Hill Community Primary School during the spring term.

Her case was adjourned until August 24 for a trial.

A Wigan man accused of failing to tell police who was driving a car when an offence was committed has walked free from court after the case against him collapsed.

Mark Higgins, 34, of New Street, Platt Bridge, had denied refusing to disclose the identity of Ford Kia on February 28 last year.

But before a trial could take place at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court, the prosecution offered no evidence and the accused was told he was free to go.

A speeding motorist has admitted to killing a Wigan grandmother in a road smash after a police car chase.

Chad Rimington was making his first appearance before a Bolton Crown Court judge when he pleaded guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of Kathleen Kirby on Bolton Road, Ashton-in-Makerfield on the afternoon of Monday June 26.

He also admitted to causing her death while driving an uninsured or unlicensed vehicle.

Rimington, 32, of no fixed address, was remanded in custody until he is sentenced on September 4.

Ms Kirby was hit by a van while walking along Bolton Road.

The van had itself been in a collision with a car, with Rimington at the wheel, which was being pursued by police at the time.

She was taken to hospital for treatment, but she was confirmed to have died later that day.

In a statement shortly after the tragedy, her family said: “Our hearts are broken forever as today we lost our beloved mum, nanna, sister, partner, aunty and best friend to so many.

"She took everyone under her wing, only ever seeing the good in everyone.

"Kathleen would be there no matter what and was the rock of our family, she held everyone together with her strength and passion for life.

"She will never be forgotten and we will all make her proud in everything we do.

"Love you always and forever, mum, nanna, partner and sister, always in our hearts.”

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is now looking into the actions of Greater Manchester Police officers before her death.

A Wigan man will go on trial next year accused of refusing to disclose who was driving his car when an offence was committed.

Andrew Roe, 40, of Queen Street in Platt Bridge, appeared before Manchester and Salford magistrates to deny failing to inform the authorities who was at the wheel of a Jeep Cherokee on November 17 last year when it was alleged to have been involved in an offence.

The trial will take place on February 5 next year at the same court.