Blackpool: From the courts 23-03-17

Police found three children home alone when an officer went into the address of a couple from the travelling community.

The youngsters, all boys, aged 18 months, eight and 12, were asleep in the three-bedroomed house in Blackpool.

An officer had brought the boys’ mother home after she and her husband had been involved in a car chase with police after the husband refused to stop.

The 40-year-old father and 35-year-old mother, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, each pleaded guilty to three offences of abandoning a child.

The father also admitted failing to stop at a red light and driving with excess alcohol.

The father was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months with up to 20 days rehabilitation to be supervised by the probation service, fined £80 and banned from driving for 20 months.

The mother was sentenced to eight weeks jail suspended for 12 months with up to 20 days rehabilitation.

They were both ordered to pay £40 costs and £115 victims’ surcharge by magistrates.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said a police officer put on his car’s blue lights and sounded his horn in an attempt to stop the father as he drove a Fiat Punto on Whitegate Drive, on December 8 at 1.50am.

The father refused to stop for almost a mile, was driving very slowly and went through a red light.

A breath test showed 63 micrograms of alcohol in his body – 35 is the limit.

He had a former previous conviction for being drunk in charge of a child.

The mother, who was described as intoxicated, was taken home by a police officer who found the three children home alone.

Gerry Coyle, defending, said the couple decided to drive to a garage to get some cigarettes.

A female cousin at their home said she would stay there, but she could only remain for 20 minutes as she had to travel back to Manchester.

The children had only been alone for 20 minutes.

They were found to be in good health and well fed and the home was clean and in a good state of repair.

The mother, who had drunk four cans of lager, said she did not intend to drink again.

Here is a round-up of some of Wednesday’s cases at Blackpool Magistrates Court 22-03-17

Connor O’Sullivan, 18, criminal damage

A teenager kicked a fellow flat tenant’s door so hard the lock and handle flew off.

Connor O’Sullivan, an 18-year-old student, of Cocker Street, North Shore, pleaded guilty to causing damage.

He was given a 12 months conditional discharge and ordered to pay £100 compensation by magistrates.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said O’Sullivan and the complainant lived in the same block of flats and the complainant said there had been issues between them since Christmas.

On March 2 at 7.30pm, the complainant was watching the TV when O’Sullivan started hammering on his door, shouting he wanted to fight, before repeatedly kicking the door. He had two previous convictions for causing damage.

Steven Townley, defending, said there was no love lost between the parties.

O’Sullivan accepted there had been a frank exchange of views between the two of them.

O’Sullivan suffered from Aspergers and probably did not deal as well with confrontation as some people. He said the complainant had called him a nasty name and he lost his temper.

Paige Anstey-Fiske, 23, fraud

A mother-of-two failed to inform the authorities she had been working and was overpaid £305 in Income Support benefit.

Paige Anstey-Fiske, 23, of Meyler Avenue, Layton, admitted dishonestly failing to inform the Department of Work and Pensions that she was employed by Northern Securities.

Hugh Pond, defending, said that Anstey-Fiske said: “This is a young woman trying to bring up two children. She admitted what she had done at the first opportunity.

“She was on a zero hours contract and never knew when she might be working.”

The defendant was given a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £105 costs.

Red O’Connor, 18, theft

A man told police he was drunk when a traveller had given him stolen goods.

Red O’Connor was then shown CCTV of himself stealing cosmetics from the resort’s Boots store and putting the items in a bag.

O’Connor, 18, of Cocker Street, North Shore, pleaded guilty to theft.

He was fined £40 with £85 costs and ordered to pay £35 victims’ surcharge by magistrates.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said O’Connor was stopped on the Promenade on March 3 by police and found to have £50 worth of cosmetics stolen from Boots in a bag.

When interviewed later, O’Connor claimed a traveller had given him the cosmetics but he was shown CCTV from Boots which showed him stealing them.

He said on a scale of drunkenness from 1 to 10 he would have put himself at 10.

Kathryn Jamieson-Sinclair, defending, said her client, who was not an habitual criminal, could not remember stealing and when he had sobered up and found himself in the police station he was shocked.

Tom Inman, 63, fraud

A man accused of fraud has had his case adjourned by magistrates.

Tom Inman, 63, of Kingsmede, South Shore, is alleged to have made a false representation in that he took stolen goods belonging to another person with the intention of gaining a refund on a gift card on February 22.

Susan Fielding, 53, fraud

A woman was paid more than £10,000 in state benefits that were not due to her.

Susan Fielding, 53, of Branstree Road, Marton, was claiming Employment Support Allowance.

But when her long-term partner received a lump sum payment for the Army pension fund followed by monthly pension payments she should have told the Department of Work and Pensions about the extra money coming into the home.

Fielding admitted failing to disclose a change in her circumstances when she appeared before magistrates.

She was given a 24-week jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to pay £200 costs.

The court heard how her partner received the lump sum payment of £13,000 when he became 60.

Fielding had a previous conviction for a similar type of offence.

Her lawyer Mitch Serangi said: ”She has suffered a great deal of ill health over this period.”