Blackpool: From the courts 01-12-16

Here is a round-up of some of the cases at Blackpool Magistrates Court from November 30.
Blackpool Magistrates CourtBlackpool Magistrates Court
Blackpool Magistrates Court

Joannea Moffat, 30, drunk and disorderly

A woman was arrested in Blackpool town centre after she walked down the street spitting at passers-by.

Joanna Moffat had drunk to excess because she and her fiancé had split up at the time.

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Moffat, 30, of Coote Lane, Lostock Hall, Preston, pleaded guilty to being drunk and disorderly.

She was fined £40 with £85 costs and ordered to pay £30 victims’ surcharge by Blackpool magistrates.

Prosecutor, Martine Connah, said Moffat approached police officers patrolling on Queen Street on November 12, about 1am, and told them £40 had been stolen from her purse.

She was described as very drunk and she took police to Pop World to see if the theft had been captured on CCTV. Once there, she swore at officers and door staff calling them vile names. She walked off and spat at people.

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Moffat’s defence lawyer said her client had struggled with an alcohol problem and had not long been out of prison when the offence occurred. At the time she and her fiancé has spit up but they were now back together.

Alexander Allen, 30, sexual assault

A man has made his first appearance at court accused of carrying out three sex attacks on a 15-year-old girl.

Alexander Allen, 30, of Pinewood Drive, Cheltenham, faces three charges of serious sexual assault on the teenager which he is alleged to have committed in Blackpool, Wigan and Cheltenham in September last year.

He is also accused of making seven indecent photographs of a child between March 2014 and December last year.

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Prosecutor, Martine Connah, said the case must be heard at crown court.

Defence solicitor, Peter Cave, said his client had indicated he would plead guilty to the offences.

Allen was bailed to appear at Preston Crown Court on January 4 by Blackpool magistrates.

Dean Dowie, 46, drink-driving

A chef was heavily drinking at the time he drunkenly crashed his car into a neighbour’s vehicle, Blackpool Magistrates were told.

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Dean Dowie, 46, of Boothley Road, North Shore, had suffered a family bereavement in Ireland and when he returned home his wife announced that she and their children were leaving him.

Dowie then started to drink heavily to blank out his problems but on his way home he hit a neighbour’s car parked in the street where he 
lived.

The woman heard a bang, went outside and saw Dowie trying to drive off, hitting her car again. Neighbours gathered to watch and he refused to leave his vehicle.

Despite having a badly damaged front wheel, he managed to drive off and park outside his own home.

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Police were called, said prosecutor Pam Smith and entered the house when he refused to answer the door.

He was arrested and was abusive to officer who took him to the police station where he refused to undertake any sort of alcohol testing.

Dowie admitted failing to provide a specimen and he was banned from the roads for 20 months, fined £345 and ordered to pay £119 costs.

Brett Chappell, defending, said: “He is seeking help for his drink problem an that is working. At the time of the offence he was in a bad place and drinking himself into oblivion.”

Zoiee Kirby, 26, drink-driving

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A woman accused of driving an Audi while over the alcohol limit in Blackpool has had the first hearing of her case at court.

Zoiee Kirby, 26, of St Martin’s Road, South Shore, who was not present at court, was bailed to December 7 by Blackpool magistrates.

Patrick Herridge, 45, theft

A father’s bid to sell pirate cigarettes ended in his arrest because he kept the money and did not provide the goods.

Patrick Herridge, 45, of Scorton Avenue, Layton, pleaded guilty to theft.

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He was ordered to pay £30 compensation by Blackpool magistrates who imposed no other penalty.

Prosecutor, Martine Connah, said Herridge told a man outside Poundland he could get counterfeit cigarettes on March 28 about 1pm, and the man paid him £30.

Herridge, who police later discovered had his two children with him at the time, did not return with the cigarettes.

He was given a caution by police on the condition he paid his victim the £30 back but he did not pay.

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Steven Townley, defending, said Herridge had been unable to pay the man back because at the time his benefits had been stopped and he was struggling even to put food on the table for his family.

Matthew Ainsworth, 22, criminal damage

A supermarket worker took revenge on the store where he worked when he was wrongly accused of theft.

Management sacked Matthew Ainsworth and then banned him from the Sainsbury’s outlet where he was working.

But as Ainsworth, of Windsor Avenue, South Shore, was being escorted from the Sainsbury in Gravesend, Kent, he put out a hand and swept houseware off the shelves causing £268 of damage to stock.

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Ainsworth admitted criminal damage when he appeared before Blackpool Magistrates.

He was given a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay Sainsbury’s full compensation.

Peter Cave, defending, said that Ainsworth was arrested by police for the criminal damage and an allegation for theft.

However, he was de-arrested when he showed officer receipts for goods. They were the receipts the store management had taken no notice of and which caused this man to become angry because he felt unfairly treated even though he accepts he should not have done the damage.”