Fleetwood: From the courts 24-08-16

A gambler who lost tens of thousands of pounds over the years smashed a roulette machine with a stool because he was losing money.
Blackpool Magistrates CourtBlackpool Magistrates Court
Blackpool Magistrates Court

Paul Nuttall said he had once banned himself from the betting shop but the bookies had wooed him with incitements to gamble and coupons.

Nuttall, a 42-year-old painter and decorator, formerly of Park Road, Fleetwood, now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing damage.

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He was sentenced to pay £609 compensation to the bookmakers by Blackpool magistrates who imposed no other penalty.

Prosecutor, Martine Connah, said on January 11 about 9pm Nuttall was playing on a roulette machine at Betfred, Lord Street, Fleetwood.

The manager there had known him for about three years and considered him a friend.

Nuttall was losing money on the machine and said: “I’m going to throw a stool at the machine in a minute.”

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The manager knew Nuttall had had a drink and told him not to be daft and to go home.

Nuttall then picked up the stool and threw it, smashing the glass.

The manager said he was gobsmacked as he had never known Nuttall to behave like that.

Nuttall had been given a caution by the police on the condition he paid full compensation for the damage, but he did not pay.

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Nuttall told magistrates: “I can’t defend smashing the machine, it was ridiculous. I have had a gambling habit of 11 years.

“I have lost tens of thousands of pounds. What I did was the culmination of that.”

• A Bulgarian kebab shop worker walked down a main shopping street and then suddenly pounced on a teenage girl groping her groin.

Muhamed Mahmud committed the offence as the 17 year old victim and her friends walked down Victoria Street West in Cleveleys.

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Mahmud had drunk more than half-a-bottle of American whiskey on his day off work from The Best Kebab on the same street,Blackpool, Magistrates were told.

He pleaded guilty to indecent assault and to being drunk and disorderly.

Pam Smith, prosecuting, said that the defendant had been seen apparantly fighting with a friend on the tram tracks.

Police separated the two men and as they were arresting Mahmud, who also wrestles professionall,y when the officers were approached by the 17-year-old who told them about being assaulted earlier.

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“He had followed her down the street then got in front of her and suddenly grabbed her groin. It was very upsetting for the victim,” said the prosecutor.

Howard Green, defending, said: “This man intends to go back to Bulgaria in the near future.He had been drinking heavily before ewhat happened and apologises profusely.”

The defendant was given 16 weeks jail suspended for a year,ordered to pay his victim £100 compensation and placed on a 12 week curfew.

• A woman was unable to attend court because she was having surgery in hospital.

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Danielle Salisbury, 30, of Eamont Place, Fleetwood, who is accused of stealing a woman’s purse valued at £45, had her case adjourned by Blackpool magistrates.

• A Fleetwood man walked into the port’s police station and admitted a shoplifting offence committed three months ago.

Dylan Johnstone, 19, currently of no fixed address pleaded guilty to stealing an Armani coat worth £120 from a store in the town in May this year.

Johnstone was given a one year conditional discharge by District Judge Jeff Brailsford sitting at Blackpool Magistrates Court.

He must also pay £120 compensation.

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Steven Townley defending, said : His mother has thrown him out and he is now homeless.Money was the motive for this crime.”

• A man who stole a carer’s handbag as she assisted two disabled sisters in a shop has been jailed for 21 months.

Karl Lee Broadhead, 35, of Devonshire Avenue, Thornton, and his cousin Lee Metcalfe, took the bag from the back of a wheelchair as the carer helped the 67-year-old who is paralysed, and her partially sighted sister, 57, in Cool Trader on June 8.

Karen Brooks, prosecuting, said: “When they leave the house (the older sister) uses the wheelchair to assist her to move about.

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“There was a bottle of water in her handbag which meant the zip wasn’t properly shut and it was hung on back of the wheelchair.

“When she went to till she discovered her purse was missing. She had £85, her driving licence and cards in the purse and also a number of cards she received from her deceased mother which were of sentimental value.”

Preston Crown Court heard he was seen stealing the bag on CCTV and recognised by a PCSO along with his co-accused – who pleaded guilty and is due to be sentenced by Blackpool Magistrates on a date to be set.

Broadhead also admitted burgling an elderly woman’s house in the area in a separate incident.

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The court heard he broke into the ground floor flat of an 87-year-old, and stole a handbag belonging to her friend, who was visiting to help her with domestic chores.

It contained her keys, cards and cash and three guardian charms, and she had to have the locks changed on her vehicle and car.

Broadhead’s fingerprint was found on the kitchen window.

Colette Renton, defending, said he had been addicted to drugs since the age of nine and said he had been led astray by his cousin.

She added: “He is the man who took the purse, but he was directed by his cousin and it was an unplanned theft.

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“In late 2014 the defendant, having been released from prison, made a decision he wanted to change his life for the better and moved out of the Blackpool area to live with his grandfather. For a long time, he remained clean.

“He had a blip in this otherwise good progress.

“He is embarrassed and ashamed to be back in this situation.”

Activating an extra 14 weeks of a suspended jail term he had breached, Recorder Christopher Alldriss said: “You have an absolutely appalling record of 54 convictions for 202 offences including 128 thefts.

“Yours is a depressingly familiar story. Your life has been one of criminality to feed a habit.”

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• A couple accused of having a dangerous American Bulldog which bit a policeman’s foot have made their first appearance at court.

Mitchell Flackett, 29, and Rebecca Smith, 22, of Hamlet Road, Fleetwood, pleaded not guilty to having a dangerous dog which was out of control and caused injury outside Fleetwood’s Arden Green on May 18.

Flackett also denied having a dangerous dog which was out of control in the port’s Hamlet Road on May 26.

Their case was adjourned for Blackpool magistrates to fix a trial date.

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• A callous thief with a history of stealing from loved ones took thousands of pounds worth of jewellery belonging to his girlfriend.

Duncan Stirzaker then sold the jewellery to fund his addiction to cocaine and cannabis.

His mother had been treasurer for a committee and he had previously stolen cheques from the committee chequebook for which he was on a suspended prison sentence at the time of the jewellery theft.

Stirzaker, 30, of Windsor Place, Fleetwood, pleaded guilty to theft.

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Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said Stirzaker and a young mother had been in a relationship for about five months and he had stayed at her Fleetwood home.

In June Stirzaker’s girlfriend looked in the bottom section of her jewellery box and found about £2,000 worth of it missing.

When confronted by her and her parents he denied stealing it.

Later he messaged her and admitted taking it. He said he would get the jewellery back but he did not.

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He had sold it for scrap for between £400 and £500 at a jeweller’s on the port’s Lord Street and if was no longer recoverable.

When interviewed Stirzaker said he had broken his back in January. He said he had been lying to his girlfriend and taking cocaine and cannabis daily.

David Charnley, defending, said his client had fallen into the depths of drug misuse at the time. Stirzaker, who was full of remorse for what he had done, said he was now off drugs.

Presiding magistrate at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court, Stuart Gay, told him: “There was a breach of trust. It was emotionally upsetting for the victim and items of considerable sentimental value were taken.”

Stirzaker was bailed to appear for sentence at Preston Crown Court on September 21.