Latest convictions from Blackpool's court - Monday, October 15, 2018

Failing to ensure a child’s regular attendance at school

A father refused to send his teenager daughter to school after informing the pupil welfare officer she was being bullied there.

The father told the officer the last straw was when his daughter had been attacked on the way back from school and suffered two black eyes.

He was found guilty of knowingly failing to ensure a child’s regularly attendance at school after a trial in his absence.

He was given an absolute discharge by District Judge Jane Goodwin.

Lynda Bennett, prosecuting for Blackpool Council’s education department, said the case concerned the fathers 14-year-old daughter’s attendance at Blackpool’s Aspire Academy, which stood at 37.7 percent with 64 unauthorised absences between April 23 and July 6 this year.

The school’s pupil welfare officer said the parents told him their daughter had been the victim of bullying at the school and they wanted her to move schools.

The bullying allegation was said to have been investigated and the school agreed to her having a managed move to another school.

The parents then said their daughter had been attacked and injured on the way back from school and she would not be returning there.

Allan Cobain, defending, said the daughter was so upset by the bullying that they took her to the doctor, who said the girl was in a toxic situation and should not be at that school.

The parents believed the school was doing nothing about the bullying.

They had attended the school on numerous occasions, tried to see the head and left numerous messages.

Ryan Broxup, 44, theft

A man stuffed so many bags of stolen coins into his pockets his shorts fell down.

Ryan Broxup was trying to sneak out of a shop after stealing £190 in coins from a back office.

He was confronted by staff who heard coins jingling as 44-year-old Broxup of Reads Avenue,Blackpool,walked past them.

Broxup admitted theft of the coins and £300 in notes from the resort’s Costcutters store on Ribble Road.

Pam Smith,prosecuting, told Blackpool Magistrates that Broxup went into the shop and suddenly disappeared.

When he re appeared his shorts fell to the floor.

“This was due to the amount of money stuffed in the pockets,” said the prosecutor.

Broxup was sent for sentence to Crown Court.He was remanded in custody in the meantime.

Matthew Jones, 32, failing to comply with a court order

A man breached a suspended prison sentence order made for an offence of assaulting a police officer because he had an infected finger. Matthew Jones, 32, of North Promenade, St Annes, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with a court order.

He had an extra 10 hours unpaid work added to his sentence and was ordered to pay £60 costs.

Cheryl Crawford, prosecuting for the probation service, said Jones had previously been sentenced to eight weeks, suspended for 12 months with 120 hours unpaid work for the community for assaulting a police officer.

He was inducted on August 1 and should have attended his first payback work session on August 4 but failed to do so. He also missed the second payback work appointment he was given on August 18.

Jones had phoned his probation officer to say he had an infected finger and was going to a walk-in medical centre, but he did not prove the required evidence for this.

So far he had done just one hour of the payback work and had 119 hours to go.

James Curtis, 34, drink-driving

Pier ride worker James Curtis estimated he was eight-out-of-ten on a scale of drunkeness when he got behind the wheel of his car at 4am.

Curtis, 34, of Crystal Road, South Shore, had downed between 15 and 20 drinks with friends- some of the drinks were spirits.

Curtis was spotted driving by police and arrested but when he was taken to Blackpool police station he refused to give a breath sample as required by the law.

Curtis admitted the refusal and was banned from the roads for 18 months.He must undertake 120 hours unpaid work and do 10 rehabilitation days.

The court heard from his lawyer Howard Green that Curtis felt he had been roughly treated by the police when he was arrested and that was why he failed to co-operate.”

“He has been completely honest and knows he was over the limit,” said Mr Green.