Latest convictions from Blackpool Magistrates' Court - Monday, February 25, 2019

Darren Dale, 40, possession of a stun-gun

A man accused of possessing a stun-gun has made his first appointment at court.

Darren Dale, 40, of Reads Avenue, Blackpool, is alleged to have manufactured the weapon himself on or before April 14 last year.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, asked for the case to be heard at crown court.

Defence lawyer, Leisa Stuart, said her client would not indicate a plea to the offence at that stage.

Dale was remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on March 20.

Ryan Gorman, 29, attempted robbery

A man making his first appearance on a charge of attempting to rob a man of a BMW 5 car fainted in the dock after being remanded in custody.

Ryan Gorman, 29, of Kincraig Place, Bispham, is accused of committing the attempted robbery on December 22 last year.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said the case must be heard at crown court.

Defence lawyer, Mitch Sarangi, did not ask for bail for his client.

Gorman was remanded in custody to appear at Preston Crown Court on March 20.

Proceeds of Crime hearing

Police have been given permission by a court to keep £10,540 cash they seized for another six months while they make further investigations.

The application to detain the cash was mader under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Jamie Robinson, 35, of Talbot Road, Blackpool, opposed the application saying the cash was his and obtained legitimately.

Lancashire police financial investigator, Annabelle Foden, told magistrates that on February 2 police stopped a car on the resort’s Tennyson Road and arrested the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence of cocaine and cannabis.

Mr Robinson and a woman were passengers in the car which had a metal cash box in the footwell.

Mr Robinson said the box was his and produced the key. The box contained £10,540.

The police investigator said Mr Robinson said the cash was from pawn shops he owned and that he was going to Scotland to buy two dogs for £300 each.

He also said the cash was part of a £300,000 inheritance the female passenger had and that the money was part of a student’s loan for a masters degree he was doing.

Mr Robinson had seven previous drugs-related offences to his name and in 2014 for possession with intent to supply crack cocaine he got a 27 months prison sentence.

Mr Robinson told magistrates: “I haven’t been in trouble for over five years and I have turned my life around.

“I have several businesses. It is all legitimate money.

!I have asked the police to let me bring bank statements in to prove it, but they have just blanked me.”

Olivia McNeil, 32, theft

A woman stole from shops because she had no money to get gas and electricity.

Olivia McNeil, 32, of St Heliers Road, South Shore, pleaded guilty to two offences of theft.

She was sentenced to a four weeks curfew from 9pm to 7am and ordered to pay £85 victims’ surcharge.

Prosecutor, Pam Smith, said McNeil took security tags off groceries and vodka valued at £25 and walked out of Asda, Cherry Tree Road, on December 2, without paying.

On January 11, McNeil stole four packs of cheese and two baby bottles costing £21 from B and M Bargains.

McNeil had a record of 63 previous offences and was on post prison sentence supervision at the time of the thefts.

When interviewed, she said she was struggling for money and she had no gas or electricity.

She had even tried begging in the street.

Michael Woosnam, defending, said McNeil and her partner of 16 years had been having problems with their benefits which put a lot of financial pressure on them.

McNeil had once had a drugs problem but since leaving prison last year she had stopped taking illegal drugs.

Bogdanel Oprea, 22, breach of airport banning order

A man accused of breaching an airport banning order has had the case against him dropped.

Bogdanel Oprea, a 22-year-old Romanian, of Osborne Road, South Shore, had pleaded not guilty to re-entering London’s Gatwick Airport within 24 hours, other than as a bona fide passenger, after being asked by a police officer to leave the airport on March 13 2017. Prosecutor, Pam Smith, told the court that Oprea had provided evidence relating to his mental health. In the light of that the Crown felt it was not in the public interest to proceed with the case and offered no evidence.

Blackpool magistrates formally dismissed the case against Oprea.