Here are the latest cases from the region’s courts:
TRENT VALE: Forty-eight-year-old Jason Chatterton has been banned from the roads for 17 months after he failed to provide a specimen of breath. North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard police were called to a crash outside the Marquis of Granby pub, in Penkhull, at 11.30pm on November 27.
Prosecutor Suzanne Swindail said: “The report stated a vehicle had collided with a lamppost. Police attended and located a Vauxhall Corsa on the pavement. It had significant damage to the front and nearside of the vehicle. A man was in the driver’s seat and the ignition was on. Police opened the vehicle door and a smell of intoxicating liquor hit them. They asked him to turn off the key and get out of the car. He appeared to be very unsteady on his feet and was slurring his words. In custody he blew into a machine and did provide one sample but failed to provide a second one.”
Chatterton, of Woodberry Close, Trent Vale, pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis.
James Hulse, mitigating, said: “He cooperated with the police. He provided the first specimen but was not able to provide enough breath for the second. The first made him feel sick and dizzy. He was not able to blow into the tube. It was not deliberate. He left the pub, turned the corner, and hit the lamppost. He has no previous convictions and is genuinely remorseful.”
Magistrates fined Chatterton £200 and ordered him to pay £85 costs and an £80 surcharge. His ban will be reduced by 17 weeks if he completes a drink-drivers’ rehabilitation course.
BURSLEM: Banned driver Shaun Thomas has been disqualified for 42 months after he was caught behind the wheel. North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard the 32-year-old was seen driving a Ford Mondeo, on Scotia Road, in Burslem, on October 19.
When stopped he refused to provide a drugs wipe. In custody he failed to provide a specimen of breath and a specimen of blood.
Thomas, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified; failing to provide a specimen of breath for analysis; and failing to provide a specimen of blood for analysis.
Tony Cooke, mitigating, said Thomas made the ‘stupid decision’ to drive to a food bank after being banned for six months.
Magistrates sentenced Thomas to a two-year community order with 160 hours unpaid work and a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement. He was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 surcharge. His ban will be reduced by 42 weeks if he completes a drink-drivers’ rehabilitation course.
LEEK: Pensioner Andrew Terry has denied a charge of failing to comply with the notification requirements of the Sex Offenders’ Register. The 69-year-old, of Grosvenor Street, Leek, is alleged to have failed to complete his annual notification with the police on November 5. His trial will be held at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on September 26 and his bail was extended.
BURSLEM: Twenty-seven-year-old Holly Tooth, of Moorland Road, Burslem, has pleaded guilty to stalking without fear, alarm or distress. She has also admitted sharing a photograph or film of a person in an intimate state, intending to cause alarm, distress or humiliation. Tooth will be sentenced at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on April 9 and her bail was extended until that date.
CHEADLE: Teenager Harry Pagett has admitted causing serious injury by careless driving. The 18-year-old, of Stone Road, Bramshall, struck an elderly woman, on Tean Road, in Cheadle, on January 6, causing her to be hospitalised. Magistrates adjourned the case and Pagett will learn his fate at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on April 7 after a report has been prepared on him by a probation officer. He was bailed and made the subject of an interim driving ban.
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