A MAN who crashed a car into a house after a 110mph police chase, a man who stabbed someone who had stolen his bike and a thug who crashed a motorbike while evading police were among those sentenced in court in April.
Here is a look back at four of the most court cases we covered during April.
Anthony Eccleston
A drunk who molested a woman on a bus avoided prison.
Anthony Eccleston got on the 10A bus heading from Liverpool towards St Helens at 10.20 am on September 29 last year.
After initially sitting near her he then moved to sit next to her and trapped her with his outstretched legs. He tried to kiss her and said, “Why don’t you kiss me? It’ll make your day.”
He tried to kiss her but she moved her head away and he kept trying to hold her hand and touched her on the shoulder.
When she reached her stop in Warrington Road, Prescot, she managed to push past him and he said he would try to find her on Facebook.
He handed himself into police after officers put pictures from the bus CCTV in the local media.
Eccleston, of Albion Street, St Helens, pleaded guilty to sexual assault.
On April 10 at Liverpool Crown Court a judge sentenced him to nine months imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered him to carry out 20 days of rehabilitation activities, and 80 hours unpaid work.
He also imposed a 90 alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement, ordered him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and imposed a five year restraining order.
Read the full story here.
James Rogers
A “CONTROLLING and jealous” thug who crashed his motorbike while speeding to evade police has been sent to prison.
James Rogers, 24, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via video link from HMP Altcourse on Thursday afternoon to be sentenced.
The court heard that at around 5.15pm on Monday, September 25 last year police patrols on Park Road in St Helens who had responded to an “unrelated incident” came across the defendant who was riding a motorbike into Ashcroft Street.
He drove off “at speed” from the police and eventually collided with the front of a van at Parr Stocks Road after travelling between the vehicle and the pavement.
Meanwhile, in relation to separate matters, Rogers, formerly of Hurst Park Drive, Huyton, had pleaded guilty to offences of stalking controlling and coercive behaviour, ABH and threatening to disclose a private image.
He was sentenced to 28 months for the separate matters and a three-month consecutive term for the dangerous driving, making a total of 31 months.
Read the full story here.
Jack Watson
A man who crashed into a house narrowly missing an elderly lady sleeping after a 110mph police chase over a distance of 20 miles was jailed.
The 35-year-old defendant Jack Watson was seriously injured in the crash, having ‘floored it’ to evade capture and travelling at more than three times the speed limit on 30mph roads.
The pursuit ended when Watson came to a T-junction at the end of Upholland Road, where Main Street meets Wigan Road in Billinge, and failed to make the turn, colliding with a garden wall, car parked on the driveway and eventually a house.
The car hit the house just metres away from a bedroom window in which an elderly lady suffering with dementia was sleeping at the time.
Officers found the Seat ‘severely damaged’, and Watson ‘severely injured’ and needed intensive care in hospital.
Watson, of Hartfield Avenue in Brighton, was sentenced to 18 months immediate imprisonment at Chester Crown Court.
He was also disqualified from driving for 30 months, and he must pass an extended retest before getting behind the wheel again.
Read the full story here.
Reece Lowndes
A MAN was jailed after he stabbed and attacked another man who was riding his stolen bike.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Reece Lowndes and Connor Richards saw another man, James Gregory, riding a bicycle that had been stolen at around 4pm on Tuesday, September 12 last year.
After seeing Gregory cycling along Cooper Street, a BMW 1 Series drove into the back of him and Lowndes got out of the vehicle and proceeded to attack him.
Lowndes was seen delivering a "high kick" to Gregory, as well as numerous blows and kicks after he had fallen to the ground.
The 22-year-old was also stabbed in the back before Lowndes fled the scene on his bicycle.
Lowndes, of Chiltern Road, Parr, was given a 42-month sentence for the offence of wounding with intent, reduced to 33 months following his guilty plea.
He was also given a 20-month sentence for the possession of a bladed weapon, although this was handed concurrently, making his overall sentence 33 months in jail.
Connor Richards, 27, of Bridge Road in Prescot, had also pleaded guilty to wounding with intent but his sentencing was adjourned to a later date.
Reda the full story here.
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