HERE'S a round up of some of the biggest court cases to have taken place in Carlisle and West Cumbria this week. 

 

Carlisle man who illegally contacted his ex is jailed

A CARLISLE woman’s former boyfriend twice breached a court order which had banned him from contacting her.

As the result of a court restraining order that was imposed in 2016, following his conviction for an actual bodily harm assault on the woman, Stephen Wilkinson, 40, was barred from having any contact with her.

But between November 11 and 13 last year, the defendant flouted that order by phoning the woman a number of times, prosecutor Daniel Bramhall told Carlisle Crown Court.

 

Carlisle man fiddled £24,000 benefits after pressure from drugs barons

A CASH-STRAPPED Carlisle man illegally claimed £24,000 in benefits because drugs criminals put him under pressure to settle a debt, a court heard.

Thomas Thompson, 43, continued to dishonestly claim housing benefit and job seeker’s allowance for three years without telling officials that he was earning money from a variety of jobs.

At the city’s Rickergate court, the defendant, of Scalegate Road, Carlisle, admitted two benefit fraud offences.

Prosecutor George Shelley said Thompson committed the offences between June 18, 2018, and November 12, 2021, illegally claiming just under £12,000 in job seeker’s allowance and £12,378 in housing benefit.

 

Workington woman's drug dealing result of 'pressure' over debt

A WORKINGTON woman was “pressured into” dealing heroin and cannabis because her partner owed a drugs debt.

Sophie Porter’s offending was discovered in December, 2020, after police raided the caravan she was living in and a shed nearby, finidng heroin worth an estimated £2,000 and cannabis with a street value of £200.

They also found £480 cash.

The 26-year-old defendant, formerly of Oldside, Workington, pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and cannabis with intent to supply and possessing criminal property, the cash from selling the drugs.

 

Workington man who has fled the UK convicted of attempted rape

A WORKINTON man who has fled the country has been convicted of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a woman.

Alan Adam, 38, who had pleaded not guilty to the two allegations, had been due to testify in his own defence but he failed to turn up for his trial at Carlisle Crown Court and the case went ahead without him.

It took the jury 90 minutes to return guilty verdicts on both charges, relating to events that happened in Workington on February 19, 2020.

 

Brampton man, 29, sentenced over indecent child images offences

A JUDGE told a Brampton man prosecuted for downloading and distributing indecent child images: “Behind every image that is made and distributed is a child who has been sexually abused.”

Judge David Potter made the comment as he sentenced 29-year-old Jon Bamkin for two offences which he admitted: downloading two Category C abuse images and distributing Category B abuse images.

Prosecutor Brendan Burke said the offences came to light when police raided the defendant’s then home in Carlisle in September, 2021.

 

Michael Celmins caught drug driving at Penrith during murder trial

A NORTH Cumbrian man serving a jail term for helping two convicted murderers has been put back before a court - for drug driving.

Michael Celmins, 33, committed the offence less than a week after the trial began at Carlisle Crown Court of Kane Hull and Liam Porter, who were later convicted of brutally murdering 24-year-old Ryan Kirkpatrick.

At the city’s Rickergate court, Celmins, from Irthington, appeared before magistrates via a video link from prison, entering a guilty plea to driving while over the limit for cocaine.