An ‘unruly’ drunk, shoplifters and drug-drivers among those in court last week

Several shoplifters as well as drink and drug-drivers were present in court last week.They accompanied a stalker who pressured his former partner to “stop the silly legal crap” and a 62-year-old who had an unlicensed taxi business.Find out below who was in court last week and what crimes they committed…

Former treasurer of archaeological project avoids jail after stealing more than £100K from charityPamela Bent, 65, of James Close, Lynn, appeared at Norwich Crown Court for sentencing earlier this month. She received a two-year prison term, suspended for two years.It came after she pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and two counts of false accounting at the same court in August. The charges related to her time as treasurer of Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP) between July 3, 2019, and August 3, 2023.The total amount of money involved was around £115,000. Bent was ordered to pay £61,626.46 in compensation to SHARP. According to the BBC, the court heard that Bent had a “gambling addiction” and told police she had “borrowed” the money from the charity to pay her mortgage.Stalker pressured former partner to ‘stop the silly legal crap’A stalker who tried to pressure his former partner into dropping court action against him has been jailed. John Cassidy, 69, of Oak Drive in Outwell, contacted the victim through a dating app on March 4 and asked her to “stop the silly legal crap”, proposing they meet up so they could discuss the case.Cassidy first began stalking the victim in May 2023 after they had split up and turned up at her house in Huntingdon, while he also sent letters and called family members.Cassidy was jailed for ten months, having pleaded guilty to stalking, harassment, and witness intimidation.23-year-old disqualified after drug-driving moped through town It is not the first motoring offence that 23-year-old Chad Cook had committed, nor the first time he had been caught with cannabis.Cook appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he pleaded guilty to drug-driving and possession of a Class B drug.On the evening of June 8, Cook was seen speeding along Newlands Avenue in North Lynn on a moped.Police stopped him and conducted a search, discovering 0.3g of cannabis in his pocket. He appeared unrepresented in court and had very little to say about his actions.“I was just driving around – that was it really,” he said.Cook, of St Edmundsbury Road in North Lynn, was disqualified from driving for 14 months and fined £120.Covert investigation uncovered 62-year-old’s unlicensed taxi business West Norfolk Council officers had received information that Kevin Turner, 62, from Little Massingham, was operating an unlicensed private hire service in the Massingham area.They booked journeys with him and he drove them in his vehicle, not knowing they were council officers.Turner did not attend his hearing at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on October 9, but he was found guilty on all charges.The court fined him £1,100 for the offences and imposed costs and victim surcharges of £1,040. Eight penalty points were added to his driving licence. Shoplifter who moved to town from Latvia ‘had no ambition of becoming a criminal’ Guntis Osans, of Gaywood Road in Lynn, admitted three counts of theft from a shop when he appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday.He was subsequently handed a fine for committing the offences.Prosecutor Abdul Khan said that on September 4, Osans entered Home Bargains in Lynn, took two cans of cider worth £2.44 and left without paying. The next day, he went into Food Warehouse on the Campbells Meadow industrial estate and stole a bottle of red wine worth £6.25.He then entered QD Stores in the town centre and pinched two more bottles of alcohol worth £3.98.‘Alien’ behaviour after drinking made man ‘obstructive’, ‘unruly’ and ‘aggressive’ Zilvinas Dzelaveckas, 48, of Hall View Road in Gaywood, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted refusing to provide a specimen for analysis. Crown prosecutor Abdul Khan said that on August 24 at 10.40pm, police stopped Dzelaveckas on Tennyson Road in Lynn with suspicions that he was drink-driving.He was asked to carry out a breath test but refused.He was arrested for refusing to provide a specimen and was acting “aggressively” throughout the ordeal.Dzelaveckas was handed a 12-month community order which will require him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.57-year-old shoplifter breaks five-year clean streak by stealing sunglassesJamie Michelson, who had a history of committing 70 thefts between 1983 and 2019, was back at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.He admitted stealing a pair of sunglasses from Boots in the town centre, as well as damaging a pair from the same store.The offence took place on the afternoon of September 12, when he was captured on CCTV putting the glasses, worth £12, into his pocket and leaving without paying.He was also witnessed damaging another pair of sunglasses when attempting to remove a security tag.Michelson, who owes almost £3,000 in court payments, was this time handed a 12-month conditional discharge by magistrates.21-year-old from ‘good family’ became addicted to cocaine and was caught drug-driving David Moyle, 21, of South Wootton Lane in Lynn, admitted drug-driving on Hardwick Road on June 6 when he appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.Moyle had 139mcg of benzoylecgonine – a cocaine breakdown – in his blood. The legal limit to drive is 50mcg.Moyle was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £383.Woman smashed hippo ornament and phone during visit to ex-partner’s homeThe woman, aged in her 20s, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where she admitted causing criminal damage and using threatening words to cause alarm or distress.Prosecutor Abdul Khan said that on August 30, the woman visited her ex-partner’s mother’s property in Swaffham, where an argument broke out.It was during this argument that she smashed a large hippo ornament, grabbed her ex-mother-in-law’s mobile phone, which was hanging from her neck, and threw it on the floor.The Lynn News is not naming her due to these ongoing legal proceedings.Magistrates ordered that the woman pay a £26 victim surcharge, and did hand her a 12-month conditional discharge.No laughing matter for 23-year-old caught inhaling nitrous oxide while driving Martin Rooney, a disqualified driver, had 12 canisters of nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas – when driving on Clenchwarton Road on May 4.He pleaded guilty to possession of a Class C drug, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance when he appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.Prosecutor Abdul Khan explained that a member of the public called the police after spotting Rooney inhaling a canister while driving.Magistrates handed Rooney a 12-month community order, meaning he will have to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.Rooney, of The Orchards in Gedney, Lincolnshire, will also have six points added to his licence and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114.Drug-driver was ‘distracted’ when caught speeding after dropping partner at hospitalAndre Da Silva was driving on the A148 in West Rudham at 8.45pm on June 20 when he was stopped by police officers carrying out speed checks.When they spoke to Da Silva, they noted that both he and his car smelt like cannabis.Da Silva, of Bell Close in Little Snoring, provided a reading of 5.4mcg of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol – a cannabis breakdown – per litre of blood. The legal limit to drive is 2mcg.Da Silva was disqualified from driving for 14 months and fined £120. He will also pay a victim surcharge of £48.Alcoholic intended to return to pub immediately after court appearance for drunken rampage“I would like to say I’m guilty, but I don’t think I was p***ed”.Those were the words of an alcoholic who shouted, swore and was abusive to members of the public last month.Thomas Bowers, 30, of Legge Place in St Germans, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted being drunk and disorderly in Lynn town centre on September 6.Despite suggesting he may not have been drunk, he soon confessed to magistrates that he had been drinking heavily the night before – and then had three ciders before 12.30pm on the day of his offence.Magistrates fined Bowers £56.Disqualified driver moved partner’s car a ‘short distance’ before getting into crashGetting behind the wheel again while banned led Christopher Andrews, 39, of Innisfree Park Homes in Bawsey, to Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.At 7.30pm on September 10, Andrews was involved in a minor crash near Gaywood Clock.Andrews admitted driving while disqualified, as well as having no insurance.Mitigating, duty solicitor George Sorrell told the court that Andrews and his partner were at her father’s wake at The Wildfowler pub.“She had a couple of drinks and he took the decision that it was not right for her to drive,” Mr Sorrell said.Andrews was disqualified from driving for a further 12 months and was fined £383.