Court in review, part two: Serial shoplifters, caravan park chaos and dangerous drivers

Countless offenders across West Norfolk were punished at Lynn Magistrates’ Court this year.In the second of a special two-part report, we take a look back at some of the stand-out cases from 2024.Various benches of magistrates heard some shocking cases this year, but here are some of the ones that stood out the most from July to December…

JULYAlan and Wendy Robinson appeared in court after a barrage of abusive language saw them harass a neighbour at their caravan park home.The couple spoke to the Lynn News earlier this year about the matter, which started when Mr Robinson was accused of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control. He was subsequently acquitted. However, at the start of May, he and his wife were arrested following a disturbance at the caravan park – and they appeared at the Lynn court in July.The court heard that at around 4pm on May 2, police received a phone call reporting that the couple were making threats to a woman and her partner at the site. Despite being asked to calm down on multiple occasions when officers arrived at the scene, they continued to shout words such as “f**k”, “w**kers” and “b**tards” – leading to their arrests.Mr Robinson, 53, admitted using threatening or abusive behaviour to cause harassment or distress, while Mrs Robinson, 45, pleaded guilty to a similar offence where she was likely to cause harassment or distress.Magistrates handed Mrs Robinson a six-month conditional discharge. She will also pay a £26 victim surcharge and £40 in court costs. Meanwhile, Mr Robinson will pay a £120 fine, £48 victim surcharge and £40 in costs.Also in court in the same month was Paul Simper, who pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal when he appeared at the Lynn court.The court heard that shortly before midnight on October 31, Simper and one other man arrived at J & I Motor Engineers on Valingers Road.They entered the building with an intent to steal, and smashed a window in the process. Nobody was in the building at the time. His case was adjourned.AUGUSTThe month began with prolific shoplifter Rochelle Baxter facing a spell behind bars for her most recent spate of offences.Baxter, who is no stranger to the courts, had carried out a stealing spree in May and June, and appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced for those offences. She had mainly targeted supermarkets and corner shops, stealing an array of items including meat, laundry pods and clothing.Magistrates sent Baxter to prison for 12 weeks, with the defendant calling magistrate William Hush a “real piece of work” as she was escorted out of the dock.Lynn Magistrates’ Court also heard how a 39-year-old who had hidden drugs for his friend had performed CPR on him for 35 minutes in an unsuccessful attempt to save him.Despite his heroic actions, William Loasby appeared at the town court for having heroin and cocaine in his possession, after being seen by police hiding the drugs in a garden shed. Loasby was fined for the offence after he told the bench that his motivations to hide the drugs were so that his friend wasn’t arrested.“I did CPR for 35 minutes until the ambulance got there. I didn’t know that my friend was going to die,” Loasby said.SEPTEMBERA teenager admitted that he had indecent images of children on his phone as well as another photos showing extreme animal pornography. Magistrates ended up deciding that their sentencing powers would not suffice to punish 19-year-old Lucian McNamara, of Terrington St Clement, when he appeared before the Lynn court in September.McNamara was caught after Norfolk Police received information about a Snapchat account associated with an email address which in turn was associated with the defendant.The Snapchat account had a category C image of a child. Police executed a search warrant at McNamara’s address on February 14 2023 when a number of electronic devices were seized including an iPhone.McNamara’s phone was examined and was found to contain various indecent images of children including category A – the worst kind.
The Lynn court also heard in September how a 69-year-old grandmother admitted stalking her ex-partner after she was seen peering into the windows of his home.Karen Cattle, of Syderstone, sent numerous messages to the man declaring her love for him as well as visiting his property, despite him moving out of her property and making it clear he no longer wanted any contact with her.Cattle’s solicitor told the court that the grandmother was “in love” with the man and that she was “deeply wounded” that the relationship had ended.She was handed a 12-month conditional discharge for the offence. OCTOBERScott Manning was described as a “detriment to the community” when he appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court in October.The prolific shoplifter, who has been in court on numerous occasions, had this time stolen alcohol in an attempt to pay off a debt to drug dealers.Manning, of Gaywood, had more than 50 previous convictions to his name and avoided going back to jail.On July 22, he stole items including alcohol and meat valued at £387.18 from Waitrose in Swaffham.Then, on September 17, he stole £421 worth of alcohol from Tesco in Lynn. The goods were recovered, but the court heard Manning had stolen them in a bid to pay off his debt to a drug dealer.
Manning was instead handed a six-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months.In October, the Lynn court also heard how 19-year-old Matthew Dexter had called his step-father a “black c**t” as well as causing criminal damage to two of his cars.The teenager had grabbed bathroom tiles and slung them at the vehicles as well as making the racially aggravated insult.Damage was caused to the bodywork of both cars and quotes for the repairs were £2,665.44 for the Mitsubishi and £1,543.15 for the Mercedes.The court heard how Dexter had shown no empathy and had not apologised for his actions.Dexter was handed a conditional discharge and ordered to pay compensation back to pay for damage caused to the cars.NOVEMBER Another of Lynn’s most prolific offenders, Leon Dowd, appeared in court in November, due to be sentenced for a total of seven offences.Lynn Magistrates heard how Dowd had crushed a prison officer’s hand, by headbutting it, causing long-lasting effects on the woman causing her to have to spend months off work due to the injury.Dowd was remanded in custody after breaking into a flat on Norfolk Street and attempting to steal a TV.He also broke into a car and stole two mobile phones before attempting to sell them at a pawn shop.Dowd has also admitted to several shoplifting offences, many of which he stole alcohol.Magisrates decided that their sentencing powers were insufficient to punish Dowd, of Dodsman Close in Lynn and decided to send him to Norwich Crown Court for sentencing.A fine was handed to a Hunstanton chef who attempted to run away from police when they were trying to arrest him.Nazer Hussain, 38, was first brought to the attention of police after a woman had called officers to report that she was being followed by two men.Police arrived in the vicinity and approached Hussain, who began shouting and swearing loudly in the street.He was asked to leave the area by the officer and Hussain told them that he was going home.However, he walked back and started shouting and swearing at the police officer, who then went to arrest him.Hussain started to run away from the police officer, who then called for back-up. Hussain, who had a total of 34 previous convictions to his name, was later arrested.The court heard that Hussain came to Hunstanton from London to lead a “quieter” life.He was fined £300.DECEMBERMotorcyclist Ivan Andrews appeared in court after admitting causing a crash with another biker which saw the victim suffer several injuries.The other biker had to have one of his fingers amputated after Andrews, of Lynn, decided to overtake on the A149.Andrews was driving at the speed limit of 60mph and had “clear visibility” at the time of driving, despite it being “dark”.The victim who was crashed into suffered from numerous injuries that have had long-lasting effects on their life.The driver had to have his little finger amputated and suffered from numerous fractures in other fingers.He also suffered a fracture to his right knee, which had to be realigned and stabilised during an operation.Andrews’ solicitor told the court that “there was no criminality with this, this was an accident”.He will be sentenced next year for the offence he committed more than two years ago.26-year-old Lucy Whittington was sentenced this month after pushing a 65-year-old over at Lynn’s bus station, causing her to fracture her spine earlier this year.The 65-year-old woman, had asked a group of people to turn down the music they were playing through a speaker.The group continued playing the loud music when the woman approached the group and swung her bag at one of Whittington’s friends.Whittington then grabbed the woman’s shoulders and pushed her away, causing the woman to fall to the floor.She was handed a community order and ordered to pay compensation to the woman she pushed.