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

Carlisle plumber kicked cannabis and took up yoga and skateboarding

A CARLISLE plumber caught with cannabis worth more than £3,000 has admitted selling the class B drug to fund his habit.

But Paul Joseph Watson, 36, has now turned his life around, and is no longer using the drug after switching to a healthier lifestyle that regularly features yoga and regular skateboarding, the city’s crown court heard.

The defendant, from Briscoe, near Carlisle, was prosecuted after police raided his home in June, 2020, as part of an investigation into a people smuggling plot.

Penrith woman narrowly escapes jail for attack after 'provocation'

A PENRITH woman narrowly escaped jail for a violent street assault after a judge ruled that there had been "substantial provocation." 

The woman who was assaulted by 33-year-old Nikita Betts later suffered flashbacks as well as a long-lasting physical injury to her arm, though the defendant claimed that resulted from the woman's later attempt to correct her dislocated shoulder.

North Cumbrian teen who was 11 when he abused four-year-old sentenced

A TEENAGER from north Cumbria teenager who began sexually abusing a four-year-old girl when he was eleven has been put on the Sex Offender Register.

An earlier court hearing was told that the 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, twice raped the girl. He admitted five offences.

Those offences - all but one relating to the same girl - were the rapes, inciting the same victim to engage in sexual activity on at least ten occasions; making indecent 12 photos of the same child; and voyeurism involving a female adult.

Carlisle man flouted court order by speaking to woman

A CARLISLE man who was previously accused of hitting his partner with an iron bar flouted a court’s order by speaking to her.

George Kirkpatrick, 46, who admitted breaching the order, came to the attention of the police on September 4 after officers who were on patrol spotted him sitting on a wall outside a Wigton Road pharmacy with the woman as he talked to her.

Council worker caught near Carlisle with £180k amphetamine consignment

A LOCAL authority worker stopped by police as he drove along the M6 in Cumbria was transporting £13,000 of ‘criminal cash’ and amphetamine worth £180,000.

Craig Molyneux, 31, admitted his wrongdoing when he appeared at Carlisle’s Rickergate court.

Carlisle sex offender's phone app 'inadvertently' flouted court order

A SEX offender from Carlisle “inadvertently” breached his sexual harm prevention order by downloading file-management software on to his phone.

The app that police found on the device owned by Stuart Ramshaw, 47, could also be used as a “file cleaner” and to give the user access to a “secure” online storage facility – though there was no evidence he had used the phone for anything illegal.

Intoxicated man rode e-scooter dangerously in Whitehaven town centre

AN INTOXICATED west Cumbrian man drove dangerously towards oncoming traffic on an e-scooter in Whitehaven town centre.

The high-risk journey undertaken by 34-year-old Scott Foster, who refused to heed commands to pull over from police officers, was eventually halted when a constable who was chasing after him pulled him off the machine.

Carlisle teenager drove dangerously as he fled from police

A TEENAGER who drove at three times the speed limit in a residential area of Carlisle as he attempted to evade the police has admitted dangerous driving.

The defence barrister who represented 19-year-old Joel Oxley at the city’s crown court said he “acted impulsively out of fear” when he committed the offence on the evening of October 28 last year.