The Stray Ferret spent the morning at Harrogate Magistrates Court yesterday (November 7).

We sat through a full morning of hearings, which included cases of assault and drink driving.

You can read reports on three cases below. 

Hampsthwaite man Daniel Clark, 40, has pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker.

Prosecutor Mel Ibbotson told the court police were called to Sandwith Moor Plantation at Norwood Edge on October 17.

Clark became aggressive, the court heard, and started banging his head against the inside of a vehicle.

Police managed to get him out and tried to restrain him, to stop him from hurting himself, and he then assaulted an officer. 

The court heard Clark was taken to Harrogate District Hospital, where he swore at staff in front of members of the public. For this, he was also charged with using threatening or abusive language/behaviour likely to cause harassment or distress.

Shah Ahmed, defending, said Clark, of High Street in Hampsthwaite, was on medication for pain in his back and was struggling with “personal problems” at the time of the incident.

“Things had just got on top of him," Mr Ahmed said, but Clark accepts his behaviour was unacceptable.

A probation officer told the court Clark struggles with anxiety and binge drinking, but he had not had a drink for more than a month, and no longer takes his medication due to the previous negative impact it had on his mental health. 

Clark was sentenced to an 18-month community order, which requires him to complete 20 rehabilitation days.

He was also made subject to an alcohol abstinence monitoring order, and must pay a £114 surcharge, £85 in costs and £50 in compensation. 

Man without licence took friend for a drive to ‘calm down’

Duncan Halliday, of Meadow Vale in Green Hammerton, pleaded guilty to three offences yesterday.

He was charged with driving above the alcohol limit, driving without a licence and using a motor vehicle on a road or public place without third party insurance.

Ms Ibbotson told court police saw the wheels of a Vauxhall Astra “sparking” whilst driving on the A59 on October 20.

Two occupants – Halliday and another male – were in the car at the time. Halliday admitted to police the car was not his and that he did not have a driving licence or insurance, Ms Ibbotson said.

Officers could smell alcohol, and a road-side breath sample showed Halliday had 73 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath – more than double the legal limit.

Andrew Tinning, defending, told the court Halliday and his partner had a couple of drinks at their house that night. The male friend had become “lairy”, the court heard, so Halliday took him on a drive “until he calmed down”.

The defendant was disqualified from driving for 20 months.

The magistrates also ordered Halliday to pay a £140 fine, a £56 surcharge and £85 in costs. 

Knaresborough woman ‘back to square one’ after drink-driving

Kimberley Winterburn, 27, of Nora Avenue, Knaresborough, admitted three driving-related offences in court yesterday.

She was charged with drink-driving, and not having  insurance or a driving licence.

Prosecutor Ms Ibbotson told the court police noticed a Fiat Punto driving at “excess speed” on Forest Moor Lane on October 17.

Winterburn was pulled over and asked to provide a breath sample, as police could smell alcohol. She had 46 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath – the legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Peter Minnikin, defending, told the court Winterburn had not eaten that day and then drank a “large Moretti”.

She wanted a cup of tea, but she had no milk, so she drove to the shop to get some, the court heard. 

Mr Minnikin said Winterburn has since lost her job because of her “foolish actions” on October 17 – and she is now “back to square one”.

The court heard:

The magistrates disqualified Winterburn from driving for 12 months, which will be reduced if she completes a drink-driving rehabilitation course.

She was also ordered to pay a £120 fine, a £48 surcharge and £85 in costs.