The Stray Ferret spent the day at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (March 6).

We sat through a full day of hearings, which included cases of drink-driving, theft and possession of a knife. 

You can read reports on three cases below. 

A Harrogate man appeared in court charged with possessing a knife blade/sharp pointed articled in a public place.

Jamie Kinloch, of Nydd Vale, denied the charge.

Court documents allege Mr Kinloch had a large kitchen knife in his possession on Station Parade in Harrogate on January 6.

The 50-year-old will face trial at Harrogate Magistrates Court on July 17. 

Man admits stealing DVD box set from Harrogate shop

Carl Blackmore, of Spa Lane in Harrogate, pleaded guilty to one count of theft from a shop.

Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting, told the court Blackmore was seen entering the HMV store in the Victoria Shopping Centre on CCTV on January 11.

The 36-year-old defendant selected a DVD box set to the value of £79.99 and left the store.

He was identified by a police officer through CCTV footage, the court heard.

Ms Ibbotson added Blackmore then entered CEX, but he was quickly identified and the goods were retrieved.

Andrew Tinning, defending, told the court the theft “was a stupid thing to do”.

Blackmore wanted to make some money at CEX, the court heard.

Mr Tinning added the offence happened at a time in which Blackmore was committing other offences, but he hoped that has now stopped. 

The magistrates gave Blackmore a 12-month conditional discharge.

He was also ordered to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £26 surcharge. 

Man disqualified after drink-driving between Ripon and Harrogate

A North Lanarkshire man appeared in court charged with drink-driving.

Gerald Martin, of Currieside Place, pleaded guilty to the offence.

Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting, told the court police officers were taking a prisoner from Ripon to Harrogate at around 7pm on February 20.

The court heard when officers reached Wormald Green, they saw a car driving in the middle of the road.

The car sped up and slowed down on the A61 at South Stainley.

Ms Ibbotson said the car veered into the centre lane and narrowly missed an HGV.

As officers were carrying a prisoner, they called for assistance. The court heard the car was eventually stopped in Killinghall and Martin – the driver – was arrested.

Martin, who was described as being “very chatty” at the police station, gave a breath sample which recorded 56 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Andrew Tinning, defending, told the court Martin was in the area for work.

The 72-year-old defendant worked as a machinery driver on construction sites and was working at the soon-to-be Tesco Superstore site in Harrogate at the time. 

The court heard Martin was sleeping in his car while he was in the area, due to bed and breakfasts being “cost-prohibitive”, and parked his car in a Ripon car park.

Mr Tinning said Martin usually does not drink during the week, but on the evening of the incident he had “a couple of pints at the pub”.

He told the court Martin lives at a property owned by his parents-in-law, but his wife passed away. At the time of the incident, he had recently learned he may not be able to continue to live there. The court heard this was one of the reasons he decided to go to the pub. 

When Martin returned to his car that evening, he saw a group of people near his car and decided to drive to Harrogate and park near to where he was due to work the following day.

Mr Tinning said the defendant was “pretty ashamed of himself” and has chosen not to drive again in the future – even after his disqualification ends.

The court heard Martin worked for the same company for 40 years, but he has since stopped working due to the incident.

Martin was banned from driving for 16 months. He was also ordered to pay a total of £289 to the court.