A round up of cases heard at Northumberland’s courts this week

The cases appeared in this week's Hexham Courant.

Hexham

A MAN has denied assaulting a police officer after being accused of drink driving.

At Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 19, Kier James Pearson (28), of Deneside Court, Newcastle, pleaded not guilty to assaulting an emergency worker, drink driving and driving without a licence.

It is alleged that, on April 11 this year, Pearson was driving on the A69 at Hexham when he had 60 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitre of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

It is also alleged that Pearson drove without holding a valid licence.

The defendant is also accused of assaulting a police constable on the same date.

He will stand trial at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on September 30.

Prudhoe

A MOTORIST will be sentenced after failing to stop after an accident.

At Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 24, Michael Edward Earl (34), of Western Way, Blaydon, admitted failing to stop after his vehicle caused damage to a Blue Hyundai on the A695 at Prudhoe on December 11 last year.

He will be sentenced at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on June 14.

Prudhoe

A MOTORIST more than three times the legal drink drive limit has been given a suspended jail term.

At Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on May 19, Robert William Blakeburn (49), of Biverfield Road, Prudhoe, was sentenced to 10 weeks in custody, suspended for 18 months, after admitting a charge of driving with excess alcohol.

On October 19 last year, Blakeburn was driving on Wylam Wood Road, in Wylam, with 123 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mg.

Blakeburn had denied the charge at an earlier hearing, but changed his plea to guilty.

In addition to the suspended jail sentence, he was ordered to abstain from alcohol for a period of 40 days.

Blakeburn was banned from driving for four years, and he must pay court costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £128.

Haydon Bridge

A TEENAGER rubbed dog sick into his girlfriend's hair during an assault, a court has heard.

At Newcastle Magistrates' Court on May 21, Jordan Armstrong (19), of Tyne View Close, Haydon Bridge, was found guilty of assaulting his girlfriend of the time last October. He had denied the charge.

The court heard that Armstrong was giving his ex-girlfriend a lift from Wark to Corbridge on October 27 when their dog was sick on towels which lay on the back seats.

During cross-examination by prosecutor Gurjot Kaur, Armstrong admitted rubbing the dog sick in his ex-girlfriend’s hair. His ex-girlfriend then rubbed the towels of dog sick in Armstrong’s car, Miss Kaur said.

Armstrong said he called her a “dirty minger” and a “dirty tramp”. Armstrong’s ex-girlfriend had alleged he had called her a racial term, but magistrates said the assault could not be proved to be racially aggravated.

The defendant told the court he grabbed his ex-girlfriend with both wrists “because she started kicking my legs and scratching me”. He continued to say his ex-girlfriend had headbutted him.

Miss Kaur said Armstrong's ex-girlfriend had headbutted him but only because she wanted him to let go of her wrists.

Ian Cassidy, defending, said restraining someone was generally a defensive act.

"The aggressor is the one that headbutts, that's got to be the position," Mr Cassidy added.

Mr Cassidy said Armstrong had never been arrested nor been in trouble before.

Armstrong had also been charged with assault by beating on October 8 at Wark, but magistrates found there was insufficient evidence of this assault.

The 19-year-old did admit a charge of sending an electronic communication, namely a Snapchat video, which conveyed a message what was indecent or grossly offensive.

The court heard Armstrong had called his ex-girlfriend highly offensive and racially aggravated names.

Mr Cassidy said Armstrong "very much regrets" what he said in the Snapchat message.

In total, the magistrates ordered Armstrong to pay £865 in fines.

He was also issued a restraining order, preventing him from contacting his ex-girlfriend directly or indirectly.

The restraining order is valid for six months.