Scales of Justice: Latest cases from Oxford Magistrates' Court

CHARLES POTTER, 61, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the terms of the sex offender register. He failed to notify police of a name change and that he had a new passport. The magistrates sentenced him to eight weeks imprisonment suspended for two years. He must pay a £128 victim surcharge.

ANGELO SOPRANI, 36, of Farm Close, Kidlington, was found guilty of failing to provide a specimen of blood for analysis having been arrested on suspicion of committing a traffic offence. He was banned from driving for two years, must do 200 hours of unpaid work, pay £2,000 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service and pay a £95 victim surcharge.

MARK GILL, 42, of Bartlemas Road, Cowley, was banned from Templar Square, Cowley, as a condition of his bail after he pleaded guilty to stealing goods from Superdrug on December 3 and assaulting three people and using racially-aggravated threatening behaviour on the same date. He will be sentenced on February 2. The magistrates ordered the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

JAMES WOODWARD, 44, of Haines Court, Marcham, admitted assaulting a woman and man in Marcham on March 18 last year. He changed his plea, having previously denied the two offences. He was given a two year community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, up to 30 rehabilitation activity days and a requirement to complete the building better relationships probation course. A restraining order prevents him from contacting his female victim until January 2024. He must pay her £100 compensation, £300 costs and a £95 victim surcharge.

LEWIS WOOTTON, 39, of Rose Hill, Oxford, pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and assaulting two police officers, racially-aggravated threatening behaviour, theft of £35-worth of goods from the Co-op, assaulting his partner and breaching a suspended sentence order. He was jailed for a total of 28 weeks, with magistrates noting that he had a history of violent offending and the assault on his partner was committed while he was subject to a suspended sentence for biting her in public.

PATRICK KEENAN, 27, of HMP Bullingdon, admitted making off without paying for a £7.95 breakfast in June last year, assaulting a woman on the same date, stealing brandy from the Oxford Wine Company and failing to comply with a suspended sentence imposed for shoplifting. He was jailed for 26 weeks.

JOHNNY ALMEIDA, 41, of Oxford Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to speeding in Reading. He was caught doing 35mph in a 30 zone. He was fined £100 and given three points. However, the magistrates spared him from having to pay a victim surcharge or costs, noting in the court record that the case should have been dealt with by way of a fixed penalty ticket and it was not in the interests of justice to impose a surcharge or prosecution costs.

DANIEL BRACKETT, 43, of Field Avenue, Oxford, admitted breaching a domestic violence protection order by attending a property and saying to the woman inside that he was collecting his belongings. The domestic violence protection order preventing him from going to the address was made two days earlier, on January 7. The magistrates fined him £50.

BRANDON DAY, 26, of Faulkner Street, Oxford, was found guilty of speeding on Eynsham Road, Oxford, on January 10 last year. He was caught doing 39mph in the 30mph limit. The magistrates also found him guilty of speeding on the A41 at Bicester on February 18, when he was caught doing 61mph in the 40 zone. He was fined £100 and his driving record endorsed.

APPALE ADOUM, 35, of HMP Highpoint, pleaded guilty to assaulting two prison officers in Norfolk. He was given four weeks imprisonment and must pay £100 compensation.

CORAN BATEMAN, 35, of Mill Close, Charlton on Otmoor, admitted failing to comply with the requirements of a suspended sentence by skipping probation appointments in September and October. The magistrates jailed him for 15 weeks, activating part of the 20 week suspended sentence imposed in February last year for breaking into the Papillon Fish Bar, Bicester, with intent to steal and going equipped for theft. He also pleaded guilty to taking a white Skoda Octavia without consent and driving it carelessly, without a licence or insurance and refused to give police a blood specimen. He was fined £240, ordered he pay £119 in costs and surcharge and banned him from driving for a year.

GORDON BAKER, 55, of Gladstone Road, Oxford, was found to have been driving in Mill Lane on June 24, 2021, while using a hand-held mobile phone. He was fined £220 and must pay £124 in costs and surcharge. The magistrates imposed six penalty points.

BENJAMIN BETTERIDGE, 20, of Wessex Road, Didcot, was fined £324 and given six points after he admitted driving a black Peugeot 207 on the A4130 Didcot Link Road last July. He was ordered to pay £124 in costs and surcharge.

ALPHONSE BYAJE, 60, of Hollow Way, Oxford, was found to have driven in Ivy Close, Oxford, without a licence or insurance. He was fined a total of £880, given six penalty points and must pay £178 in costs and surcharge.

DULCE DE ALMEIDA, 32, of Napier Road, Oxford, was fined £880 for driving on Hollow Way, Oxford, without a licence or insurance on October 11 last year. He must pay £178 in costs and surcharge and was given six points.

ADAM HAMILTON, 36, of Orchard Way, Banbury, was found to have driven a BMW in Edmunds Road without a licence. He was fined £220, given three points and must pay £124 in costs and surcharge.

MOHAMAD HASSAN, 39, of Groundwell Road, Swindon, pleaded guilty to driving on Woodstock Road, Oxford, at 51mph – more than 20mph above the 30mph speed limit. He admitted speeding and was fined £260, given six points and ordered to pay £124 in costs and surcharge.

VALERIAN IROFTEI, 52, of Mason Street, Wolverhampton, was found to have driven down Banbury Road, Oxford, without insurance and when not wearing his seat belt. He was fined £880, given six points and must pay £178 in costs and surcharge.