Bolton: Men's first court appearance charged with child sex offences

All 13 men were brought before Bolton Magistrates' Court this week charged with various offences allegedly committed against girls under 16-years-old.

Brought in groups of threes and fours each of the 13 men looked on from the dock as proceedings unfolded.

Peter Williams, prosecuting, said: "I will invite your worships to allocate this case to Bolton Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing."

He said the alleged offences were too severe to be dealt with at the magistrates' court.

Ashley Darbyshire, 26 of Bolton Road, Westhoughton, Daniel Flatters, 32 of Darcy Lever, Bolton, Jamie Fitzgerald, 34 of Crossdale, Road, Bolton and Richard Haslam, 34 of Fir Avenue, Bolton were the first four brought into the dock.

Darbyshire, Flatters, Fitzgerald and Haslam (Image: PA)

Darbyshire was charged with 14 offences, including five counts of rape of a girl under the age of 16, seven counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16, three counts of inciting a girl under the age of 16 to engage in sexual activity.

Flatters was charged with a total of four offences including one count of rape of a girl under the age of 16, two counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and one count of aggravated vehicle taking and injury caused by accident.

Fitzgerald was charged with one count of sexual activity with a girl under 16.

None gave any indication of guilty or not guilty pleas as the magistrates passed the case on to the crown court.

Linfoot and Corley (Image: PA)

Next to be brought in were Jack Poulson, 29 of Hill Lane, Blackrod, Michael Linfoot, 22 of Holt Lane, Chorley and Ross Corley, 28 of Station Road, Blackrod.

Poulson was charged with 10 offences, including four counts of rape of a female under 16, five counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and one count of sexual communication with a girl under the age of 16.

Linfoot was charged with one count of rape a girl aged 13/14/15 while Corley was charged with two counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.

Again the men gave no indication of pleas and the case was passed on to the crown court, found in the same building on Black Horse Street, Bolton.

Brandon Harwood, 23 of Queen Street, Horwich, Corey Barrett, 22 of Inwood Drive, Wigan and Harvie Aspden, 23 of Deansgate, Bolton were the next three to be brought in and again gave no indication of guilty or not guilty pleas.

Harvie Aspden (Image: PA)

Harwood had been charged with three counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16.

Barrett was charged with a seven offences including three counts of rape of a girl under 16, two counts of sexual activity with a girl under the age of 16 and two counts of sexual assault of a girl under the age of 16.

Aspden charged with three counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16.

Their case was passed along with those who preceded them to be heard at Bolton Crown Court.

Turner, Rae and Hesketh (Image: PA)

Finally, Elliott Turner, 34 of Old Mill Lane, Bolton, Thomas Rae, 21 of Longfield Avenue, Chorley and Callum Hesketh, 22 of Barnet Crescent, Chorley were brought into the dock.

Turner was charged with a single count of rape of a girl under the age of 16, while Rae was also charged with one count of rape of a girl under the age of 16.

Hesketh was charged with one count of making an indecent photograph or pseudo-photograph of a child. 

Once again, no indication was given and magistrates passed the case on the crown court.

All 13 men will now appear at Bolton Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on later this year.

Until then each were granted bail on the same terms.

As part of their bail, each of the 13 men was ordered to stay at their addresses, to have no contact with any girls under 16 years old, to not have any co-association with each other and to not have any contact with the alleged victims.

They have also been ordered to stay away from an address in Blackrod.

Their next hearing is set for Wednesday, May 10 2023.