King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court hears of pensioner slapping officer, samurai sword owner and dangerous Swaffham police chase
A number of criminals appeared in the dock last week – including police-slapping pensioners and dangerous provisional drivers.
Lynn Magistrates’ Court dealt with crooks of all ages on Thursday, from 18-year-old Danny Burrell-Saban, who was involved in a high-speed police chase, to 76-year-old Jennifer Carter, who smacked an officer in the face.
Read more about them, as well as other defendants, below…
Danny Burrell-Saban, 18, of Merryweather Road in Swaffham, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without the proper licence on the A1065 in Swaffham.
He was making turns “recklessly”, heading the wrong way down a one-way street, driving the wrong way around a roundabout and overtaking vehicles on narrow roads.
Burrell-Saban claimed he “panicked” when police approached him and he “just didn’t think” before speeding away.
Magistrates handed him a 24-week sentence, suspended for two years, as they wanted to give him another chance since he has a baby on the way and he is “highly spoken of at work”.
Pensioner slapped police officer in the face to ‘protect disabled sister’
Jennifer Carter, of Burch Close in Lynn, pleaded guilty to assaulting an emergency worker.
The incident took place on August 20 when police attended a property in Lynn to arrest the defendant’s sister.
Carter, who was there at the time, became aggressive when they apprehended her sibling and proceeded to push an officer, hit his body-worn camera and slap him in the face – though he admitted there was “not a lot of force”.
In mitigation, solicitor Kate D’Aloia said that the defendant was under the impression that the police visit was just a welfare check and “did not expect” her sister to be taken away.
Carter was ordered to pay £80, alongside a victim surcharge of £32, court costs of £85 and compensation of £50 to the officer.
Prisoner to serve no extra time despite drink-driving a stolen luxury car
Mindaugas Grizas, 36, who is currently imprisoned at HMP Hull, appeared via video link in at Lynn Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to driving while above the alcohol limit.
Prosecutor Jodin Gherra said the incident took place at around 2.30am on April 7 at Necton.
Officers were patrolling the A47 when the defendant drove past in a car that matched a Mercedes S500, which had been reported missing earlier that day.
When they arrested Grizas, police conducted tests at the station, which revealed he had 83mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system. The legal limit is 80mg.
Magistrates handed Grizas a 48-month driving ban and said his current imprisonment will serve as part of his punishment.
He will also have to pay £85 and complete an extended driving test once his ban is over.
Factory worker claims he has ‘learned his lesson’ after drug-driving on main road
Reece Farrer, 22, of Juniper Drive in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, pleaded guilty to drug-driving.
He was pulled over by police on Queen Elizabeth Way in Lynn on March 20, with “pre-rolled spliffs” and cannabis found inside his Ford Fiesta.
Tests revealed he had 6.3mcg of the Class B drug per litre of blood in his system. The legal limit is 2mcg.
In mitigation, solicitor George Sorrell said he “could not speak highly enough” of the clothes Farrer was wearing in the courtroom – black Corteiz cargo trousers, a white polo shirt and Air Jordan 4 Black Cat trainers.
Magistrates banned Farrer from driving for 12 months.
He will also have to pay a £345 fine, a £138 victim surcharge and court costs of £85.
Carpenter caught drink-driving after argument with girlfriend
Raven Power, 21, of Downham Road in Crimplesham, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The incident, which took place on May 11 this year, saw Power’s parents receive a call from his sister to say he had driven off in his Vauxhall Astra following the quarrel.
After efforts were made to find him, the family resorted to calling the police, but Power returned home moments later.
Police arrived and tests revealed he had 108mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system – the legal limit to drive is 80mg.
Magistrates handed him a 14-month driving ban as well as a £120 fine.
He will also pay a victim surcharge of £48 and court costs of £85.
Motorcyclist crashed head-on into BMW while drink-driving on wrong side of road
Ashley Britton, 28, of Archdale Street in Lynn, appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court, where he pleaded guilty to the offence.
Prosecutor Jodin Gherra said the incident took place at around 11.30pm on May 23 this year when he was riding a Honda NSC 110 along Blackfriars Road in Lynn and crashed into a BMW, leaving its windscreen shattered.
Britton fled the scene, but returned ten minutes later to check on the driver as he was “scared, worried and shocked”.
Officers arrived, and tests revealed he had 134mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system. The legal limit to drive is 80mg.
The offence put him in breach of a two-year suspended sentence handed to him in January 2024 for criminal damage and battery.
Magistrates have released him on unconditional bail, and he is set to appear at Norwich Crown Court to be sentenced the week commencing November 3.
In the meantime, an interim disqualification has been imposed, which will last for six months or until he is sentenced.
Man had illegal samurai sword in home and put fist through car window
Jonathon Short, 44, of Walpole Road in Lynn, appeared in court via video call from custody and pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon, as well as one count of criminal damage.
Police were sent to Short’s home on March 5 to arrest him for a separate matter, and while searching the property, they found a samurai sword with a 70cm blade sitting on top of his wardrobe.
In an interview, he told officers that it was a decorative piece.
Five months later, on August 17, Short was involved in a group street fight and was caught on CCTV punching and shattering the back window of a SEAT Ibiza.
Given Short was already in custody, they sentenced him to two extra days behind bars – one for each charge.
The sword is also set to be forfeited and destroyed.
Man bought driving licence on Facebook – but ‘never thought it could be fake’
Audrius Pranckevicius, 36, of Lynn Road in Downham, pleaded guilty to possession of a false identity document.
The DVLA received an application on January 24 to convert the foreign licence into a UK one, but upon inspection, it believed it was counterfeit.
Officials confirmed the suspicions, and police were sent to Pranckevicius’ home address to arrest him.
The defendant, who declined legal representation, told magistrates he had sent the licence off to get a new one as a driving ban he received in 2020 had ended – but he had “no idea” that it was a fake.
Pranckevicius was handed a £415 fine and will also have to pay a victim surcharge of £166 and court costs of £85.
Design engineer caught with cannabis at McDonald’s
Alex Reardon, 29, of Sandy Lane in Dereham, pleaded guilty to possession of the Class B drug.
He was caught when officers were patrolling parts of Swaffham on November 4 last year, and caught a whiff of cannabis coming from Reardon’s car.
They followed the vehicle as it pulled into McDonald’s, and a search revealed two bags of the drug.
Magistrates handed Reardon a six-month conditional discharge and ordered the drugs to be forfeited and destroyed.
He will also have to pay a victim surcharge of £26 and court costs of £85.
Woman snapped police car handle and assaulted officer during ‘panic attack’
Deimante Zigmantiene, 37, of Frieston in Fairstead, pleaded guilty to criminal damage and assaulting an officer.
The Lithuanian national was being arrested for a separate matter on April 6 this year, but on the way to the station, she started shouting and screaming.
Officers asked her to calm down, at which point she removed her seat belt, saying she “couldn’t breathe” and refusing to put it back on.
Police were forced to pull over, and Zigmantiene requested that they open the window more, but they said no.
The defendant then used “heavy force” on the door handle, and police heard a snap as it broke.
When searched at the station, Zigmantiene would not remove her jewellery, and as one officer took hold of her wrist to lead her to a cell, she swung round and grabbed them back, leaving a scratch.
Magistrates handed her a number of fines, including £120 for the assault, a £48 victim surcharge, £85 in court costs, £50 in compensation to the officer and a further £274.93 for the broken handle.
_pluginManager.setTargetValue(“articleID”, “9436466”);
var comments = new Comments.CommentBox({ siteName: “Iliffe Media”, groupName: “Iliffe Media”, pageId: 1005590, pageSize: 20, pagePath: “/news/pensioner-slaps-officer-teen-in-high-speed-police-chase-an-9436466/”, collapsible: true, showHeaderCount: false, showToggleCount: true, theme: “cb-default-theme”, links: { rules: “https://www.iliffemedia.co.uk/house-rules/” } });
Source: www.lynnnews.co.uk