Weekly round-up of court cases in Carlisle and West Cumbria

Man convicted of assault after holding child upside down by the ankles

A man has been found guilty of assault after he held a child upside down by the ankles during a music class. Sean Haythornthwaite, 38, pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault by beating but was convicted by District Judge John Temperley following a trial at Workington Magistrates’ Court.

READ MORE: Man held child upside down by the ankles in Seascale

Woman drunkenly assaulted three police officers after night out

A woman has been given a 120-day alcohol ban after she admitted drunkenly assaulting three police officers during a night out in Carlisle.

Yvette Hodgkinson, 39, admitted the three offences which happened after door staff at the city's Truth bar called the police at 2am on April 30 following reports that she was laying on the floor 'screaming and shouting.'

READ MORE: Carlisle woman assaulted police officers after night out

'I’ll knock every one of you out', rowdy drunk told hospital nursing staff

A rowdy Carlisle hospital patient assaulted a nurse after telling staff members: “I’m the best fighting man on this planet.”

Elijah Ali, 32, caused a disturbance when he attended the Cumberland Infirmary’s accident and emergency department on April 15.

Ali was seeking treatment for his alcoholism, the city’s magistrates’ court was told. “He was described as being highly intoxicated,” said prosecutor George Shelley.

READ MORE: Carlisle man jailed after assaulting an emergency worker

Lucy Avilez, inset, engaged with a police officer during the incident at the Crown & Mitre

Mum punched PC in the stomach after drugs found on husband

A mum punched a police officer and was then found in possession of illegal drugs as trouble flared at a hotel.

Lucy Avilez, 38, committed three offences on Monday, February 28 this year during a trip to Carlisle.

A district judge at the city’s magistrates’ court was told both Avilez and her husband had been drinking at the Apple Tree pub on Lowther Street just before 5pm.

READ MORE: Woman admits assault of PC at Carlisle's Crown & Mitre hotel

Judge sets sentence date for man who has admitted rape

A young Carlisle man has pleaded guilty to an offence of rape.

Ryan Neale, 23, who appeared before the city’s crown court via a video link from a prison, formally entered his guilty plea to the offence, which he committed on October 14 last year. Defence barrister Kim Whittlestone said that at the time, Neale appeared to have an issue with drugs and alcohol.

READ MORE: Carlisle man, 23, pleads guilty to rape

Online paedophile hunters snared sex offender weeks after his release from jail

A Workington paedophile who was jailed in 2020 was trawling the internet to ask schoolgirls for sex within weeks of his release from prison.

The latest offending of 23-year-old Joshua Sibbald was exposed thanks to the work of two volunteer paedophile hunter groups, who deployed decoys posing as girls aged 13 and 14, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

The defendant, of Salterbeck Drive, Workington, admitted eight counts of attempting to sexually communicate with a child and three of downloading child abuse images, including three classed as Category A, the most serious.

READ MORE: Workington man wanted sex with girls aged 13 and 14

Drug dealer 'sent for lie detector test'... after 'losing' £500,000 cocaine haul

Drug barons sent a Carlisle criminal for a lie detector test because they suspected he had stolen a car in which they had hidden cocaine worth almost £500,000.

The Ford Focus with its high-value cargo was seized because it was untaxed and uninsured - but Carlisle man Aaron Giacopazzi, 35, who was working for the criminals, claimed they wrongly accused him of stealing it.

At Carlisle Crown Court, he accepted that he was dealing drugs but insisted he was involved in selling only half a kilo.

READ MORE: Drug bosses 'sent Carlisle's Aaron Giacopazzi for lie test '