The following cases were heard at Reading Magistrates’ Court

April 8:

Helen Chapman, 40, of London Road, Newbury, admitted to drink driving and received a community order. She will be required to take part in a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement for a maximum of 15 days and an Unpaid Work Requirement of 100 hours over the next 12 months. She was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 44 months, ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £85.

Tracy Fraser-Peters, 29, of Norwood Road, Reading, admitted to failing to provide a specimen for analysis and received a community order. She will be required to take part in a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement for a maximum of 10 days and an Unpaid Work Requirement of 40 hours over the next 12 months. She was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 24 months, ordered to pay costs of £400 and a surcharge of £85.

Louis Jay Turner, 20, of Norcot Road, Tilehurst, admitted to possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class B, namely cannabis, and received a community order. He will be required to take part in a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement for a maximum of 20 days and an Unpaid Work Requirement of 180 hours over the next 12 months. He was ordered to pay costs of £250 and a surcharge of £85. An order was made for the destruction of the drugs.

April 9:

Christopher William Flynn, 48, of West Street, Newbury, admitted to harassment - breach of a restraining order and two counts of commission of a further offence during the operational period of a suspended sentence. He was dealt with for original offences of breaching a restraining order. he was committed to prison for a total of six months and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £115.

Darren Anthony Grant, 42, of Cressingham Road, Reading, admitted to driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit. He was fined £86 and disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £30.

April 10:

Mohammed Ahmad Umar Ahmed, 33, of Newcastle Road, Reading, admitted to driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit and driving a mechanically propelled vehicle on a road/in a public place without due care and attention. A community order was made and he will be required to complete an Unpaid Work Requirement of 80 hours in the next 12 months. He was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 18 months and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £85.

April 11:

David Neil Page, 57, of Eskin Close, Tilehurst, denied being the owner/person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, causing injury, and was found guilty. A community order was made and he must take part in a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement for a maximum of 20 days. He was also ordered to pay compensation of £1,000.

Dyllan Nathan Baptiste, 19, of Franklin Street, Reading, admitted to possession a controlled drug of Class B, namely Cannabis/Cannabis Resin. He was fined £246, ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £30.

Nicholas Thomas Crabb, 58, of Lulworth Road, Reading, admitted to drink driving and received a community order. He will be required to take part in a Rehabilitation Activity Requirement for a maximum of 10 days. He was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 24 months, ordered to pay costs of £50 and a surcharge of £85.

A fundamental principle of justice is that it must be seen to be done. It is established in the UK that court cases should be heard in public.

The principle of open justice is acclaimed on a number of grounds: as a safeguard against judicial error, to assist the deterrent function of criminal trials and to permit the revelation of matters of interest.