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Screenshot from video taken of the Halifax fire Picture: SUBMITTED A TOWN centre man has appeared in court accused of setting fire to the Halifax bank. Charles Bacchus Laforest, 58, is said to have poured accelerant and set the fire that caused £17,000-worth of damage to the Bridge Street branch. Prosecutor Rachel Bailey said the bank was shut for at least seven days after the fire on February 1, 2020. She asked the magistrates to send the case to the crown court. Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court this morning, Laforest, of Albion Street, entered no plea to a single charge of arson.
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Gary Steptoe outside Swindon Crown Court A FORMER addict caught selling crack and heroin to an undercover cop has been given a suspended sentence. Gary Steptoe, 41, was given a chance to prove himself in January, when Judge Peter Crabtree deferred his sentence for three months. The Park North man was ordered to comply with any instructions from the probation service and continue working with addiction charity Turning Point. Steptoe returned to Swindon Crown Court on Friday and Judge Peter Crabtree imposed a 20 month prison sentence suspended for a year. The judge said: “Given the circumstances and that this is dealing on one day in unusual circumstances I deferred sentenced on the basis of the conditions I indicated, having said that the normal starting point would be three years.
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Man, 21, previously jailed for burgling stately home warned he could go back to custody A CONVICTED burglar who in 2019 was caught hiding behind a curtain by the owner of a stately home was warned he faced jail – after he admitted drug dealing and possession of indecent images. Thomas Trickey, 21, was sent to a young offenders’ institution for 20 months two years ago after he admitted burgling the Cirencester Park mansion. Then 20, Trickey was caught hiding behind a set of curtains by aristocrat Lady Sara Bathurst, who grabbed him by the collar, marched him to the kitchen then called the police. She later told the court that she and her husband needed to feel safe in their own home, but the burglar had “shattered that illusion” of safety.
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MacHardie outside Swindon Crown Court A SEX offender spared jail in 2016 has been warned he faces a custodial sentence – after he was caught with child sex abuse images. Callum MacHardie, who had been downloading the illegal material since he was 12, was given a community order five years ago after a judge heard he was suitable for a three year sexual offender treatment programme. He now awaits sentence for similar offences; downloading indecent images of children and using a computer network capable of hiding his web activity from the authorities. MacHardie, 30, had been expected to be sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on Tuesday morning.