The following cases were heard at Reading and Slough Magistrates’ Courts:

June 29
JOSHUA HESLEHURST, 27, of Mabett Close, Wokingham, admitted drink driving on Eversley Road, Wokingham, on June 1, 2021. Caught with 68 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35mcg per 100ml. Banned from driving for 18 months. Fined £300 and ordered to pay court fees of £119. 

July 1
FRASER HILLMAN, 34, of North Chase, Bracknell, admitted assault by beating in Ascot on December 12, 2020. Given a conditional discharge for 18 months. Ordered to pay compensation of £300 and court fees of £107. 

July 2
DARIUSZ SAROTA, 39, of Station Road, Wokingham, convicted of two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, two counts of racially aggravated harassment, and one count of criminal damage to a property, namely a night desk at Shell Petrol Station, in Wokingham on January 1, 2020. Sentenced to prison for 26 weeks due to the severity of the offences due to spitting. Ordered to pay compensation of £300 and court fees of £628. 
THOR FREEBORN, 25, of Matthews Court, Ascot, convicted of travelling on a railway without having paid a fare in Reading on December 15, 2020. Fined £220, ordered to pay compensation of £3.90, and made to pay court fees of £214. 
REBECCA GOSDEN, 18, of Balfour Crescent, convicted of travelling on a railway without having paid a fare in Reading on December 15, 2020. Fined £280, ordered to pay compensation of £9.20, and made to pay court fees of £214. 
STEPHEN EMMERSON, 34, of Warfield Park, Bracknell, admitted two breaches of a non-molestation order in Bracknell in May 2021 by sending a letter and Facebook message. Community order made and must undertake 80 hours of unpaid work. Ordered to pay court fees of £180. 

A fundamental principle of justice is that it must be seen to be done. 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.