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

December 15

TONY SIMPSON-WILLIAMS, 53, of Furzebank, Ascot, admitted driving under the influence of Methylamphetamine on the A505 Hitchen Road on February 10, 2020. Banned from driving for 16 months. Fined £600 and made to pay £260 in court fees. 

December 16

CARL WHITMAN, 41, of Finchampstead, Wokingham, convicted of possession of a pocket knife and admitted to possession of a red multitool blade on Sheerlands Road in Arborfield on October 21, 2021. Committed to prison for four months suspended for 12 months due to the severity of the offence. Made to pay £306 in court fees. 

December 20

GARY HARMSWORTH, 33, of Reading Road, Finchampstead, Wokingham, admitted drink driving, driving without insurance and driving without a licence on Bagshot Road, Bracknell on November 25, 2021. Caught with 128 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35mcg per 100ml. Committed to prison for ten weeks. Banned from driving for three years. Made to pay £213 in court fees. 
MEENA GHAI, 27, of Bay Road, Bracknell, admitted assaulting a police constable in Maidenhead on September 5, 2021. Fined £200 and made to pay £119 in court fees. 

December 22

MATTHEW BLANEY, 30, of Pembroke, Bracknell, admitted drink driving on Oxford Road, Reading, on June 19, 2021. Caught with 40 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the limit being 35mcg per 100ml. Banned from driving for 12 months. Fined £200 and made to pay £169 in court fees. 

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.