SLUMPED AT WHEEL: A pensioner found slumped at the wheel of her car had drank more than twice the legal alcohol limit, magistrates heard.

Joy Aline Lynn, of Private Drive, Thingwall, admitted drink-driving in Barnston Road, Heswall, in November.

A blood test showed 167 milligrammes of alcohol. The permitted level is 80.

Lynn was fined £75 plus £80 costs and was disqualified from driving for 17 months.

She was offered a probation course which if completed successfully will cut the ban by a quarter.

She was offered a probation course which, if completed successfully, will cut the ban by a quarter.

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CANNABIS DISCOVERED: Cannabis was found on a young man stopped and searched by the police.

Ashley Busch, 23, of Lees Avenue, Birkenhead, admitted unlawful possession of the Class B controlled drug when he faced magistrates.

In court he said it was worth £5 and he knew he should not have had it. He was fined £75 plus £100 costs and the cannabis seized was forfeited.

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WOMAN BAILED: Magistrates bailed a 43-year-old woman until March 16 for trial.

Kim Bevan, of Falkland Street, Birkenhead, denied an allegation of theft of perfume worth £39 from TJ Hughes store at Grange Precinct in November.

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POLICE FOUND DRUGS: Police who noticed a strong smell of cannabis after stopping a vehicle recovered two bags of the drug and a grinder from a passenger, magistrates were told by prosecutor Amanda Cullen.

Lewis Michael Abbott, 19, of Fenderside Road, Prenton, admitted unlawful possession of cannabis bush and the grinder containing bush.

He was fined £70 and also had to pay £100 costs.

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THEFT CHARGE: A young man said to be unfit to attend court was bailed in his absence for a fortnight by magistrates.

Steven John Atkin, 20, of Old Chester Road, Birkenhead, is charged with theft of a £140 digital recorder from Asda at Birkenhead on January 12.

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BOUGHT DIAMORPHINE: A 46-year-old man questioned over drugs tried to swallow the evidence but was prevented from doing so by a police officer, magistrates were told.

Raymond Beattie, of Hornby Road, Bromborough, admitted unlawful possession of diamorphine which he said he bought for £60 for his own use.

Magistrates fined him £75 and he had to pay £100 costs.

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BENEFITS CHARGE: Magistrates bailed an Oxton man for two weeks to allow a Department of Works and Pensions prosecutor to attend.

Kenneth Carey, 55, of Lorne Road, is charged with failing to notify a change of circumstances which he knew would have affected his entitlement to income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit between December 2007 and November last year.

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NOT GUILTY PLEA: Mark Phillip Haynes, 21, of Mostyn Gardens, Parkgate, and Kyle David Mearns, 20, of The Woodlands, Birkenhead, were remanded on bail until March 22 for trial by magistrates.

They pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempting to enter premises in Grange Road, Birkenhead, with intent to steal in late November.

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STOLE TRAILERS: Trailers taken from a day care centre in Heswall were later recovered in North Wales after police followed a tracking device fitted to one of them, magistrates heard.

Neil Ellis, 44, of Alwen Drive, Bagillt, admitted two charges of theft of a tipping trailer and a flat-back trailer worth £6,000 at Oldfield Road, Heswall.

It was said he acted in a moment of madness, but magistrates said there was a degree of planning. They bailed Ellis for two weeks for a probation report before sentence.

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HARASSMENT CHARGE: Trevor Fletcher, 53, of Borrowdale Road, Bebington, appeared before magistrates on a harassment allegation.

He was conditionally bailed for two weeks at the request of his solicitor without a plea being entered.

He is charged with pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to harassment between December 16 and December 27 last year.

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