THE FOLLOWING cases were heard at Reading and Slough Magistrates’ Court:

February 5:

METHEMBENI KATSH, 21, of Illingworth Grove, Bracknell, convicted of not having a valid train ticket for travel in Reading on August 14, 2020. Fined £220. Also ordered to pay £6.20 compensation. Must pay £34 victim surcharge and £180 court costs.

JOSEPH CLIFFORD, 26, of London Road, Ascot, convicted of travelling on a Great Western Railway Service without having paid the £17.60 train fare in Reading on August 10, 2020. Fined £440. Also ordered to pay £17.60 compensation. Must also pay £44 victim surcharge and £180 court costs.

ROBERT CLARK, 50, of St Andrews, Bracknell, admitted breaching a restraining order in Bracknell on January 7, 2021. Sentenced to 12 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months due to severity of offence and previous breaches. Also ordered to pay £128 victim surcharge and £95 court costs.

February 11

David Gavin, of Comfrey Close, Wokingham, was given a community order after being caught drink driving in Maidenhead in August 2020. The 39-year-old was caught driving a BMW 1 Series while having 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, exceeding the limit of 35mg per 100ml of breath. Gavin was told to pay a victim surcharge of £95 and costs of £85, as well as being handed a 40 month driving ban at Reading Magistrates Court. 

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