A WINSFORD man charged with criminal damage and assaulting his mum and brother has had his case kicked out of court.

Joshua Coombs, of Pinewood Road, faced three counts of assaulting his brother by beating, one of causing actual bodily harm to his mum, and two counts of criminal damage to his brother’s car and to a neighbour’s fence.

However neither his mum or brother turned up for the hearing and Coombs was found not guilty.

All the charges arose from a single incident alleged to have occurred in Winsford on May 6, 2023.

The 22-year-old denied all the charges before Warrington magistrates on October 10, 2023, and a trial date was set for Monday, February 12.

However, the case was thrown out when Coombs' mum and brother, who were witnesses for the prosecution, failed to show up at court.

Prosecuting, Lynne Sayers asked for the case to be adjourned and the witnesses to be summonsed, however Simon Dunne, defending Coombs, objected.

“If my client had not turned up at court today, this trial would have proceeded in his absence and a warrant would have been issued for his arrest,” he said.

"It it therefore in the interests of justice to allow the trial to proceed today."

Chairman of magistrates, Graham Griffiths, agreed with Mr Dunne, and the trial went ahead.

However, as Miss Sayers was unable to produce any witnesses, the bench kicked the case out of court.

Addressing Coombs, Mr Griffiths said: “As the prosecution is offering no evidence today, all six charges against you have been formally dismissed.”