A woman has been ‘given another chance’ after twice breaching a court order.

Belinda Bateson, 38, of Wentbridge Road, Bolton, had initially been given a community order after being caught with an offensive weapon in a public place nearly three years ago.

But she was brought back before Bolton Crown Court after missing two office appointments that she had been expected to keep as part of her sentence.

Judge Elliot Knopf said: “It is in your interest to cooperate with the probation service, if you cannot attend it is essential that you contact them and explain.”

Katherine Wright, prosecuting, explained that Bateson had been charged with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place in November 2019.

She was brought before Bolton Crown Court on January 25 where she was given a 12 month community order.

But, Ms Wright explained, Bateson had missed appointments on June 21 and July 19 without warning the service beforehand.

Nicholas Ross, defending, said that his client apologised for finding herself before the courts again but argued that keeping to these appointments was very difficult for a mother of teenage boys.

He said: “She has her hands very full, it’s very challenging.”

Aside from that he said that she had tried her best to make sure that she obeyed the rulings that the court had made the last time.

Mr Ross told the court how on June 21 Bateson had issues with school transport, while on July 19 one of her sons had been ill, meaning that she was unable to attend the scheduled meetings with the probation service.

But he maintained that other than the missed appointments there had been no other issues and that since the initial incident in November 2019 she had not committed any other offences.

Judge Knopf decided that the community order should still stand and told her to be sure to keep in touch with the probation service.

He said: “I’m giving you a chance now, don’t throw it back at me, don’t throw it back at Mr Ross and certainly don’t throw it back at the probation service.”