HERE are some people from Taunton and nearby areas who have been sentenced in Magistrates' Court.
Layla Friend, 18, of Bishops Hull, Taunton, was sentenced for assault by beating following an incident in Taunton on September 19, 2026.
Friend pleaded guilty to assaulting a woman by beating her.
She was fined £200 and ordered to pay £350 compensation to the victim. No order was made for costs.
James Morgan, 47, from North Street, Wellington, was sentenced for racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment/alarm/distress following an altercation on March 7 this year.
The court heard that Morgan used threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with the intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress in Taunton.
Morgan indicated a guilty plea on October 26, 2026, and was convicted the same day. Magistrates fined him £200 and ordered him to pay £500 in compensation to the victim.
Matthew Bethell, 21, from West Buckland near Wellington, was sentenced for failure to provide a specimen for analysis when he was stopped while driving through Taunton on July 24, 2026.
Bethell pleaded guilty and was disqualified from driving for 16 months. The ban can be reduced by 16 weeks if he successfully completes an approved drink-drive rehabilitation course by September 5, 2027.
He was also ordered to pay £60 in costs, a surcharge of £160 and a fine of £400.
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