Five men in court for ‘GBH plan’ near Burnley town hall (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Five men in court for ‘GBH plan’ near Burnley town hall

4:11pm Friday 27th January 2012 in News

FIVE men have appeared in court facing violence charges after an alleged incident outside Burnley Town Hall a year ago.

Edward Stokes, 32, from Pheasantford Street, Burnley and James Aldren, 22, from Dalton Street, Nelson are accused of conspiracy to commit GBH.

Three other men Edward Joseph Stokes, 39, Thomas Stokes, 34, and Michael Stokes, 45, all from Cheshire also face the same charge.

All five were arrested after police raids at addresses in Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside and West Yorkshire on Wednesday.

Police said the charges follow an alleged attack on two men in a vehicle around 1pm on January 10, 2011.

Police were called to reports that a green BMW car had been hit from behind by two Vauxhall Omega cars.

The alleged incidents took place at traffic lights at the crossroads of Manchester Road, Queens Lancashire Way and Finsley Gate and again as it was parked outside the Town Hall.

Allegations were made that men wearing balaclavas and carrying pick axe handles and baseball bats got out of the cars and made threats to one of the occupants of the BMW before causing damage to the car and fleeing the scene on foot.

Detective Inspector Simon Cheyte from Burnley Police said: “This offence happened in broad daylight and must have been terrifying for members of the public that witnessed it.”

Magistrates in Burnley yesterday released the five on conditional bail.

A trail date has been set for May 5 at Burnley Crown Court.