THE case of a man who caused a major security alert in Radcliffe has been been sent to Crown Court for sentence.

Mark Andrew Whitworth (35), of Haworth Court, Radcliffe, reappeared before Bury Magistrates on Tuesday after pleading guilty to attempting to steal mail.

Whitworth was also charged with a common assault that took place in May and for assaulting his partner, Hayley Whitworth, on August 3. He pleaded guilty to both separate charges.

The court heard how Whitworth had attempted to steal mail from the Royal Bank of Scotland, on Blackburn Street, in April, with a home made device that broke off in the letter box of the door.

Mr Harold Smith, prosecuting, said: "A member of staff from the bank went to check the mail box on April 19 and spotted a suspicious device which constituted a piece of metal, with various wires, tape and screws attached. This caused concern to the staff and the police were called. The surrounding area was sealed off, a nursery was evacuated and various major roads were closed, creating massive disruption to the public."

The army bomb disposal team were called in and an explosives expert wearing body armour entered the bank, but no explosives were found.

A previous hearing was told how Whitworth was caught on CCTV placing the device in the letterbox on the night of Friday, April 16. Images taken from the footage were printed in the Radcliffe Times and information received following this led to Whitworth's arrest in the grounds of Fairfield Hospital.

Following his arrest, the defendant told police that he was short of money and made the device, hoping to collect envelopes with money from inside the bank, using the wire and sticky tape.

While on bail for the attempted theft, Whitworth was arrested for assaulting his wife, Hayley Whitworth, in front of his two children.

Mr Smith continued: "Hayley Whitworth had been at her cousin's house, where the defendant had met her, and on returning home she realised that he had locked their two children in the house. While she was changing the baby's nappy, the defendant punched her in the face twice and she fell backwards on to a toy box.

"He then punched her a further four times and took a Stanley knife and put it to her throat and threatened to cut it. In the struggle he cut her on the forehead. Both children were still present in the same room. Mrs Whitworth went to Fairfield Hospital the next day with cuts and bruises.

"In an interview with police from the domestic violence unit, Whitworth said he had only been defending himself as it was his wife that threatened him with the knife because she wanted money for drugs."

Whitworth also pleaded guilty to assaulting his sister-in-law in Radcliffe during an incident earlier this year.

Mr Roger Taylor, defending, said: "Mr Whitworth has recently started taking amphetamines for recreational and social use. There have been difficulties in his relationship and his partner left for a short time and he started taking a lot more of the drug.

"His partner came back but the damage had been done, and he was not able to do without the drug in great quantities. Mr Whitworth has since said that if he does not accept that he has a problem he is not going to get anywhere. He put a lot of blame on his wife, but now accepts that this is not right.

"Whatever happens with his wife and children, who have now left him, he admits it is his fault. What he needs is assistance with his drug taking."

Whitworth was remanded in custody until his appearance at Bolton Crown Court on August 31.