PHP Trim problem with dots in text

Hi,
I want to replace ticks in text with other text. This method usually works, but when adding three dots, I get php warning
ltrim(): Invalid '..'-range, no character to the right of '..' or invalid range needs to be incrementing.

I don't know where to look for error, except deleting dots.
Here is the code:

$code = "some text before block
Â´Â´Â´Â´code block1Â´Â´Â´Â´
text after block
Â´Â´Â´Â´code block2...Â´Â´Â´Â´"; // I want ticks to be replaced to this: <pre><code> code block1 </code></pre>

$pattern = "Â´Â´Â´Â´"; // we are using ticks
$countCodeBlock = substr_count($code, $pattern); // count how many times pattern is written

if ($countCodeBlock > 0 && $countCodeBlock %2 == 0) // check if is pair number of pattern
        {
            for ($i = 0; $i < $countCodeBlock; $i++)
            {
                if ($i%2 == 0) {

                    // first pattern - open a tag
                    // check if text exist before first pattern
                    $getIndex = strpos($code, $pattern);// this is the index of first char of pattern
                    // substr grabs text - input str, start location, length
                    $textBeforeBlock = substr($code, 0, $getIndex); // first text, before first pattern

                    // strlen count char in string
                    if (strlen($textBeforeBlock) > 0) {
                        // show text first
                        echo "<p>" . htmlentities($textBeforeBlock) . "</p>";
                    }
                    // then remove that text and first pattern block
                    // ltrim removes white space, or removes special charaters
                    // ltrim input string, optional character or numbers
                    echo "<pre><code>";
                    $code = ltrim($code, $textBeforeBlock); // first delete text
                    $code = ltrim($code, $pattern); // then delete thoose ticks
                }
                else {
                    // second pattern, and closing a tag
                    $getIndex = strpos($code, $pattern);
                    $textBeforeBlock = substr($code, 0, $getIndex);
                    if (strlen($textBeforeBlock) > 0) {
                        echo htmlentities($textBeforeBlock); // here is the essence of the code text
                    }
                    echo "</code></pre>";
                    $code = ltrim($code, $textBeforeBlock);
                    $code = ltrim($code, $pattern);

                }
            }
            // this is the end of code block, and if there is some rest of text, write it
            if (strlen($code) > 0) {
                echo "<p>" . htmlentities($code) . "</p>";
            }
            else 
                echo "<p></p>"; // this is intentional
        }
        else {
            // there are no ticks in the code variable
            echo "<p>" . "There is no code block:</p><br /><pre>" . htmlentities($code) . "</pre><p></p>";
        }
echo $code;

You can copy code into php sandbox and give a try.