A woman heard the last moments of her boyfriend’s life before he was stabbed in the heart and killed during a scuffle with her cousin.

Scott Rowen, 29, was today (Friday) jailed for 13 years and seven months after he admitted the manslaughter of aspiring rap artist Jordan Siree, 26.

Rowen must also serve an extended sentence of four years on licence when he is released after a judge said he had no hesitation in concluding that he was dangerous.

Mr Siree was found collapsed in a car park at the rear of his flat on Glentworth Crescent, in Skegness, on December 22, 2020.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Mr Siree and his girlfriend Nicole Rowen had spent the day moving out from the property and helping out Scott Rowen, who was her first cousin.

At various points during the day Mr Siree and Ms Rowen had picked up Scott Rowen from a supermarket and given him a lift to see a friend, despite moving home.

Michael Auty QC, prosecuting, said Scott Rowen became increasingly agitated during the day and broke into the couple’s flat, breaking a window, while they were away moving their property.

Mr Auty told the court Ms Rowen noticed her cousin sitting in her home drinking a can of beer and smiling smugly when she made a final trip to her flat. This made her frightened.

The court heard Jordan Siree made a final trip to the property with his brother and another friend to collect a last load shortly after 7pm and noticed his Segway had been stolen.

Mr Auty said a scuffle took place in which Scott Rowen fell to the ground and then lashed out inflicting a single fatal blow to Mr Siree with a kitchen knife he had taken from a block inside the flat.

The stab wound entered Mr Siree’s heart and despite an air ambulance being scrambled he could not be saved.

Mr Auty said much of the final incident was heard by Ms Rowen who had telephoned her partner of four years.

She heard Mr Siree say: “Drop the knife, I’ll fight you with my fists, just put the knife down.”

Ms Rowen then heard the sounds of running and a scuffle before again hearing the word “knife”.

Mr Auty said: “That was the last she heard of Jordan. She knew it was serious.”

The court heard much of the incident was caught on CCTV. It showed Rowen running down the stairs to confront the three unharmed men with the knife.

Rowen, who also admitted a separate affray from 2019 and was on bail, was heard to say: “If people go for me, I’m going to defend myself.”

He gave only a prepared statement to the police in which he claimed to be acting in self defence and said he had no intention to kill Mr Siree or cause him really serious harm.

Mr Auty said it was Rowen’s fifth conviction involving a knife in five years.

In a moving victim impact statement which was read out in court Nicole Rowen said she could not bare the fact that it was her cousin that had killed Jordan.

Ms Rowen described how the couple had always helped Scott, who had recently been released from prison and was also living in Glentworth Crescent, but he responded by killing Jordan.

She added: “I always knew Scott would kill someone.”

Mr Siree’s mother also described Jordan as a “loving and loyal” son.

In mitigation, the court was told Rowen was taking a beating on the floor and inflicted the injury when he swung out an arm as he attempted to get up.

The court heard Rowen had a difficult life, blighted by problems with his parents and drug addiction, but this was his first conviction for causing an injury with a knife.

Passing sentence Judge John Pini QC told Rowen the situation was entirely of his own making and he was in unlawful possession of a knife.

“Your record shows you are not only a violent man but a habitual carrier of knives,” Judge Pini said.

Judge Pini said it was clear from the victim impact statements that Mr Siree’s death had deeply impacted his loved ones.

“Nicole Rowen was your cousin, and you killed her boyfriend. She always thought you would kill someone.”

The judge added: “You are someone whose default position when you are thwarted is to reach for a knife.”

Detective Inspector Andy McWatt, Senior Investigating Officer, said: “This is a tragic case which could have been avoided if Rowen had not had a blade. It was made particularly painful for Mr Siree’s family due to the time of year, just days before Christmas.

“Violence like this has no place on the streets of Lincolnshire. Carrying a knife or weapon of any kind leaves everyone open to harm.

“The investigation has been long and involved, and we would like to thank the family for their cooperation, and we ask that they be given privacy at this difficult time.”

Rowen has been remanded since being charged and will begin his sentence with immediate effect.

Improvements to one of the busiest roads in Skegness are at long last reaching the closing stages, as Lincolnshire County Council confirms Roman Bank now has a brand new drainage system in use.

The Roman Bank improvement works have been a mammoth effort filled with delays and headaches for the council, first closing in August 2020 for an originally planned eight months to replace the worn out carriageway and footpaths, as well as improving drainage.

The work has been carried out between the junction with Burgh Road/Castleton Boulevard and just past the junction with Elmhirst Avenue, and a 24/7 road closure has been in place on the 550m stretch of road.

Progress has been halted on numerous occasions during the scheme, with work pausing for Christmas in 2020, as well as being stopped for four months in May 2021 to allow for free movement of locals during the summer season.

As well as this, the finish date was pushed back in March last year after an unexpected gas pipe diversion.

However, with a fully functioning drainage system now operational on the road, attention turns to the final stage of the scheme, replacing the worn out carriageway on Roman Bank with more than 500 tonnes of new tarmac.

Almost all works between Muirfield Drive and Brancaster Drive are now complete, meaning the team have moved up to the final area of Roman Bank that requires improvement.

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, expects the project to be finished this spring and says work is now progressing well on site.

Councillor Davies said: “Completing construction of the new underground drainage system along Roman Bank is a significant milestone for this important scheme.

“Not only did installing the system mean laying over half a mile of new drainage pipes up to 4.5m deep under the newly-rebuilt carriageway, but it also meant installing two new manhole chambers, 19 surface water catchpits and 85 drainage gullies.

“This new system will play a key role taking surface water from the road and moving it to a nearby water course, helping to prevent flooding on the carriageway and nearby properties.”

The scheme was made possible thanks to a £3.6 million funding boost from the Department of Transport in 2020, though it has taken almost a whole year longer than initially anticipated.

North Kesteven District Council’s leader has called a motion urging him to write to government calling on the PM to allow remote meetings a “waste of time” because he has “already signed a petition on change.org”.

The motion was put forward by Lincolnshire Independent Councillor Marianne Overton on Thursday night in a bid to put pressure on MPs to discuss the issue in the House of Commons.

She said temporary relaxations of the rules during the COVID pandemic had been a success for local democracy.

“The benefits have included increased attendances at remote meetings by both councillors and the public; significant cost savings for some authorities arising from much less travel to meetings; environmental benefits of less travel, particularly in large rural authorities; a better work life balance for councillors… and opening up opportunities for more people to stand for election as councillors,” she said.

The campaign is backed by the Local Government Association and the National Association of Local Councils and has been challenged through the High Court.

However, the government says it would require a change in primary legislation and that there is not sufficient parliamentary time.

NK Administration leader Councillor Richard Wright told members: “This is a waste of time.

“On January 13 all members of the council were informed that I had signed, on behalf of the council, a petition to change.org for the very thing we are talking about.”

He said the LGA backed the approach and that it would have strength in numbers if successful.

However, he said that despite claims from councils that they wanted to progress with the change there were still fewer than 10,000 signatures on the petition.

At the time of writing the petition Councillor Wright referred to had 9,161 signatures.

Councillor Wright said it was “disappointing as a lot of councils have indicated that they allegedly did want to move down this route”.

“But clearly that has not changed into actual signatures on petitions.”

The motion was defeated 12 votes to six with two abstentions.