Lincolnshire Police will launch a new project on Friday, so that suspicious people can be checked by the public and parents before coming into contact with their children.
From October 1, the national Keeping Children Safe initiative allows anyone to ask police to vet those in contact with children, and find out if they have any sexual offence records on file.
The child sex offender disclosure scheme lets people submit an application after confirming their identity, say why they want a person checked, and their relationship with a child.
Head of Lincolnshire Police Public Protection Unit, Detective Superintendent Guy Collings said: “The majority of child sexual offenders are known to their victims and they are often a friend or even member of the victim’s family.
“The information will only be shared with the people best placed to protect the child. This will usually be the child’s parent, carer or guardian and that won’t necessarily be the person who made the original enquiry.
The scheme was developed as part of Sarah’s Law and a consultation with Sara Payne, the mother of Sarah, who was murdered by a sex offender in 2000.
“It is a major step forward in our ability to protect children from sex offenders but also to empower parents and guardians to understand how best to protect their children,” Collings added.
“If a requested check reveals a convicted sex offender or an individual with convictions for offences which could put a child at risk, the disclosure of that information will be considered at a Multi-Agency Protection Arrangements meeting.
“In every case MAPPA will consider if information needs to be given to another person or group of people in order to protect them from the offender or for them to protect others.”
To learn more about the application process, you can visit the Keeping Children Safe national website at Direct Gov.
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A 48-year-old man from Grimsby has been arrested after police found class A drugs, weapons and stolen vehicles at his house.
Humberside Police raided a home on Rutland Street in the town on Tuesday afternoon, after it had been reported that drug dealing was taking place.
Officers found numerous wraps of what is believed to be class A drugs, as well as drug paraphernalia, a large quantity of electronic devices and a number of weapons.
Multiple knives were found at the house, along with a large sword.
Four bikes were also found inside the house, with police saying they are believed to be high value and stolen.
Enquiries are currently ongoing to find out where the bikes have come from and who owns them.
The 48-year-old man remains in custody while the investigation takes place.
The garment brand first started moving into the old Laura Ashley unit on the High Street in November, and the doors are now open to customers.
It can be found opposite the war memorial in the heart of the High Street.
The timing couldn’t be better for the fashion company, as it opens for the first time on the same day that the nation moves out of lockdown and into a tiered system, which allowed non-essential retailers to reopen.
The store is advertising a sale of up to 60% off in the window, as well as a free Crew Clothing water bottle for any purchase over £75.
Crew Clothing will be open from 9.30am to 5.00pm six days a week, and 11.00am to 4.00pm on Sundays.
A woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted by a former Lincoln Cathedral priest in the 1990s has said the incident made her “lose her faith” for 18 years.
Former chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral, Reverend Canon Dr Paul Overend, 54, is accused to have sexually assaulted the girl during a party at chaplaincy house in 1997, while he was a chaplain at Cardiff University.
Overend followed the victim into the chaplaincy kitchen before allegedly assaulting her, according to BBC News and Wales Online.
He has denied one charge of indecent assault during a trial at Newport Crown Court in Wales.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence from behind a screen in court to protect her identity, and went into details about her account of the incident.
The jury heard that around 20 to 30 people were at the party drinking, and she bumped into Overend in the kitchen.
She told the court: “He appeared seconds later, the next thing I knew he was there stood in front of me. He just took hold of me.”
He is also accused of kissing the woman across her chest and arms, before pressing against her so that she could feel his penis against her.
Overend supposedly whispered in the victim’s ear: “Come upstairs, come upstairs with me my darling.”
The court heard that this made her “freeze solid” as she said that she couldn’t move, and he made her feel “uncomfortable”.
The victim told the court that Overend only stopped when someone entered the kitchen, which prompted her to leave the party and go home.
After the incident, she is said to have not returned to the chaplaincy and “lost her faith” for almost two decades, only reporting this incident in 2019 after hearing a news report about a similar offence.
A friend she told encouraged the alleged victim to report it to the church in Lincoln, where he was working, before giving a statement to police.
He was around 30-years-old at the time, and the court heard that Overend had dated three or four students from the University of Cardiff, as well as a staff member who he later married.
Overend became chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral in November 2017, but took sudden leave in April 2019 after a safeguarding investigation.
He told officers in a voluntary interview in Lincoln that he had no recollection of the party and that the incident doesn’t make sense to him.
He said: “It would be so out of character, I don’t relate to people like that.”
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