Keeping the Olympic flame burning in Lincolnshire

A ‘street artist’ in Lincolnshire who has spent the past two years decorating potholes to make them look like bugs in an act of defiance has set out on a new mission, flagging up craters on an airfield near to her house.

Karan Chapman Holland, a founding member of artistic protest group Bugsy Pothole on Facebook, went to Spilsby Airfield on Tuesday, January 25 to highlight the number of potholes in the area.

Bugsy Pothole invites people to “draw the council’s attention” to potholes by spray painting around the hole and creating a bug shape.

The group was created in February 2020 and has amassed more than 2,100 members in that time, setting out on a mission to “bug these councils into action”.

Bugsy Pothole has been running since 2020, putting pressure on councils to fill in potholes across Lincolnshire. | Photo: Karan Chapman Holland

Karan says she started the Bugsy Pothole group in 2020 following an incident which saw her drive into a pothole full of water, causing her car tyre to burst.

“I started it after hitting a pothole two years ago and decided to take revenge with spray paint”, Karan told The Lincolnite.

She said she couldn’t believe how quickly the group took off in popularity, but is just glad a light is being shone on the pothole issues in Lincolnshire.

“It was a shock to me, we were in The Sunday Times a few months ago and have regularly been on national news.

“It’s important to me because we have got a serious problem in Lincolnshire with potholes.”

Karan says the council track her progress and have filled in the potholes weeks after she sprays them. | Photo: Karan Chapman Holland

Upon visiting the Steeping Aerodrome on Tuesday, otherwise known as Spilsby Airfield, Karan noticed the size and severity of the potholes and made sure to mark them out in the only way she knows how at this stage, turning them into bugs.

She says there were more to spray, but ran out of paint and will be heading back there to highlight the issues on Wednesday.

Lincolnshire County Council invite members of the public to report potholes via the council website.

With February half-term imminent, a series of pop-up free-to-all activities have been organised across Lincoln city centre to keep the family entertained during time off school.

Running every day from February 12 to 20, the activities will be situated across various locations in Lincoln, including the Waterside Shopping Centre and the Cornhill Quarter.

The activities have been organised by Lincoln Business Improvement Group, and are funded through the European Regional Development Fund and the Welcome Back Fund.

Arts and crafts workshops will be up around Lincoln this half-term. | Photo: Lincoln BIG

The money has been allocated to Lincoln by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lincoln BIG says it wanted to bring something “exciting and new” to the city, while also encouraging people to get out the house as coronavirus restrictions are gradually lifted.

Various street performances will be held in the city centre. | Photo: Lincoln BIG

All activities will be free of charge and all families are welcome to take part in the fun.

The full activities list is:

• Arts and crafts workshops, such as hula hooping and making balloon animals
• Makendoo workshops for painting and making both spring and space themed things (rockets, stars, flowers, butterfly masks etc)
• Street performances and characters, including puppetry walkabout, Granny Turismo, speed painter Jon Hicks, physical comedian Ian Marchant and a cookery demonstration like no other from Lee Whittingstall and Hugh Fearn
• Circus acts offering acrobatics, stilt walking, hula hooping etc
• Sports such as tennis and giant cricket
• Experiencing Godzilla Town, which invites people to make a mask and enter the city

The article will be updated with the exact dates and times for the various activities when they are released in the coming days.

Bringing a splash of colour and vibrancy to Lincoln city centre this February. | Photo: Lincoln BIG

The mother of a man who was allegedly stabbed to death by his partner told a jury the couple would “bicker a lot”

Charlie Stevenson, 21, is alleged to have deliberately stabbed Christopher Higgs, also 21, with a kitchen knife at her home in Portland Street, Boston.

Mr Higgs, from Spalding, was found with a single stab wound to his heart after Ms Stevenson called the ambulance service to her property on July 14.

His mother, Jody Manchester, today (Tuesday) gave evidence from the witness box at Lincoln Crown Court.

Police investigating an alleged murder at the property on Portland Street, Boston. | Photo: David Dawson

She told the jury Christopher had an older brother called Charlie, and two sisters called Paris and Paige.

He grew up in Surrey, and was diagnosed with ADHD and then autism when he was 12.

“He relied very heavily on routine, things could not change,” Ms Manchester added. “He was also fussy about clothes and food.”

The jury heard Christopher was taken into care at the age of 12, but still had regular contact with his mother, seeing her six times a year.

Mr Higgs later decided to return to his family, and undertook a carpentry course, before meeting Ms Stevenson in 2018.

Officers in boiler suits at the scene of the incident. | Photo: David Dawson

Ms Manchester said: “Sometimes they were alright, but they did bicker a lot.”

Asked by prosecution barrister Christopher Donnellan QC, if she saw injuries to Christopher during his time with Charlie, Ms Manchester replied: “Yes.”

When asked by Mr Donnellan what the injuries were, Ms Manchester stated: “Black eyes, scratches down his neck, and a lot of the time his clothes were ripped.”

Ms Manchester said she had regular conversations with the couple on Facetime after they had a baby.

But Ms Manchester told the jury she did witness one incident at her home in Surrey where Ms Stevenson punched Christopher who responded by pulling her hair.

Ms Manchester said she told Christopher “to let go”, and Ms Stevenson picked up a kitchen dish which was taken off her by one of Christopher’s sisters.

The jury heard Mr Higgs was moving backwards and forwards from Surrey to his brother’s home in Spalding, while Ms Stevenson and their child were living in Boston.

Ms Manchester admitted she was aware Christopher should not have been staying at the house in Portland Street because of a bail condition from an incident involving Ms Stevenson.

The defence argue Mr Higgs could also be violent towards Ms Stevenson.

Under cross-examination from James Newtown-Price QC, defending Ms Stevenson, Ms Manchester replied: “I have never seen it, but it is possible.”

Ms Manchester admitted she was aware of occasions where Mr Higgs was alleged to have assaulted Ms Stevenson.

She accepted there was also one occasion where she had to call the police after Mr Higgs became violent towards her partner.

When asked about the level of violence between the couple, Ms Manchester replied: “It was equal.”

She also accepted Mr Higgs would regularly use cannabis.

Charlie Stevenson, 21, of Portland Street, Boston, denies murder on July 14, 2021. The trial continues.

Read more from the trial:

• Boston mum accused of murder tells jury her partner ‘stabbed himself’
• Lincolnshire man, 21, died after girlfriend ‘stabbed him in the heart’ with kitchen knife
• Trial set for woman accused of stabbing ex to death