The new Red Arrows pilots (L-R): Flt Lt Stu Campbell and Flt Lt Joe Hourston, both former RAF Tornado pilots. Photo: Cpl Graham Taylor
Two new pilots have been selected to join the Red Arrows in 2014, as part of the RAF Scampton-based team’s 50th display season.
Flight Lieutenant Stewart Campbell and Flight Lieutenant Joe Hourston, who have both previously flown operations with the RAF in Afghanistan, will stay with the Red Arrows for three years.
They will begin training in the coming weeks and will be part of the aerobatic team’s famous nine-aircraft formation in 2014.
Flt Lt Campbell and Flt Lt Hourston are joining the Red Arrows after impressing during a tough selection process that involved flight tests, interviews and other exercises.
Next year is the 50th display season for the team which, since formation, has performed more than 4,500 displays in 54 different countries.
Flt Lt Stu Campbell, new Red Arrows pilot joining the team for the 2014 season. Photo: Cpl Graham Taylor
Flt Lt Campbell, 33, who was brought up in the Royal Burgh of Peebles in the Scottish Borders, joined the RAF in 2003.
Before the Red Arrows, he was posted to 617 Squadron (The Dambusters) and flew two operational tours in Afghanistan in Tornado aircraft.
He said: “Although, the selection hasn’t sunk in yet, I don’t think I will feel like I’m now a member of the Red Arrows until I taxi out with team leader and go through the first loops and rolls.”
Flt Lt Joe Hourston, is joining the Red Arrows team for the 2014 season. Photo: Cpl Graham Taylor
Flt Lt Hourston was born in Inverness, grew up in the Black Isle village of Cromarty and was educated at Fortrose Academy, before studying at Glasgow University.
The 34-year-old is also a former Tornado GR4 pilot with 617 Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth and served in Afghanistan and on exercise in North America.
He said: “Since day one of deciding to be a pilot I’ve always wanted to be a member of the team because of what it represents and the variety and challenge of the flying itself.”
Flt Lt Hourston said he was eager to understand what goes on behind-the-scenes at the team and the work involved in helping to ensure the Red Arrows continue to delight crowds.
On completion of a three-year tour with the Red Arrows, the pilots either return to the frontline, instructional or staff duties.
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A man in his 20s was seriously injured after a crash on the B1397 Old Spalding Road in Wigtoft near Boston over the weekend.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the crash involving one vehicle – a blue Hyundai iX35 – shortly after 11pm on Saturday, March 6. The crash is believed to have occurred between 9pm-11pm.
The driver was seriously injured and taken to hospital.
Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses and would like to speak to anyone who captured dashcam footage of the incident.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 or via email at [email protected] quoting incident 489 of March 6.
Alternatively, it can be reported through the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online here.
There have been 643 new coronavirus cases and 31 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire so far this week – compared to 1,005 cases and 26 deaths by this time last week.
The government’s COVID-dashboard on Friday recorded 79 new cases in Lincolnshire, 28 in North East Lincolnshire and 23 in North Lincolnshire.
The latest data takes the total number of cases in Greater Lincolnshire to over 54,000.
On Friday, seven deaths were registered in Lincolnshire. These include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported six new local hospital deaths – five at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust. This brings the total of hospital deaths so far this week to 24, a rise from 11 last week.
National cases increased by 5,947 to 4,207,304, while deaths rose by 236 to 124,261.
Nationally, Office for National Statistics data shows that the number of coronavirus infections in the UK continued to fall.
In the seven days up to February 27, around 280,000 people were confirmed positive, a drop of about a third on the most recent date.
The latest R number – the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to – is between 0.7 and 0.9.
From Monday, care home residents will be allowed to have a regular indoor visitor as long as they take a coronavirus lateral flow test before entry and wear personal protective equipment (PPE).
Hugging and kissing their relatives will be forbidden, although hand holding will be permitted.
Elsewhere, meeting up with one other person outdoors – for example sitting together in a park with coffee, drink, or picnic, will also be permitted.
Further relaxation is hoped to happen from March 29, when the rule of six will again be allowed, along with outdoor sports facilities reopening and the stay at home rule ending.
In a press conference on Friday evening health secretary Matt Hancock welcomed the news that a mystery person in the UK infected with the COVID variant of concern first found in Brazil had now been traced.
He said the ‘unbreakable link’ between cases, hospitalisation and deaths was ‘being broken’ due to the vaccine rollout – but added testing still remains ‘critical’.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, March 5
54,126 cases (up 130)
38,170 in Lincolnshire (up 79)
8,149 in North Lincolnshire (up 23)
7,807 in North East Lincolnshire (up 28)
2,105 deaths (up 7)
1,549 from Lincolnshire (up 7)
300 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
256 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,244 hospital deaths (up six)
772 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up five)
41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
A Boston man who amassed a collection of thousand of illegal images after becoming addicted to downloading child abuse images was jailed at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.
Howard Angel was arrested after police raided his home and took away a laptop computer.
Tony Stanford, prosecuting, said that the following day Angel went to Grantham Police Station and confessed.
“He said he had been stupid. He was interviewed. He was relatively frank. He said he wanted help.
“He said ‘I shouldn’t have done it but I did’. He said he became addicted and hooked on it.”
Mr Stanford said that later Angel’s then wife handed police a second laptop which she found in the attic.
When police examined the two laptops they found that Angel had been accessing child abuse images for nine years.
A total of 16,944 illegal images of children were on the devices including 2,641 in the most serious category.
Angel, 59, of Wyberton West Road, Boston, admitted three charges of making indecent images of children between March 2010 and May 2019.
He was jailed for 10 months and given a 15 year sexual harm prevention order. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.
Recorder Charles Falk, passing sentence, told him: “What tips the balance here is the length of time you have been offending which is nine years.
“That and the fact that this is a very large collection makes this a case that is so serious that only immediate custody can be justified.”
Michael Cranmer-Brown, in mitigation, said that Angel had lost everything as a result of what he did.
“When this came to light his world was turned upside down. He had been in a marriage for over 20 years. He has children. He has effectively been rejected by them all.
“He has been kicked out of his family home and he is now divorced from his wife. In addition he has suffered the loss of his job. Having disclosed to his employer about his conviction he has been sacked.”
Mr Cranmer-Brown said that since his arrest Angel has sought help and urged that he should not receive an immediate prison sentence.
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