Single unitary authority ‘not viable’ for Lincolnshire, says district council leader

Two Lincolnshire criminals sentenced to a combined total of 40 years in prison for sickening sex offences against children were among those jailed in Lincolnshire in February.

The Lincolnite‘s court reporters cover all the biggest cases heard in courts in our region every day.

Here’s a round up of signifiant cases resulting in prison sentences in and near the county.

In addition, William Clawson was arrested this month and recalled to prison after a fourth time on the run from police.

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Timothy Mawer

Former Lincoln area badminton coach Timothy Mawer, 52, was jailed for 20 years after grooming and then carrying out “vile” sexual assaults on young boys over an 18-year period.

See the full story here

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Philip Beaumont

Philip Beaumont, 62, was jailed for 19 years after being convicted of 20 sex offences against young children in Lincolnshire.

See the full story here

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Pawel Relowicz

Butcher and serial sex offender Pawel Relowicz, who raped and murdered University of Hull student Libby Squire, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years in prison. Her body was found near Grimsby Docks.

See the full story here

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Grimsby robbers

Grimsby trio Wayne Price, Robert Mobbs, and Adrian Mobbs were sentenced to a combined total of over 13 years in jail after a robbery in Grimsby.

See the full story here

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Martin Ashmore

Sleaford man Martin Ashmore, 58, was described by Nottinghamshire Police as a “manipulative and predatory” offender after being jailed for six years and nine months for indecently assaulting two girls in the early to mid-1990s.

See the full story here

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Claire Parker

A BMW driver who caused a double fatal collision when she overtook a line of traffic at an estimated 80mph and struck an oncoming vehicle head-on was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

This isn’t the first time Claire Parker has been in prison as she was previously jailed for hosting dog fights.

See the full story of her latest sentence here

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Daniel Noddings

A driver caused devastating injuries to a Lincolnshire police officer when she went to help him after he was found slumped over his steering wheel in a supermarket car park. Daniel Noddings, 37, of no fixed address, was jailed for three years and four months.

See the full story here

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Paul Hayes

Paul Hayes, 46, was jailed for three years after an assault in a village pub near Spalding left Mark Hatcher with brain damage and still in a coma.

See the full story here

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Steve Chapman

Steve Chapman, 51, was jailed for 32 months after pleading guilty to a sexual assault by penetration.

See the full story here

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Calvin Gatford

Lincoln man Calvin Gatford, 50, was jailed for 30 months after being found with a stash of lethal explosives in his city centre flat.

See the full story here

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Svajunas Navagruckas

The ringleader of an illegal cigarettes smuggling plot at a Lincoln farm was jailed. Svajunas Navagruckas, 51, was one of HMRC’s most wanted tax fugitives and was sentenced to 28 months in prison, three years after he flew to Lithuania to avoid the investigation.

See the full story here

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Louise Wallace and Michael Rowe

Grandmother Louise Wallace, 36, who ran a cocaine dealing operation from her Stamford home was jailed for 28 months.

Michael Rowe, 43, admitted supplying cocaine and possession of the drug. He was jailed for 18 months.

See the full story here

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Mark Elsworth

Mark Elsworth was jailed for 18 months for terrifying his neighbours with his behaviour, but he is likely to be released immediately because of the length of time he was remanded in custody.

See the full story here

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Corey-Lea Dixon

Corey-Lea Dixon, 26, was jailed for 12 months for downloading thousands of indecent images of children.

See the full story here

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Richard Cross

Lincoln man Richard Cross, 43, was jailed for a year after being involved in a 75-mile police pursuit in a car he had taken for a test drive.

See the full story here

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There have been 1,005 new coronavirus cases in Greater Lincolnshire and 26 COVID-related deaths so far this week — compared to 867 cases and 40 deaths this time last week.

The government’s COVID-19 dashboard on Friday recorded 113 new cases in Lincolnshire, 20 in North Lincolnshire and 18 in North East Lincolnshire.

On Friday, four deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, two in North East Lincolnshire and -1 in North Lincolnshire. Fluctuations in data are usually due to some deaths in those areas being reallocated to other regions across the UK or a miscount. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.

NHS England reported two new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, bringing the total so far this week to 11, a drop from 20 last week.

On Friday, national cases increased by 8,523 to 4,163,085, deaths rose by 345 to 122,415 while COVID first jab numbers hit over 19 million.

This week has seen Greater Lincolnshire overtake the England average infection rate by seven cases per 100,000.

Six of the nine districts have seen an increase in their infection rates since Wednesday but health bosses expect to see numbers going up and down, so it isn’t too concerning.

The England average has continued to fall over the past week.

Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates over the last week up to February 26:

Local health bosses said there are no COVID mutations of concern in Lincolnshire currently, but they have a plan if new variants enter the county.

The plan is called ‘Operation Eagle’ and would include surge testing and contact tracing to find where the variant first appeared in Lincolnshire.

The Kent mutation is present in the majority of cases in Lincolnshire and is known to be around 70% more transmissible, but not more dangerous.

Variants of concern include the South African mutation which can spread more rapidly and vaccines might not work quite as well against it.

However, there is no evidence it causes more serious illness for the majority of those who come into contact with it either.

In national news, the UK’s coronavirus reproduction number – or R number – remains between 0.6 and 0.9 from last week, meaning for every 10 people infected, they will pass COVID on to between six and nine others.

Vaccinating people in order of age is the fastest way to cut COVID-19 deaths in the next phase of the roll-out, say experts advising the UK government.

People in their 40s will be next, once the current phase is completed, not key workers. Here’s when you could get your coronavirus vaccine.

Some of the first people to check into quarantine hotels have had their first taste of freedom upon their release today after self-isolating for 11 nights.

From last Monday, UK and Irish nationals returning to England from a “red list” country deemed at high risk for COVID-19 have had to check into quarantine hotels.

The 15 areas of England to have vaccinated the lowest proportion of adults against COVID-19 are all in London.

In some boroughs, including Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham, just one in five adults have received a single dose of a vaccine, according to NHS England data up to 25 February.

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Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, February 26

53,205 cases (up 151)

• 37,581 in Lincolnshire (up 113)
• 7,989 in North Lincolnshire (up 20)
• 7,635 in North East Lincolnshire (up 18)

2,065 deaths (up six)

• 1,517 from Lincolnshire (up four)
• 299 from North Lincolnshire (down one)
• 249 from North East Lincolnshire (up two)

of which 1,216 hospital deaths (up three)

• 754 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up two)
• 41 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
• 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
• 420 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)

4,163,085 UK cases, 122,415 deaths

DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.

After roadside littering reared its ugly head in Lincolnshire again, councils across the county appear to be passing the buck, without taking any action.

The issue was raised by The Lincolnite reader Rebecca Dunn, who went to clean up with her friends part of the roadside on the Western Bypass in Lincoln, because she said it was “starting to look like a landfill site.”

Some of the litter that was found at the roadside dated back 17 years to 2004, suggesting that the area hadn’t been cleaned in years.

Rebecca had told The Lincolnite that she was consistently asking West Lindsey District Council about roadside cleaning for over two years, but nothing was done about it.

She was eventually given a response, which claimed that funds are no longer available for litter picking on roads over a 50mph speed limit — the bypass has a 60/70mph limit depending if it’s dual or single carriageway.

When asked about this, a spokesperson for WLDC said: “Working on high speed roads is a real challenge for us, wherever possible we will work with partners to allow our staff to work safely.

“For instance, we litterpick dual-carriageways at the same time as lane closures are in place for grass cutting operations.”

The council added: “We are aware of reports of litter on this section of the highway and have been working in collaboration with the Highways Authority to get the trees cut back.

“Now that work is complete it will allow us access to the laybys to undertake litterpicking work.”

West Lindsey District Council also said that there is no specific part of the street cleansing budget, of which we weren’t given the total figure, dedicated to the stretch of road in question.

However, the council said that anyone with specific issues regarding street cleansing should call 01427 676676.

The Lincolnite also approached Lincolnshire County Council for a response about this, who declined to comment and called it a “district matter”.

Part of the A46 ring road around Lincoln is the responsibility of Highways England, while others are under County Council management.

In response to our original story, many people pointed out that a similar issue is arising on roadsides in North Kesteven.

North Kesteven District Council were also asked to comment on the problem, but did not reply.