‘I didn’t realise it would take such a long time’: Gainsborough on Brexit

A 20-year-old showjumper from Skegness born with a spinal condition has won a landmark legal case against her mother’s GP, after claiming she should never have been born due to a lack of advice from the doctor.

Evie Toombes, 20, was born with a condition known as spina bifida, which sees a baby’s spine and spinal cord fail to develop in the womb, causing a gap in the skeleton.

Her condition has resulted in Evie, from Skegness, sometimes having to be connected to tubes 24-hours-a-day, and it prompted her to sue Dr Philip Mitchell, her mum’s GP.

Evie Toombes, 20, suffers from spina bifida. | Photo: Instagram

Despite having spina bifida, Evie has managed to compete at a high level as a show jumper, both in disabled and able-bodied fields.

The lawsuit stated that Dr Mitchell failed to correctly advise Evie’s mother Caroline, 50, to take vital supplements before getting pregnant with Evie, something which the GP categorically denied throughout.

Evie claimed that had the doctor told Caroline she needed to take medication to minimise the risk of spina bifida affecting her child, it would have put her off getting pregnant at all.

This prompted Evie to suggest that she should never have been born in the first place, as if her mother had taken the supplements she would have had a child that is genetically different to Evie.

Despite the hardship, Evie is a keen showjumper, competing at a high level against both disabled and able-bodied riders. | Photo: Instagram

A landmark High Court ruling in London on Wednesday, December 1, backed Evie’s case and gave her the right to a large compensation payout worth millions of pounds.

The financial aid Evie is entitled to could now allow her to be properly supported for the rest of her life, thanks to winning this legal battle.

During the trial, Evie’s mother Caroline said she’d gone to see Dr Mitchell in February 2001, at Hawthorn Medical Practice in Skegness, to discuss plans to have her first baby.

Mrs Toombes insisted that despite discussions of supplements, she was never advised by Dr Mitchell that they could prevent spina bifida in a baby.

A Lincoln woman is once again spreading Christmas cheer after putting out a huge inflatable Santa outside her home.

Chris Hebron first started putting up her large festive decorations at her home on Broughton Gardens off Brant Road when she had her son Zak, who is now 19.

Her 14-year-old daughter Mia also won’t ever let her off not putting all the decorations up, which last year saw the addition of ‘Big Santa’.

She got Big Santa out of the attic to put him out for the first time this year at around 3pm on Wednesday, December 1.

It will be taken back inside at around 8pm each evening and be out daily in the run up to, and on, Christmas Day, so long as the weather is good enough.

The big inflatable Santa will stay out daily between 3pm and 8pm, depending on the weather. Santa was put outside the house on December 1, 2021.

Her large inflatable Homer Simpson Santa will be going up at the front of the house in the near future too.

Chris’ neighbours often say it’s officially Christmas when her inflatable Santa goes up, and she is already feeling very festive!

She told The Lincolnite: “I have always loved Christmas and as soon as I see the Coca Cola ‘Holidays are coming’ advert I can’t wait to put Santa up.

“I laugh every time I put him up. It still surprises me how big he actually is.”

See a video below of when Chris put her Big Santa outside her home in 2020:

A trailer full of rotting rubbish that had been abandoned on a Lincoln street for several years has now finally been removed, Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed.

The trailer, described by the county council as a “wooden caravan-like structure” was parked on Ripon Street for many years.

The county council stuck a notice letter to the trailer in March this year, stating it was an obstruction to the highway and needs removed within 28 days, which was not done.

It was later confirmed that the trailer’s owner has died, and the council were still looking to find the deceased’s family before trying to secure a court order.

The council put a fresh notice on the trailer in September requesting its removal, saying if this was not done it may make a complaint to Lincoln Magistrates Court for an order authorising the removal. Various checks were carried out, but unfortunately no next of kin was identified.

Court proceedings were delayed until a hearing on November 19, at which the county council was given approval for the removal of the caravan-like structure.

The council then had to find a contractor and await their availability to remove it before the trailer was successfully taken away on Tuesday, November 30.

The abandoned trailer (left) has been on Ripon Street for up to two years, while there is also a problem of fly-tipping (right) in the area. | Photo: Submitted

Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We’re happy to say that this obstruction has been removed returning the road to the proper state it should be in for local residents.

“We’re aware that this has been an issue for residents for some time but there were many elements of this particular problem that needed to be overcome before we could legally remove the caravan.

“Once approval was granted by the court we worked closely with the City of Lincoln Council to get the caravan removed by their waste management contractors as soon as possible.”

A notice from the county council was stuck to the trailer stating that it needs removed within 28 days, but this was back in March 2021. | Photo: Submitted

A new notice was stuck to the trailer in September 2021. | Photo: Submitted

A concerned resident, who has lived on Ripon Street all his life, was among those calling on the council to take action.

The resident previously told The Lincolnite that fly-tipping is also a problem in the area, saying: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in such a bad way.

“I feel the issue of the ‘caravan like structure’ on Ripon Street exemplifies the lack of council interest in the area, and I can’t help wondering if the local Park Ward councillors are really doing all they could to tackle problems.

“Graffiti and fly-tipping seem out of control, and it feels like every week there is yet more old furniture just dumped on the streets.

“There is a group of volunteers who do sterling work with clear-ups every few weeks, but it seems a losing battle and I sometimes wonder if the offenders might even see it as exonerating or excusing what they do.

“Whilst I admire the sentiment of the various art projects in the area in trying to build a sense of community and belonging, I think we really need more concrete action if we are to halt the decline.”

In response to the problem of fly-tipping in the area, Steve Bird, assistant director for communities and street scene at City of Lincoln Council, previously said: “With regards to fly-tipping, once reported, our teams aim to remove any dumped items on public land promptly, ideally within 48 hours.

“Ripon Street and that general area is subject to a significant amount of fly tipping, which is why we try to check and clear all streets around there at least weekly.

“Any form of fly-tipping can be reported to us online, and we hope that local people will continue to work with us to collect evidence and strengthen our enforcement actions to deter this appalling behaviour.”