Live wire Boston councillor, 81, makes miraculous recovery from paralysing stroke
Thrill-seeking borough councillor Richard Austin is back to business and describing himself as “supercharged” just a few weeks after suffering a stroke which left him needing a two-and-a-half-hour operation. The 81-year-old Wyberton councillor suffered multiple haemorrhages and surgeons had to operate on his neck to open up his carotid artery to improve the flow of blood to…
Richard Austin gives a thumbs-up as he celebrates his 80th birthday with a sky dive.
Thrill-seeking borough councillor Richard Austin is back to business and describing himself as “supercharged” just a few weeks after suffering a stroke which left him needing a two-and-a-half-hour operation.
The 81-year-old Wyberton councillor suffered multiple haemorrhages and surgeons had to operate on his neck to open up his carotid artery to improve the flow of blood to his brain.
Richard is known for his big-adrelanine lifestyle and he celebrated his 80th birthday with a skydive.
Richard Austin back on terra firma with his tandem-jump partner.
He was working at home on his i-Pad when he collapsed to the floor after getting up from his desk.
He said at first he couldn’t understand why his left leg would not work and then thought he may have suffered a stroke when he found he could not move his left arm either.
Fortunately his wife, Alison, a borough and county councillor, was at home and called for an ambulance.
“If it had been the day before I could be in a wheelchair now,” said Richard. “I had been at home alone all day working in the garden.”
He had been instructed to continue talking throughout the operation as surgeons opened up his neck and artery.
“With the anaesthetic it was like trying to talk when your mouth has been frozen at the dentists. I bored the nurses to death talking about my family, my life story, my passions, the church, Boston Woods, the Boston marathon which I chair and the history of Boston. I didn’t quite get to the end of everything I had in mind,” he joked.
He praised the surgeons and staff at the Pilgrim, who he said were marvellous. “They have improved the blood flow to my brain, so now I am supercharged,” he said.
After a four-day stay in hospital, and a 28-day driving ban, he has been declared fighting fit and is back to normal, with just a fading telltale scar down the side of his neck.
“My stroke came on very suddenly, but it demonstrates that when this happens and a stroke is suspected, you don’t hang around. This is a 999 emergency because time is of the essence. I was very lucky.”
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Three people, including two police officers, have been injured in a crash on the A52 which has caused the road to close.
The crash happened just after 10am on Wednesday morning and will see the A52 closed in both directions at the Mareham Lane junction near Threekingham until around 5.30pm.
Two police officers and the driver of the other car suffered minor injuries and have been taken to hospital for treatment.
It happened when the police car was responding to an emergency call, and investigations are taking place to find out what happened.
Anyone who was in the area or has dashcam footage is being asked to call 101 and quote incident 111 of June 16.
A former police officer will face a misconduct hearing for allegedly using his handheld mobile phone whilst on duty and driving a marked police vehicle to record a video, which he then posted/shared to Snapchat.
Matthew Breathwick was based at Spalding Police Station and a public misconduct hearing will be held at the force’s headquarters in Nettleham at 9.30am on Monday, June 21.
The alleged incident happened on November 6 last year and on this date, as well as on November 7, 2020, he was challenged about his conduct. It is alleged that he was dishonest and denied using his phone.
On March 25 this year, he was convicted of an offence of using a mobile phone whilst driving in respect of this conduct.
It is alleged that former PC Breathwick breached the following standards of professional behaviour: honesty and integrity, and discreditable conduct.
Lincolnshire Police said the conduct, if proved, amounts to gross misconduct for the following reasons:
He committed a road traffic offence whilst on duty and in a marked police vehicle
He broadcast a video recording of him doing so via the Snapchat app
He was dishonest to a colleague and supervisor when they challenged him
A 14-year-old boy accused of repeatedly stabbing a 14-year-old in a “brutal” murder was described to the jury as a drug user who regularly carried a knife.
A teenage girl, who said she was really close to the defendant, told the jury at Lincoln Crown Court: “He always had a knife when he went out”.
She said that he kept the knife either in a man bag or in his sock.
The girl said: “At some point in 2020 he just came into school with a knife. He had this man bag thing. He used to carry a knife with him.
“It was for protection just in case someone wanted to come at him. He told me that because he trusted me.
“It was like a little black one. You have to push the blade up. Like a cardboard knife.
“A week or two before he got kicked out of school he brought a knife in. I don’t know what he got kicked out for.”
Under cross-examination from Brendan Kelly QC, representing the defendant, she said she saw the defendant take a knife into school.
Edgars Buncis and his son Roberts. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
The girl described the defendant as a drug user.
“He said he suffered from depression and anxiety. He took drugs to try and help him. Weed and whatever he could get his hands on.
“He told me one time at school in a maths lesson together he took acid. That’s what he said to me. They (the teachers) didn’t know. He asked me for money a lot so that he could buy weed.”
She was asked “How many times did you see him smoking weed?” and replied “daily”.
Under cross-examination she said she knew the defendant wanted to sell drugs and had also asked her, Roberts and another youth to assist.
The girl said Roberts told her he planned to meet the defendant on the night when he died.
“They were going to meet for a drink in the park. That’s where they usually met. Central Park. That was where Roberts used to sneak out of home and meet up with him to drink alcohol.”
She said that on the night she exchanged messages with Roberts for around two hours but then the messages from Roberts suddenly stopped.
“Three hours later everyone was texting to say ‘where is Roberts?’ There was a lot of people. I thought something had happened.”
She said a teenage boy later sent her screenshots of messages in which the defendant made comments such as “This shouldn’t have happened” and “I’ve got blood on me.”
The 14 year old, who cannot be identified because of a court order, denies the murder of Roberts Buncis.
Mary Loram QC, prosecuting, has told the jury that the defendant lured Roberts out in the middle of the night and then carried out a brutal attack with a knife stabbing Roberts “again and again”.
Roberts’ body was found in a wooded area near to a footpath in the village of Fishtoft on the outskirts of the town of Boston, on the morning of 12 December last year (2020).
Miss Loram said Roberts was subjected to a brutal and prolonged attack leaving him with stab wounds to his head, back, torso, legs and arms. One of his hands was injured so severely it appeared the defendant had tried to cut it off, she said.
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