Man charged with sending abuse to chief who axed Fireman Sam

A 55-year-old man suspected of sending abusive messages to the chief of Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, who dropped Fireman Sam, has been named and charged.

Jeremy Flashman, from Essex, was charged with a malicious communications offence relating to an email, call and voicemail sent on September 11.

The Lincolnite revealed on September 9 that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue would no longer use Fireman Sam over inclusivity complaints.

As a result, the fire service requested: “Please ensure when you are designing posters that Fireman Sam is not used and more inclusive images are utilised.

“This also includes no longer using the Fireman Sam costumes on stations and using the Freddy and Filbert [fire extinguisher] costumes instead.”

Lez Britzman, Lincolnshire’s chief firefighter, later clashed with national newspapers and Piers Morgan over his decision.

Lincolnshire Police charged Jeremy Flashman, of Kings Road in Essex, to appear at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on October 31.

He had previously been interviewed under caution at a police station on October 11 in relation to the claims.