A Lincoln man will appeal the decision of his case, which was thrown out by the court, after claiming he was assaulted and injured by a nightclub bouncer in Lincoln.
CCTV video footage released to The Lincolnite shows the moment Fabiano Sousa was pushed outside Moka on Silver Street, during its previous ownership, sending him flying to the ground and fracturing his skull.
Fabiano claimed he tried to get back into the club to get his coat and a bottle of vodka he had purchased earlier in the night, before being pushed by a bouncer.
He was later taken to hospital with a serious head injury after the incident on June 10, 2018.
Screenshot from the CCTV at Moka on June 10, 2018.
The case went to court and initially a trial date was set for February 2020. The case has since been discontinued following a Crown Prosecution Service decision.
The outcome frustrated Fabiano, who recently submitted an appeal to the Victim Liaison Unit at East Midlands Crown Prosecution Service. His appeal has been acknowledged but, at the time of writing, he said he has not received a response.
Incident with bouncers
At closing time on June 10, 2018, Fabiano allegedly tried to leave with a bottle of vodka before being stopped by bouncers.
The bouncers claim that he left without it and they closed the door behind him, but that he continued to bang on it repeatedly. The four bouncers also alleged that he shouted various racist insults at one of them through the door, which Fabiano denied.
Fabiano said he had purchased the bottle and was checking whether he could take it with him. He also left his coat inside and said he was knocking on the door to get the bottle back.
He also voluntarily attended Lincoln Police station to be interviewed on January 30, 2019 on suspicion of Racially Aggravated Intentional Disorderly Conduct. Police decided to take no further action against him in the matter.
The Venue Manager at Moka confirmed the club was under different ownership when the incident happened. The Deltic Group owned the venue at the time and when The Lincolnite approached them for a statement they said as it is a matter for the courts they have no further comment to make.
Hospital consultant visit
Fabiano also saw Consultant Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon Mr AP Connolly at Lincoln County Hospital and a letter was sent to his GP about it on January 8, 2019.
In a letter from the consultant it states that the forklift driver had a skull fracture and told him he was pushed over, and was on ITU (Intensive Treatment Unit) for five days.
The letter explained he has cervical spondylosis (age-related wear and tear affecting the spinal disks in your neck), as well as a type of whiplash injury.
He was referred for an MRI Scan, which the consultant was sure would be normal.
At the time the force said a 31-year-old man, who is now 32, was arrested and released under investigation.
A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Police has since said that the case has been discontinued following a CPS decision.
The accused pleaded not guilty to a charge of wounding/inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent during a hearing on October 3, 2019. Fabiano received a letter saying it was going to trial the week commencing February 17, 2020.
However, the defendant attended a further mention hearing on October 17, at which the prosecution offered no evidence and the case was closed.
Fabiano is unhappy with the outcome and recently submitted an appeal to the Victim Liaison Unit at East Midlands Crown Prosecution Service.
Prior to submitting the appeal he received a letter from them on October 16, 2019, which stated that the defendant would be formally found not guilty.
The letter explained: “This is because, after looking at the CCTV, unfortunately a jury would most likely see the use of only a little force on you. It is also clear that you were not going to go away.”
It was also decided that the push was “not seen as obviously harsh” and, “regrettably the outcome is inconsistent to the force used”.
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A 38-year-old man from a North Lincolnshire village charged with murder will face an eight-day trial later this year.
Emergency services were called at 4.23am on Saturday, July 2 to reports that a man was seriously injured on South Parade in central Doncaster.
The 28-year-old victim was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.
A post-mortem examination found that he died of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Formal identification of the victim is yet to take place, South Yorkshire Police said earlier this week.
Steven Ling, 38, of Park Drain, Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Monday, July 4.
Ling later appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, July 5 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
No pleas were entered during the hearing, but an eight-day trial was set for November 28, 2022. Ling has now been remanded into custody until the next hearing.
The Lincolnite went on a ride-along with a Lincolnshire Police officer from the force’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU), which aims to disrupt criminals’ use of the roads and reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents.
The team will support the county response including local policing, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation too.
Operations first began in Grantham in January this year and started in Louth earlier this week with a sergeant and nine PCs based in both locations.
The Lincolnite went out on a ride-along with PC Rich Precious from Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
PC Rich Precious has been a police officer for 22 years after joining the force in 2000 and he recently rejoined the Roads Policing Unit, working out of Louth.
PC Precious, who also previously worked as a family liaison officer for road deaths for 16 years, took The Lincolnite out in his police car to the A1 up to Colsteworth and then back to Grantham. He described that particular area as “one of the main arterial routes that goes through Lincolnshire”.
PC Rich Precious driving down the A1 up to Colsterworth. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Speaking about the new Roads Policing Unit, he said: “It’s intelligence led policing, it’s targeted policing in areas that have been underrepresented in terms of police presence, on the roads certainly, over a number of years.
“We’re hoping that the development of this unit will help address that balance, and look towards using the ANPR system to prevent criminals’ use of the road, and to identify key areas or routes where there’s a high percentage of people killed or seriously injured on the road, what we commonly refer to as KSI.
PC Precious is helping to keep the roads safer in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked if he thinks the new team will help reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents in the county, he added: “That’s what the the unit designed for. Sadly, in Lincolnshire our road network does seem to incur a number of those KSI accidents year on year, and we need to reduce that.
“I’ve worked additionally in my roles as a family liaison officer on road death for 16 years, so I’ve seen first hand the impact that road death has on families and victims families.
“I know it’s important that we try and reduce those because, it’s very sad to see how a fatal road traffic collision can affect a family and the victims of that family.”
Marc Gee, Inspector for Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Marc Gee, Inspector for the Roads Policing Unit, told The Lincolnite: “Every day there will be officers on duty from both teams and they’ll cover the whole county or the county’s roads.
“Eventually, we’ll have nine police cars and we’ve got six motorbikes. We’ll be utilising them with as many officers as we can every day basically to make our roads safer and enforce against the criminals who feel like it’s okay to come into the county and use our road for criminal purposes.”
Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite