Lincolnshire-based Ringrose Law is celebrating a number of senior leadership changes after Senior Partner Paul Cooper and Partner Christine Pickwell announced their retirement.
Partner and Head of the Personal Injury & Medical Negligence Team John Knight will be stepping up to the role of Senior Partner from May 1, 2020.
The changes mark the end of an era, with Paul Cooper and Christine Pickwell having both been Partners in the firm since the early 1980s. They will retire in April 2020.
Paul Cooper, John Knight and Christine Pickwell
Paul began his career in private practice in 1979. His early years in Boston were spent working for Frost Gunning and Co, who merged with Grocock and Staniland in 1984 to form Ringrose and Co, now Ringrose Law.
Paul was made a Partner of Ringrose Law in 1986 and has taken on management responsibilities ever since. Paul has been Head of the Family Department and an accredited Family Mediator for many years with past accreditations for Mental Health Tribunal work and Personal Injury.
Paul is known throughout Lincolnshire and surrounding counties for his excellent reputation in the Family Law arena.
He was also Acting Senior Coroner for South Lincolnshire until the reorganisation of the county boundaries and despite which retains the post of Assistant Coroner for the new division of Lincolnshire he is also a Deputy District Judge and will continue both of these roles going forward on a part-time basis.
Christine has also established an excellent reputation in the county in the Family Law and Family Mediation arena. Christine has been practising in Family Law since the early 1980s and was the first female Partner since the merger of Adie Pickwell & Ringrose & Co in 1989.
Whilst Christine will be stepping back from the Partnership, she will remain as a Consultant & continue in her role as Family Mediator & head of the Ringrose Family Mediation Department.
John Knight has been appointed as Senior Partner
As the firm wishes good luck to Paul and Christine, it also looks forward to the appointment of John Knight as Senior Partner.
John joined the firm in 2003 and soon became Partner and in due course Head of the Personal Injury and Medical Negligence Teams. As well as his management role, John acts for clients with complex and serious injuries, alongside taking a very active Trustee role with the Charity Headway Lincolnshire, supporting survivors of Brain Injury.
John Knight said: “I would like to add my personal thanks, and those of the rest of the Partners, to both Paul and Christine for the tremendous amount of service they have given to Ringrose Law over the years. Their contribution to the success of the firm has been invaluable.”
As well as the appointment of John to Senior Partner, the firm has also announced further promotions to the Partnership, and welcomes Solicitors Richard Teare, Costa Kyriacou, Kelly Langworthy, Amanda Green and Emma McGrath.
Paul and Christine said in a joint statement: “We would like to wish the new Partners every success for the future, there is a lot of exciting change to come for Ringrose Law.
“The firm continues to adapt to the client’s needs, developing the software and technology that we have, and we are pleased to say there will be some further announcements being made over the next 12 months, to ensure that we stay a leading regional law firm.”
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Officers were called to reports of a burglary in progress at a premises on Harlow Street, Grimsby at 5:20am this morning (Thursday 26 May).
Following a prompt response from officers five men (from London, Essex and Loughborough) have been arrested on suspicion of burglary.
Whilst carrying out a search of the area and property officers also discovered a cannabis grow at the premises alongside equipment often used when growing cannabis.
Electricity had also been abstracted dangerously.
If you have any information that may assist us with our enquiries, please contact us on our non-emergency number 101 quoting log 46 of 26 May.
A man from Crowland has been fined more than £21,000 for storing waste illegally after pleading guilty to operating a waste site without permission and allowing others to fly-tip there.
Raymond Wortley, 75, of The Streddars, Hundreds Road, accepted and stored waste illegally at his home without a permit. While some of the waste was burned, he also left his gate open which allowed fly-tippers to deposit other waste on his site.
Wortley was sentenced at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on May 24, 2022. He pleaded guilty to operating a waste facility without a permit and knowingly permitting others to deposit waste.
In mitigation, it was explained Wortley had misunderstood the scope of the regulations and had made efforts to comply. He had recently cleared the site and was in the process of making an application for planning permission.
He was fined £21,693.50 which included the avoided permit costs and financial benefit Wortley had gained by running the illegal site. He was ordered to pay a contribution to prosecution costs of £10,000 and a victim surcharge of £181.
A man from Lincolnshire stored waste illegally at his home without a permit. | Photo: Environment Agency
Waste including tree cuttings, plastics, treated wood and construction waste was kept on land at Wortley’s home between October 23, 2019 and June 2, 2021.
Officers visited the site in October 2019 after reports of material being burnt at the site. Smoke from the fire was so thick the officers were unable to see each other.
Metal sheeting, aerosols, ceramic pots and plastic were all found on the burn pile. At the time, Wortley only had permission to burn green waste produced at his site.
Surveillance was then carried out at the site during February 2020, and June to July 2020. Officers noted tipper trucks bringing waste to the site on numerous occasions during this time.
They were told by drivers a fee of £20 was being charged per load to bring waste to the site.
Smoke from the fire was so thick that the officers were unable to see each other. | Photo: Environment Agency
Wortley was told verbally and in writing on several occasions he was not allowed to run the site in the way he was doing. Despite this, he continued to do so.
Further visits were made to the site in July 2020. An attempt to regularise some of the activities had been made with the green waste now being shredded, but this still required a permit.
Additional visits were made in February 2021 and again in October last year. Despite further warnings telling him to stop, Wortley continued to operate from the site with mixed waste including carpets, plastic and household waste being found.
In, November 2021, the site was inspected via drone and found to still be operating as a waste transfer station without any permits.
Peter Stark, enforcement team leader at the Environment Agency, said: “We take illegal waste activity very seriously and will take the necessary action to disrupt criminal activity and prosecute those responsible.
“Wortley was advised to stop on numerous occasions but continued to disregard environmental law. He is now receiving the consequences of those actions.”
Members of the public can report waste crime report on 0800 807060. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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