The aftermath of the camp. | Photo: Boston Borough Council
Lincolnshire Police have said COVID-19 restrictions caused what councillors said was a “failed” response to an illegal traveller camp in Boston.
Travellers occupied an illegal encampment on Woodville Road play park between July 31 and August 5 this year.
They were said to have threatened to “break people’s fingers”, “riot” and “never leave” the site despite being told a vehicle crime officer would be visiting.
The incident led to a police decision to leave the site until the case went to court because the force “did not have adequate resources at that time to deal with large disorder”.
This is the fourth time an illegal encampment has been set up on the same site in three years.
During a meeting of Boston Town Area Committee (BTAC) on Thursday, Councillor Brian Rush said: “We failed here, didn’t we. We failed to have anyone noticing that those same travellers I believe left Skegness on that day and were on the move.”
Piles of litter were left behind. Photo: Boston Borough Council
Chief Superintendent Chris Davison, Area Commander for East Lincolnshire said: “The COVID-19 restrictions meant that we have been trying to minimise unnecessary contact, which could have meant large amounts of officers having to isolate for periods of two weeks or more.
“There was insufficient immediately available resources to deal with any large-scale disorder.”
It was estimated that there were 80 travellers on the site and that a minimum of 160 police officers would have been needed during the incident.
Chief Superintendent Davison said this would be a 10th of his force and warned that “we could have lost those members of our force for up to two weeks” if they had to self-isolate.
He added officers are in “high demand” and suggested “we should have had a multi-agency decision-making group”. This would mean partners such as the council and police would come to a joint decision around what action to take.
The cleanup operation. | Photo: Boston Borough Council
The play area had to undergo a deep clean after the illegal encampment. Clean-up of the site, officer time and legal fees cost Boston Borough Council £473.69.
Councillor Deborah Evans described the fence as “excellent” and said “it’s a really good safety feature as well”.
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A 20-year-old man has been charged after police searched his Lincoln home and found various drugs, including cocaine, MDMA, amphetamines and ketamine.
Officers completed a search under the Misuse of Drugs Act on Newark Road on the evening of Friday, January 15.
The property raided was the address of Henry Lamyman, 20, and he has been subsequently charged with possession of drugs with intent to supply.
He has been charged with six separate drug supply offences, after officers found cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, amphetamine, ketamine and psychoactive substances, namely LSD, at his home.
Police found approximately a kilogram of cocaine, over a kilogram of ketamine, more than 1,000 pills, 800g of cannabis and 270g of amphetamines.
He has also been charged with an offence relating to criminal property, and appeared before Lincoln Magistrates Court on Monday, January 18.
He will now face a trial by jury at Lincoln Crown Court on February 15, and has been bailed until then.
Eighteen residents at a care home near Spilsby died after a six-week coronavirus outbreak, which also led to two staff being treated in hospital.
All 27 residents at The Old Hall at Halton Holegate, which is run by Kesh-Care Limited, tested positive at the same time on November 16, as well as 20 staff.
Sadly, two thirds of the residents died, with most in their 90s, but their ages ranged from 79 to 99, according toThe Guardian.
The first death from coronavirus at the care home was on November 18.
Some of the deaths were so sudden that staff did not have the chance to administer end-of-life treatment or arrange for loved ones to say goodbye.
Two members of staff were so ill they had to be taken to hospital and it is understood that one is still off sick. Some staff moved into a caravan nearby to be around to help.
The care home’s manager Diane Vale said: “The outbreak started on November 16 and lasted around six weeks. All 27 residents tested positive at the same time, as well as 20 out of 28 staff. It was awful, we lost 18 residents altogether.
“I have been a manager for 40 years and have never had to deal with anything like it – it was horrendous.”
She added: “Originally there were no symptoms and the symptoms they tell you to look for, such as a continuous cough or high temperature, there was no indication of that.”
The home’s infection control procedures were validated as safe by regulators at the end of November and it was rated overall as ‘Good’ after its latest inspection on November 24 last year.
This comes after it was revealed that East Lindsey was the district of Lincolnshire that recorded one of the highest weekly number of COVID care home deaths in England in December. 52 people died from coronavirus in the district’s care homes in the five weeks to January 3.
Meanwhile, COVID outbreaks in England’s care homes almost tripled in three weeks to January 10, according to data from Public Health England.
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