200 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday

Lincolnshire County Council is holding the first ever Climate Summit on Wednesday, October 13, in the run up to the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.

The summit will bring together the public sector, businesses and communities to look to the future and discover new ways of working together to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Attendees at the Epic Centre at the Lincolnshire Showground will hear from a line-up of inspirational speakers, including the chair of the UK Climate Change Committee Lord Deben, the CEO of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) Sarah Mukherjee and local businesses that are leading the way with their decarbonisation solutions.

Register for the Climate Summit

As part of the run up to the Climate Summit, there will be a series of free online webinars starting next week. Come along for actionable next steps on your climate journey and connect with other like-minded individuals wanting to be part of the solution. 

Register for the webinars

Energy Efficiency for your Business/Community Space – September 20, 10am – 11.30am

Hear about building design, energy efficiency and digital ways to make your community space/business more energy efficient.

Sustainable Transport for your Business – September 21, 11am – 12.30pm

Hear about cargo bikes, biomethane power and electric vehicles. Find out how you can introduce sustainable transport to your business.

Community Led Climate Action – September 22, 6pm – 7.30pm

Find out what climate action is taking place in Lincolnshire and how you can get involved in your community to tackle climate change. The panel will be talking about #plasticfree communities, sustainability toolkits and reducing the carbon emissions of your local area.

Create a Low Carbon Home – September 23, 6pm – 7.30pm

Find out about retrofitting, local authority funding and the simple ways you can make your home more sustainable.

A stalker who caused such fear to his victim that she tried to take her own life has been jailed, Lincoln Crown Court heard on Friday.

John Ogle, who was a Facebook friend with his victim, used fake social media accounts to send messages to the woman with threats to harm her if she did not send him naked photographs.

He made further threats, went on to slash a tyre on her car and fitted a tracking device to her vehicle.

Ogle also messaged her claiming he had kidnapped her boyfriend.

Lucky Thandi, prosecuting, said the victim’s contact with Ogle increased at the start of the first COVID lockdown in the spring of 2020.

Ogle visited her home at one stage and stayed for three days but the relationship between them was purely as friends. However when Ogle discovered she had begun a relationship with another man his behaviour changed.

Miss Thandi said: “She asked the defendant for space which he did not seem to understand and she blocked him on Instagram and Facebook.”

Within a fortnight the woman began receiving threatening messages requesting naked photographs.

One message sent by Ogle from a fake account, said “Watch your boyfriend’s vehicle burn tonight”.

Then, after her car tyre was slashed, she received a further message saying: “I can make it much worse. I know where you work. I know your friends. You’ll never be safe. When I’ve finished with your boyfriend, I’m coming for you.”

The victim then found a tracking device had been fitted to her car. Ogle sent her a photograph of a man taped and tied up in the boot of a car claiming he had kidnapped her boyfriend.

The following day he sent a further photograph which also showed the registration number of Ogle’s car which led police to trace and arrest him.

Until that time the victim believed an ex-boyfriend was responsible.

Miss Thandi said the victim was so badly affected that at one point she took an overdose.

“The threats and harassment massively affected her life. She didn’t feel safe at her home, at work, or outside.

“This was clearly persistent, planned and designed to cause maximum distress.”

Ogle, 30, who gave a ‘care of’ address in Witham Town, Boston, admitted a charge of stalking causing serious alarm or distress between July 30, 2020 and August 19, 2020.

He was jailed for 28 months and given a lifetime restraining order banning him from contacting his victim and from going to any address where he knows her to be living or staying.

Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told him: “You are manipulative and self centred.

“You were directly and repeatedly threatening her and caused her to try to kill herself.”

Neil Sands, in mitigation, said Ogle has been on bail since he was arrested 13 months ago and in the interim has not contacted his victim. He urged that any prison sentence should be suspended.

A former Lincolnshire lorry driver has been jailed for 12 months for sexual offences against children in the 1970s.

Lawrence Burman, 75, of Beck Side, Hibaldstow, pleaded guilty to four counts of gross indecency against a child and two counts of indecent assault against a child, St Albans Crown Court heard.

The offences relate to three children, aged between eight and 13 at the time they were abused by Burman.

The court heard how Burman used to work as a lorry driver for a firm in Hemel Hempstead. In 1970, he carried out a sexual act in the presence of one victim while they both sat inside his cab.

Burman then went on to commit several offences near Berkhamsted between 1972 and 1978. One offence was also committed in Lincolnshire.

Detective Constable Laura Chillingworth, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s historic child abuse investigation team, said: “Burman arrogantly believed he would get away with his actions, thinking his victims would never reveal what happened to them. However, their courage in coming forward meant he did have to face the consequences of what he did all those years ago.

“On arrest, he denied the allegations and claimed his victims were lying, but later pleaded guilty to all charges.

“Child victims of sexual abuse never forget what happened to them. They have to learn to live with it, but understandably it often has a hugely negative impact on their self-esteem and their mental health.

“I hope the conclusion of this investigation and its outcome finally gives all three of them a sense of closure on the past.”

Burman will be on licence on his release from prison.