A 90-year-old Lincoln man who was convicted of eight sexual charges against two victims was today (Wednesday) sentenced to 24 years imprisonment after dramatically protesting his innocence in court.
Peter Green, formerly of Bailgate, Lincoln, was eventually sentenced in his absence after being taken down from the dock at Lincoln Crown Court on two occasions due to his protests of innocence.
Green was convicted unanimously by a jury of eight sexual charges following a trial at Lincoln Crown Court in April.
He had denied two charges of rape against a woman but was found guilty by the jury.
The jury also convicted Green of two charges of attempted rape on a second female victim who was aged under-13, and a further four charges of indecent assault on the same complainant.
All of the offences occurred during the 1990s and were not reported to the police for two decades until Green’s youngest victim decided to come forward.
Neither victim attended the sentencing hearing. They can not be named to protect their anonymity.
But prosecution barrister Sarah Knight read out a victim impact statement from each of the women.
The court heard Green’s first victim suffered from self low esteem and a fear of not being believed.
Green’s youngest victim explained that she still suffered nightmares and cried when the events were replayed in her head.
Michelle Heeley QC, defending Green, acknowledged: “I am mitigating for a man who does not accept his guilt.”
Addressing Judge John Pini QC, Miss Heeley added: “Any sentence your honour now passes is a life sentence for Mr Green.”
Miss Heeley added: “We are now decades on from the offending behaviour. He has the love and support of his family.
“They are the ones who are going to suffer, particularly his wife who has dementia. He cared for her.”
Miss Heeley told the court Green had “pulled himself up from nothing,” and had run a successful community football team for many years.
The court heard Green had no previous convictions but declined to give evidence during his trial.
Before passing sentence Judge Pini explained: “I am sentencing Peter Green in his absence.
“He has understandably very strong views about his convictions.
“We have tried twice to have him in court.”
Green was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment with a one year extended licence period on any release from custody.
He must also register as a sex offender for life.
Detective Inspector Lee Nixon, Protecting Vulnerable People, Lincolnshire Police, said: “This case relates to disclosures made by one of the victims in 2019 relating to sexual abuse committed in the 1990s. Following this initial report, a second victim came forward to report further physical and sexual abuse by the offender.
“Earlier this year, Peter Green was found guilty on all charges. He has never admitted to his abhorrent behaviour and has never shown remorse for the harm he has caused to the victims.
“I want to pay tribute to the bravery of the victims in coming forward to report these appalling crimes, and whose evidence was vital in bringing this man to justice. The courage they’ve shown cannot be underestimated and I hope this sentence brings some closure for them.
“I would also like to thank the officers involved in this investigation, who through their hard work built a strong case resulting in the sentence today.”
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We are appealing for information after a woman in her 50s was found with serious injuries in the early hours of yesterday morning (15 August).
We received a report of an injured woman in Church View, Bourne at around 2.50am. She was close to her mobility scooter. Officers attended the incident and found a woman in need of medical assistance.
She has suffered a fracture to her nose, injuries to her knee and has a bleed on the brain, and is being treated in hospital for her injuries.
We have now launched an investigation into assault. At this stage we are keeping an open mind as to the cause and circumstances, and we encourage people not to speculate.
We’re asking for anyone who may be able to help us with our investigation to get in touch.
We are keen to see any dashcam, mobile phone footage, doorbell footage, or CCTV of the streets around the area she was found which could help us to piece together her movements and details of what happened. We believe she may have been in the Red Lion Pub in South Road, Bourne earlier that night.
Following initial enquiries, we have arrested a 51-year-old man on suspicion of GBH. He remains in police custody. Officers remain in the area today carrying out further enquiries.
If you have information which could help, there are a number of ways to get in touch
By calling 101 quoting incident 480 of 15 July.
By emailing [email protected] quoting incident 480 of 15 July in the subject line.
If you wish to remain anonymous, you can report via the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.
A Lincolnshire hospital worker was left with an unmanageable workload during the pandemic which led to her becoming ill with stress.
Mrs L Trapps was left with no choice but to quit after her pleas for help went ignored, an employment tribunal has found.
The United Lincolnshire Health Trust has now offered its apologies to her.
The data protection clerk, who was based in Grantham hospital, had worked for the NHS trust part-time for nearly 30 years.
During the pandemic, other clinically-vulnerable staff were told to work from home, which left Mrs Trapps struggling under a greater workload.
In November 2020, she told a senior manager that her workload was excessive and she felt unable to take any time off.
She came away with the impression that more support would be given, but the manager told the tribunal that he never felt there was a need to.
Shortly after, Mrs Trapps went on sick leave for a “stress related condition”, the tribunal heard.
She returned to find her role hadn’t been covered, and her workload was higher than ever.
The ULHT has apologised for Mrs Trapps’ treatment | Photo: Google Street View
In April, she was informed that another part-time employee who assisted for ten hours a week would be changing departments, and wouldn’t be replaced.
The manager refused to believe there was a problem with the workload, saying the requests she dealt with had halved since the previous year.
This was despite the department missing the 30-day target for half of all GDPR requests.
The decision not to replace the other employee was “the last straw” for Mrs Trapps, who handed in her resignation shortly after.
She accused the trust of being “indifferent, uncaring and biased”.
The employment tribunal which sat in Nottingham found that “she was expected to do the work of a full time member of staff on her less than full time hours.”
It added that the senior manager had “no accurate sense of what the workload was” at any time.
The hospital trust has issued a full apology to her.
A spokesperson for ULHT said: “We fully accept the findings of the Employment Tribunal and would like to offer our sincere apologies to Mrs Trapps for the circumstances which led to this case being heard.