One of Lincoln’s ‘most prolific shoplifters’ now behind bars
He will begin his 24 week custodial sentence immediately
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Update 2.46pm, 28 July:
One of Lincoln’s most prolific shoplifters has been given a custodial sentence for committing a further 23 offences after being granted a suspended sentence for the same offences just nine days earlier.
Nathan Lewis, 21, of Goldsmith Walk, Lincoln, was arrested and charged yesterday (27 July) for 11 shop thefts and 12 breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) which banned him from entering any of the stores he stole from.
He had previously been charged with 16 thefts over the course of a month, as well as one charge of assault which he was given a two year CBO for on 7 July. Last week he was charged with a further four thefts and three breaches of that CBO, and was sentenced to 12 weeks, suspended for six months at a hearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 19 July.
The thefts included items such as food items, cleaning products, toys and alcohol adding up to at least £750, and took place at more than six stores in the city.
As a result of the latest charges, his suspended sentence has been invoked at a hearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court today, and he has been given a further 12 weeks on top of that. He will begin his 24 week custodial sentence immediately.
Another prolific offender, Nyree Bonner, 48, of Ashcroft Road, Gainsborough, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court yesterday (27 July) and her case has been adjourned until 4 August for pre-sentence reports.
Original release, 3.27pm 25 July:
The nine most prolific shop thieves in Lincoln and Gainsborough responsible for almost £9K of stolen goods since March have been convicted thanks to proactive work by Lincolnshire Police.
The individuals carried out thefts across a range of shops throughout the city, with goods ranging from cleaning products and toys to alcohol, chocolate and general groceries.
The thefts took place between March and July in all cases, officers were able to build an intelligence picture on each person responsible which enabled the prosecutions.
We are now investigating where and who the goods have been sold on to, and whether there is an individual or groups handling the stolen goods once they are taken.
Lincoln Neighbourhood Policing Team Inspector Ian Richardson said: “Shop thefts have a significant impact on the staff and local community, and they deserved our attention; I am really pleased to say that these results mean we can provide the stores being targeted, and their employees, with some respite from constant battle of dealing with shop theft.
“It can be incredibly intimidating in many circumstances, as well as have a financial impact on the staff in those stores. The motivations of those committing these offences are purely to satisfy their own needs without thought to the people who would be affected.
“Being able to have a positive impact on crime for a victim is why I joined policing in the first place. We’re not stopping here.
“We will continue to monitor shop thefts and take action on those responsible, and we are now investigating where these good have been sold.
“The volume taken means it’s highly implausible that the items were kept for personal use, and we know that some goods have already been sold via Facebook Marketplace. We would urge people to consider whether they believe a product is legitimate before they make a purchase via social media.”
Here are the people responsible:
Matthew Taylor, 32, of Goldsmith Walk, Lincoln was found to be responsible for the theft of £1,080 of goods from shops across the city. The stolen goods taken ranged from groceries to cleaning products and alcohol, and he had targeted six stores during his thefts. On 4 July he was charged with a one count of theft and assault, and remanded for court. A 12 week suspended sentence which had been given for seven charges of theft on 28 June was then invoked, and he is now in prison. Prior to that on 30 May, he had been served with several fines and given a drug rehabilitation order. He was also convicted at his most recent hearing for assault on a shop worker at Waitrose.
Josie Mchale, 27, of Welton Gardens, Lincoln, was given a custodial sentence of 12 weeks on 8 July after being convicted for 15 thefts, a charge of assault, and a charge for breaching bail. She was responsible for taking around £1,700 of goods from the Co-op shops and was arrested by officers after it was identified she was selling goods on Facebook Marketplace. Items included food, toiletries, candles and bedding.
Her brother William Maher, 37, of Welton Gardens, was also in court that same day, and was ordered to work with We Are With You, given a Community Order, 10 days rehabilitation activity, and fined £314 in compensation. He was convicted after admitting multiple thefts and a breach of bail. His arrest came following intelligence work which determined he worked in conjunction with his sister, and was responsible for shop thefts totaling almost £750 in the local area.
Asha Hubbard, 29, of St Rumbold Street, Lincoln was responsible for at least £2,085 worth of goods stolen from multiple retail outlets around the city between June and July. She was charged for six counts of theft, and one count of possessing a controlled drug of class A. She was ordered to work with the drug rehabilitation charity, We Are With You, and given 22 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months. The suspended sentence was then imposed following an arrest on 11 July which saw her charged with seven further thefts. She now has a total custodial sentence of 26 weeks.
Charlie Carter, 24, of St Rumbold Street, was responsible for taking more than £1,000 of goods. He has been sentenced to 16 weeks in prison at a hearing on 15 July. The items were stolen from Tesco during July and included alcohol.
Daniel Elding, 37, of Laurel Close, Lincoln, was given an 18 month sentence, suspended for 20 weeks on 15 July after being charged with two thefts. His thefts included a range of food and alcohol from the Forum at North Hykeham.
Matthew Storr, 41, of St Rumbold Street, Lincoln, was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison on 28 June following three charges of theft and four breaches of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO). He stole meat from Iceland and Tesco stores.
Nathan Lewis, 21, of Goldsmith Walk, Lincoln has been charged with 16 thefts over the course of a month, as well as one charge of assault which he was given a two year CBO for on 7 July. Last week he has been charged with a further four thefts and three breaches of the CBO, and was sentenced to 12 weeks, suspended for six months at a hearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 19 July. The thefts included items such as food items, cleaning products, toys and alcohol adding up to at least £750, and took place at more than six stores in the city.
Nyree Bonner, 48, of Ashcroft Road, Gainsborough was charged with six counts of theft for goods including cleaning products, clothing, plants and toys totaling around to £500. The thefts took place at shops in Gainsborough in June. She also pleaded guilty to two charges of attempted theft and two assaults. She has been released on bail to appear at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 27 July for sentencing.
We have also charged Paul Bedford, 42, of Laurel Close, Lincoln with six counts of theft following incidents reported at four different Co-op shops and two Sainsbury’s stores between March and July. It was reported that general grocery items such as chocolate were stolen, with goods totaling around £700. He was charged on 18 July and bailed to appear at Lincoln Magistrates on 18 August.
The positive outcome is a result of proactive policing from the Lincoln Neighbourhood Policing Team, officers and staff working on community intelligence, and partnership work with CCTV team at the City of Lincoln Council, local drug charities, and probation services.
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Northern Lincolnshire nurses are piloting innovative new smart glasses for patient home visits this summer, enabling them to spend more time on patient care.
The React to Red (Tissue Viability) team have been chosen to trial the augmented reality glasses, named ‘A-Consult’, which will, provided the patient consents, be able to record parts of a clinical visit.
For example they could record video or just audio footage of them carrying out a task like dressing a wound.
In either case the glasses transcribe the information directly into the electronic patient record and then it’s all safely stored on the cloud.
This is expected to considerably reduce the amount of administrative time teams are spending and free them up to spend more time on clinical duties.
At a quick glance staff will also be able to look up their next appointment in their field of vision and see how long it will take to get there based on live traffic updates.
They’ll also have the ability to share live footage with colleagues to get a second opinion while still with the patient.
The smart glasses up close, enabling clinicians to share live footage with colleagues. | Photo: NLaG
Becky Birchall, Community Tissue Viability Clinical Nurse Specialist, said: “We’re excited to be the first team to try the smart glasses out and can’t wait to take them out on our community visits.
“The glasses have a thermal imaging feature, which I think will be particularly useful for us when we are examining wounds and these features are going to really help us provide the best possible care for our patients.”
As the smart glasses learn from each patient encounter, they will automate key tasks currently performed manually. The cost of the trial is £400,000, funded by NHS England.
Claire Shipley, Assistant General Manager for Community Services at the Trust said: “This is an incredibly exciting project to be involved with and is going to absolutely transform the way our community staff interact with patients; ultimately enabling them to see more people each day.
“We chose the React to Red team for the pilot as we felt they’d see the most benefit in terms of a time saving. We hope that patients will support us as we trial this pioneering technology and will embrace it just as much as our staff have.”
Farhan Amin is Founder of ConceptHealth, the company that developed the technology. He said: “We’re proud to have partnered with NLaG to trial this technology in Community services.
“Aside from the clear benefits A-Consult will bring in terms of reducing the administrative burden on staff, we’re keen to explore the longer-term impact the glasses will have in terms of improving productivity.”
Anglian Water has “a lot to answer for” after a long-running sinkhole debacle, Holbeach’s MP has claimed.
Nearly £500,000 has been spent over the last three years by various authorities attempting to repair the hole on Boston Road South.
People whose lives had been disrupted demanded answers from the water company and council at a town meeting on Wednesday evening.
The delayed sewer works have now been completed, and the road repairs are currently expected to be completed by Friday, August 26.
Most of the anger was directed against Anglian Water for not keeping people informed of what was happening.
Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings, said: “There has been a breakdown between Lincolnshire County Council. Local people have been put out. Anglian Water have a lot to answer for,” he said.
“It is not acceptable that the people I represent have had to have this since 2019. This cost is our money.
Problems have persisted on Boston Road South for years | Photo: The Lincolnite
“It is not acceptable people not knowing what is happening next. There is also the noise which is affecting people’s lives.
“Only Lincolnshire County Council are taking responsibility and not Anglian Water. People will know who to hold accountable.”
He also called for people to be compensated for their trouble as a gesture of goodwill.
Anglian Water said they were very sorry for not communicating better, and claimed that they had been working closely with the council to fix the problems.
A spokesperson said they would look into compensation.
One resident told the meeting that they hadn’t been informed about recent roadworks, and hadn’t been able to get off their drive for work on Monday.
Lincolnshire County Council apologised for not dropping letters off to all houses affected.
Questions also revealed that tankers full of sewage and storm water were being taken away from the sinkhole daily.
Anglian Water has spent approximately £350,000 trying to rectify the problem, and another £115,000 has come from Lincolnshire County Council.
The road repairs were pushed back from July 4 after Anglian Water said that more time was needed to repair the sewer.