December 31, 2022 7.30 am This story is over 25 months old

Rewind: Women jailed in Lincolnshire in 2022

Including a young mother who killed her partner

Jail sentences were predominantly handed out to men for serious crimes throughout 2022, but a handful of women gained infamy for wrongdoing, including a young mother sentenced for unlawfully killing her partner in Boston.

According to the latest data from the Prison Reform Trust, women make up only 4% of the total prison population.

The Bromley Briefings Summer 2022 states that women tend to commit less serious offences, with many serving prison sentences of less than 12 months. This is according to Offender management statistics quarterly (October to December 2021). The longest reported sentence in Lincolnshire given out this year was nine years.

The Lincolnite’s court reporters cover the biggest cases heard in our region every day, although some have been delayed for 2023 for reasons including barrister strikes.

Here is a round-up of cases we reported on resulting in prison sentences for women in Lincolnshire this year (*The ages of all the above defendants was correct at the time of sentencing):

Charlie Stevenson

Charlie Stevenson was jailed for nine years. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Young mother Charlie Stevenson, *21, killed her on-off partner Christopher Higgs with a single stab wound to the heart and in March this year she was jailed for nine years.

Stevenson was cleared of murdering Higgs after a trial, but the jury convicted her of unlawfully killing Mr Higgs at her home in Boston.

Read the full story here.


Danielle Mitchell

Lincoln woman Danielle Mitchell was handed an eight-and-a-half-year jail term. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Danielle Mitchell and her partner David Enright threatened their victims in a sting of terrifying robberies and burglaries in Lincoln.

The pair left their victims injured and scared as they stole their money, harassed them in their homes and took their belongings.

In January this year Mitchell, *36, was handed an eight-and-a-half-year jail term, while Enright was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Read the full story here.


Fiona Lewis

Fiona Lewis was given a jail sentence of four years and four months imprisonment and will have to serve a further three years on licence after her release from custody. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

A mentally ill Lincoln woman who carried out a “terrifying attack” on her own mother after arming herself with a carving knife was jailed in April 2022.

Fiona Lewis, *41, attacked Lilette Lewis at the pensioner’s home in Lincoln after forming a delusional belief that her mother was having a relationship with her ex-boyfriend.

She was given a jail sentence of four years and four months imprisonment and will have to serve a further three years on licence after her release from custody.

Read the full story here.


Kirsty Barr

Kirsty Barr has been jailed for three years and nine months. | Photo: Humberside Police

Kirsty Barr, *24, fabricated a series of assaults and abuse committed by her ex-partner against her and was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for perverting the course of justice.

Barr, from Barton in North Lincolnshire, pleaded guilty of framing Ryan Kerrison for incidents she made up. She had claimed that he had repeatedly harassed her and assaulted her, including threatening her with a gun and cutting her with a knife.

Read the full story here.


Kylee Ann Orton

Kylee Ann Orton was jailed for 46 months. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Lincoln woman Kylee Ann Orton, *43, was jailed this January for three years and 10 months after stealing £5 from a man in his 50s and pushing him over.

The man was approached by Orton as he was walking along Yarborough Road in October 2020 and the incident was reported to police, but fortunately the victim sustained no injuries during the ordeal.

Read the full story here.


Phoebe Adlard

Phoebe Adlard. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Former equine student Phoebe Adlard continued a “campaign of hatred” against Lincoln College after being released from jail, and in August this year she was sent back to prison for 26 months.

A restraining order had prevented Adlard, *23, from contacting Lincoln College or making any comments on social media about the institution. However, she later admitted a further offence of harassment and breaching the restraining order after she was released from custody earlier this year.

Read the full story here.


Emma Webster

Emma Webster. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Prison officer Emma Webster, *34, chatted about sex and exchanged intimate photos after developing “inappropriate relationships” with two inmates at HMP Lincoln and in October this year she was jailed for 14 months.

She talked about “having sex” with inmate Bradley Brammall during a series of 17 prohibited calls with the A-Wing prisoner and smuggled an unknown item into the jail for him. Just eight days after Webster’s contact with Brammall ended she swapped night shifts with a colleague so she could begin another inappropriate relationship with C-Wing inmate Jimmy Bennett.

Read the full story here.


Romayne Thompson

Romayne Thompson, of no fixed address. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police

Romayne Thompson, *31, made fraudulent statements to get money from vulnerable victims. She approached several people in a residential area and made false statements about her circumstances before asking for money. In one case, cash was handed over.

In November this year, Thompson was sentenced to five 20-week sentences in prison for each of the four fraud charges, and the breach of the Criminal Behaviour Order. The sentences will run concurrently.

Read the full story here.


Davina Leedham

*No custody image was available

Davina Leedham, *62, was jailed for 20 weeks and banned from keeping all animals for 10 years after causing unnecessary suffering to 13 horses.

Leedham failed to explore and address the poor condition of 12 equines, and caused unnecessary suffering to 13th horse – a Chestnut Gelding – by failing to seek appropriate professional veterinary care to address an infected wound to his leg.

Read the full story here.


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