Nigel Chapman

A father saw his beloved dog killed as he saved the life of a drunken man on a busy main road.

Max Williams, who was walking 19-week-old Loki, bravely went into the road and dragged the man out of the busy A16.

Just as he let him go, Loki broke free and began running along the verge.

Max, 34, went into the road again to try and stop the approaching traffic. Sadly, one car did not slow down and hit and killed Loki instantly.

“It was dreadful and has been haunting me since. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen in my life,” said his distraught owner.

The driver didn’t stop or report the collision but it’s understood police have traced a vehicle in connection with the incident.

Max says he doesn’t believe the driver was speeding but the road is well lit and he can’t understand why the car didn’t slow down.

“Although my puppy was only a baby he was a Cane Corso so he was a large dog who weighed 36kg. This car must have seen me, the drunken man and my dog,” he added.

Max’s family – including fiancée Becky Waller and three children – are devastated over the tragedy near Tytton Lane East, Wyberton – close to Boston United’s new ground – at about 7.45pm on Tuesday, October 12.

Moments beforehand, Max had seen the drunken man walking in the middle of the road and shouting at a young woman and child.

Max said: “After [he had] two very close calls with cars, I rang 999. While I was on the phone to them he continued to throw himself in front of traffic.

“He was aware of what he was doing. I had to do something to stop him – I would never have been able to live with myself if I’d found out later that he’d been killed.”

Businessman Max says the police have told him they are unhappy about his own efforts to trace the driver of the vehicle which killed Loki, including a social media offering a reward for information and trying to gather CCTV footage from nearby premises.

“And worse still they say I might be liable for any damage to the car,” Max added.

It could be deemed that he did not have proper control of Loki but Max believes video footage from na cyclist will clear him of any blame.

The clip of the harness is broken but it’s not clear whether this happened as Loki got free or it was damaged in the collision.

Max said: “I’ve gone over it a million times in my head. It was a pull. The one thing I hope from people take away from me sharing this story is that they are extra careful on the roads – life can change so quickly.”

He added: “The impact this has had on my family is unreal. We waited five years to get Loki, we travelled abroad to get a certain breeder, spent tens of thousands of pounds on training and more importantly he was our youngest son.

“To say this has ripped our family apart is no understatement. My children are heartbroken and Becky has been unable to leave the house since – they spent 24 hours a day together.”

Max said Loki was a caring and gentle dog, loved by everyone whom he came into came into contact with. He featured on Instagram and had done advertising for dog food brands and dog clothing company.

“He was incredibly photogenic and loved being the star of the show,” added Max. Loki was regarded as the youngest son of the family.

A Lincolnshire couple have been fined £200 each for their part in digging up 8,000 bluebells from woodland in a neighbouring county.

Native English bluebells are legally protected and intentionally uprooting them is against the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday that the UK has more than half the world’s population of bluebells and the English variety is commercially desirable and often targeted by thieves.

The bulbs in this case at Thursford, Norfolk, were recovered and replanted, which took five men eight hours each at a cost of £625.

Prosecutor Ashley Petchey said the bluebells had been there for possibly hundreds of years and the flowers and surrounding land would take a long time to recover to “pre-disturbed levels”.

James Cross, 30, and Katie Bingham, 20, each pleaded guilty to uprooting a wild plant on March 23, 2021.

The court was told they were among a group of four people arrested for the offence following a tip-off about suspicious behaviour. Police found about 8,000 bulbs in mail bags.

Mr Petchey said: “Mr Cross gave his home address in Lincolnshire and said he was there for the purpose of walking his dogs. He said his mother had dropped them off and she was returning to pick them up later.”

Cross was questioned about a black Vauxhall Astra at the scene but denied he had arrived in it.

“He was noted to have very muddy-looking hands but said this was because he’d been in the forest with the dogs,” added Mr Petchey.

“Miss Bingham also provided a similar account.”

Claire Edgeler, mitigating for both defendants, said the evidence against her clients had been “very strong” and they were right to plead guilty.

“Whilst they are clearly aware that stealing bulbs that do not belong to them is an offence, they were not aware that it was a specific offence to uproot wild bulbs.

“It was selfish and irresponsible. They said to me that they were not intending to sell them but share them between themselves and their friends.

“They had no particular desire to make money. What the other [two] people were intending to do we don’t know.”

As well as the fine, Cross and Bingham, of Anfield Road, Long Sutton, Lincolnshire, were each ordered to pay £105 costs, £34 victim surcharge and £156.25 compensation.

Co-defendants Robert Barnes, 30, of Park Lane, Long Sutton, and Saskia Jackson, 28, of Lowgate, Lutton, Lincolnshire, did not appear as scheduled. They have not yet entered a plea. Their cases were adjourned to Thursday, October 21.