A local businessman and drugs gang ringleader who brought huge quantities of heroin and cocaine into a Lincolnshire town has been sentenced to 16 years in prison alongside several other dealers.

In total, 12 men received jail sentences with a combined total of 113 years and 10 months.

A 13th defendant was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with 120 hours of unpaid work in the community.

As previously reported, car dealer Jonathan Ferry headed the Grantham-based gang which brought in hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs from Manchester and Nottinghamshire during a nine month period.

M Cat and amphetamine were also brought in to make vast profits.

Couriers from Manchester had supplied cocaine on at least 13 occasions to the Grantham group with evidence showing that in the region of 1.5kgs of the drug with a potential street sale value of £90,000 was brought in each time.

On one occasion Ryan Anderson, a drugs courier from Manchester, was found with £26,000 cash after being stopped by police on his way back over the Pennines after making a delivery.

Heroin supplies were brought in from North Nottinghamshire area with up to 2.5 kgs with a street sale value of £137,000 being supplied at a time.

Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, described car dealer Jonathan Ferry as head of the Grantham drugs gang with Adam Higgs as his right hand man.

The Judge said: “Ferry was at the very heart of this operation which he controlled. He played an organising role in the buying and selling of drugs. He expected and no doubt got substantial financial gain.

“He drove a Ranger Rover with a personalised number plate. Found at his address was a receipt indicating he had bought it for £23,500 paying with cash. He had gold jewellery, a quantity of cash. There were four Rolex watches and two Armani watches.

“Ferry had a reputation in Grantham as an established drug dealer. He played a leading role and was very important in this operation.”

Turning to Higgs, the judge said: “He played an extremely important role. It was a leading role but under Ferry’s direction. Higgs was, I am sure, Ferry’s right hand man.”

The judge said Paul Hull was another of the leading members of the drugs operation.

“He was a trusted courier who was in close contact with Ferry, Higgs, Straw and Sly. He played an extremely significant role.”

He added that Straw and Sly, based in the Retford and Ollerton areas, operated as a partnership and were also key members of the conspiracy while other defendants played lesser roles either as couriers or through involvement in processing drugs ready for onward sale.

At the end of the case the judge praised the police team involved in investigating the case.

He said: “This has been the result of a great many painstaking and diligent hours of police work. The officers and all involved are to be commended.”

The 13 defendants received the following sentences this morning by Judge John Pini QC:

• Tyrone Sly, 46, of Bye Path Road, Retford – 10 years six months jail
• James Straw, 50, of Petersmith Drive, New Ollerton, Newark – 16 years jail
• Jonathan Paul Ferry, 46, of Larch Close, Grantham – 16 years jail
• Paul Hull, 47, of Grantley Street, Grantham – 12 years jail
• Adam Higgs, 24, of Shaw Road, Grantham – 14 years jail
• Luke Smith, 30, of Goulden Street, Salford – eight years jail
• Ryan Anderson, 31, of Walmer Street, Gorton, Manchester – eight years jail
• Jamie Darby, 39, of Princess Drive, Grantham – 10 years jail
• Adam Gill, 29 , of South Parade, Grantham – Three years six months jail
• Martin Cooper,31, formerly of Grantham – Three years six months jail
• Ashley Toulson, 27, of Edward Street, Grantham – Two years four months jail
• Stuart Frazier, 54, of Princess Drive, Grantham – 10 years jail
• Francesca Moynihan, 23, of Hawthorn Drive, Salford – 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years with 120 hours of unpaid work in the community

Lincolnshire Police have told would-be drug dealers their actions will not be tolerated after

ConocoPhillips (UK) Ltd was on Monday February 8 fined £3 million following a major leak at a North Sea gas platform off the Lincolnshire coast.

The company, which admitted three breaches of health and safety regulations, was also ordered to pay £159,000 costs.

The incident in November 2012 followed a number of previous, less serious gas leaks at the Lincolnshire Offshore Gas Gathering System which converts natural gas into liquid form allowing it to be transported by pipeline to the Theddlethorpe terminal on the East Coast.

Lincoln Crown Court was told 603 kgs of gas was released causing danger that even a spark from a workman dropping a tool could have resulted in a disaster.

All non-essential workers were evacuated and lives were put at risk by the leak.

Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, said: “There was here an uncontrolled release of potentially explosive gas.

“There was a significant chance of the gas igniting. Had that happened the risk of death or serious injury would have been extremely high.

“The incident, mercifully, did not result in loss of life or injury but it had all the potential for both.

“There was a failure to identify the risks posed. There was inadequate oversight and control of the permit to work system.”

Pascal Bates, prosecuting for the Health & Safety Executive, said the lives of the 66 workers on the platform, 70 miles off the Lincolnshire coast, were put at risk.

Mr Bates said there had been two earlier, less serious releases of gas before the major incident.

The gas releases occurred in November 2012 after a valve was removed for repairs on the platform which provided power to the site. A second valve was not closed off with the result that gas was released.

A maintenance worker said Mr Bates could have sparked a fire or an explosion simply by falling back or dropping a metal tool.

Eventually the problem was identified as being caused by an open valve and a worker managed to shut it several hours after the first gas was released.

Mr Bates said: “There was a foreseeable and significant risk. It was fortunate there were not deaths or serious injuries.

“Had there been gas ignition there would have been an extremely high risk of multiple deaths. Not necessarily all 66 workers but it could have been a very serious international-level incident.”

ConocoPhillips (UK) Limited admitted three charges of breach of health and safety regulations. The offences occurred on dates up to December 1, 2012.

Richard Lissack, QC, for ConocoPhillips, said “The company responded rapidly and decisively to the incident without any regard for either the cost or the legal consequences, openly working together with the Health & Safety Executive to address the problems. The company wishes to ensure there is never a repeat.”

He said that the company’s fire and gas detection system worked and the shut-down system operated exactly as it was designed to do preventing any fire or explosion.

The court was told that since the incident ConocoPhillips has spent over £1 million introducing new systems to prevent a repeat occurrence. The company has also paid the £400,000 costs of the HSE investigation.

A man from Lincoln has been given an eight year jail sentence for two offences of rape and one of assaulting a police officer.

Appearing at Lincoln Crown Court, Steven Saint, 37, whose last known address was Lincoln, was sentenced for rape and assault while resisting arrest.

The offences took place in the south of the county and date back to August 2015.

Speaking after sentencing the Investigating Officer Detective Constable Jacquie Crozier of Operation Emerald, said: “Steven Saint has pleaded guilty today and starts his sentence.

“My thoughts today are with the victim who has shown particular strength and bravery against a violent man”.

Operation Emerald is a team of specially trained officers and experienced detectives committed and dedicated to rape investigation.

Two Lincolnshire courts will shut down as part of government plans to save £500 million a year.

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that both Grantham and Skegness Magistrates’ Courts will close, two of 86 across England and Wales announced on February 11.

The workload from Grantham will transfer to Lincoln Magistrates’ and County Courts.

The cost of running Grantham Magistrates’ Court for 2014-15 was approximately £240,000 and the government has said that the court was operating at around 25% capacity, thereby justifying the closure.

However, a petition with over 300 signatures opposing closure was submitted in protest at the closure.

The UK Association of Part Time Judges also objected to the closure, stating: “Whereas now 89% of people can reach the court within 30 minutes, under the proposals this is reduced to 4%.

“With public transport 33% can reach the court response to the proposal on the provision of court and tribunal estate in the Midlands region within two hours but this is increased to 78%.

“Two hours is an unacceptable amount of time to take to reach court.”

Cases heard at Skegness Magistrates’ Court will relocate to Boston.

Justice Minister Shailesh Vara said: “Maintaining our underused and dilapidated court buildings costs the taxpayer £500 million a year but some courts sit for less than half the time available.

“In the digital age I am confident we have measures in place to ensure access to justice is not diminished.”

A Lincoln-based construction company is to stand trial accused of breaching health and safety regulations following the death of a skip lorry driver.

Lindum Group Ltd appeared before Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, February 15 and denied a charge of failing in its duty to ensure the health and safety and welfare at work of its employees between September 1 and October 18, 2013.

The prosecution, brought by the Health and Safety Executive, comes after the death of Lincoln man Anthony Jackson, aged 66, following an incident at Gamston Airfield near Retford in October 2013.

Judge Michael Heath adjourned the hearing for trial on a date to be arranged.

A convicted sex offender from Lincoln who distributed indecent photographs of children over the internet has been jailed for two years at Lincoln Crown Court.

Simon Halliday, 42, described as addicted to child porn, used a work computer to upload photographs of children as young as 18 months old using different account names including “young lover”.

He used the Kik instant messenger app to contact people with similar interests.

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court: “Police received information of an email address from which indecent images of children had been uploaded.”

Inquiries led to a company in Beverley, East Yorkshire, where Halliday was the store manager.

Scott said: “He said he used the Wi-Fi connection to make an internet connection through his phone.

“Using the name ynglvr, short for young lover, he had uploaded indecent images of children. The user had engaged with others with similar interests.

“He told the police he had possession of indecent images and distributed them. He said he gained sexual gratification from others enjoying the pictures and stories that he posted.

“He had no idea of the number of images he had shared. He said he would use his phone daily to access images. He used Kik on the day of his arrest.

“He said he felt sickened and ashamed and said he needed help.”

The court was told that Halliday had previously been jailed in 2004 for child porn offences and was the subject of a sexual offences prevention order at the time of the latest offences.

Halliday of Field Fare Close, Lincoln, admitted four charges of distributing indecent images of children, four charges of making a total of 231 indecent images of children, possession of extreme pornography and two further charges of failing to comply with a previous order banning him from using a pseudonym.

The offences took place between October 2014 and April 2015.

Recorder Graham Huston told him: “These offences were committed blatantly with full knowledge of the consequences of doing so. The reports suggest that there is beginning to be on your part a degree of insight into your addiction but these are very serious offences.”

David Eager, defending, said Halliday was remorseful and had been frank during his interviews with police following his arrest.

A charity boss and his wife from Lincoln who stole thousands of pounds from vulnerable disabled people were on Monday, February 22 ordered to hand over their assets.

Peter Childs, the former chairman of the Lincoln & District Mencap charity, and his wife Alison were each jailed for three years back in April 2014 after being convicted of a string of theft and fraud charges.

The couple, who have since served their sentences, appeared before Lincoln Crown Court at a hearing at which their available assets were confiscated.

The money is to be used to compensate their 15 victims who were clients of the charity which was independent of Royal Mencap.

Recorder Tom Rochford ruled that Peter Childs benefited from his crimes by £295,000 and ordered that his available assets of £28,981 should be confiscated.

Alison Childs was ruled to have benefited from crime by £270,000 and her available assets of £18,179 were also confiscated.

The assets include a chalet at a holiday complex at Hunstanton, Norfolk, which was ordered to be sold with the proceeds confiscated.

The couple were given three months to pay with the threat of a further six month jail sentence if the money is not handed over.

Recorder Rochford, in making his ruling, said: “Compensation is to be paid from the confiscation proceeds.”

The compensation will got to the 15 victims who are to receive amounts of between £690 and £3,550.

At the original trial back in 2014 a jury was told that Peter Childs systematically exploited vulnerable disabled people who were clients of the charity.

He pocketed their disability living allowance and their cold weather payments and persuaded them to hand over their life savings telling them the money would be safe with Lincoln & District Mencap.

On top of that, for years he overcharged clients by up to 100% for gas and electricity bills in their supported housing.

The jury heard that Childs was assisted in the thefts by his wife, who worked as accommodation manager for the organisation, with the pair pocketing more than £200,000 over a six year period.

The couple enjoyed a comfortable life in their rented farm house where they kept their two horses and bred German Shepherd dogs.

But they were caught out after Peter Childs suffered a stroke which left him in a wheelchair and unable to look after himself. In his absence other staff at the charity discovered discrepancies in the accounts and called in police.

Peter Childs, 61 at the time of his trial, and Alison Childs, 48, who at the time lived in Nettleham were each convicted by a jury of 12 charges of theft and 14 charges of fraud by abuse of position between December 2005 and December 2011.

Alison Childs was found guilty of a further fraud charge. They had denied the charges. Peter Childs had previously admitted two charges of fraud.

Judge Sean Morris, in his sentencing remarks, told them: “These were a mean and calculated series of thefts.

“You were both in positions of the utmost trust. You were entrusted to look after the best interests of some of the most vulnerable people. This was confidence fraud involving the deliberate targeting of a large number of victims. It became a way of life for you.

“I am convinced that if that stroke had not happened the overwhelming likelihood is that this would still be going on.”

A drunk floored a man with a single blow leaving his victim with a fractured eye socket during a street attack in Lincoln city centre, a court was told on Thursday, February 25.

Rhys Whitehouse smashed his elbow into the face of victim Yassine McGrawe during the 4am incident on Flaxengate in the city.

Kevin Jones, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that Mr McGrawe was left unconscious for 20 minutes as a result of the attack. He woke up in hospital with no recollection of the incident.

Mr Jones said: “Mr McGrawe was with a number of other males. They appeared to be talking. Without warning or provocation this defendant strikes a significant blow to Mr McGrawe’s face with his elbow with sufficient force to render him unconscious. He appears to have been unconscious for 20 minutes.

“Passers-by corralled the defendant away from Mr McGrawe towards Clasketgate. There appears to have been some sort of scuffle and then the defendant ran off.”

Mr McGrawe suffered a fractured left eye socket and a black eye.

The court was told that Whitehouse later admitted that he had travelled to Lincoln for a night out with the intention of getting blind drunk.

Whitehouse, 21, of Rochdale Road, Scunthorpe, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm as a result of the incident on September 6 2015. He was jailed for 12 months.

Judge John Pini QC, passing sentence, told him

“You were blind drunk. This was mindless, unprovoked violence in the early hours of the morning on a public street.

“The message has to go out that it won’t be tolerated. There has to be an immediate custodial sentence.”

Richard Lunn, defending, urged that any sentence of custody should be suspended and said: “This was a completely chance happening of two groups.

“At the time of this offence the defendant was going out drinking the excess. Since this he has completely abstained from going out and from drinking alcohol. He abstained even on his 21st birthday.

“It was binge drinking that led him to behave in an out of character manner on the evening in question but he has made efforts to turn his life around since.”

A Lincoln man who committed 38 burglaries in a seven month period has been jailed for six years.

James Jones, 40, of East Liberty in Lincoln, was convicted on Monday February 29 at Lincoln Crown Court of a burglary at Hall Drive in Lincoln during the early hours of January 7.

He then went on to admit 26 other house burglaries in the Lincoln area between December last year and January this year, and a further 10 house burglaries and one other burglary offence in Skegness between July and November 2015.

Jones was arrested in the early hours of January 7 when he was seen by an officer walking along a riverbank near Dixon Street, Lincoln, who took a proactive decision to find out who he was.

A later search found he was in possession of property that could link him to the earlier burglary.

Whilst in custody prior to trial Jones fully complied with ‘Operation Clean Slate’ and admitted the further offences in Lincoln and Skegness during two productions from prison by CID officers.

DC Phil Elliot, the investigating officer in the case, said: “I am very pleased with the sentence passed down to the defendant in this case.

“Having spoken to the victims of these offences it is clear that the crimes Jones committed have had a significant impact on them, many were concerned about being targeted again and not feeling safe in their own homes.

“Being able to tell them that the offender had been caught and has been given a substantial length of time in prison has given a significant degree of reassurance to them.

“I would like to add that the proactive actions taken by the response officer in challenging Jones on the night of his arrest played a significant part in this positive result, it was then down to good investigative teamwork within the CID department that so many victims of crime have had a positive result.

“I hope that the significant sentence imposed acts as a deterrent to others.”

A Lincolnshire man who sent naked photographs of a woman to 13 of her neighbours was on Wednesday, March 2 sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment.

Christopher David Mills, 57, included the pictures in a “round-robin letter” which also made allegations about the victim’s background, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

A number of the woman’s neighbours on the quiet cul-de-sac in Sutterton, near Boston, were shocked by the content, the court was told.

Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said the letter was sent to 13 different houses and the victim’s partner. It included photos of the woman “in various states of undress” and “completely naked.”

Scott told the court Mills was living in Pinchbeck when he sent the pictures in May last year.

“This was a very mean, callous and vindictive course of action that he had taken,” Scott added.

One mother who received the photos said: “I have a seven-year-old who could have seen these pictures. It is unacceptable.”

Another neighbour added: “I don’t see why anybody would want to do this. I feel for the lady concerned.”

In a victim impact statement which was read out in court the woman said the letters had left her feeling “very vulnerable.”

Edna Leonard, mitigating, said the victim was no longer living in the same location as her neighbours. “She has moved from that address,” Leonard told the court.

Leonard added that Mills had been homeless but was now on a housing list.

Mills, of no fixed address, admitted a charge of disclosing private photographs with intent on May 26,2015.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment and made the subject of a restraining order which prevents any contact with his victim.

Passing sentence, Recorder Stuart Sprawson said the “message must go out” that people who send such material are at risk of an immediate prison sentence.

A ‘sexual predator’ who used the internet dating site Match.com to meet divorced or widowed women has been found guilty of five counts of rape.

Father-of-three Jason Lawrance contacted thousands of women online and committed three sex attacks months after getting married to someone he met via the site.

The 50-year-old, of Arundel Close, Liphook, Hampshire, was also found guilty of attempting to rape and sexually assault two other women after chatting to them online.

The jury of six women and six men at Derby Crown Court heard that four of the victims complained about Lawrance to Match.com, and one of the women was told administrators could not do anything because he had not sent abusive messages through the site.

Lawrance, a former company director turned self-employed builder, persuaded his victims to give him their personal contact details by claiming he could not upload a photo to his online profile.

When they asked to see his image, he said he would send one to their personal email instead and he would then move the conversation away from the Match.com messaging system.

On one occasion, he texted a woman following his attack, apologising for ‘hurting her’ and saying: “When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn’t, I’m so mad at myself xxx.”

The court heard that Lawrance raped another woman in the back of a van which he had parked in a field in Northamptonshire, while a third was attacked at her home while her son was asleep in a nearby bedroom.

He was arrested after a friend of a woman who was raped in Derbyshire in November 2014 got in touch with the police.

Investigations revealed he had sexually attacked another six women he met through the site since June 2011.

Prosecuting, Shaun Smith QC told the jury that Lawrance – who used the site with the profile names KeepItStraightToday and StraightMan-Looking – was a Jekyll and Hyde character and that he targeted ‘vulnerable, naive, lonely women’.

Lawrance had denied all the charges and said the sex was consensual in all five charges of rape, that the attempted rape was a misunderstanding and that the sexual assault where he grabbed a woman’s breast was a ‘loving touch’ which she objected to, so he apologised.

The jury took 10 hours find Lawrance guilty of all charges.

Judge Gregory Dickinson remanded him in custody until his sentencing on Thursday morning.

“Sexual predator” and dad of three Jason Lawrance has been jailed for life for raping women he found on internet dating site Match.com, including victims in Lincolnshire.

Jason, aged 50, used two profiles to connect with thousands of women online and has been sentenced to a minimum jail term of 12 years and six months after he raped five women and attacked two more.

Described by judge Gregory Dickinson as “devious, manipulative and highly dangerous”, Lawrance committed the attacks just months after marrying a woman he met on the site.

Specifically, he had targeted widows and divorces, using profile names KeepItStraightToday and StraightManLooking to speak with hundreds of women at a time.

As previously reported, the assaults took place between June 2011 and November 2014 in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire.

Lawrance, from Hampshire, was arrested by Lincolnshire Police in July 2013 for the attempted rape of a victim in the county, but was let go by police without charge.

Lawrance, a former company director turned self-employed builder, had persuaded his victims to give him their personal contact details by claiming he could not upload a photo to his online profile.

When they asked to see his image, he said he would send one to their personal email instead and he would then move the conversation away from the Match.com messaging system.

On one occasion, he texted a woman following his attack, apologising for ‘hurting her’ and saying: “When you were crying out for me to stop I couldn’t, I’m so mad at myself xxx.”

The court heard that Lawrance raped another woman in the back of a van which he had parked in a field in Northamptonshire, while a third was attacked at her home while her son was asleep in a nearby bedroom.

He was arrested after a friend of a woman who was raped in Derbyshire in November 2014 got in touch with the police.

A burglar who stole £57,000 worth of watches in a smash and grab raid on a city centre jewellery shop has been jailed at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday, March 3.

Shane Carter used a crowbar to smash his way into the Waterside Shopping Centre after the premises were closed for the night.

Jonathon Dee, prosecuting, said that Carter then made his way to Goldsmiths Jewellers. There he smashed a window and grabbed the watches from a display before making off.

Carter was linked to the raid because he left behind splashes of blood after cutting himself as forced the shop window.

The incident four days before Christmas was one of a series of commercial burglaries carried out in the city by Carter.

He also broke into YMCA Showroom on Tritton Road, Asda Living, Debenhams and Oldrids Downtown stealing items including television sets and watches.

In each case he left either fingerprint or DNA evidence at the scene.

Dee said: “These were planned raids and there was a high value of goods taken. He is a prolific burglar.”

Carter, 35, of Broadgate, Lincoln, admitted five charges of burglary on dates between July and December 2015.

He was jailed for a total of 40 months.

Recorder Stuart Sprawson, passing sentence, told him: “You have extensive convictions for dishonesty over many, many years including a significant number of offences of commercial burglary.”

Michael Cranmer-Brown, defending, said Carter was a drug user whose life went off the rails after he witnessed the death of his close friend Robert Taylor.

“Robert Taylor was stabbed in the leg. He died effectively in Mr Carter’s arms. He found Mr Taylor in the state he was in and cradled him as he died in front of him.

“At the time Mr Carter thought that had not had any effect on him but he went significantly off the rails in terms of his drug taking. He was taking a cocktail of drugs. He wasn’t sure if he would wake up in the morning. He didn’t expect to survive another day. That was the state he was in at the time.”

Cranmer-Brown said that Carter has recently learned his father has terminal cancer but has been unable to visit due to being held in custody.

A former Lincolnshire clergyman was on Friday, March 4 warned he faces jail after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

Stephen Crabtree, who served as the rector of Washingborough and Heighington until 2014, admitted a total of six charges of indecent assault on a 15-year-old girl when he appeared before Lincoln Crown Court.

As previously reported, the offences occurred between April 1992 and April 1993.

Judge Simon Hirst adjourned sentence for the preparation of a probation report.

But Crabtree, who also served as a clergyman in Mareham le Fen, was warned by the judge: “You have entered guilty pleas to serious offences.

“I’m going to adjourn your case for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. Please don’t think for one moment that the fact that I’m adjourning means that you won’t get locked up for this. Expect custody.”

Crabtree, 59, who now lives in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was granted unconditional bail to await sentence at the end of this month.

A married man who downloaded child porn videos and photographs has escaped a jail sentence.

Simon Barnatt-Smith was arrested in May 2014 after police raided his home and seized computer equipment.

Phil Howes, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that Barnatt-Smith admitted he had accessed child pornography and admitted using particular search terms to find the material.

Howes said: “He said he started looking for music and then moved into adult pornography. He was then led into the indecent images of children area and returned there. He knew it was wrong.”

The court was told that the majority of images downloaded by Barnatt-Smith were of girls aged between 11 and 15 although some of the photographs featured children as young as give years old.

Barnatt-Smith, 47, of Lindisfarne Way, Grantham, admitted two charges of making a total of 403 indecent images of children on dates between June 24, 2013 and May 20, 2014.

He was given a community order with three years supervision and ordered to pay £535 prosecution costs.

He was also ordered to complete a community sex offender group programme and given a five year sexual harm prevention order.

Judge Simon Hirst told him: “Until now you were of good character. I am told you are full of remorse, shame and regret. It seems to me that there is the prospect of rehabilitation in this case.

“Ordinarily your offending is so serious that only a custodial sentence will do but given everything I know about you it seems to me that the public would be better served by imposing a community order.”

Alison Summers, defending, said Barnatt-Smith fully co-operated with the police investigation into himself and had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

“He has lost his job as a result of these matters. He is currently in receipt of JSA.”

A Lincolnshire man who was convicted of fly-tipping after leaving property outside his ex-wife’s home has had his sentence reduced after winning an appeal.

Michael Hutchinson, 72, left bedding, furniture and other items with the message “some things you didn’t steal” near the home of his former partner in June 2014.

Hutchinson pleaded guilty to two counts of fly-tipping on the June 14 and 21, 2014, and was ordered to pay more than £2,300 after appearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court in January following a prosecution by North Kesteven District Council.

But the amount Hutchinson will have to pay was reduced to just under £1,300 after he represented himself during an appeal hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, March 4.

In reducing the figure, Recorder Stuart Sprawson said it was now accepted from photographs of the fly-tipping that some of the items were left on the “curtilage” of Mrs Hutchinson’s home in Jubilee Close, Martin, rather than directly on her property.

The Recorder, sitting with two magistrates, also said it was “unacceptable” for the costs of removing the property and bringing the case not to have been broken down for examination by Hutchinson.

He also said Mrs Hutchinson had failed to provide an estimate for the value of the property.

Magistrates had fined Mr Hutchinson £625, with costs of £1,229.88, a victim surcharge of £63 and compensation to Mrs Hutchinson of £400, totalling £2,317.88.

But the figures were reduced to a £225 fine, with costs of £850, a victim surcharge of £22.50 and compensation to Mrs Hutchinson of £200, totalling £1297.50.

Recorder Sprawson told Hutchinson: “The figures have been reduced from that imposed. To that extent your appeal has been successful.”

Giving evidence in person, Hutchinson told the hearing many of the items had been thrown out 18 months earlier and had been left in either his greenhouse or garage. He also disputed putting a liquid on his wife’s property, telling the court it was shampoo and conditioner.

Hutchinson also denied a suggestion that he tried to evade contact with North Kesteven District Council, telling the hearing he was staying with relatives.

Before leaving the hearing Hutchinson said: “I would just like to thank the court for listening.”

Two people charged with the murder of Lincolnshire man Wayne Baxter have appeared in court on Monday, March 7.

Sean Booth, 25, and Sarah Booth, 36, both of Croft Bank, Croft, are charged with the murder of the 44-year-old man on Wednesday, March 2.

Baxter, of Wainfleet, was found at an address in Croft Bank, Croft, last Wednesday evening.

He had suffered stab injuries and was pronounced dead at hospital a short time later.

Detectives are still appealing for witnesses to an altercation at a wake in the Woolpack pub, Wainfleet.

Sean Booth, wearing a blue jumper and jeans, and Sarah Booth, wearing a grey jumper, this morning spoke only to confirm their names and address when they appeared before Lincoln Magistrates’ Court.

They are both charged with murdering Wayne Baxter at number 1 Croft Bank, Croft, on March 2.

Sarah Booth cried throughout the five minute hearing.

No pleas were entered and the case was adjourned until Tuesday, March 8 when the pair will appear at either Lincoln or Leicester Crown Court.

Both were remanded in custody by magistrates.

A pensioner who caused “life changing injuries” to a motorcyclist when she fell asleep at the wheel in Lincolnshire was on Tuesday, March 8 spared an immediate jail sentence.

Mary Crofts, 69, was driving east along the A17 at Heckington when she caused a five vehicle crash after crossing on to the wrong side of the road.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Crofts, from Norfolk, collided with the back of a highways maintenance lorry before hitting a motorcycle, ridden by 44-year-old Karl Hargreaves.

The court was told Mr Hargreaves, who at the time of the collision was living in Waddington, near Lincoln, suffered a severe brain injury and multiple fractures.

He stopped breathing but was revived by passing trauma medic, Andrew Hull.

Mr Hargreaves was airlifted to the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham where he was treated in intensive care and later transferred to a rehabilitation unit where he learned to walk again after being left wheelchair bound.

Phil Howes, prosecuting, told the court police investigators concluded Crofts must have fallen asleep at the wheel as she drove back to her Norfolk home at around 4.30pm after staying just a short time overnight with friends.

Mr Howes said: “The evidence in the police investigation is that she did not swerve across the road but appeared to veer over the centre white line gently. She has no recollection of the incident. The conclusion was that she must have fallen asleep at the wheel.”

Crofts passed eye and impairment tests following the crash in May, last year, and there was no suggestion she was either speeding, using a mobile phone or was blinded by the sun, the court was told. The weather was also fine and dry at the time of the crash.

In an emotional victim impact statement which was read out in court Mr Hargreaves said:

“I just need everyone to know how this has taken my life away from me. I am not the man I was.”

The court heard Mr Hargreaves had made significant progress recovering from his injuries but still required a stick to walk longer distances and suffered dizzy spells.

Nicholas Smith, mitigating, told the court Crofts accepted the inference that she must have fallen asleep. He added that Crofts was a woman of “positive good character” who still worked running a ship repair business with her daughter after she was widowed in 2008.

Mr Smith said: “We can’t go back, we can not repair the damage. She can say sorry as often as she likes. It is heartfelt.”

Crofts, of Main Road, Billingford, Norfolk, pleaded guilty to a single charge of causing serious injury by dangerous driving on May 13, 2015.

She was sentenced to six months imprisonment suspended for two years, placed under a two month curfew at her home between 7pm and 7am and banned from driving for three years. She must also take an extended retest and pay costs of £530.

Passing sentence Recorder Stuart Sprawson told Crofts she chose to drive in a “state of tiredness” but he could take the exceptional course of not sending her to jail because of her positive good character and the lack of aggravating factors in her driving.