Four people have been injured in a serious crash involving a lorry and a car south of Lincoln.
Police were called to the B1188 Sleaford Road Metheringham, just north of the junction the B1202, at around 9.19am on Monday, January 11.
Four people are believed to have been injured; the extent of each of their injuries is still being assessed.
The road is currently closed at Dunston and Metheringham and is expected to remain closed for some time, other roads in the area are likely to be closed as well.
Motorists are asked to avoid the area if possible and seek alternative routes.
Fire and rescue and ambulances, including two ambicopters have also attended.
3 appliances attending RTC on B1188, Metheringham. Lorry vs car. Avoid area if possible. More details to follow
Lincolnshire Police are appealing for information after a man in his 20s flashed a woman on Yarborough Road in Lincoln.
The woman was walking near to the allotments at just after 7am on January 4 when she was approached by a man who exposed himself.
Police have described the man as being in his mid 20s, with short, shaved dark hair, thought to be a number two cut.
The flasher was wearing thin rimmed glasses which were light, possibly silver, blue jeans, dark trainers and a long sleeved light blue top with a diagonal white band across the front.
Police believe that the offender left the scene via the steps leading down to North Parade.
Anyone who thinks they recognise this description is urged to call 101 with incident reference number 58 of January 4.
An elderly Lincolnshire woman has died following a serious collision between a car and a lorry in Metheringham
The collision was reported to police at 9.19am on Monday, January 11, the B1188 Sleaford Road, Metheringham, towards Lincoln.
The woman, who is aged 77 and from the east of Lincolnshire, was travelling as a passenger in a grey Lexus car at the time.
The driver of the car, an 82-year-old man also from the same area, was seriously injured in the collision and has been taken to hospital for treatment.
The 37-year-old male lorry driver and his 32-year-old male passenger, both from West Yorkshire, were also both injured as a result of the collision and taken to hospital for treatment.
Their injuries are still being assessed.
The road was closed for some time while emergency services attended the scene of the crash, including three air ambulances.
Two first responders and one doctor from the Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service (LIVES) were also rapidly in attendance.
Lincolnshire Police are appealing for any witnesses who may have seen the collision or either of the vehicles beforehand.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact the collision witness hotline 01522 558855 or the non-emergency number 101 quoting incident 84 of January 11.
Since September 1, 2015 there have been 156 men arrested or reported for summons for incidents involving hare coursing in Lincolnshire, compared to 65 for the whole season September to March last year.
Some 15 vehicles have been seized and 63 other men have been dealt with by other enforcement action such as directions to leave and traffic offences.
Enforcement activity in Lincolnshire so far this month, as part of Operation Galileo, has seen the following:
On January 9, five men from the West Midlands, suspected of hare coursing in Metheringham, were given a formal direction to leave the county. There was insufficient evidence for a prosecution.
On January 8, four men from Somerset were reported for hunting with dogs in Bourne and a Subaru Legacy was seized. They had earlier been given a formal direction to leave the county which they chose to ignore.
On January 7, a silver Nissan Terrano was seized by police after being abandoned by suspected hare coursers in Frithville.
On January 7, four men from Derbyshire and Cleveland, suspected of being involved in hare coursing, were given a warning to leave the county. There was insufficient evidence for a prosecution.
On January 7 a man from Derby was given what is called a ‘Section 59 warning’ about their manner of driving off-road in Walcott. This means that if they are seen in similar circumstances in the next 12 months the vehicle can be seized.
The operation was launched with a dedicated team, supported by neighbouring forces and organisations, clamping down on the illegal blood sport.
The activity involves gaining access to private lands, usually fields, and setting dogs to chase hares.
A bet is made on each dog, and police said previously offenders in the county have been known to exchange sums of up to £30,000 in one day.
Vehicles seized in connection to offences are often scrapped.
Force lead for rural crime, Chief Inspector Jim Tyner said: “I am often asked what happens to the seized vehicles. Three Subaru Forresters seized from suspected hare coursers in October have been scrapped.
“A Nissan Terrano and a Vauxhall Frontera seized in November have also been scrapped. Several other vehicles seized for no insurance are going through the administrative procedure and most will be scrapped.
“If the owner produces a valid current insurance certificate they can reclaim their vehicle but they have to pay the recovery and storage fees.
“They are still prosecuted for the original offence of no insurance at the time they were stopped. A Subaru Legacy, a Nissan Almeira, a Mitsubishi Shogun and another Subaru Forrester seized under the Hunting Act are currently held pending the prosecution of the drivers.
“Operation Galileo continues and I remain determined that we use all legislative powers available to us to deal with the scourge of hare coursing”.
Lincolnshire Police have confirmed that a man has died following a road accident in the south of the county on Tuesday, January 12.
The man was involved in a single vehicle crash on Lound Road in Toft, near Bourne. No passengers were in the vehicle at the time of the collision.
The incident was reported to police at 10.31am and the A6121 Lound Road has been closed while investigation and recovery work is carried out.
Diversions have been put in place and road users are asked to avoid the area where possible.
Work is ongoing to make sure all the victim’s next of kin are aware so Lincolnshire Police are unable at this stage to release any further details about his identity.
If you witnessed the collision and have not already spoken to officers please contact police on their witness collision hotline 01522 558855 or 101 quoting incident 94 of January 12.
Six men, five from the same family, have been jailed for a total of 12 years between them for conspiracy to steal over £1 million worth of railway cable.
The gang were responsible for more than 35 thefts across Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottingham and Yorkshire during an 11-month period in 2013.
A two-year investigation by British Transport Police (BTP) officers saw the six men sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, January 11.
They all pleaded guilty to plotting to steal cable from the railway line on 37 occasions between February 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013.
Those sentenced were:
Craig Paul Smith, 27 of Holly Street, Lincoln – Sentenced to two years and eight months
Brian Derrick Smith, 36, of Millfield Lane, Stainforth – Sentenced to three years, four months
Malcolm Isaac, 42, of Thames Road, Grantham – Sentenced to two years, eight months
Philip Smith, 25, of New Park Estate, Stainforth, Doncaster – Sentenced to 12 months
Gordon Geoffrey Smith, 46, of Ramskir View, Doncaster – Sentenced to one year and two months
Charles Aaron Smith, 31, of Toller Court Horbling, Lincolnshire – One year and two months
A seventh man, Jaime Beardmore, 23, of Brunswick Street, Thurnscoe, Rotherham, received a 12 month suspended sentence for two years.
The court heard how they had targeted three major rail improvement projects being delivered by Network Rail, and stole signalling cable, which had been installed but not yet commissioned as part of the projects.
They then stripped the cabling and sold the copper inside.
Photo: British Transport Police
The locations they targeted included Oakham, Boston, Ancaster, Sleaford, Digby, Saxondale, Grantham, Spalding, Reepham, Fiskerton, Beckingham, Market Rasen, Gainsborough, Lowdham, Burton Joyce and Nottingham, and Haxey in South Yorkshire and Whitby in North Yorkshire.
The total cost to Network Rail to replace the cabling stolen at each location was valued at £1,054,099.
Investigations into the gang’s activities secured evidence from various sources, linking all seven to each other and to the crimes.
This led to the seizure of two of their vans and a quad bike, as well as hydraulic cutting equipment.
Items seized by British Transport Police during investigations.
Property seized at their homes, including bolt coppers, disk cutters, grinders, hacksaws, cable sheathing and an off-road bike, also provided invaluable evidence which when shown to the group, gave them no option but to plead guilty.
Detective Inspector Mick Dawes, who headed up the Operation Motion, said: “The gang targeted areas of the rail network which were remote and difficult to access without knowledge.
“They travelled the country in what was a well-planned and organised operation.
“Through working closely with industry colleagues, we tracked them down and brought them before the courts today.
“Cable theft costs the rail industry millions of pounds each year, causing delays and increases in costs to projects which have a knock-on effect on passengers.
“We take this type of crime extremely seriously and we will do all we can to bring offenders to justice.
“The gang will now spend a considerable amount of time in prison and these sentences should act as a deterrent to others who seek to profit from cable theft.
“I would like to take his opprtunity to thank our partners within the railway industry for their support and co-operation with this investigation.”
Hayley Bull, community safety manager at Network Rail, said: “This case demonstrates just how costly cable theft from the railway can be.
“Trespassing onto the network for any reason is extremely dangerous and as this case shows, it can end up costing the taxpayer huge sums of money to put right, as well as causing immense disruption for passengers trying to go about their daily lives and delays to improvement work intended to create a more reliable railway.
“We are continually developing better ways to protect the network from cable thieves and will continue to work with the British Transport Police to prosecute anyone caught carrying out such a mindless act of vandalism.”
A Lincolnshire sex offender found guilty of distributing and possessing indecent images of children has been jailed for three and a half years.
Ian David Philip, 57, formerly of Finkin Street, Grantham appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on January 13 and was sentenced for possessing over 10,919 indecent photographs of children, distributing and making indecent photographs and movies.
Philip pleaded guilty to the offences in November 2015 and was placed on remand while awaiting sentence.
The charges followed an investigation by officers from the Internet Child Abuse Team, part of the Public Protection Unit of Lincolnshire Police.
DS Vicky Midgley who leads the team said: “This is a dreadful case, the amount and type of images held by Philip was really disturbing.
“Philip pleaded guilty to distributing indecent images which is a very serious offence, where we can stop the distributors this helps to stop others possessing indecent images.”
Detective Superintendent Rick Hatton, Head of the Public Protection Unit, added: “The most important thing to remember is that behind every image is a victim of child abuse; we will robustly pursue all those involved in the possession and distribution of indecent images in order to protect children from harm.”
It has been confirmed that a woman from Lincoln involved in a serious collision between a car and a lorry on the A15 north of Lincoln has died.
As previously reported, the crash happened at about 12:29pm on Wednesday, January 13 on the A15 around 300 metres south of the main entrance to the Lincolnshire Showground.
Police say her immediate family have been informed but a formal identification is yet to be carried out.
The road remains closed.
Investigating officers are appealing for witnesses to the collision to call the 101 non-emergency number or to make contact via the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855.
The crash is one of five fatal incidents on Lincolnshire’s roads since the start of the New Year:
A 56-year-old man from Withern died after the car he was driving left the road and crashed into a house on New Year’s Day in Louth.
On January 9, a 31-year-old man died in the early hours of the morning in Spalding when the car he was driving smashed into a tree.
An elderly woman was killed in a crash between a car and a lorry in Metheringham on Monday, January 11.
A man involved in a single vehicle collision near Bourne died on Tuesday, January 12.
This is a developing story and will by updated accordingly.
One man has been injured in an industrial fire on Murdock Road in Lincoln.
The fire, as previously reported, started at what’s believed to be the Lithuanian Motors premises at around 4.25pm on Wednesday, January 13.
Photo: Duane Bartle
Emergency services attended the scene and the fire was extinguished at around 5.40pm.
Police say a man is believed to have been injured but further details are not known at this time.
Eyewitnesses said the man injured was working at the workshop.
Newark Road was closed to allow the fire service to deal with the incident. The road reopened before 8pm.
Photo: The Lincolnite
A Lincolnshire Police spokesperson said: “We appreciate with the A15 north of Lincoln and Newark Road now closed near Brant Road, traffic will be badly affected within and around Lincoln.
“We would ask that both of these areas are avoided where possible and thank the public for their patience whilst the emergency services deal with these two very serious incidents.”
The husband of the woman who died in a car crash on B1188 Seaford Road in Metheringham on Monday, has died from his injuries overnight in hospital on Thursday.
The man was driving the Lexus car involved in a crash with a lorry on January 11 just after 9am.
The two passengers in the lorry were injured, but not seriously.
The deceased couple have been named as Ruth Dickinson aged 77 and her husband Brian Dickinson aged 82 from the Woodhall Spa area.
The investigating officers are still appealing for witnesses to come forward. This appeal includes anyone who saw the collision or who may have seen either vehicle being driven along prior to it.
Anyone who can help should call the 101 non-emergency number or the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855. It would be helpful if they could mention incident number 84 of 11th January.
A teenager who was sadly killed when the car he was driving smashed into a tree in the south of the county has been named by police.
Aaron Trotman, aged 19 of Kingsnympton, Kingston Upon Thames, was behind the wheel of a red Seat Ibiza when it left the road on the A6121, Lound Road, Toft Nr Bourne on Tuesday, January 12, hitting a tree.
The investigation into the incident continues with Lincolnshire Police.
Anyone who witnessed the collision or who may have seen the car travelling along prior to the incident is asked to call Lincolnshire Police via the 101 non-emergency number or to call the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855.
Motorists driving along the Lincoln Bypass were greeted by an unexpected surprise on the morning of Friday, January 15… as a horse had made its way onto the dual carriageway.
The horse was running southbound on the northbound carriageway of the A46 between the Skellingthorpe and Carholme roundabouts.
Lincolnshire Police attended the rather unusual incident, catching up with the horse and leading it to safety.
The horse’s bid for freedom has had a knock-on effect on traffic in the area, causing mayhem and frustration for motorists on the bypass.
Drivers were also busy alerting other road users to the incident on The Lincolnite’s social media pages, urging other motorists to be cautious.
Police have named the man who died when his car collided with a house in Lincolnshire on New Year’s Day.
Keith Harvey, 56, of Main Road, Withern, died at the scene when his silver Rover 75 saloon left the road and collided with a house at Gayton Top, Louth Road, Gayton Le Marsh near Alford.
Passengers from the car, two men aged 19 and 20 from Louth and a woman aged 18 from Withern, were treated for minor injuries at Grimsby hospital.
Police believe that the house is unoccupied.
This tragedy was one of two accidents where a car crashed into a house on the same day.
A 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drink or drug driving when his Peugeot 406 left the road and crashed into a property on Long Leys Road in Lincoln.
A blue Peugeot 406 left the road and crashed into a house on Long Leys Road in Lincoln. Photo: Lincolnshire Police Specials
British Transport Police are appealing for witnesses of a dangerous manoeuvre by a lorry driver at a Lincolnshire level crossing, which forced another motorist to a halt on the rail line.
Officers are looking to trace the driver of a van, whose vehicle was overtaken by a HGV at Ulceby level crossing in North Lincolnshire on January 5.
CCTV footage of the incident has been released to assist with the appeal.
Investigating officer PC Michelle Pidgen said: “The driver of the van was forced to pull over and stop on the crossing after the HGV driver overtook him, at speed.
“We want to speak to anyone who witnessed what happened and appeal for the driver of the van and of the HGV to come forward.
“This was extremely dangerous driving that forced the person behind the wheel of the van to come to a stop on the level crossing.
“This could have had serious and potentially fatal consequences for both drivers. It is vital we trace the HGV and speak to the drivers involved.”
Anyone with information about the incident should call 0800 40 50 40 or text 61016 quoting reference PSUB/B9 of January 14.
Alternatively, information can be passed to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Lincolnshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Heather Roach has announced that she will be stepping down from her role from April.
Her 29-year career at Lincolnshire Police began in 1987 and she has served in both uniform and detective roles, including Head of Professional Standards and Operations Support.
Prior to joining the Chief Officer team, Heather was the Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit overseeing the force response to both local volume crime matters and working in collaboration with the East Midlands Specialist Operations Unit responding to major and serious and organised crime.
Heather is married, has two young sons and a passion for all things equestrian.
Lincolnshire Police Chief Constable Neil Rhodes said his deputy would be a “tough act to follow”, as the recruitment process gets underway at the force.
Just agreed timetable for recruitment of new Deputy Chief Constable. Heather Roach retires end of April. Tough act to follow!
Huge quantities of heroin and cocaine were brought into Grantham by an organised crime gang for sale on the streets of the town, Lincoln Crown Court was told on Tuesday, January 19.
The gang, headed up by car dealer Jonathan Ferry, also brought in significant amounts of both M Cat and amphetamine and were set to make vast profits from their illegal activities.
During a nine-month period in 2014 hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs were couriered in from Manchester and Nottinghamshire as a result of links made between the Grantham gang and other organised crime groups.
Twelve men and one woman are facing sentencing for their involvement in the supply of drugs.
Matthew Lowe, prosecuting, said: “This case arises from the organised supply of class A and class B drugs that took place in the East Midlands.
“There was an established organised crime group based in Grantham. They purchased drugs in substantial quantities, in particular cocaine and heroin, from organised crime groups based in Manchester and Nottinghamshire.
“The Grantham group was headed up by Jonathan Ferry. He was an established class A drug dealer. He was the head of the criminal operation in Grantham sufficiently well established in his trade so that he was able to obtain the supply of heroin and cocaine in significant quantities.
“By January of 2014 the Grantham crime group was fully operating. When members of the group were arrested Ferry was able to recruit replacements with little interruption to his operation.”
Lowe said that Ferry kept himself at “arms distance” from much of the drug dealing.
When police raided Ferry’s home in Larch Close, Grantham in October 2014 they recovered significant quantities of jewellery and watches together with £4,000 cash. Ferry’s £24,000 Range Rover was parked outside the property.
Lowe said that Adam Higgs was Ferry’s “right hand man” with over 1,000 mobile phone contacts between the two men.
Others involved played important roles including collecting, storing, preparing and distributing the drugs.
Lowe said that 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.
Lowe added that the 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.
He told the court that it was estimated that at least 10 deliveries of heroin were made to Grantham.
The drugs supply operation was finally closed down in October 2014 after police carried out a number of arrests.
Investigating officers had gathered evidence from undercover surveillance and a series of earlier raids.
Nine men and one woman have admitted charges of conspiracy to supply drugs between January 1 and October 23, 2014.
They are:
Jonathan Paul Ferry, 46, of Larch Close, Grantham
Paul Hull, 47, of Grantley Street, Grantham
Adam Higgs, 24, of Shaw Road, Grantham
Ashley Toulson, 27, of Edward Street, Grantham
Stuart Frazier, 54, of Princess Drive, Grantham
Tyrone Sly, 46, of Bye Path Road, Retford
Ryan Anderson, 31, of Walmer Street, Gorton, Manchester
Martin Cooper, 31, formerly of Grantham
Francesca Moynihan, 23, of Hawthorn Drive, Salford
Luke Smith, 30, of Goulden Street, Salford
Three other men denied charges of conspiracy to supply drugs between the same dates but were convicted by a jury following a trial.
They are James Straw, 50, of Petersmith Drive, New Ollerton, Newark; Jamie Darby, 39, of Princess Drive, Grantham; and Adam Gill, 29, of South Parade, Grantham.
