Courts

The judge in the Spalding double murders case has paid tribute to police officers and staff for the way they carried out the investigation and to reporters for their “difficult task”. The defendants, who were 14 at the time and are now 15, murdered school dinner lady Liz Edwards (49) and her daughter Katie (13) in their beds at their home in ...

A pensioner who threatened to falsely accuse a vulnerable man to police for a rape he never committed has been jailed for 18 months. Melvyn Papper demanded that his 46-year-old victim repay a £6,000 loan to another person telling him he would go to police and report the victim as having raped a woman. Papper had previously been acting as ...

by Andy Hall at Survanabumi Airport It was indeed a welcome development that the Supreme Court of Thailand issued its judgment on November 3 at Prakanong Court, dismissing, after almost four years at a final stage of appeal, a criminal defamation case against me. In this case I was prosecuted as a researcher and migrant activist for criminal defamation by Thailand’s ...

A computer technician who downloaded videos of young children being abused has been jailed for ten months. Gene Lee Swallow was arrested after police raided his home in Spalding and discovered that he had used a flash drive connected to his television to access the illegal films. Lincoln Crown Court heard that one of the films showed the abuse of ...

Workers’ rights activist Andy Hall says he intends to sue for unlawful prosecution and perjury after Thailand’s Supreme Court dismissed a criminal defamation case against him.  The charges brought by the attorney general and Natural Fruit Co Ltd related to an interview the Finnwatch researcher gave to Al-Jazeera in Myanmar in April 2013 concerning his earlier criminal prosecution by Natural Fruit ...

The two sons of Lance and Claire Hart have issued a statement following the inquest into the deaths of their parents and sister Charlotte.  Luke and Ryan Hart said: “Charlotte and our mum were our inspiration and our purpose in life; they were the two most virtuous and beautiful people we have ever encountered. “It is not possible to describe ...

A fly-tipper spotted by members of the public dumping a sofa and an armchair has been handed a court bill of £1.063. Nedelcho Nedelchev got rid of the items on land off South Drove in Spalding on May 24 this year. However, two nearby residents noted his van’s registration number and reported the incident to South Holland District Council, which brought a ...

Human rights and workers’ rights campaigner Andy Hall says he will continue despite being handed a three-year suspended jail sentence in Thailand. Mr Hall (36) was convicted last month on a criminal charge of defamation after carrying out research for a report critical of pay and conditions in a Thai fruit factory. He maintains his innocence and his legal team, ...

The lead detective in the investigation, Det Ch Insp Martin Holvey, of East Midlands Special Operations Unit (major crime), issued the following statement after the jury’s verdict to convict a 15-year-old girl of the murders of Liz and Katie Edwards: “Between 13th April and  the 15th April this year, a tragic event happened in Spalding, Lincolnshire, whereby a mother, Elizabeth Edwards ...

A 15-year-old girl has been convicted of the murder of Spalding mum and daughter Liz and Katie Edwards. The jury at Nottingham Crown Court decided that, even though the girl did not carry out the killings, she was just as culpable as a 15-year-old boy who last week admitted to two counts of murder. The prosecution said the girl was ...

South Holland District Council has brought another successful prosecution after tracing a fly-tipper. Crowland resident Brandon Campbell has landed a court bill of more than £1,000. He paid to have a number of items taken from his home in Thorney Road, in October 2015. However, he didn’t get any details of the person who took them or check whether they had ...

A psychiatrist has told the trial of a 15-year-old girl accused of two murders in Spalding that she was suffering from a disorder which impaired her judgement. Dr Indranil Chakrabarti, who specialises in child and adolescents, told the jury at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (Oct 12) that the girl had intended to kill both Liz Edwards and her 13-year-old daughter Katie. ...

The Crown Prosecution Service has asked a judge to review his sentence of a serial fraudster. Former nurse Maria Pridmore was jailed for three years after she admitted a string of offences, including claiming benefits for two of her dead children and stealing over £30,000 from friends and two elderly women. Following the sentence in August, Nigel Chapman, the hate ...

A 15-year-old girl accused of two murders told police that she had felt like murdering for a while. The girl, who was 14 at the time of the killings, told officers who interviewed her that she planned the killings of school dinner lady Liz Edwards and her daughter Katie with a then 14-year old boy, who has admitted murder. DC ...

A 15-year-old girl accused of carrying out two murders gave graphic descriptions of the killings in police interviews, a jury heard today (Tuesday). The girl, who cannot be identified because of a court order, told officers how she planned the killings of school dinner lady Elizabeth Edwards (49) and her 13-year-old daughter Katie during chats with a 15-year-old boy, who ...

Spalding dinner lady Liz Edwards and her youngest daughter Katie were attacked and killed as they slept in bed, a jury has been told. A 15-year-old boy has admitted to murdering them both. A 15-year-old girl is on trial for two counts of murder, both of which she denies. Nottingham Crown Court was told today (Monday) that when the boy ...

A pensioner who slashed her husband with a bread knife after tipping his evening meal over his head has been given a suspended jail sentence. Susan Walker claimed she had previously been subjected to domestic violence at the hands of her husband David Rogers and said that she acted in self-defence fearing he was about to attack her. But after retiring ...

A combination of drugs and alcohol caused the death of a Weston man who died while on holiday in Turkey, an inquest has heard. Mark Jervis James, of Broadgate, had had problems with drug and alcohol abuse in the past. His partner, Lesley Murray, told the inquest at Boston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday (Oct 5) that the 47-year-old had been trying to ...

Two hare coursers caught in Whaplode St Catherine have been fined a total of £1,641. Philip Marsh (44), of Ramsbottom, in Lancashire, and Denny James Loveridge (36), of Slough in Berkshire, were convicted by Boston magistrates of trespassing in the pursuit of game on October 21, 2015. Marsh, who appeared in court in person, was fined £903 and Loveridge, who ...

A man who slashed a neighbour with a knife and then barricaded himself in his own home has been jailed for a year. Shaun Smith carried out the attack after going into the street armed with the weapon. Andrew Scott, prosecuting at Lincoln Crown Court on Wednesday (Oct 5), said that Smith began shouting outside the home of neighbour John ...