Courts

A 69-year-old man accused of three child sex offences has had his case sent to crown court for trial by jury. Terence George Grimshaw is charged with engaging a 15-year-old girl – not reasonably believing she was aged 16 or over – in sexualised role play. He is also said to have made 52 category C and 11 category B indecent photographs ...

Workers’ rights activist Andy Hall was on Tuesday (Sept 20) found guilty of defamation and computer crimes in Thailand – and immediately signalled his intention to appeal. The 36-year-old, from Spalding, was convicted by Bangkok Criminal Court and handed a three-year suspended jail sentence and £3,300 fine. Hall conducted interviews and research for a report by campaign group Finnwatch which ...

Unwanted household items found dumped in Crowland have cost the owner a £315 court bill. Kevin Cosgrove employed a man with a van to take away items including a fridge and mattresses, which were later found in Low Road (pictured). South Holland District Council’s environmental investigations officer was able to trace them to Cosgrove’s address in Whittlesey. Cosgrove appeared at ...

A girl and boy accused of killing a Spalding dinner lady and her 13-year-old daughter have admitted manslaughter but denied charges of murder. The teenagers – both 15 – appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday (Sept 6). The pair each denied the murder of Liz Edwards between April 4 and 15 this year. They each also denied murdering Katie Edwards between April ...

A heroin addict who burgled a house only to flee when she was confronted by a 16-year-old boy has been jailed for five years. Maryann Jobson, who has convictions for more than 150 previous offences, made off with £160 cash and a kindle after entering the property in Hannam Boulevard, Spalding. Andrew Scott, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that the ...

A mum who lost 16 babies before having a “miracle daughter” has been jailed for three years after she used two of her dead children’s identities to claim benefits. Former nurse Maria Pridmore (36) suffered 14 miscarriages, a stillbirth and the death of an infant son over a heartbreaking 13-year period until she successfully gave birth in 2012. Lincoln Crown Court heard ...

A Spalding trader has again dropped an appeal against the revocation of a premises licence at the last minute. Karwan Ahmad waited until just hours before the scheduled hearing at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (August 17) before stopping his action in respect of Winsover off-licence. It meant from 10am on Wednesday, the revocation came into effect and alcohol could not ...

A burglar who went on the run during his trial has been jailed for four years after being described as “a thoroughly dishonest man”. Shane Boyton refused to come into court for his hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on Wednesday (August 10) and remained naked inside a police car outside the building while he was being sentenced. The 37-year-old, of College ...

Two men involved in a street attack in which blows were “rained down” onto the victim were today (Fri) given suspended jail sentences at Lincoln Crown Court. Lee Dobney and James Ellis carried out the attack on Aaron Freemantle after their victim had earlier been asked  by Ellis to “go and have a chat”. Victoria Rose, prosecuting, said that Mr Freemantle declined ...

A drinker who hit another man over the head with a beer glass in an unprovoked attack in a pub has been jailed for 12 months. Carl Robertson downed his pint and put his glass on the bar at the Hole in the Wall in Spalding but seconds later picked up the glass and used it to attack Graham Drury. Phil Howes, ...

A woman who used the identity of a dead child to falsely claim benefits has been warned she faces a possible jail sentence. Lincoln Crown Court heard Maria Pridmore (36) falsely claimed over £16,000 in housing benefit, council tax and income support after failing to notify the authorities of changes in her circumstances. Chris Geeson, prosecuting, told the court Pridmore ...

A girl and boy accused of murdering a Spalding school dinner lady and her 13-year-old daughter appeared at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday (July 15). The 15-year old girl and 14-year-old boy are jointly accused of murdering Elizabeth Edwards (49) and her youngest daughter Katie Edwards, whose bodies were discovered at their semi-detached home in Dawson Avenue in April. No ...

A man who has spent the last 40 years living in a world of fear after suffering sexual abuse as a child says he can finally look forward now his attacker is behind bars. From the age of ten until he was 17, Stuart Brown (49) was the victim of more than 100 assaults at the hand of former Lincolnshire ...

Child sex abuser John Edward Bates was handed a 20-year jail sentence on Friday.(May 20)  The former Lincolnshire police officer and Spalding scout leader was convicted on Thursday of 16 charges of indecent assault and two charges of indecency with a child, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s. Judge Simon Hirst told Bates: “You were entrusted with the welfare of these complainants ...

A national child welfare charity has urged victims of child abuse to come forward following the conviction of a former police officer and Spalding scout leader. The National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children says it hopes the guilty verdict for John Edward Bates at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday (May 19) sends out a clear message to other ...

A former Lincolnshire Police officer is facing a lengthy jail sentence after being convicted of a series of historic sexual assaults on four young boys. John Edward Bates, who met his victims through his role as a scout leader at Wittering and Spalding during the 1970s and 1980s, was found guilty by the jury at Lincoln Crown Court of 16 charges ...

A former Lincolnshire police officer has today (Tuesday) denied carrying out a string sexual offences against boys. John Edward Bates denies offences against four youngsters in the 1970s and 1980s when he was a scout leader in South Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire. Bates (68), who faces a total of 22 charges, denies the matters and says the incidents never happened. The ...

A drug dealer who left the country instead of turning up for a court hearing has escaped an immediate jail sentence after a court heard he is terminally ill. Campbell Weir was found to have the drug M Cat when he was stopped by police in Spalding. He had been due to appear before Lincoln Crown Court for sentence in February ...

A businessman who fly-tipped a car engine in a road – causing its closure until it was removed by council workers – has been ordered to pay £515. Michael Shailes, of Lincoln Lane, Holbeach St Marks, dumped the engine near the house of a man with whom he had just had a disagreement. Sally Burke, prosecuting for Boston Borough Council at Boston Magistrates’ Court on ...

A mum who left her 12-year-old son home alone living in squalor has been jailed for 12 months. Social workers found appalling conditions at the property in Spalding when they arrived to find the boy inside on his own. Richard Sheldon, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court on Monday that there had been no electricity in the flat for 48 hours and no ...