Crime

South Holland residents’ views on crime and anti-social behaviour are wanted and contributors will be in with a chance of winning £30 in high street vouchers. Anyone living in South Holland, Boston Borough, or East Lindsey is being invited by East Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership to complete its annual community safety survey to help identify the priorities residents want it ...

An undercover police officer posing as a 13-year-old brought to justice a paedophile looking for sex with young girls. David Hall believed he was chatting online with a young girl called Lucy but was in fact communicating with a Metropolitan Police officer. Andrew Scott, prosecuting, said that Hall, who had been released from prison just six months earlier with an ...

Police are appealing for information after a number of sheds were broken into overnight in Holbeach. A number of sheds at two properties in Welbourne Lane North were targeted some time during overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, but it has not yet been confirmed what has been stolen. Residents in the area are being asked to check their sheds and ...

Owners of a fish and chip shop say the theft of money they had raised for charity is a “kick in the guts”. Sandy and Bill Rai had the cash in a pot at their Oh My Cod premises in Alexander Road, Spalding, when it was broken into last week. As well as the money, which was destined for cancer ...

A park attendant who served Ayscoughfee Gardens for 25 years has retired with more than a tinge of sadness. Roger Nix (65) enjoyed his time at the Spalding park, but felt forced to take retirement earlier than he had hoped because of the stress brought on by anti-social behaviour which has blighted the place. He said: “There are five acres ...

Lincolnshire Police has been commended for being one of the leading forces in tackling wildlife crime. World Animal Protection (formerly WSPA) has praised the county, saying “Lincolnshire Police lead the way in the fight against wildlife crime”. In 2012, the force launched Operation Galileo aimed at tackling hare coursing; a crime that had been on the rise in Lincolnshire. In ...

A man is due in court today (Monday, August 11) charged with a Spalding burglary which was reported on Saturday. Dimitrijs Afanasjeves (27), of no fixed abode, will appear before Lincoln magistrates in connection with a burglary in Pinchbeck Road. Meanwhile, town police are investigating a sneak-in burglary at about 5pm on Thursday. Someone entered an insecure house in Edinburgh Drive and stole ...

Everyone will have their chance to raise issues with the police at a series of public engagement events. The events, which have been highly popular in the past have given hundreds of people the opportunity to talk to officers and for officers to listen to the public. In many respects they formalise what officers and PCSOs do every day – ...

Lincolnshire Police are refusing to tell the public which are the county’s busiest and most lucrative road safety cameras – for fear the machines will be attacked. Despite admitting that it would create greater awareness of speeding hotspots, they have declined to give details about the number of offences and the revenue of the highest earners among the 52 fixed ...

A Spalding resident has had her council tenancy agreement downgraded after her partner was convicted of dealing drugs. The demotion order for South Holland District Council tenant Danielle Batch and her partner Jay Smith was applied for after police officers executed a warrant at their home in Hereward Road in Spalding and found £120 worth of cannabis along with scales ...

Police are investigating three more burglaries in Spalding during Tuesday night. At about 2:20am today (Wednesday), a burglary took place in Ladywood Road, where a purse and computer were stolen (Incident 31).  At 3am a burglary occurred in Halmergate, where a laptop was stolen. (Incident 35) A third burglary was reported in Cross Street where, during the night, someone has leaned through an ...

An elderly woman and her young granddaughter were woken up by a burglar shining a torch at them. The terrifying incident happened at around 2.30am on Sunday, August 3. The burglar forced entry to the property in Exeter Drive, Spalding, by jemmying a rear door. After shining the torch at the pair, the burglar fled empty handed. Anyone with information ...

A drugs dealer caught twice within 48 hours with a stash has been jailed for 30 months. Owen Reeve was initially stopped by police while driving in Holbeach. Prosecutor Mark Knowles told Lincoln Crown Court that officers could smell cannabis and when Reeve was told the car was to be searched he produced a bag of cannabis. A quantity of the ...

A woman illegally claimed £16,000 benefits after failing to declare that she had a partner. Emma Grimes received income support, council tax benefit and housing benefit on the basis that she was a single parent. Mark Knowles, prosecuting at Lincoln Crown Court, said Grimes told the authorities that she had separated from her partner but in November 2012 evidence came ...

People are being asked their opinion on the best ways to tackle low level crime and anti-social behaviour. Lincolnshire’s police and crime commissioner Alan Hardwick has launched a survey asking for views which will be used to create a Community Remedy Document. It is a PCC’s statutory duty to create the document following the introduction of the new Anti-social Behaviour, ...

A footbridge over the railway line in Spalding has been vandalised for a second time in as many months. Writing in white paint has been daubed on the sides of Stepping Stone Bridge, which links King’s Road with Park Road. A nearby resident, who claims the area around the bridge is attracting other unsavoury behaviour too, said: “Now that it ...

A building society in Spalding was unable to open on Monday after a vandalism attack over the weekend. The Hinckley and Rugby branch in Sheep Market had its glass front door smashed in the early hours of Sunday. CCTV images from the building society show a man throwing something at the door. Spalding Police are investigating. Anyone with information should ...

Daring thieves stripped lead from a village church twice on consecutive nights, in acts which have been described as “desecration”. It’s believed that the same people were responsible for the thefts from St Mary Magdalene Church in Gedney last weekend. Vehicle tracks from the A17 across fields to the church have been analysed by scenes of crime officers. It’s believed ...

New powers to tackle anti-social behaviour around Spalding’s Ayscoughfee Hall and The Vista come into force today. Police will step up patrols and now have the power to remove groups of two or more people from the area. The dispersal order has been granted to coincide with the school summer holidays. It is not a curfew, but does also provide ...

  Holbeach’s Lloyd’s Bank was closed this morning after a break-in overnight. It’s believed that thieves rammed the front door of the High Street bank and broke into the cash machine from inside. It’s not yet known what was taken. The incident happened at about 3am on Thursday morning and the bank was cordoned off by police until 12.50pm while ...