Three men have denied poaching at Holbeach St Marks.

Spalding magistrates on Thursday adjourned the hearing to August 29 for a trial.

The men accused are Jack Richardson (23), of Middle Marsh Road, Holbeach St Marks, Daniel Devall (47), of Fairfield, Herstmonceux, East Sussex, and Henry Devall (23), of Bidford Road, Bromley.

They are accused of daytime trespass in pursuit of game, woodcocks, snipes or conies, on land off Leadenhall Road on February 16.

The men appeared in court on summons, but were granted unconditional bail to return to the court for the trial after they entered their not guilty pleas.

Spalding magistrates issued a warrant without bail for the arrest of a woman who failed to attend court on Thursday.

Sandra Vanagaite (23), of Alcorn Green, Fishtoft, near Boston, is accused of perverting the course of justice by signing a statement at Spalding Police Station claiming to have been the driver of a car involved in a road traffic collision.

Spalding magistrates adjourned two cases against a man accused of failing to notify a change of circumstances that would affect his entitlement to benefits.

Marcus Druce (44), of Beechurst Road, Cheltenham, is due to appear at court on May 23.

A man with mental health problems committed a jewellery raid described by his solicitor as “one of the most unsophisticated the courts will ever come across”.

Phillip Malone (36) found himself homeless and without his prescription for the heroin substitute Subutex before he stole vodka worth £64.50 from Adnams at Baston and assaulted John Twining and Andrew Parrot when they confronted him on December 16.

Two days later he smashed his way into an antiques centre at Market Deeping, leaving his mug shot on CCTV and blood on a shelf which identified him through DNA testing.

Malone, care of Churchfield Close, Deeping St James, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced after magistrates read psychiatric and probation reports.

On Thursday, Malone appeared in court with two black eyes, his face swollen and clutching his ribs.

His solicitor, David Lee, explained Malone had been badly assaulted on Monday and police were investigating.

Magistrates gave Malone a community order with 12 months’ supervision and a six month drug rehabilitation requirement. He must pay a £60 victim surcharge.

Malone’s solicitor David Lee said jewellery and ornaments stolen from Market Deeping Antiques and Craft Centre amounted to £52 while the damage bill was far higher.
Prosecutor Marie Stace said the centre closed for a day for a clean-up and repairs, losing an estimated £1,600 in trade, there was a £400 insurance excess and the bill for items stolen and repairs amounted to £162.
Malone is on incapacity benefit and magistrates decided he could not afford compensation.

Magistrates revoked a community order given to a Spalding woman, Ewelina Stalska, in October last year after the probation service reported she had made excellent progress.

Stalska (30), of Little London, was not in court.

People who struggle to find Moulton Chapel Youth and Community Centre will soon be getting a helping hand from county highways officials.

A new signpost for the centre is expected to be put up within the next few months after agreement was reached with Moulton Parish Council.

People living in Moulton Chapel and Moulton Seas End can anticipate a brighter look to both villages after parish councillors gave the go-ahead for their notice boards to be replaced.

The work is to be funded through a community budget run by South Holland District Council.

The chairmanship of Moulton Parish Council is changing hands for the coming year after Geoff Cooper was elected to take over from Andrew Woolf.

Coun Cooper, who was vice chairman, represents Moulton Seas End Ward.

Pinchbeck flower grower in defence of migrants

After the recent elections, as expected, we see UKIP climbing the ladder to dizzy heights.

Of their ideas, the most worrying relate to immigration and its effect on the migrant workforce. Let me make it crystal clear: without our Eastern European friends horticulture and agriculture could not survive.

For some reason we are unable to make these jobs attractive to our own youngsters, possibly because they are not offered as an option in schools, yet they are not poorly paid and there are a great number of career opportunities.

Yes, Spalding looks an unattractive market town these days, but where have we gone so wrong? Large groups of foreign nationals congregating in the streets is intimidating, and there is a police presence, but they don’t seem to disperse the groups or discourage them from drinking in the streets. There have been complaints from readers about unsightly shop windows and frontages, but is it beyond the council to tell the occupants to smarten up?

Local growers and packers provide an enormous amount of employment which helps our local economy to thrive. These industries need the migrant workforce but the situation requires managing. Could we not make Spalding an example and show other areas that are suffering similar problems that we can all live harmoniously and have a town to be proud of?

Individuals and organisations are being invited to bid for a share of a £265,000 cash pot set aside to improve Spalding town centre.

Crime reduction strategies, a bandstand in Ayscoughfee Gardens, a town centre bus service and Spalding Water Taxi are just some of the projects being considered for grants using money left over from a cash contribution relating to the Springfields retail development.

Applicants have until the end of June to submit bids to be considered by a panel set up on behalf of South Holland District Council whose cabinet gave the go-ahead for the bidding process at a meeting on Tuesday.

Projects will be judged on their potential to promote and improve Spalding town centre, Springfields, and give value-for-money to residents, businesses and visitors.

Other criteria include evidence of need by a survey or questionnaire, a 12-month timescale for project completion, environmental benefits and match-funding arrangements with other funding groups.

A final decision on successful projects will be made by cabinet members in October and the process will continue until all the money is spent.

Details on the bidding process were outlined in a report to cabinet members by Mark Stanton, Economic Development Manager for the district council.

It said: “The Springfields Outlet Shopping Centre was completed in 2006 and as part of the planning conditions, developers were required to contribute funds towards the costs of providing community and social infrastructure, the need for which has arisen as a result of the development taking place.

“A proportion of the funding received from the Springfields development remains unspent and a number of proposals are likely to be received from the community for allocation of this funding.”

A new taskforce has been created to allow the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel to ‘get to the bottom of’ the suspension of the force’s chief constable in February.

The panel’s meeting at East Lindsey District Council’s Manby HQ on May 9 was held to enable the panel to agree to find the best way forward in the wake of the overturned suspension of chief constable Neil Rhodes.

The meeting was swiftly organised after the suspension of Neil Rhodes by police and crime commissioner Alan Hardwick over an employment dispute was quashed in High Court on March 28.

It was the first time a chief constable had been suspended by a commissioner since the elected role was introduced nationwide in November.

But both men were noticeable by their absences from the Tedder Hall meeting.

A taskforce was created which will be led by Chris Cook, an independent member of the panel, along with Couns Ian Cartwright and Anne Welburn.

Their task will be to look at the events surrounding the suspension and scrutinise the actions of the commissioner before reporting back in full on September 6.

Watch a video interview with Chris Cook on this page.

A councillor in South Holland’s poorest ward is asking the Government to re-think its controversial bedroom tax because people on low incomes will suffer.

People on benefits who have one spare bedroom are having their housing benefit slashed by 14 per cent and by 25 per cent if they have two spare bedrooms.

Sutton Bridge district and parish councillor Michael Booth says the Government has put the cart before the horse because it is almost impossible for people hit by the tax to find single-bedroom properties – and very few would afford the cost of moving home.

Coun Booth says most will have to look in the private sector, but new rules preventing migrant workers from going into social housing for two years mean the private sector will be overwhelmed.

Sutton Bridge has one in five children classed as living in poverty and a quarter of its primary school children have free meals.

Coun Booth, a former chairman of South Holland’s Housing Committee, met South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes and says he promised to raise the issue at 10 Downing Street where he now has an office.

Plans to open a new foodbank centre in Holbeach for crisis-hit individuals and families have received strong backing from churches and the general public.

The idea to set up a foodbank put forward by the Vicar of Holbeach Rev Rosamund Seal, will be discussed at a public meeting on Thursday, June 6 in the Mary Bass Room, All Saints’ Church, at 7.30pm.

Holbeach Youth Centre in Boston Road is one of the venues being considered for the foodbank which would be run by Agape Care Foodbank which has centres at the Lighthouse Church in Spalding and The Market House, Long Sutton.

Representatives from Agape Care Foodbank have been invited to the meeting, along with Holbeach county councillor Nick Worth and church leaders from the town.

But Mrs Seal confirmed the meeting was also open to anyone interested in volunteering at the foodbank.

She said: “Work to open an Agape Care Foodbank satellite in Holbeach is under way and I’ve already had several offers of help and support from church members, other churches and also the general public.

“There will be a foodbank centre in Holbeach and we’re hoping it’ll be at the youth centre as that seems to be an ideal place which is central to the town, easy to find and has no stigma attached to it.

“Hopefully we will find out at the meeting what the timescale for opening is and where we’ll be, before bringing a committee of people together to get the project off the ground.”

Irene Davies, team leader for Agape Care Foodbank, said: “We’ve thought about starting a centre in Holbeach as it would be easier for people from the town who collect food parcels from Spalding.”

Police are investigating a serious assault on the riverbank in Spalding.

Officers believe a 43-year-old man was attacked at the rear of Double Street between 10.30pm and 11.30pm last night.

Insp Jim Tyner said: “The man who was attacked is currently receiving treatment for a head injury at Pilgrim Hospital.

“We are in the early stages of an investigation, so parts of the riverbank path are currently closed off this morning.

“I would like to thank residents of Double Street for their patience while the path is closed. We are aiming to keep this disruption to a minimum”

Anyone who has information about this assault or who was in the area at the time is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident 461 of May 12.

You can also provide information anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

A 64-year-old man was found dead in the cab of his lorry that was parked in Long Sutton.

Concern about the man, from Sunderland, was raised by his employer when the tracker devise on the lorry showed it had not moved for some time.

Police were called to the lorry on the A101 Wisbech at about 1.30pm yesterday and the man was found to be dead.

The death is now being dealt with by the coroner’s office.

Leading lawyer Mike Alexander is urging South Holland people to save Spalding Magistrates’ Court from being closed in cost-cutting measures.

An announcement on possible court closures is likely to come in about three weeks’s time – and it’s widely expected Spalding’s name will be on the list going out for consultation.

Mr Alexander says its closure will hit defendants, witnesses and victims of crime.

He said: “I think it’s vital we campaign as much as we can to save it.”

The court was threatened with the axe in 2010 but a concerted campaign by MP John Hayes, solicitors and magistrates saved it at that time.

One of the nation’s leading judges also supported the campaign to keep the court.

But it’s now considered in court circles to be a lame duck because it cannot accept prisoners after someone fell on the stairs to the dock and a security firm lodged a complaint on health and safety grounds.

If Spalding court closes, people will have to travel to another town – most likely Grantham or Boston – for hearings

• Mr Hayes, the South Holland and The Deepings MP, has pledged to meet local solicitors who want to keep the court and also speak to them about sweeping changes that Mr Alexander says will deny poorer people their own choice of solicitor.

Long-time village resident Mick Buffham can testify to the quality of life in Quadring.

Mick has lived in the village all his life, and for many years he ran Leverton Garage doing car repairs as well as operating nine buses.

At 68, he’s retired now, and says: “There are a few more houses and we now have The Curry Inn, but not a lot has changed really. It’s all right – it’s peaceful.”

There is one village organisation that works to improve the quality of life for older people in Quadring.

Quadring Evergreen Club has been running for 50 odd years and now holds fortnightly meetings at the village hall (the next is on Tuesday, 2-4pm). Members play bingo, cards, watch films and enjoy a cup of tea and a chat with friends.

Jean Hemstock, who is almost 80, has been involved in the club for over 40 years and handed over the presidency to Judith Stanley-Franks a couple of years ago. Secretary is Jeanette Norris.

Judith says a Christmas meal and other celebrations are arranged.

The club is looking for new members so just turn on Tuesday at the village hall.

There are some surprises in store when it comes to the commercial activity going on in Quadring.

Businesses encompass old firms, such as Crossroads Nurseries, which has had a presence in the village for the past 100 years, to a bit of a surprise – The Curry Inn, which has built a good reputation since it opened five years ago.

In between are those two village necessities, a pub – The White Hart Inn – and the Post Office and shop.

John and Susan Derbyshire have introduced an unusual element to the normal stock of stamps and tinned goods at the Post Office. They sell Parsnip Homemade Gifts, anything from paper crafts and cards to decorated boxes and little owls.

Susan says: “They are all made by local ladies and I make the cards. It’s popular because people haven’t got to travel to find gifts and it’s nice to have something unique as a gift. Every time the needlework lady brings something in it’s new and different.”

Another family business that has been around for over 90 years is Barholme Farm, now run by Michael Featherstone.

Michael’s father Norman took on the mantle of village historian some years ago, something started by his late wife Myra, who taught at the village school for many years.

Michael is secretary of the Quadring Senior Citizens’ Party, which will be celebrating its 65th anniversary meal for about 120 people next year.

Joanne Tyson cooked up some traditional Taiwanese dishes for our visit.

These included a hot and sour soup containing mushrooms, carrot, spring onion and hot pepper. These were served with fried dumplings, or Jen-jeow, which is typical street food in Taiwan. The dumplings were filled with chicken, king prawn and spring onions and were what Joanne called “half steamed and half fried”.

We moved on to Three Cup Chicken – chicken cooked with a cup each of soya sauce, rice wine and sesame oil – served with greens cooked in a small amount of water and garlic.

To finish we had pieces of banana cooked quickly in a small amount of vegetable oil over a high flame. Joanne used chopsticks to keep turning the pieces until they were gently golden and then served them with ice-cream.

For recipes for these and more delicious dishes visit www.taiwanduck.com.

The website has gained so much attention that Joanne was due to be visited by someone from a Taiwanese magazine this week who was proposing to cook something using Joanne’s home-grown vegetables.

The owner of a Spalding supermarket has been fined more than £3,000 for potentially putting customer’s health at risk by selling out of date food.

Lincolnshire Trading Standards found hundreds of items of out of date food for sale at Kubus, in Spalding’s Sheepmarket.

Kubus’s owner, Jasem Amed Ali, was found guilty 
of four offences of exposing food for sale past its use by date and five offences for exposing non-English labelled food for sale.

Investigations revealed that Kubus had been selling these items, including yoghurts and milkshakes, for months to unsuspecting members of the public.

Andy Wright, principal trading standards officer at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Generally foods marked with a use by date are refrigerated and pose an imminent risk to health if consumed after that date.

“In the case of this business, out of date food had been removed from the refrigerator and placed in baskets on the floor.

“This is one of the worst cases of this type I have come across.

“The risk to health was obvious and the penalty imposed by the court sends out a clear message that this is unacceptable.”

The case was heard at Spalding Magistrates Court last week.