A couple say they are having a soul-destroying wait for justice for their son, who was killed in a suspected hit and run.
Cyclist Tim Osborn (27) was found dead in a ditch beside the A151 Bourne Road between Spalding’s Monks House Lane crossroads and Pode Hole on September 14.
Tim’s mum, Lynne, and his brother, Michael, found his body at around midnight and ever since then the family has been grieving and in limbo in their wait for someone to be brought before a court.
Police arrested a 41-year-old Sleaford area man four days after the accident, but there is no word yet on whether a case will proceed against him or if anyone else will be prosecuted over the crash.
The family claim the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has now twice delayed any possible proceedings because they haven’t had the staff or time to look at Tim’s case files.
But the CPS denies the claims about staff shortages and says cases involving deaths on the roads require a thorough review of the evidence to ensure the correct charging decision is made.
The family says the first delay was for six weeks and the second for six to eight weeks.
Tim’s dad, Steve, said: “We were told before Christmas that we would have a definite result from the CPS either way by last week.”
But the week before the decision was expected, Steve says he had another call from a police liaison officer to say the CPS had asked for another six to eight weeks to look at Tim’s file.
He said: “Their reason – ‘we just don’t have enough people to look at the case’.”
Steve said the delay is hurting the family.
“To be honest, we are feeling sort of lost, forgotten, it’s soul destroying,” he said. “It’s frustrating waiting this long. At least when the police were putting the case together, we were having regular updates on why it’s taking so long and how it’s going.”
A spokesman for the CPS East Midlands said: “We acknowledge that for a bereaved family, waiting to learn the outcome of a charging decision relating to the death of a loved one can be distressing.
“However, cases involving deaths on the roads require thorough investigation by the police and equally thorough review of the evidence to ensure the correct charging decision is made.
“It is simply inaccurate to say that this case has been delayed by CPS staffing resources.
“However, we cannot provide specific comment on any case that is still subject to a charging decision.”
Tim was preparing for a holiday in Scotland shortly before he died.
His family plan to make that trip to one of his favourite spots, Urquhart Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, where they will scatter Tim’s ashes.
Steve said: “He had been up there a couple of times with some friends that he used to work with at Morrisons and he loved it up there.”
After he died, they found the last ever picture of Tim – taken on his mobile phone.