Why Sills & Betteridge opposes the closure of Lincoln Prison

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Why Sills & Betteridge
opposes the closure
of Lincoln Prison
Respected law firm backs
Echo campaign
Sills &
Betteridge
Solicitors
One of the county’s leading law fi rms has today joined the Echo’s
campaign to stop the proposed closure of Lincoln Prison.
The partners of Sills & Betteridge have penned an open letter
to the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling outlining their reasons for
opposing the plan.
The fi rm feels so passionately about the negative impact that the
closure of Lincoln Prison will have on the county they teamed up with
the Echo to produce a special edition of the paper.
Sills & Betteridge has nine offi ces around the county and has
practiced law in Lincolnshire for more than 250 years.
Proposals to close the prison, and possibly convert it into an
immigration removal centre, were first revealed earlier this month.
If the Ministry of Justice presses ahead with a closure around
500 jobs will be lost from the city and 750 prisoners will be sent
to sites outside of the county – such as Hull, Nottingham and
Peterborough.
This will entail police offi cers, probation service employees,
lawyers and families travelling much further to visit inmates.
In some cases the local taxpayer will be forced to foot the bill.
Sills & Betteridge has taken the step to openly oppose the
plans because of the immeasurable damage it will do to the local
economy and the terrible cost for hundreds of local families.
“We were horrifi ed when we heard of the proposals to close
Lincoln Prison,” said senior partner Andrew Payne. “If carried
through the proposals will affect the cost and efficiency of criminal
justice in the county.
“This law firm is absolutely committed to the future of Lincolnshire
and since we have been practicing in the community for 250
years we feel passionate about protecting it.
“No-one should be in any doubt that closing the prison will be
a blow to the many hundreds of people whose lives and future
depend on it. Additionally, taxpayers across the county will end
up footing the bill for the extra time and mileage that will be
wasted dealing with people on remand in far-fl ung cities.
“We don’t want to stand by and let this be forced upon our
county without a fi ght.”
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We oppose the closure
of Lincoln Prison
Andrew Payne
Senior Partner
A graduate of Leeds
University, he joined the
and became a Partner in
1979. Andrew has extensive
experience of all aspects of
Commercial and Corporate law
and under his leadership the
stands in the front rank of legal
practices in Lincolnshire.
Stephen Wilson
Deputy
Senior Partner
For the last 20 years, Stephen
has specialised in litigation. As
Head of the Accident Claims
Department, he acts for clients
on all types of accident and
injury claims covering injuries
such as whiplash to severe and
fatal injury. He is a member
of The Law Society’s Personal
Injury Panel and is Accredited
as a Fellow of the Association
of Personal Injury Lawyers.
John Mitchell
Managing Partner
partner and also head of the
family law department. He
specialises both in divorce
and proceedings relating to
children.
a Barrister before moving to
Lincoln to join Sills & Betteridge.
He is a member of the Law
Society Children’s Panel and
is also a Family Mediator and
Collaborative Lawyer.
Ian Baker
Partner
After graduating from the
College of Law at Guildford and
Chester, Ian went on to train
with Hodgson, Carlyle & Co
1979. He became a Partner in
Partner in Sills & Betteridge in
1990 following the merger of
Gary Philips
Partner
Gary is an Oxford graduate
with post-graduate
and Reading universities. He
admitted as a solicitor in
1989 and has been a Partner
since 1991. Since 2010 he
has also practised as a public
notary. He is a member of the
Society of Trust and Estate
Practitioners.
Karen Bower-Brown
Partner
Karen heads the commercial
litigation team which deals
with a wide variety of civil
disputes, property disputes,
probate disputes, neighbour
disputes and defamation
claims. She is a recognised
specialist in probate disputes
being an elected member
of ACTAPS (Association of
Contentious Trust and Probate
Specialists).
Rachel Maclean
Partner
Rachel is a graduate of Leicester
University and joined Sills &
Betteridge in 1994 as a trainee.
She became a Partner within
the Family Law Department
in 2002. She is responsible for
running the Public Law and
Domestic Violence section
undertakes general family
work in relation to divorce,
involving social services.
Richard Bussell
Partner
Richard completed his law
degree at the University of
Hull before attending the
College of Law in Chester for
the Legal Practice Course.
He undertook his training
in Burton on Trent before
joining Sills & Betteridge in
2004. In 2006 Richard became
a Partner and the Head of
the Wills, Trusts & Probate
Department.
Mark McNeil
Partner
Mark McNeil is a criminal
solicitor and has his higher
rights of audience. As such
Mark can represent clients in
every stage of the criminal
justice system including the
Crown Court. Mark heads
up the 16 strong criminal
department, the largest in
Lincolnshire.
Yvonne Clarke
Partner
A graduate of Liverpool
University she joined
Thimblebys in 1991 as a trainee
solicitor and became a Partner
in 1995. She joined as a Partner
of Sills & Betteridge in 2007.
Yvonne specialises in cases
relating to divorce, relationship
breakdown, children and care
proceedings.
Helen Derry
Partner
Helen specialises in advising
children issues arising out
of divorce, separation,
and dissolution of a civil
partnership, many with
family business, agricultural
land and pensions. Helen
is a Partner and Head of
the Private Family Law
department in Lincoln.
Andrew Durkan
Partner
Andrew specialises in all
types of accident and injury
compensation claims and has
a particular interest in claims
accidents, accidents at work
and medical negligence. He is
a member of the Law Society
Personal Injury Panel and has
been accredited as a Senior
Litigator by the Association of
Personal Injury Lawyers.
Director overseeing all of the
work and accidents in public places. She is also experienced in dealing with applications
including Finance, IT, Marketing,
HR, Training and Facilities.
Personal Injury Lawyers.
Martyn Hall
Partner
2001 and became a Partner in
2009 following the changes
introduced in the Legal Services
Act 2007. Martyn has an
accountancy background and
completed an MA in Practice
Management at the University
of Wolverhampton in 2007.
Alison Hurton
Partner
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