Update: remand for man charged with arson
Main article content
Update 2.04pm, Wednesday 30 March
John Gillion Watson (56), of Vicarage Court, Sleaford, has been remanded into custody to await a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court.
He appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court today (Wednesday 30 March) charged with arson recklessly endangering life following a fire at Lincoln County Hospital.
The next court date is yet to be fixed.
Update 11.19am, Wednesday 30 March
We have charged 56-year-old John Gillion Watson, of Vicarage Court, Sleaford, with arson recklessly endangering life following a fire at Lincoln County Hospital.
The charge was laid in the early hours of this morning (Wednesday 30 March) following swift work by officers in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Watson remains remanded into custody and is due to attend Lincoln Magistrates' Court this morning.
We continue to ask for anyone with information or dashcam footage to contact us.
*Editors: Please note that he is 56 and not 57 as previously reported.
Original release:
We have launched an arson investigation following a deliberate fire which was set in the A&E department at Lincoln County Hospital.
We were called to reports of a fire at the main accident and emergency department at 3.02am this morning (Tuesday 29 March).
The department was evacuated safely by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue. They extinguished the blaze, and nobody was injured. There is extensive damage to the department, including the X-ray, CT and MRI imaging suite.
Fire investigators have confirmed that this was a deliberate ignition, and we are now investigating the circumstances of the incident.
Following a swift response by officers, a 57-year-old man from the Sleaford area has been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and remains in police custody.
We believe this to be an isolated incident and we will remain on scene and in the local area over the next few days while we make our enquiries.
We would like to hear from anyone with phone or dashcam footage in and around the A&E department from between 2.40am and 3.15am, or anyone with any other information.
If you can help, there are a number of ways to get in touch:
- Call 101, quoting Incident 24 of 29 March.
- Email [email protected] putting “Incident 24 29 March” in the subject line.
- Call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or report online