|
UK > History > 2011 > Police (I)
Man dies
after Taser arrest
near Bolton
IPCC to investigate police use of Taser
to subdue man, 53 – the third fatal arrest
using stun gun or pepper spray in a
week
Wednesday
24 August 2011
11.04 BST
Guardian.co.uk
Helen Carter
Man dies after Taser arrest near Bolton
This article was published on guardian.co.uk
at 11.04 BST
on Wednesday 24 August
2011.
It was last modified at 11.44 BST
on Wednesday 24 August 2011.
A man who
stabbed himself in the abdomen has died after being Tasered by police officers.
Philip Hulmes, 53, was hit with electric probes from the stun gun after
barricading himself in his home in Over Hulton, near Bolton, on Tuesday night.
It is thought a concerned relative called police to the house at 8.30pm. Police
were told that Hulmes, who was armed with a knife, had locked himself in, was
making threats and had begun to stab himself.
Officers arrived and smashed a hole in the door. When they spotted his injuries
they called for Taser-trained back up.
After further failed attempts to talk him out of the building they broke in and
used the stun gun.
He was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital but he died about half an hour later.
Investigations by the Professional Standards Branch and the Independent Police
Complaints Commission are due to begin.
Greater Manchester police said the officers had been threatened. They entered
the house and deployed a Taser.
"After it was deployed, it became apparent he had a serious self-inflicted stab
wound to his abdomen," police said in a statement.
"A Home Office postmortem examination is due to be carried out later today."
The GMP's Professional Standards Branch will oversee the investigation and will
be making a mandatory referral to the IPCC.
The commission is also investigating another death when up to 11 officers
arrested a man after restraining him with pepper spray. The man became unwell
and died in hospital within two hours.
Jacob Michael, 25, from Widnes, Cheshire, died after he became ill on Monday
evening. He managed to flee police but was brought down on a grass verge close
to his home and restrained.
Some witnesses expressed concerns about the arrest.
The IPCC said pepper spray had been used and its investigators would carry out
inquiries.
Cheshire police's assistant chief constable expressed his condolences to the
man's family and friends.
"I believe it is important for the community to know that the detailed
postmortem examination … found no physical injuries on Jacob that could be
attributable to a cause of death," ACC Philip Thompson said.
"Whilst pepper spray was discharged during the course of his arrest, there is no
evidence that the use of pepper spray was the sole factor or indeed a
contributory factor to Mr Michael becoming unwell some time after his arrest or
as a cause of his death."
He appealed for calm and said further extensive tests would help establish an
exact cause of death.
Last week, 27-year-old bodybuilder Dale Burns died in Cumbria after he was
Tasered and sprayed with pepper spray by police during an arrest. A postmortem
was unable to establish a cause of death.
The IPCC is investigating Cumbria police.
Man dies after Taser arrest near Bolton, G, 24.8.2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/24/man-dies-taser-arrest-bolton
Nottingham police station firebombed
as
violence hits more UK cities
At least eight people arrested in connection with attack
– while disturbances flare up in Liverpool, Leicester, Bristol and Leeds
The
Guardian,
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Martin Wainwright, Helen Clifton, James Beal and Jessica Shepherd
This article appeared in the Guardian on Wednesday 10 August 2011. It was
published on guardian.co.uk at 01.57 BST on Wednesday 10 August 2011. It was
last modified at 01.59 BST on Wednesday 10 August 2011.
A police
station in Nottingham was firebombed on Tuesday night as violence also hit
Liverpool, Leicester, Bristol and Leeds.
Canning Circus police station in Nottingham was attacked by a gang of 30 to 40
men but no injuries were reported, according to Nottinghamshire police. The
force said at least eight people were arrested in connection with the attack.
Around the same time, a number of cars were firebombed at a car lot in Carlton
Road in the city.
The violence followed the arrest of 10 youths earlier in the evening after a
small group of people got on to the roof of one of the buildings at Nottingham
High School. In another incident two men, aged 17 and 18, were arrested after
rocks were thrown at Bulwell Police Station in the city.
Between 6pm on Monday and 1am on Wednesday, police said they dealt with "well
over 1,000" reports of incidents taking place throughout the city and elsewhere,
and more than 70 arrests were made. Fires were set in various different
locations and police said they had investigated reports that children had been
setting trees alight.
Smithdown Road in Toxteth in Liverpool was closed by police after 200 rioters
started hurling missiles at officers at about 11.30pm. A Merseyside police
spokesman said the youths were "causing disorder and damage" and asked local
people to avoid the area. She was unable to confirm reports that firebombs were
being thrown.
Police and firefighters were called to reports of vehicles on fire in
Birkenhead, while the town centre also saw damage to shops and pubs, with at
least one pub set on fire. No-one was inside at the time.
Some 35 arrests were made on Merseyside in connection with the disorder.
A number of blazes were started by people rioting at a young offenders'
institution in Bristol, the local fire service said. Up to 10 teenagers at
Ashfield set fire to rubbish in one of the wings at about 7.50pm.
It took members of staff about 50 minutes to extinguish the flames, according to
Avon Fire and Rescue Service, who were put on standby in case they worsened.
"About seven to 10 people were involved in a riot," a spokesman said. "The
prison staff are now dealing with the perpetrators." The fires were said to be
small, with the level of damage done unclear.
Some 400 young males aged between 15 and 18 are held at Ashfield after being
sentenced in courts across the South West, Wales, the Midlands and the London
area.
Meanwhile a gang passing through Chapeltown in Leeds threw stones at cars parked
outside the Central Jamia Mosque. A senior member of staff at the mosque, who
gave his name as Ali, described the culprits as a large group of rioters.
Leicestershire police said on their Twitter account that their officers were
dealing with a group of youths in Leicester city centre.
The violence has been spreading outside of London since Monday night. Police in
Liverpool were pelted with missiles and cars were torched on Monday, while
looters in Bristol targeted jewellery shops and set a gas main on fire. There
has been sporadic trouble in Leeds
In Liverpool, disturbances began shortly after midnight on Monday as pub and
restaurant windows were shattered with stones, showering late-night drinkers and
diners with glass . Several hundred people, some as young as 10, roamed High
Park Street attacking buildings and cars at random before looting a Tesco
Express, smashing police station windows and setting a police van on fire.
Cars and wheelie bins were set alight on a trail of destruction that stretched
from the city centre to the Toxteth, Dingle and Wavertree areas.
Nottingham police station firebombed as violence hits more
UK cities, G, 10.8.2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/nottingham-police-station-firebomb-arrests
Tottenham riot: Sustained looting follows night of violence
Looters use cars and shopping trolleys
to carry away stolen goods as disturbances spread to other areas of Haringey
Sunday 7
August 2011
09.05 BST
Guardian.co.uk
Paul Lewis
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 09.05 BST on Sunday 7 August
2011. It was last modified at 10.40 BST on Sunday 7 August 2011.
There were
scenes of chaos in the early hours of Sunday morning as sustained looting spread
from Tottenham to other nearby areas of Haringey.
By midnight police managed to secure a 200-metre stretch of the Tottenham High
Road, scene of some of the worst rioting on Saturday night.
But as fire engines entered the street, and began putting out blazing cars and
buildings, the rioters spread north and west through back-streets. To the north,
at Tottenham Hale, Aldi supermarket was ransacked and set on fire. So too was a
nearby carpet shop, causing a huge blaze.
Looters turned up with cars and shopping trolleys to carry away stolen goods.
Nearby, large groups of youths congregated in the surrounding streets with
sticks, bottles and hammers.
Some wore balaclava masks, preventing cars from accessing streets as buildings
were broken into. Others used large rubbish bins to form burning barricades
across the road.
However some of most dramatic looting took place further west, in Wood Green,
and continued into the early hours of the morning.
Earlier on Saturday night two police cars, a bus and several shops had been
attacked and set ablaze as violence and looting erupted following a protest
demanding "justice" over a fatal police shooting.
Officers on horseback and others in riot gear clashed with hundreds of rioters
armed with makeshift missiles in the centre of Tottenham after Mark Duggan, 29,
a father of four, was killed on Thursday.
On Sunday morning police said there remained isolated incidents in the Tottenham
area involving "a small number of people" and officers were still dealing with
those situations. Eight officers were being treated in hospital, one with head
injuries, following the violence.
But there was still no police presence at Wood Green high street at 4am, even
after dozens of stores had been smashed and raided, setting of multiple alarms.
Around 100 youths sprinted around the highstreet, targeting game shops,
electrical stores and high-street clothe chains such as H & M.
Glass windows were smashed and the looters, mostly young men masking their
faces, swarmed in.
They emerged with handfuls of stolen goods. "I've got loads of G-Star," said one
teenager, emerging from a clothes shop. Others came out clasping shopping bags
stuffed with goods.
Three teenagers ran down the street with suitcases filled with stolen clothes.
Around ten young men stood outside a smouldering Carphone Warehouse, the windows
smashed. The theft was casual and brazen, with looters peering into broken shop
windows to see if items of value remained.
There were shocking scenes in the suburban back-streets, where residential
front-gardens were used to frantically sort and swap stolen goods.
A teenage boy, who looked aged around 14, drove an stolen minicab erratically
down a side-street. On the adjacent street, a man who emerged from his home to
find his car burnt-out remonstrated with other young men, who ran past carrying
clothes.
Passersby, including people returning home in the early hours from nights out,
were stunned to discover the lawless mayhem on the streets.
With no sign of any police, buses refused to take passengers through Wood Green
high street, and traffic was brought to a standstill.
Tottenham riot: Sustained looting follows night of
violence, G, 7.8.2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/07/tottenham-riot-looting-north-london
Man shot
dead by police in north London
during
attempted arrest
Mark Duggan died instantly at scene
as 'exchange of fire' heard with police after Trident officers stopped minicab
Friday 5
August 2011
20.16 BST
Guardian.co.uk
Sandra Laville, crime correspondent
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 20.16 BST on Friday 5 August
2011.
A version appeared on p12 of the Main section section of the Guardian on
Saturday 6 August 2011. It was last modified at 00.10 BST on Saturday 6 August
2011.
A father of
three died instantly after an apparent exchange of fire when police attempted to
arrest him in north London, it emerged on Friday.
A police marksman escaped with his life when a bullet lodged in his radio during
the confrontation that ended in the death of Mark Duggan, 29. The Scotland Yard
firearms officer was taken to hospital and later released.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating the fatal
shooting, said the bullet and a non-police-issue handgun found at the scene had
been sent for forensic tests.
IPCC investigators believe two shots were fired by an armed officer. A spokesman
for the IPCC said that at around 6.15pm on Thursday officers from Operation
Trident, the Metropolitan police unit that deals with gun crime in London's
black communities, with officers from the Specialist Firearms Command (CO19),
stopped a minicab to carry out a pre-planned arrest.
"Shots were fired and a 29-year-old man, who was a passenger in the cab, died at
the scene," said the spokesman. Photographic and forensic examination was
continuing, and a search for CCTV footage was continuing, the spokesman said. A
postmortem examination would be carried out as soon as possible.
IPCC commissioner Rachel Cerfontyne said: "Fatal shootings by the police are
extremely rare and understandably raise significant community concerns."
The dead man's girlfriend, Semone Wilson, 29, said she had received a text
message from him shortly before the shooting. "At about 6pm he sent out a
message on his BlackBerry saying 'The Feds are following me', and that's it.
That's the last time anyone heard from him."
As the IPCC appealed for witnesses, conflicting accounts of the shooting
emerged. One man told the London Evening Standard he had seen officers shoot a
man on the ground. But others said a shot was fired from the cab before police
returned fire.
The scene was visited by David Lammy, the MP for the area, who said: "I am
shocked and deeply worried by this news. There is now a mood of anxiety in the
local community but everyone must remain calm. It is encouraging that the
Independent Police Complaints Commission has immediately taken over the
investigation. There is a need to clarify the facts and to move quickly to allay
fears."
"It is very important that our community remains calm and allows the
investigation to take its course."
Jay Crowned, 39, who lives locally, last night described the dead man as "a
local boy who was loved by the community".
"The whole family is devastated," she said, adding that he had been feeling down
since a friend was killed this year.
"His friend was like a brother and he lost him brutally. Since then he's been
really down."
Man shot dead by police in north London during attempted
arrest, G, 5.8.2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/05/man-shot-police-london-arrest
Manchester police raid sex crime gang
Six men
arrested across Manchester and Stockport
in vast police operation against sexual exploitation of teenage girls
Tuesday 14
June 2011
09.20 BST
Guardian.co.uk
Press Association
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 09.20 BST on Tuesday 14 June
2011.
Greater
Manchester police have carried out a series of raids against men allegedly
involved in the sexual exploitation of teenage girls.
The operation follows a three-month investigation involving around 100
detectives. Addresses in Longsight, south Manchester, Salford and Clayton were
targeted. The alleged victims are teenage girls living in the Stockport area.
A Greater Manchester police spokesman said that a joint operation between the
force's major incident team and officers in Stockport had made "a number of
arrests in connection with an investigation into organised crime groups".
"Focusing chiefly on child sexual exploitation, the investigation involves
around 100 detectives and is one of the largest ever carried out by the serious
crime division.
"The arrests are the result of a three-month inquiry into the sexual
exploitation of a number of teenage girls from Stockport by men … More details
of the arrests will be released later this morning."
It is understood that officers are investigating reports of men involved in
supplying alcohol and drugs to underage girls at sex parties.
Six men have so far been arrested at addresses in Cheetham Hill, Fallowfield,
Levenshulme, Moss Side and Chorlton-on-Medlock, all in Manchester or Salford.
The suspects are being held in custody on suspicion of trafficking within the UK
for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Assistant Chief Constable Terry Sweeney said: "I hope today's action shows
people in Greater Manchester that the issue of sexual exploitation is one that
we take extremely seriously.
"This is the largest-ever operation carried out by the major incident team and
we have had dozens of detectives, including a team from Stockport, working on
this investigation.
"It is believed there could ultimately be more victims in this case and officers
now want to hear from anyone else who thinks they may have been sexually
exploited.
"I want to reassure the people of Greater Manchester that we have a number of
operations currently targeting this kind of criminal behaviour.
"I cannot go into details as that could jeopardise the operations, but people
need to know this issue is at the top of GMP's priorities.
"We work closely with local authorities, and other organisations such as
Barnardo's, to address the specific issue of adults befriending and grooming
younger people for sex."
Manchester police raid sex crime gang, G, 14.6.2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/14/manchester-police-raid-sex-crime-gang
Vincent
Tabak charged with the murder of Joanna Yeates
Dutch
architectural engineer – who was arrested on Thursday –
will appear at Bristol
magistrates court
Share Ben Quinn
The Observer
Sunday 23 January 2011
This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday 23 January 2011.
It was published on guardian.co.uk at 01.19 GMT on Sunday 23 January 2011.
It was last modified at 01.25 GMT on Sunday 23 January 2011.
It was first published at 21.52 GMT on Saturday 22 January 2011.
A
32-year-old neighbour of landscape architect Joanna Yeates was charged with her
murder last night, Avon and Somerset police said.
Vincent Tabak, a Dutch architectural engineer who was arrested on Thursday, will
appear at Bristol magistrates court tomorrow accused of killing the 25-year-old.
Detective Chief Inspector Phil Jones, who led the inquiry, said last night: "I
would like to pay tribute to Jo's family and Greg for their assistance and
dignity in the most difficult of circumstances. Their support to us has been
invaluable."
Joanna's father David said earlier in the day that his daughter and her
boyfriend Greg Reardon had never mentioned Tabak. "Jo and Greg didn't socialise
[with him]. As far as I know, their paths never crossed," he said.
Speaking from his home in Ampfield, near Romsey, Hants, Mr Yeates added: "It
would be good if the person they have arrested is the right one this time,
simply because then we wouldn't have to go through it all again.
"I have nothing personal against this man – I don't know him. We are just
waiting now."
Tabak works in Bath for engineering company Buro Happold and moved to Bristol
from Bath in 2009. Police began searching his property, which is next door to
Joanna's flat in Clifton, last Thursday after setting up a tarpaulin outside it.
Officers had been granted a 30-hour extension to continue questioning Tabak.
Joanna's landlord, Chris Jefferies, was arrested on 30 December last year in
connection with the murder but was later released on bail.
Joanna was last seen alive on 17 December. She left the Ram pub near Bristol
city centre, where she had been drinking with colleagues and walked home,
stopping at three shops. After a search, her body was found on a rural roadside
verge three miles away. A postmortem revealed that she had been strangled.
Vincent Tabak charged with the murder of Joanna Yeates, O,
23.1.2011,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/22/vincent-tabak-charged-murder-joanna-yeates
|
