Arrest News

On the morning of Friday 26th June officers from the newly formed Police And Council Tasking Team (PACTT) were called to King’s Scholar’s Passage in response to reports of a male dealing drugs to members of the local street population. One male sought to evade police and was chased by an officer onto Carlisle Place where he was subdued.

He was found to be in possession of a large hunting knife for which he was arrested. A more detailed search revealed a second smaller knife for which he was further arrested.

Following complaints from the male that he had been inured during arrest he was taken to St Thomas’s hospital with several officers in attendance. The male needed to be restrained several times in the ambulance and leg restraints were required. Medical staff declared him to be fit and in no need of medical treatment. He was then taken to Charing Cross Police Station.

Once there the male continued to resist officers and was placed under a constant watch in his cell. Inside he immediately urinated and started banging his head against the cell door, causing visible injury. Multiple officers were again required to restrain him. During this episode the male delivered a torrent of racist and sexual verbal abuse against officers, offences for which he was further arrested.

He was then taken to hospital again, as a precautionary measure to assess the self-inflicted injuries to his head.

He is now back in custody at Charing Cross, having been charged with 10 offences including Possession of Offensive Weapons, Criminal Damage, Racially Aggravated Public Order and Assaulting an Emergency Worker. He will appear before a magistrate on Monday 29th of June.

This episode highlights the kind of challenges that officers can face on our ward, but it also shows that our resourcing to confront these challenges has increased. The PACT team came into existence earlier this year and although tasked for borough wide policing, its officers have spent a lot of time in Victoria, coordinating effectively with your ward team. During Friday’s incident they were able to deploy five officers on patrol and all played an active role in the events described above.