[08 MAR 01] CRIMES, FIRES & ACCIDENTS
Knife Man Holes Up In Loft Siege

A man armed with several weapons barricaded himself into a loft in an 11 hour siege yesterday which only ended when police forced their way in to the small space.

The 39-year-old shut himself in the loft in Birch Grove, Birch Moor, Polesworth at 9.45am.

Trained police negotiators were called in to try and encourage the man to come down.

Insp David Buggins said:

“The man was in clearly in a highly-charged and confused state.”

During the day the man threw items from the loft at officers, and one of them suffered a facial injury.

At 8.30pm officers decided that they were not going to succeed in persuading the man to come out. They were worried that he might hurt himself with the weapons he had, and also feared that he could start a fire in the loft.

Police forced their way in and over-powered the man. He was taken to the George Eliot Hospital because he claimed that he had taken some pills.