Surrounded fugitive refused to get off roof for four hours......until it started to rain
When police swooped on fugitive Daniel Scott-Cummings' bolt-hole flat, he knew the only way out was up.
Surrounded on all sides, the quick-thinking robber smashed through the ceiling and clambered on to the roof.
But the one thing he hadn't thought of was how he would get down.
For the next four hours he stubbornly perched on the tiled roof in just his shorts and a hoodie, refusing to answer police negotiators' pleas on the ground below... until it began to rain.
Standoff: Police negotiators attempt to talk Scott-Cummings down from the roof
Cold and wet, the sodden thief agreed to come down to meet his fate. He was promptly arrested.
He yesterday pleaded guilty to one offence of criminal damage and one of obstructing a police officer at Torquay Magistrates Court.
A bit nippy: Convicted robber Daniel Scott-Cummings, 26, was wanted by officers for breaching his parole conditions
Standoff: Police negotiators attempt to talk Scott-Cummings down from the roof, left, and his police mugshot, right
The stand-off occurred after detectives tracked him down to a rented flat above a shop in Torquay, Devon.
The crook was sent back to jail to serve the remainder of the six year prison sentence he received in 2007 for robbing a village Post Office.
His bid for freedom last Saturday caused between £5,000 and £7,000 worth of damage.
Sergeant Kevin Roberts said: 'He was eventually talked down by negotiating team and hoisted off the roof with the fire platform due to the changing weather condition and heavy rain.
Still waiting... The crook was sent back to jail to serve the remainder of the six year prison sentence he received in 2007 for robbing a village Post Office
We're still waiting: He waited for four hours before finally agreeing to come down... when it began to rain
'He didn’t have any weapons, didn’t offer any violence or threaten to harm himself - he was just simply uncooperative.
'In the end getting him down was as much about his safety as about detaining him.'
Chris Smerdon, supervisor at Carters convenience store where the incident happened, said: 'Seven or eight police cars blocked the road and after that a helicopter came over.
'Nobody was allowed in the shop. The firefighters came and then some negotiators got him down. He’s caused a lot of damage.'
http://www.dailymail...began-rain.html
Edited by andyfofo, 19 April 2012 - 07:11 PM.
