Useless British cops again

'I trapped burglar in my porch but police let him go because he'd been drinking': Furious estate agent slams officers as intruder is let off without charge

A householder who trapped a suspected burglar inside his home told of his fury yesterday after police let the man go.

Tim Ferris, 53, realised at 2.30am that there was a man inside the rear porch of his house and that he was trying to break down an inside door.

He dashed out of the front door, ran round his house and locked the rear porch door, effectively trapping the intruder inside the porch space.

But Mr Ferris, an estate agent, said that after he had handed him over to the police, officers seemed reluctant to arrest the man for attempted burglary and only did so when he insisted.

He claimed they refused to take his statement about the attempted break-in because they were already late finishing their shift.

When he spoke to police the next day, he discovered to his fury that they had released the intruder without charge.

They had seemingly accepted the man's explanation that he had drunkenly mistaken Mr Ferris's house for his own home, and was trying to let himself in.

Mr Ferris said he did not believe the explanation, and questioned why a drunk man would climb over a 4ft 6in gate and try to `shoulder-barge' his way into his own home. `It doesn't look like the police asked many questions or made much of an effort to investigate the case,' he said..

`This was despite the fact I had caught the guy and detained him. I offered to give a statement and had done most of the officers' work. Their excuses for not charging him are lame. `What is the point in trying to protect your home if the police do not back you?'

Mr Ferris said he was asleep with his girlfriend at his secluded, detached house in February when he heard his black labrador Sparky barking to raise the alarm. He raced downstairs and locked the man inside the porch.

Mr Ferris said it took police 25 minutes to reach his œ850,000 home in Bearsted, near Maidstone, Kent.

And he questioned why officers had later accepted the intruder's explanation and released him.

Mr Ferris said: `First police told me the man had been drunk - but they didn't charge him with being drunk and disorderly and he seemed sober to me.

`Then they said he had mistakenly been trying to get into the wrong house - but I heard him tell them he lived about 15 miles away in Tenterden.

`I was furious when the police phoned me the following morning to say they were releasing him because he had not done anything wrong. It was a farce.

`If the man wasn't drunk why didn't they charge him with attempted burglary?'

Mr Ferris has made a formal complaint to Kent Police about their handling of the incident. A spokesman said: `A man was arrested at the scene but later released without charge.

`We are carrying out a full review of the incident. We will be working with Mr Ferris to resolve his dissatisfaction with the service he received.'

The spokesman added: `It is absolutely untrue to suggest people are getting away with crime because we don't have sufficient resources to respond to incidents and crimes in progress. `We have officers available around the clock to respond to crimes.'



Original report here

　

　

　

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