Bail bandits brought to book as Attorney General hails Operation Turn-up success
23 Mar 2005
Operation Turn-up has seen defendants who have skipped bail rounded up while in bed, in hospital, in the local pub and while drenching police officers with a hose.
One defendant in Greater Manchester was even arrested as he tried to use his Operation Turn-up letter telling him to give himself up as proof of identity during a job interview.
The Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, speaking today at an information sharing event for staff running Operation Turn-up across England and Wales, congratulated them on their success:
"Operation Turn-up's message is zero tolerance towards people who skip bail and don't turn up at court. The statistics and anecdotes coming out of the campaign so far show that this is no idle threat. Hundreds of bail dodgers have been rounded up to face justice in the last few months. I'd like to thank everyone involved for all their hard work.
However Operation Turn-up is not a quick fix solution. Today's event is for practitioners to learn from each other's experiences during Turn-up and to improve the management of Fail To Appear warrants in the long-term. I look forward to the success of Operation Turn-up being built and improved upon".
Some local examples of Operation Turn-up in action include:
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West Mercia Constabulary sent all defendants on their wanted list a Valentine's card with the message: "Roses are red, violets are blue, we can't wait to get our hands on you". Over 400 people were put back before the courts during February in West Mercia and at least 30 defendants gave themselves up as a direct result of receiving the card.
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In Leicestershire an offender wanted for assault pretended to be his girlfriend's duvet after climbing inside a bin liner. Unfortunately for him sharp-eyed officers spotted bony elbows and fingers sticking out of the bag. Leicestershire Constabulary executed 199 warrants out of a targeted 200.
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Police in Burton, Staffordshire visited the home of a 62 year old man who had failed to appear in court on a charge of possessing an offensive weapon. They found that the suspect had barricaded himself in to the house and refused to come out. All negotiations failed and after the suspect drenched one of the officers with a hose pipe, riot police were called. Eventually they broke the doors down and the suspect was arrested. He was later sentenced to over one month's imprisonment for bail evasion and for his actions in resisting arrest.
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Just outside Blackpool in Lancashire, a couple who were both wanted on warrant for theft from shops had evaded 8 attempts to execute their warrants. The woman was also wanted on two other FTA warrants. Intelligence received suggested they were at home on 25th January - two officers went to the house, but there was no reply. Officers therefore sealed the house and summoned support unit officers, who forced the door. The defendants were found upstairs in bed together. It was later found that both were also of interest to Lancashire HQ robbery squad.