Public order arrests after Doncaster police and firemen pelted with stones and bottles: police column

At the end of January, police were called out to Moorends because of concerns over antisocial behaviour in the streets of the village, writes Insp Mark Payling.
HMP & YOI Hatfield. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP HMP Hatfield MC 3HMP & YOI Hatfield. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP HMP Hatfield MC 3
HMP & YOI Hatfield. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP HMP Hatfield MC 3

There were around 100 young people on the streets aged between 14 and 20. A motorbike had been set alight.

When police and fire officers arrived, they were pelted with bricks and bottles at what was a public disorder incident.

HMP & YOI Hatfield. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP HMP Hatfield MC 3HMP & YOI Hatfield. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP HMP Hatfield MC 3
HMP & YOI Hatfield. Picture: Marie Caley NDFP HMP Hatfield MC 3
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Four arrests were made and one person was charged with a public order offence, whilst the other three were released under investigation. We also dealt with one person found in possession of a small amount of cannabis.

Enquiries continue to identify other offenders, and we are looking through CCTV to identify people but if you have any information which will help us, please contact 101 quoting incident number 638 of January 26.

As I write, we are taking part in a multi-agency operation in Thorne, Moorends and Stainforth.

We are working with partners including environmental health, licensing enforcement, parking enforcement and local schools, and other police departments.

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We have had some great results. We began the week with three drugs warrants, which led to the recovery of a combined 61 cannabis plants from two addresses, on South Road, Moorends and Broadway, Dunscroft, worth around £35,000.

We had a lot of interest at community engagement stalls.

Officers from our tasking and off-road bike team also worked with specialist prison search staff over the weekend as part of a joint operation tackling criminality at HMP Hatfield, part of ongoing work to support prison staff across Doncaster. Officers carried out searches inside and outside the prison. This led to three vehicles being searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act, and two men were identified as committing an offence.

Moorends saw a significant number of sheds, garages and outhouses attacked with nine crimes recorded, compared to just four in the previous period. We have at least one named suspect.

Due to concerns raised at the last community engagement meeting in Thorne, we ran a speeding operation on January 30 on Marshland Road, Moorends. In 30 minutes, 56 vehicles were monitored with two over the 30mph  limit. Findings will be passed to highways officers.

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I know many people complain that officers wear high visibility clothing and therefore quickly seen, which leads to people slowing down, but this is the point of the exercise. The officers on the team are trained in speed enforcement and will stop motorists committing offences.

In Thorne we have arrested and charged a suspect wanted for shoplifting  in the area.

In Stainforth, I was involved in the execution of six drugs warrants last month on a site where we recovered drugs, money and a stolen vehicle. This was a great result.

On January 23, we also conducted a speeding operation in Stainforth on Doncaster Road and Church Road. On Doncaster Road, out of 71 vehicles monitored, 15 were over the 30mph speed with the fastest going at a staggering 52mph. On Church Road, of 97 vehicles monitored, two were over the limit set of 30mph with the fastest at 33mph. It’s set at 30 for a reason. Please slow down.  Operations will continue in the area.

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In Armthorpe, we ran a plain a clothes operation, which led to officers using stop and search powers on nine people and one vehicle. A quantity of drugs were seized with two people interviewed for drug offences. We also arrested a male wanted on a prison recall.

In the Hatfield ward,our increased high visibility patrols led to arrests for burglary in this area and we have sustained a reduction in residential burglaries.

I have seen an increase in burglaries in Askern over the past few weeks, but one male was arrested for an offence and released under investigation. We will be increasing patrols in this area. I have now arranged community engagement meetings in that area, starting on Tuesday March 7 at Alexander House, High Street, Askern, at 7pm. This is a great chance to meet me, the local police officer, and officials from the council and St Leger Homes

Alternatively, you can contact me via our new Facebook fommunity engagement event on 28 February 2019 between 5.30 and 6.45pm. I held the first event last month which attracted a lot of questions and attention. I will be on line via Facebook at Doncaster East NHP.

Finally, if you would like to know more about what police activity is occurring in the East of Doncaster, you can sign up to SYP Alerts by registering via our website (www.southyorks.police.uk).