Armed criminals pulled up alongside a police van on a moped and aimed a gun at the officers in an attempt to free a suspected burglar detained in the back in Croydon, South London.
The trio was allegedly caught breaking into a mobile phone shop in the south-east of the capital in the small hours of Wednesday morning, with police arresting one 24-year-old male and then rearresting him after a struggle with his two accomplices which resulted in him briefly escaping, the Croydon Guardian reports.
The young man was taken to his home in Croydon so the property could be searched, after which two moped riders pulled up to the police van he was detained in and aimed a firearm at the officers.
The police van was able to drive away before any shots could be fired and without the 24-year-old being sprung from custody, but the incident left officers shocked.
“This once again demonstrates the bravery of officers who put themselves in harm’s way every day in order to protect the public,” commented Simon Messinger, Central South Area Commander for the Metropolitan Police Force.
“Fortunately the officers only received minor injuries [in the earlier struggle] and, thanks to the rapid support of colleagues, one of the suspects was detained.
“However, two suspects remain outstanding, and these are clearly reckless and dangerous individuals. Our priority now is to identify and arrest them.”
Gun crime is on the rise in London under the mayoralty of Labour’s Sadiq Khan, with recent statistics indicating that a weapon is discharged as much as every six hours despite draconian restrictions on legal firearms.
Carrying a firearm for self-defence is completely prohibited everywhere but the Province of Northern Ireland, where some serving and former members of the Armed Forces, police, and other sensitive individuals may carry a Personal Protection Weapon.
On the British mainland, ordinary citizens may not carry so much as a lipstick-sized pepper spray for protection, and even police officers are not routinely armed.
Nor is home defence considered a “good reason” to be issued a shotgun or other firearms licence, with permits largely restricted to hunters, shooting club members, people involved in vermin control, etc.
Handguns, while increasingly common among criminals, are almost entirely prohibited.
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