BIGGEST EVER COP OP COST £21,000
➤ Bill for armed operation at Nuneaton bowling alley
Global media attention was thrust on to the town. Armed teams attempted to negotiate after putting the Bermuda Park area on lockdown.
THE huge cost of the biggest armed police operation in the history of Warwickshire police has been revealed.
Just days after David Clarke started a 12 year jail term for the armed stand-off at the MFA Bowl in Bermuda Park, Nuneaton it has been revealed how much it cost Council Tax payers.
Through a Freedom of Information (FOI) act request, it has been disclosed that the estimated cost to Warwickshire Police Force for the initial response and investigation was £21,000.
This includes estimated costs for scene and initial incident management, CID staff/officers conducting investigation post arrest and use of helicopters.
The total also includes the price of calling in back-up from neighbouring West Midlands and Leicester police forces during the dramatic four-hour stand-off at the bowling alley on October 22 which saw Clarke take two terrified bowling alley workers hostage.
But the final figure is not yet known as it does not include the resulting hours and hours of officer time spent preparing the huge case for court. News about the costs comes as Clarke was sentenced at Warwick Crown Court for the crime which Chief Superintendent Alex Franklin-Smith described as the biggest armed operation in the history of the force.
Such was the huge scale of the operation that global media attention was thrust on to the town as armed teams attempted to negotiate with Clarke after putting the Bermuda Park area on lockdown. Frightened families fled from the bowling alley and they even had to be evacuated from the nearby soft play world as the operation unfolded. The actions of both the police officers on the frontline, community officers providing reassurance and the community itself has been praised by Ch Supt Franklin-Smith. From big-hearted businesses to brave police officers, the senior figure simply said: “The response was absolutely first class.” International attention was thrown on to the town during the four-hour armed stand-off and the force, as well as ambulance and fire officials stood up to an incredible test – ensuring none of the scores of families, passersby and even those caught up in the drama itself suffered serious harm.
David Clarke was sentenced to 17 years; 12 years minimum term in prison before consideration for parole on licence.
And when he is freed, he will be on licence for the rest of the term and for a further five years.
Clarke had pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of Joshua Steadman, the duty manager at the bowling alley and a 17-year-old employee who cannot be named on October 22.
He also admitted possessing an imitation firearm, a sawn-off decommissioned shotgun, with intent to cause fear of violence, and two of possessing it with intent to commit offences of false imprisonment.
He further admitted two charges of possessing bladed articles, a Samurai sword and a knife, and one of causing criminal damage to fixtures and fittings belonging to the MFA Bowl.