British bobby joins the drunken party in Magaluf
Policewoman sent to help stop anti-social behaviour in nightclub resort admits to feeling ‘sozzled’
SENDING British police to Magaluf, Majorca, to help their Spanish counterparts keep an eye on holidaymakers who have long blighted the area with their drunken, raucous antics seemed like a good idea at the time.
But it has ended in a public relations disaster, with one of the West Midlands officers even boasting of being “sozzled” after a day patrolling the party island.
PC Martina Anderson told friends she was too drunk to spell properly as she uploaded a picture to Facebook of the sunset from a spa retreat on Costa de la Calma, where she is staying with her fellow officer, Sgt Brett Williams.
When a friend named Andrew Carroll replied to her online post, “I thought you were to stop people drinking too much, not join them”, she quipped: “If you can’t beat em…”
The incident will cause embarrassment to the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which set aside £14,000 of funding for the two-week trial.
PC Anderson and Sgt Brett Williams will fly to San Antonio, Ibiza on Monday morning for the second part of the exercise, after enjoying a weekend of relaxation and sightseeing in Magaluf.
The two officers spent five days patrolling Majorca’s beaches and holiday resorts in full uniform in order to assist British victims of crime.
However, their presence drew criticism after it emerged that they have no powers of arrest and are patrolling no later than 10pm, meaning that when thousands of British revellers pour on to the notorious Punta Ballena strip at night they are nowhere to be seen. Ear- lier in the week, the officers were spotted sunbathing and posing for selfies – apparently unaware they were surrounded by tourists openly flouting new by-laws which forbid people from wearing no shirt unless they are by a swimming pool or beach.
Regulations to curb anti-social behaviour were introduced in June. They included banning street drinking after 10pm. Despite the best attempts of hoteliers and the local authority to improve the image of the Balearic island, and an estimated 50,000 fewer young people visiting the resort compared with last year – night life on the Punta Ballena strip remains chaotic.
The Daily Telegraph saw a scantily dressed British teenage girl, who appeared very drunk, near the strip this week. She was being restrained from a fight by other tourists until the Guardia Civil arrived at 2am. They handcuffed her and took her away in an ambulance. The West Midlands officers were not present, having returned to their hotel some eight hours earlier.
Ian Macclure, 29, who moved from Kent to Magaluf seven years ago, said that the police have been treated “like celebrities” rather then as serious law enforcers. “People are happy to see them and stop them to take pictures and selfies because it is a novelty to have them out here,” he said.
Dave Thompson, Deputy Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, said he stood by the force’s decision to send the officers to Spain, saying it was “the right thing to do”.