'Come and get us' call after police station attack

A Sunderland man challenged police to ‘come and get us’ after he smashed up the front of their station with a cricket wicket.

On Sunday afternoon, January 24, a man approached the front of Etal Lane Police Station in Newcastle and smashed the front doors of the building before fleeing.

As inquiries got under way, Northumbria Police received a call minutes later from 36-year-old Sunderland man Paul Corburn, who said he had carried out the damage.

He then challenged police to “come and get us”, goading officers to try and arrest him.

The force says “officers obliged” and they later attended an address in Sunderland where Corburn was arrested and taken in to custody.

Corburn, of Clacton Road, Hylton Castle, admitted one count of criminal damage when he appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates’ court the next day and was given with a £250 fine.

Inspector Gary Richardson said: “Corburn had been involved in an argument at home and inexplicably decided to take out his anger on our station.

“He armed himself with a broken cricket wicket and decided to try and smash the front door of Etal Lane.

“It’s not the brightest idea in the world and we were well on our way to identifying him before he decided to call us and challenge us to arrest him.

“We obliged and within minutes he was in a custody cell. His prize for his act of stupidity and brazen arrogance is a hefty fine and a criminal conviction to his name.”