Police retreat to toilet

Press, 24 September 1988, Page 4

Police retreat to toilet

PA Hastings Three Hastings policemen set upon by 25 patrons at a hotel, had to barricade themselves in a toilet and kick open an external door to escape. Senior-Sergeant Terry Gray said none of the police were injured in the incident, which began about 8 p.m. on Thursday evening when they went to arrest a person wanted on a court warrant. Mr Gray said the man became aggressive after his arrest. “The rest of his mates decided they’d have a go too,” he said. * Fearing for their safety the police kept hold of their prisoner and retreated into the toilet block outside the public bar of

the Fernhill hotel. A door leading to the outside of the toilet was locked so the officers had to kick it down to get out, Mr Gray said. “If they hadn’t been able to get out they could have been massacred out there,” he said. “They were only trying to get a guy wanted on warrant. “It’s shocking that the whole thing happened,” Mr Gray said. He said the person arrested on bench warrant had also been charged with resisting arrest and breach of bail. The police returned to the hotel after the incident and arrested two others — one has been charged with assaulting an officer and the other with obstructing an officer.