Officers round up offenders in Christmas crackdown

Officers have warned criminals there will be no let up for Christmas in their relentless pursuit of prolific offenders after they arrested 16 people in a single operation this week.

The offenders, aged between 15 and 44, were arrested on a range of offences including, burglary, blackmail, failing to appear at court, possession of weapons and assaults.

As part of the day of action for Operation Trident, which is Durham Constabulary’s response to tackling neighbourhood crime, officers were out and about early yesterday (WED) morning giving suspects an unexpected and unwanted wake-up call.

The arrests came after months of intelligence gathering using information received from members of the public.

Up to 30 extra officers visited several addresses across different areas, including Stanley, Shildon, Darlington, Durham City, Peterlee, and Bishop Auckland, to locate their identified targets.

Warrants were obtained for some addresses, whilst at other properties, officers simply knocked at the door.

Several weapons were also seized, and a cannabis farm was uncovered and subsequently dismantled.

Superintendent Lee Gosling, of Durham Constabulary, said: “It might be Christmas but that doesn’t make any difference to us. We will not stop in our relentless pursuit for those who continue to flout the law.

“These criminals are quite happy to heap misery on their victims at any time of the year, which is completely unacceptable, and we will not tolerate this.

“Crimes such as burglary, robbery and theft can have a huge lasting impact on the victims, their families, and the whole community.

“This is not just a one-off operation, we have done this before and we will do it again, whether it be next week, next month or in six months’ time.

“We are here 24/7, 365 days of the year for our community and anyone who commits a crime can expect a visit from us at day or night.

“Our message is if you break the law then you should be prepared to face up to the consequences.

“I would like to thank the public for all their continued help and support.”

Operation Trident was launched in 2020 and has seen dozens of arrests made, many of which have been because of intelligence from the public.

Anyone with any information about suspicious activity happening in their area can share it via our 101 live chat on our website at durhampolice.co.uk

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.