Police helicopter snares biker who fled after going wrong way around Mansfield roundabout

Officers in an unmarked police car spotted the moped in Mansfield at 6.45pm on Friday 26 January and – after seeing it driven the wrong way around a roundabout – made tactical contact with it at low speed. The rider then fled on foot from the scene in Bellamy Road and ran towards a nearby housing estate.

Thanks to the thermal imaging camera of a helicopter from the National Police Air Service, a suspect was located in wasteland and detained by police. A subsequent search of the motorcycle uncovered a quantity of cannabis and a rounders bat. The bike, which was found to be on false plates, was seized.

A 19-year-old man arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, failing to stop, theft, fraud, possessing a Class B drug, driving without insurance and possessing an offensive weapon. He was later released on police bail.

Sergeant Jonny Groves, of Nottinghamshire Police’s county knife crime team, said: “This was a good bit of teamwork from officers on the ground and a helicopter crew in the air. Without the high-powered camera on the helicopter we may not have caught up with this suspect, so this is a great resource for us to be able to call on.”

Anyone with any information should call police on 101. Alternatively, you can report informationn to police anonymously through Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555111 or by visiting their website at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/