Man ‘caught red handed stealing’ charity tin on Christmas Day as Manchester cops make 124 arrests in ‘business as usual’

28 December 2024, 06:32

England’s biggest police force outside of London has told LBC it was “business as usual” for officers working on Christmas Day.

Greater Manchester Police charged a man with murder, made 124 arrests, attended reports of domestic abuse, and saw an officer attacked for doing their job on 25 December.

Assistant Chief Constable John Webster said: “Our work doesn't stop over the festive period. We’re committed to making sure people can enjoy it safely and securely and Christmas Day was no exception this year.

“We were responding to emergencies, helping to locate missing people and people who had passed away as well as other crimes such as burglary, robbery, and shoplifting - they all go on over the festive period.

“Our staff and officers were certainly not twiddling their thumbs.”

Greater Manchester Police received 1380 emergency calls on what was described as a ‘typical’ Christmas day, as families sat down to enjoy the festivities.

Read more: Nigel Farage threatens legal action against Tory leader Kemi Badenoch amid membership 'fakery' row

Read more: Keir Starmer pays tribute to 'wonderful' brother who died on Boxing Day after cancer battle

They included reports of missing people, domestic abuse, road traffic collisions and robberies.

ACC John Webster said: “We had a response officer and their dog who came across a robber in the process of stealing a cash box from a charity on Christmas Day.

They were literally caught red handed and we managed to return the cash pot to its rightful owner.

“That individual spent the day with us within our custody suite rather than at home with their family.”

Elsewhere, a man was charged with murder in Bolton on Christmas Day after the body of a missing woman was discovered earlier in the week.

61-year-old Christopher Barlow is being held in custody after the remains of Mariann Borocz were discovered two days earlier.

Greater Manchester Police said an officer was also assaulted while on shift on Christmas day, in an attack that many have increasingly become used to.

Earlier this month, the head of the Met Police told LBC his teams were more likely to be assaulted over the festive period than the rest of the year.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari, Sir Mark Rowley said: As people are having Christmas dinner and celebrating over the new year, assaults on police officers go up by a quarter.

“They do every Christmas because of alcohol and violence as police are wading into domestic abuse cases and the nighttime economy, they’re being assaulted more.

“It’s far different from decades ago, the aggression that officers face is ghastly.”