Man sentenced after five-hour pub roof stand-off

A man has been jailed after smashing windows and chucking the tiles off a pub roof during a five-hour stand-off with police.

Joseph Dowling, 38, had been drinking throughout the day on 19 April and got involved in an altercation with his former partner at The Lurcher pub in Rainworth, Nottinghamshire, police said.

He climbed on to the roof after being asked to leave at about 23:30 BST, where he remained until the early hours of the next day.

After pleading guilty to criminal damage and affray, Dowling, of Catlow Walk, Rainworth, was jailed for 15 months and given a five-year retraining order.

Nottinghamshire Police said Dowling had thrown items around an upstairs flat and ripped a CCTV screen off the wall, before causing more damage on the roof.

He threw tiles from the roof and smashed windows, causing more than £8,000 of damage, as trained officers negotiated with him.

The pub was cleared out as police dealt with the situation. The force said nobody was injured.

Dowling eventually came down from the roof at around 04:30 BST on 20 April and was taken into custody.

During his sentencing hearing on 3 July, Nottingham Crown Court heard Dowling had previously been fitted with an alcohol abstinence tag for six months but had turned back to drinking following the death of his child.

The court was also told he was remorseful for his actions.

Det Sgt Emily Hewitt praised those involved in bringing the stand-off to a close.

She said: “This was a challenging situation for us to deal with and our priority throughout was keeping people in the area safe, including Dowling, who was on the roof.

“A number of police officers were involved in managing the scene and thankfully the incident was brought to a safe conclusion after Dowling eventually calmed down and came down from the roof following skilled negotiations."

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