Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Friday, 25th October 2024, at 16:15hrs
A busy two days for Lancs Specialist Ops Officers on the county’s roads
Lancashire Police Specialist Ops work all year round, keeping the county’s roads safe for road users and stopping criminals in their tracks from using our roads to carry out their criminality.
They have provided a snapshot of just some of the jobs they attended during one shift with various offenders being arrested for varied offences, including drink/drug driving, weapon offences, and money laundering.
On Wednesday, 23rd October, shortly before 2pm officers stopped a Hyundai Tucson at Charnock Richards Services just off the M6 where they discovered a shopping bag containg a stash of cash totalling £48,000.
A 27-year-old man from Norfolk was arrested on suspicion of money laundering. He has since been bailed whilst enquiries continue.
The traffic officers continued on their shift and made further arrests for other offences.
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said:
“At around 3:50pm, we received a report of someone suspected to be drink driving. We stopped a van with a trailer, on Rigby Rd, Blackpool, and the driver gave a roadside breath reading of 44. To remind you, the legal limit is 35.
A 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
Iain Turner, 44, of Constable Street, Manchester, was charged with drink driving and has been bailed to appear at Lancaster Magistrates Court on 17th January 2025.
Then…
“At around 8:45pm, our officers spotted a car driving erratically in Blackburn. Later in the evening, it was stopped on Ainsworth Street in Blackburn. The driver gave a positive drug wipe for Cannabis.
A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of drug driving. He has been released under investigation whilst our enquiries continue.
And then…
“At 9:26pm, we stopped a Vauxhall Corsa on Hyde Road in Blackpool. The driver of the car gave a positive drug wipe for Cannabis.
A 42-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of Driving whilst under the influence of drugs and has been released under investigation whilst our enquiries continue.”
They went on to say that “Just before 11:30pm last night, (Thursday) we received a report of a collision between a HGV and a car on Brownhill Drive in Blackburn. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.
The driver of the HGV gave a roadside breath reading of 151. That is almost four and a half times over the legal limit of 35.
A 53-year-old man from Manchester was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
Philip McQuire, 53, of North Road, Manchester, was charged with driving a motor vehicle with alcohol above the limit. He was remanded to appear at Lancaster Magistrates Court today (25th October)
Then…
“At 12:30am, a driver was stopped on London Way, Preston, and provided a roadside breath sample of 60 – almost double the drink drive limit.
A 52-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of drink driving.
Later, Hayley Craig, 52, of Penkford Street, Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside was charged with driving a motor vehicle with alcohol above the limit. She was bailed to appear before Preston Magistrates Court on 7th November 2024.”
And to finish off…
“Yesterday morning, shortly after 9:20am, a man was arrested, after we received a report of someone driving erratically.
A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of drug driving, and further arrested on suspicion of possession of a bladed article.
Sheldon Meades, 30, of Cottam Avenue, Ingol, was later charged with possession of a bladed article in a public place and was remanded to appear at Preston Magistrates Court today (25th October).”
We are further investigating the drug driving matter.
If you suspect someone is drink or drug driving, or if you have information you want to report to us, contact us on 📞 101.
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