Boy 16 armed with taser arrested near Wigan bus station

Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Monday, 13th January 2025, at 14:10hrs

The boy was arrested on suspicion of firearms offences

A boy aged 16 has been arrested after being found in possession of a taser close to my Wigan bus station at the weekend.

In a statement released today, Greater Manchester Police said:

“Over the weekend, our dedicated team tasked with tackling serious youth violence, made a significant find and subsequent arrest.

On Saturday 11 January 2025 at around 7pm, our officers were patrolling key hotspot areas as part of their deployment when someone acting suspiciously caught their attention near to Wigan bus station on New Market Street.

Hearing screams and then seeing an individual holding a taser, officers were quick to apprehend what transpired to be a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of firearms offences and has since been bailed pending further enquiries.

Inspector Jon Ezard from our Operation Venture team said; “This incident demonstrates the seriousness of having a weapon like this and using it in a public place is not only dangerous but extremely foolish.

“Thankfully, due to swift action from our officers we were able to prevent any harm and meant we have seized and removed this item from being used again to either inflict injury or cause fear.

“Our officers only deploy their tasers when really needed to ultimately protect the public when attending incidents and requires rigorous training to be granted authority to obtain one as part of their duties.

“It goes without saying, no matter the age, tasers should not be used or bought by the public to play about with.

“As part of our deployments across Greater Manchester we patrol key hotspots based on intelligence we gather to ensure we can have an active presence in these areas to prevent crime from happening and will continue to use a mix of high-visibility policing and covert tactics to keep local communities safe.”

Our Operation Venture team, who are particularly focussed on knife crime, has made a significant dent in criminality across the force area. They’ve made 717 arrests, recovered 202 weapons, and removed them from the streets, seized 166 vehicles and over £250,000 cash, recovered over £80,000 worth of drugs, and conducted 765 positive, proactive stop and searches on key offenders since their formation over 18 months ago.

Anyone with additional information whilst as investigation continues by local officers are asked to call 101 quoting incident 2380 of 11/01/2025.

To report anonymously, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the website: http://www.Fearless.org – where it enables young people to pass on information about crime 100% anonymously. There’s also lots of help and support available on their website if you’re concerned about knife crime.