Man arrested after four-hour stand-off in Aberdeen street

By Catriona Webster

Published: 27/10/2009

A man was arrested after a four-hour stand-off with police in Aberdeen yesterday afternoon.

Officers went to a tenement at Merkland Road East shortly before 1pm, after receiving reports of a disturbance at a top-floor flat.

Dozens of bystanders gathered as the road was cordoned off and furniture and household goods started to land in the street.

Witnesses described seeing a man in his 30s, wearing jeans and a blue jumper, leaning out of a top-floor window and shouting.

Alastair Simpson, 64, who works at the nearby Knowles Food Services, said: “I don’t know what actually started it off.

“It was about 12.30pm or 12.45. I saw chairs, doors, kitchen cabinets and radiators.”

The sound of smashing glass could be heard coming from inside the property, which lies opposite A&J Robertson Granite.

Two windows at the back of the property were also smashed in the incident.

Andy Faulkner, 24, who works at nearby Hydrasun in Pittodrie Lane, said: “We were just at work at the back when we heard glass breaking. Next thing the guy was hanging out the window.”

Residents returning from work were escorted into their nearby flats by police officers, while staff at A&J Robertson Granite found themselves trapped in the cordon.

The siege was brought to an end at 4.25pm, when the man surrendered himself to police officers.

A TV, two armchairs, an ironing board, a door and a radiator were among the debris littering the street outside the property as the stand-off came to an end.

A fridge lay in bushes where it had landed after falling from the window.

At least two cars were damaged in the incident. A blue Honda Civic parked outside the block of flats had its wing mirror and bumper damaged by debris. The back window of a blue Volkswagen Polo was also smashed.

No one was injured in the incident.

Reader's Comments

This sounds more like the time I had Pickfords handle my house move.. no wait a minute I think this person has had less damage done to his furniture...
Keith Stirton
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so what took the police so long to deal with the incident - was being tossed out of the flat not breaking the speed limit - what do we pay the police for not much I think
Thomas Owenson
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Thomas, its not just the time involved, that requires investigation, but judging by some of the photos at the scene I think the complete day shift of Grampian Police were also in attendance...
Keith Stirton
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sure Keith watch any incident on the TV that involves the police and you will see many police standing about doing nothing other than costing the taxpayer a fortune and achieving nothing or almost nothing - Oh I forgot there is safety in numbers
Thomas Owenson
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