Prat On A Hot Tin Roof: Custody For Suspected Drink-Driver

A young offender fleeing police after a suspected drink-drive stop kept a large chunk of Brixton awake the night he took to the roof of a block of flats.

Rashid Riad, 21, was responsible for a police helicopter hovering over the scene and the attendance of three fire engines, plus police and a specialist negotiator on the ground.

He was on a suspended sentence for having an offensive weapon last year when he took to the roof of Bedwell House, Stockwell Park Road on July 25.

At Croydon Magistrates Court Riad, of Tanfield Avenue, Cricklewood pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance by remaining on the roof for four hours after running from police when stopped for suspected drink-driving.

He also admitted this breached a suspended sentence for four months custody, suspended for twelve months, imposed last December.

The court imposed three months of the suspended sentence and added one months' custody for the nuisance charge, resulting in four months' imprisonment.