A man at the centre of a dramatic armed siege has appeared in court charged with damaging – a BISCUIT TIN.
Dozens of officers swooped on a property at 11am on Sunday morning amid reports a man had barricaded himself inside during a domestic dispute.
Paramedics also stood by wearing protective stab vests as the quiet residential road in Paignton, Devon, was sealed off for several hours.
Police dogs were also deployed and Nickolas Solomon, 34, was arrested after fleeing to woodland behind the house.
He has now appeared in court to deny charges of assaulting a woman by beating – and damaging a biscuit tin worth £24.99.
Solomon told a court the biscuit tin belonged to him and not the complainant and that he acted ‘in self-defence’ in the alleged assault.
However, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of 0.5 grams of cannabis at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (23/02).
He was remanded in custody to stand trial on March 30 at Torquay Magistrates’ Court.
The stand-off began at 11am on Sunday morning when seven police cars and two ambulances descended on Occombe Valley Road in the seaside town.
Eyewitnesses described between 30 and 40 police officers surrounding the house – several of them armed – who eventually forced entry into the property.
George Bamby, who was visiting a friend in the area, said: “They blocked the road off but it was happening right infront of me.
“It went on for about five hours. There were police in the front garden, in the back garden, everywhere.”
