Man identified after Harrogate criminal damage appealMcDonald’s apologises to ‘humiliated’ Harrogate guide dog ownerPolice release CCTV image after fight in Harrogate McDonald’s

Police have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to after a fight in McDonald’s in Harrogate.

The incident happened on Sunday, October 15, and involved multiple people fighting in the fast food outlet on Cambridge Road at 4.30am.

North Yorkshire Police has arrested two men, aged 19 and 31, in connection with the incident.

Now, officers have released a CCTV image of a man they wish to speak to as part of their investigation.

A police statement added:

“Officers are asking members of the public to get in touch if they recognise the person in the images as they believe they will have information that will help the investigation.

“Anyone with any information is asked to email benjamin.ambler2@northyorkshire.police.uk

If you wish to remain anonymous, you can pass information to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“Please quote reference number 12230195734 when passing on information.”

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Man, 18, pleads guilty to obstructing police outside Harrogate McDonald’s

An 18-year-old has pleaded guilty to obstructing police on duty following an incident outside McDonald’s in Harrogate yesterday.

Alfie Stevens, of Coates Street, Bradford, appeared before York Magistrates Court today.

He was charged with obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty and breaching bail conditions, however, the latter charge was withdrawn by the court.

Magistrates took Stevens’ guilty plea into account and closed the case after concluding his time spent in detention in custody was sufficient.

A 16-year-old girl was also charged with obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty, as well as obstructing a person assisting a constable in execution of their duty.

She is due to appear at Harrogate Youth Court next month.

The incident took place at 1.40pm outside McDonald’s on Cambridge Road.

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Police officer bumps into shoplifting suspect in Knaresborough McDonalds toilets

A police officer bumped into a suspected shoplifter when he used the toilets at McDonald’s in Knaresborough today.

The roads policing officer was on routine patrol at St James Retail Park when he and colleagues were alerted to a theft at a nearby store just before 1pm.

Three suspects were detained within five minutes after a member of the public directed officers to four people running from the store.

Police at the scene today.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“There was one outstanding suspect and extensive police resource which included a police dog unit, roads policing officers and response officers were sent to the area.

“One of the officers who was assigned to the search needed to use the bathroom, so he made a quick trip into the nearby McDonalds.

“The officer couldn’t believe his luck when he walked in and spotted a person who matched the description of the outstanding suspect.”

Two men in their 20s, a 19-year-old woman and a 23-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting and are currently in police custody.

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Shocking video shows teenagers attacking police in Harrogate McDonald’s

This video reveals the shocking moment three teenage girls attacked two police officers in McDonald’s in Harrogate.

The footage shows punches being thrown at the officers on the first floor of the fast-food restaurant.

The video was taken last year. The Stray Ferret has waited to publish it until legal proceedings against all three girls had concluded.

The PCSOs both needed hospital treatment for facial injuries following the attack, which happened around 5pm on April 1 last year.

The three girls were aged 13, 14, and 15 when the attack took place. They cannot be named because of their age.

The officers had arrived on the scene to ask the girls to leave because they had breached an exclusion order preventing them from entering the building.

Two of the three girls were dealt with by police and the courts last year. One was dealt with out of court through a youth outcomes panel, while another was given a 12-month referral order and told she had narrowly avoided a custodial sentence.

The third, aged 15, was due to appear at York Magistrates’ Court at the end of January. However, when a witness failed to appear, the case against her was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service.

A court hearing in October had heard one of the PCSOs had required many months of treatment for her injuries and was still waiting to find out if she would need an operation.

The other PCSO had since left the force, the court was told.

A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said:

“Already this year we have had an unacceptable number officers assaulted while carrying out their jobs. In our eyes one officer assault is one too many.

“We will never tolerate officers being subjected to this type of behaviour and we will never view it as ‘part of the job.’ When an officer puts on their uniform to start their shift, by doing so they are not passively accepting that they will be subjected to this kind of treatment.

“However, very sadly many of them fully expect that at some point, someone will attempt to harm them when they are doing their job, protecting the community.

“North Yorkshire Police takes the safety of its workforce incredibly seriously. We will ensure that cases of this nature are thoroughly investigated and we will always look to prosecute offenders under laws made to protect emergency service workers.”

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Town centre crime

It was one of a number of incidents that led Harrogate BID to begin a campaign calling for business owners and shoppers to report all anti-social behaviour and crime to North Yorkshire Police.

The BID argued people weren’t reporting minor incidents in the town centre, leading to crime statistics that failed to fully reflect what was happening on the streets – and meaning police were not focusing their efforts in the area.

Harrogate BID manager Matthew Chapman said:

“This was an appalling incident, but thankfully acts of violence like this are a rare occurrence in Harrogate town centre.

“Harrogate has a reputation for being safe and welcoming, however it’s not immune from low level crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Last year, after meeting with the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, we launched our ‘Report a Crime’ campaign, urging those who see criminal behaviour to report it online to North Yorkshire Police. And this is a message that we are keen to repeat.”

Please note that an earlier version of this article contained a video which has since been removed at the request of our regulator, Impress, to avoid any risk of identifying children under the age of 18 that had been involved in criminal proceedings and/or had not consented to being identified. 

Girl, 15, sentenced over police attack in Harrogate McDonald’s

A 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to a 12-month referral order for her role in an attack on two police officers in broad daylight in Harrogate.

The incident took place in McDonald’s on Cambridge Road at around 5pm on April 1 this year.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to five charges. They included two counts of assaulting police community support officers, causing both actual bodily harm and one of affray, using or threatening violence which led people to fear for their safety, all in the fast food restaurant.

She also admitted a further charge of assaulting a police officer by beating her in Valley Gardens, and one of failing to comply with an exclusion order to leave McDonald’s.

North Yorkshire Youth Court, sitting at Harrogate Justice Centre, heard today that the teenager had been in McDonald’s with friends at about 5pm when there was confusion over whether or not they were banned from the premises. Police officers were called and the girls were found in the upstairs toilets.

In trying to remove them from the building, the officers came under attack.

‘Tussle’

Prosecuting, Melanie Ibbotson said:

“The PCSO goes to grab [another teenage girl] to stop her going back into the toilets and as she does so, there’s a tussle between them both.

“She was trying to grab hold of her, they were pushing and pulling each other, moving towards the top of the stairs, and at this point [the officer] activates her alarm.”

Ms Ibbotson said the 15-year-old then went to help her friend, but in trying to prevent herself being pushed down the stairs, the PCSO grabbed her hair.

The court was shown video evidence of the attack in which the PCSO was punched on the nose, causing heavy bleeding, and her colleague was hit around the face, injuring her jaw and cheek.

The teenagers then left the building and were found in Valley Gardens by other police officers. The 15-year-old spat at a police constable as she was arrested.

The PCSOs were taken to hospital. Neither suffered broken bones, but the PCSO with the injured nose required several months of treatment and could still face an operation to repair the damage inflicted on her in the attack.

The other PCSO had since left the police, the court heard, in part because of the incident in McDonald’s.

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Defending, Andrew Tinning of Grahame Stowe Bateson, told the court the teenager had never been in trouble with the police before and the incident had “come out of the blue”.

He said she had been working voluntarily with the youth offending team in the months since, in order to improve her behaviour. He said:

“When she was interviewed, she admitted what she had done, she apologised for her actions, she said she did have an anger issue and she had set out to protect her friend, as she saw it.

“It was a complete over-reaction to the situation she was faced with, but that’s what she did.”

Mother ‘shellshocked’

Her mother told the court she was “shellshocked” when she heard what her daughter had done, adding:

“She made the wrong friends and wrong choices and it just escalated from there.”

Mr Tinning said the girl had since been permanently excluded from school but was about to start at a new school where she could take her GCSEs. She was “academically gifted”, he said, and already had plans for the next steps in her career, supported by her mother.

She now had a part-time job and was at home every evening, the court heard, and had stopped associating with some of her previous friends.

Harrogate Magistrates Court, Victoria Avenue.

The girls appeared at North Yorkshire Youth Court today

After magistrates retired to consider their sentence, bench chairman Alison Henny told the teenager they had seriously considered a term in a young offenders’ institute because of the severity of the attacks.

However, because of her age and her willingness to improve her behaviour, they had decided to give her a 12-month youth referral order during which she would be given support to make better choices and control her anger.

Mrs Henny said:

“The aim of the youth court is rehabilitation. We believe there’s a real prospect of you being rehabilitated.”

The magistrates ordered her mother to pay compensation of £100 for each of the injured PCSOs.

Meanwhile, a 14-year-old girl, also from Harrogate, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting an emergency worker by beating her, affray, and failing to comply with an exclusion order, at McDonald’s on the same date.

She is due to appear for trial at North Yorkshire Youth Court on November 25.

Another 14-year-old girl has already been dealt with by an out-of-court disposal through the youth outcomes panel in relation to the same incident.

Teenagers charged after PCSOs allegedly assaulted in Harrogate McDonald’s

Two teenage girls are to appear in court after police officers were allegedly assaulted in McDonald’s in Harrogate.

The incident happened at the restaurant on Cambridge Road on April 1 this year.

North Yorkshire Police said two community support officers were allegedly assaulted while responding to an incident at around 7pm.

A 13 year-old and 15-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, have been charged and will appear in court on October 28.

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Another girl, 14, was referred to a youth outcomes panel following the incident and was dealt with by an out of court police disposal.

The panel, which is a partnership between police, North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service and York Youth Offending Team, decides what action, if any, is most appropriate to pursue.

It encourages a restorative approach with victims and looks to address the causes of the young person’s offending.

Teen girl referred to youth panel after Harrogate McDonald’s police attack

A teenager has been referred to a youth outcomes panel after two police officers suffered serious injuries at McDonald’s in Harrogate.

The police community support officers from Harrogate’s neighbourhood policing team were called to McDonald’s on Cambridge Road on April 1.

They were responding to reports that three girls, aged 13,14 and 15, had entered despite being banned due to anti-social behaviour earlier in the evening.

According to police, the group refused to leave when asked by officers and trouble flared at around 7pm.

One of the PCSOs suffered a suspected broken nose and the other sustained tissue damage to the cheek. Both received hospital treatment.

The three girls were arrested and bailed pending further investigation.

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North Yorkshire Police today revealed one of the girls has been referred to a youth outcomes panel.

The panel, which is a partnership between police, North Yorkshire Youth Justice Service and York Youth Offending Team, decides what action, if any, is most appropriate to pursue.

The panel encourages a restorative approach with victims and looks to address the causes of the young person’s offending.

The two other girls remain on conditional bail while enquiries continue.

Girls aged 13, 14 and 15 bailed after McDonald’s police attack

Three teenage girls arrested after two police officers suffered serious injuries at McDonald’s in Harrogate on Friday night have been released on bail pending further enquires.

The police community support officers from Harrogate’s neighbourhood policing team were called to the McDonald’s on Cambridge Road following reports that the girls, aged 13,14 and 15, had entered despite being banned due to anti-social behaviour earlier in the evening.

The group refused to leave when asked by officers and trouble flared at around 7pm.

One of the PCSOs suffered a suspected broken nose and the other sustained tissue damage to the cheek. Both received hospital treatment.

Detective Constable Amy Sharrad, who is leading on the investigation, today thanked people who had given information. She added:

“We are aware of some footage circulating on social media of the incident, and would ask that those who have posted footage to contact us as soon as possible with any information.”

Anyone who has any information that can assist the investigation can email Detective Constable Amy Sharrad at amy.sharrad@northyorkshire.police.uk or call North Yorkshire Police on 101.

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