Siege brings town centre to standstill (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Siege brings town centre to standstill

10:41am Thursday 2nd March 2006 in News By Zoë Mills

THE COUPLE whose cottage was at the centre of a dramatic police siege in Malmesbury on Thursday night have thanked townsfolk for their compassion.

Mike and Maureen Foley's 45-year-old son Jeremy was arrested after the tense incident, which bought the town centre to a standstill.

It is thought he had threatened to blow up their picturesque cottage in The Triangle.

Neighbours were evacuated and had to spend six hours seeking refuge nearby while police negotiators tried to convince Mr Foley to give himself up.

His parents said they wanted to express their sincere thanks to friends, neighbours, acquaintances and complete strangers for their help, understanding and compassion during the traumatic event.

Armed police swooped on the Cotswold town just before 7pm, after distraught Mr and Mrs Foley dialled 999.

Police tried to talk their son round, but he became violent and threatening and they withdrew from the property.

Mr and Mrs Foley were immediately escorted to the safety of the nearby Three Cups pub while a major police operation got underway.

Jeremy Foley claimed to have turned on the gas supply at the house and could be seen waving a lighter in the window. Witnesses said he was also brandishing a golf club in an upstairs window of the property.

More than 20 police officers, some armed, surrounded the house and cordoned off the three main routes in and out of Malmesbury.

Firefighters were called in on standby in case of an explosion and British Gas experts worked to switch off the gas supply to the house.

At one stage Mr Foley got into the loft of the cottage and smashed a hole through the roof, raining stone tiles on the officers below.

He then threw a rope from the hole and demanded that a police negotiator bought cigarettes from the pub.

Mr Foley finally gave himself up just after midnight, when he was arrested by police. It is not thought he will be charged with any offence.

Mr and Mrs Foley said they found it difficult to understand how the situation had become out of hand.

They described their son as "temporarily deranged" and said he was under the mental health team at Rowden Hill House in Chippenham.

"Despite our repeated request for help to avert what we knew would occur, it went unheeded," they said.

"The events leading up to Thursday night will, we hope, be fully investigated to ensure improved care for those in most need."

Peter Wilson, acting director of Mental Health Services for Wiltshire and Swindon said he couldn't comment on any individual case.

But he said: "In the case of any unexpected incident involving one of our patients, we carry out a thorough review of what happened to see if we can make any changes or improvements to help prevent such circumstances occurring again in future."

Tree surgeon Jeremy Foley, who lives at West End House in Chippenham, contacted the Gazette after he was admitted to Green Lane Hospital in Devizes.

He said last Thursday's siege followed an incident where he was arrested after taking a Stanley knife into Homebase in Chippenham.

"I was trying to return the Stanley knife back to Homebase and get my money back but I was arrested," he said. "During the siege I was sprayed with CS gas."

Mr Foley expected to be in hospital until the end of the week.