Leamington taser incident man jailed for ten weeks

Last Wednesday, Lee Allsop, 35, of Fallow Hill, Leamington, had stolen sunglasses and items of clothing to the value of £115 belonging to Braderie in Warwick Street.

He had already been convicted of stealing sunglasses worth £25 from Fat Face in June and was serving a community order for the crime.

He appeared at Warwickshire Magistrates’ Court at the Warwickshire Justice Centre last Friday where he was sentenced.

When he was arrested by police in Warwick Street last Wednesday in the afternoon, it had been reported that Allsop had been threatening to harm himself with a knife.

The busy road was cordoned off while attempts were made to get him to safety but when negotiations failed, officers used a taser to control him “for his own safety”.

A Warwickshire Police spokesperson said: “We were called to the area after concern for the man’s safety.

“A 35-year-old man was threatening to harm himself. We negotiated with him and a taser was deployed for his safety.

“He has been detained and safely dealt with in the hands of the West Midlands Ambulance Service.”

Nobody else was harmed in the incident but a 48-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.