Man jailed as officers continue to take zero-tolerance approach to knife crime

We are now four weeks into a county wide policing operation to tackle serious violent crime and continue to see results thanks to proactive policing plans.

Operation Wintershield, uses intelligence to identify hot spot areas for knife and violent crime and will involve a multi-agency approach to tackle the root causes of the issue.

As a result of intelligence gathering for the operation, Derby city centre has been identified as a red hotspot, and is currently subject to a specialist, proactive policing plan in order to tackle the problem.

This includes dedicated patrol cars, foot patrols, uniformed and plain clothes, and ongoing work with partners to identify and mitigate risk.

Detective Chief Inspector Matt Croome, who is force lead for Operation Wintershield said:

“In the Derby area within the last two weeks we have seen a man jailed, a teenage boy plead guilty at court  after being charged and remanded into prison custody, and six people arrested in relation to knife crime offences and violent assaults.

“This is absolutely fantastic work and shows our commitment to disrupting knife crime to make Derbyshire a safer place for all.

“We continue to work with partners, to identify and protect vulnerable groups who may be impacted by knife crime; either as a victim or perpetrator and as always rely on public support and intelligence to help us carry out this work.

“If you suspect someone may be carrying a knife or have any other information which may help us tackle violent crime please contact us.

“If you feel uncomfortable speaking directly with police, you can report instead to Crimestoppers 100% anonymously.”

David Potter, of Beaufort Street, Chaddesden, who took a machete over to a neighbour’s property after an alleged dispute on social media, has been sentenced to 30 weeks imprisonment.

The 50-year-old was found guilty of harassment, criminal damage, and possession of knife in a public place at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court on 8 December.

Potter had used the machete to attack his neighbour’s garden gate, causing damage.

A 17-year-old boy has today (Thursday 16 December) admitted possessing a knife in a public place, two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs – Crack Cocaine and Heroin and, possessing criminal property.

The boy was seen by officers, who suspected he was dealing drugs, in Willow Row, Derby on Tuesday afternoon (14 December). He was detained and found to be in possession of a large quantity of Heroin and Crack Cocaine and a large ‘Rambo’ style knife. He was arrested, charged, and remanded into custody.

He appeared at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court this morning to enter his guilty plea and was remanded into a youth detention centre ahead of a sentencing hearing set for 5 January 2022.

A 46-year-old man from Derby was arrested on suspicion of GBH yesterday (Wednesday 15 December) and remains in police custody following an assault in Albert Street, Derby in the early hours of 5 December. Officers were called to the incident and found a 28-year-old man unconscious with a slash wound to his head. He was taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries and discharged later that day, his injuries are not believed to be life changing.

Two women, both aged 21, from Ashbourne and Findern, and three men aged 20, 22 and 23, from Derby, have all been arrested on suspicion of GBH after a 24-year-old man was stabbed in Burton Road in the early hours of this morning (16 December). The victim was taken to hospital and is being treated for injuries to his hand and chest. The injuries to his hand are believed to be life changing and the chest injuries have been described as not life threatening.

Operation Wintershield is a force wide, multi-agency operation which focuses on reducing knife crime and serious violent crime across the county, especially amongst vulnerable groups such as children and young people.

The operation will run until the end of February 2022 and for its duration officers and staff will be sharing the excellent work that is going on to tackle the root cause of these often-devastating crimes.

You can follow our work on social media by following #OpWintershield

• Facebook – send us a private message to /DerbyshireConstabulary
• Twitter – direct message our contact centre on @DerPolContact
• Website – complete the online contact form https://www.derbyshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/
• Phone – call us on 101.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.