Police's free beer sting leads to 19 arrests

Police have arrested 19 suspects after fooling them into ringing officers by promising free beer if they got in touch. In an undercover operation, Derbyshire Police sent letters to dozens of people who had evaded arrest for several months. They were asked to ring a marketing company to collect a free crate of beer.

A total of 19 suspects fell for the hoax and called the number, which put them straight through to Chesterfield Police Station. A time and date was arranged for the free alcohol to be delivered but instead the suspects were arrested. The sting formed part of Operation Rocky, a campaign targeting serious crime which is running across north Derbyshire until the end of November.



Chief Inspector Graham McLaughlin, who is leading the operation, said: "These suspects are people who have managed to evade arrest for some time so we have used different tactics to find them. It has been very cost effective as it can take a lot of time and money to track people down.

"We use a variety of methods to arrest those suspected of committing criminal offences and we will continue to use new tactics when necessary." Those arrested are alleged to have committed offences including burglary, robbery and serious sexual assault. Suspects were arrested from addresses in Chesterfield, Staveley, Alfreton and Ilkeston as well as Sheffield and Nottingham.