Jason lookalike criticises police

A man who sparked an armed police alert as he made his way to a fancy dress party dressed as a serial killer has criticised the "heavy-handed" response. Kevin Oakes, a 20-year-old property manager, wielded a bladeless chainsaw as part of his outfit as Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th horror films.

But concerned people who saw him in Bicester, Oxfordshire, prompted police to send armed police and a helicopter.

He said: "It was a bit over the top and a waste of taxpayers' money." He added: "I saw the helicopter and I thought they were having a good laugh. Then suddenly all the armed police turned up and started shouting at me to drop the weapon.



"They were heavy-handed and getting all wound up. They were just quite rude. There were children laughing at them which didn't help. I didn't even have the engine running on the chainsaw and the mask was on my head, not covering my face."

Mr Oakes said he thought his outfit was "something a bit different" for a friend's party on Friday night. "Everyone else was going as Cinderella or pirates or vicars so I thought I'd go as a murderer," he added.

A spokesman for Thames Valley police said that after concerned calls from residents in Churchill Road, Bicester, their response was "proportionate".

Photo from here.