Huge machete and cosh seized at Black Country school
A foot-long machete and a wooden cosh were seized at a secondary school during a police blitz which saw arrests made around the Black Country.
From suspected armed robbers, drug dealers and burglars to people breaking curfews – scores of offenders were detained during a 24-hour crackdown, which saw police cells filled up.
Officers from West Midlands Police were up at the crack of dawn on Tuesday knocking on the doors of people while force drones were even deployed to hunt for perpetrators.
Officers posted regular updates on social media confirming the latest arrest using the hashtag #wmpgoingallout.
One of the most serious incidents was reported in Dudley where a boy allegedly had a large machete and a wooden cosh at Castle High School.
Staff at the school called police just before 3.30pm on Tuesday as they believed a pupil had a weapon on the premises.
A teenager was arrested on suspicion of possession of a prohibited weapon and a machete and wooden cosh seized.
He has been released from custody pending further investigation.
Headteacher Michelle King added: “We called the police and the student was removed from the school. We have a zero tolerance policy on anyone bringing in weapons or possessing a weapon.”
In Wolverhampton an empty safe which had been stolen in a burglary in Bank Street, near Fallings Park, on June 29, was recovered in Chillington Fields, East Park dumped in the middle of the road.
In Sandwell the first arrest was someone wanted for robbery at knife-point, while later in the day officers detained a 50-year-old man in West Bromwich on suspicion of sending malicious communications.
Meanwhile in Walsall custody officers were also kept extremely busy.
The first bust was a 53-year-old man wanted on a court warrant for breaching curfew. Later a 15-year-old was arrested in connection with a burglary in Brownhills followed by a man in Little London wanted for domestic assault.
In the evening two men, aged 20 and 22 were stopped in a car in Highgate on suspicion of drug offences with officers seizing cannabis from the pair.
Elsewhere in the Black Country police caught up with a man in a pawnbrokers and took him in for questioning regarding the theft of a sat nav from a car.
And separately officers even seized £20,000 in cash at one premises. In Netherton a 19-year-old man wanted over a serious assault was arrested.
By 8.30am the force stated it had almost filled one particular custody block.
