Wanted man hands himself into police to get ‘peace and quiet’

Inspector Darren Taylor, from Sussex Police (pictured) posted about the bizarre exchange on Twitter

A wanted man handed himself in to police rather than spend any more time in lockdown with the people he lives with, a police inspector said on Thursday.

The man volunteered himself to officers on Wednesday afternoon in a bid for some ‘peace and quiet’, police said.

Being cooped up in the pandemic has led many to yearn for some space from the people they share homes with.

But the man appears to have got to the point where even a return to Her Majesty’s prison estate was preferable.

Inspector Darren Taylor, from Sussex Police, posted about the bizarre exchange on Twitter.

He said: ‘Peace and quiet! Wanted male handed himself in to the team yesterday afternoon after informing us he would rather go back to prison then have to spend more time with the people he was living with!

‘One in custody and heading back to prison to serve some further time on his own.’

Inspector Taylor said the man was wanted on recall to prison, and that he handed himself into Burgess Hill Police Station on Wednesday at around 5pm.

The man was not named. 

Inspector Darren Taylor wrote on Twitter: 'Peace and quiet! Wanted male handed himself in to the team yesterday afternoon after informing us he would rather go back to prison then have to spend more time with the people he was living with!'

Inspector Darren Taylor wrote on Twitter: ‘Peace and quiet! Wanted male handed himself in to the team yesterday afternoon after informing us he would rather go back to prison then have to spend more time with the people he was living with!’

A study released in October 2020 found that over half of the population (53 percent) said they had felt anger towards people they know because of their behaviour in relation to the coronavirus pandemic, according to Sky News.

The research, undertaken by King’s College London and Ipsos MORI, also found that nearly a quarter of people had argued with friends or family about their behaviour amid Covid-19 restrictions.

One in 12 said they were no longer speaking to a friend or relative because of disagreements, the research found. 

The man volunteered himself to officers on Wednesday afternoon in a bid for some 'peace and quiet', police said. Pictured: A man in handcuffs, stock photo

The man volunteered himself to officers on Wednesday afternoon in a bid for some ‘peace and quiet’, police said. Pictured: A man in handcuffs, stock photo

The impact of lockdown goes far beyond merely controlling the virus, with the negative effects seeping into almost every area of life. Here we examine the toll it’s continuing to take every day… 

DAMAGE TO EDUCATION

Children in England will have lost 850million hours of in-person teaching by the time schools are due to reopen on March 8. Exams have been cancelled for two years running and university courses have moved almost exclusively online, with student dissatisfaction at a record low of 40 per cent.

DELAYS TO CRUCIAL CANCER TREATMENT

Last year was the worst on record for cancer waiting times in England. The number of patients starting treatment plummeted to the lowest level for ten years. Cancer surgery figures dropped by a third during the first wave – with 21,700 fewer operations from April to August. Millions are now trapped in a backlog for vital screening programmes.

NHS WAITING LISTS

Experts warn that NHS waiting lists could more than double from a record high of 4.52million at the end of December to ten million by April. GPs made six million fewer referrals for hospital treatment in 2020 than in 2019, as patients stayed away. The number of people waiting more than a year for treatment has rocketed by more than 7,000 per cent in a year.

WORST ECONOMIC HIT FOR 311 YEARS

The economy shrank by 9.9 per cent in 2020, marking the biggest decline in GDP since the Great Frost of 1709. At the same time, falling tax receipts and soaring spending on Covid-support schemes meant the Government borrowed a record £270.8billion in the first nine months of the financial year – £212.7billion more than the same period a year earlier. Borrowing for the full year is set to be close to £400billion and the national debt now stands at £2.1trillion, or 99.4 per cent of national income – the highest level since 1962.

The economy shrank by 9.9 per cent in 2020, marking the biggest decline in GDP since the Great Frost of 1709

The economy shrank by 9.9 per cent in 2020, marking the biggest decline in GDP since the Great Frost of 1709

 JOBS, FURLOUGH AND BENEFITS

The impact on jobs and employment has been severe. Unemployment has risen by 350,000 to 1.7million since the start of pandemic, and forecasters had predicted 2.6million will be out of work by the summer. The furlough scheme is propping up more than five million jobs and is forecast to cost £62billion in 2020/21.

HOSPITALITY ON ITS KNEES

Close to one million jobs disappeared from the sector in 2020, and a million more are still on furlough. Britain also lost almost 6,000 licensed premises last year, a third of which are pubs. Hospitality businesses missed out on an estimated £71.8billion of sales last year, and rolling lockdowns forced landlords to pour 87million pints of beer down the drain.

Close to one million jobs disappeared from the sector in 2020, and a million more are still on furlough

Close to one million jobs disappeared from the sector in 2020, and a million more are still on furlough

One of the cruellest aspects of the crisis has been bans on visits to care home residents

One of the cruellest aspects of the crisis has been bans on visits to care home residents

 BANS ON CARE HOME VISITS

One of the cruellest aspects of the crisis has been bans on visits to care home residents. Experts believe these rules have led to thousands of deaths from isolation and loneliness. Family visits are essential to the mental and physical wellbeing of the UK’s 410,000 care home residents, 70 per cent of whom have dementia – but many have been denied hugs from loved ones for nearly a year.

DAMAGE TO OUR MENTAL HEALTH

One in five adults experienced either moderate or severe depressive symptoms in June, almost double the level recorded before the pandemic. NHS trusts have predicted a 20 per cent increase in demand for their mental health services – and one in six children say they have suffered difficulties during the Covid lockdowns.

TRAVEL INDUSTRY GROUNDED

Airlines alone have had to take on more than £5billion of additional debt to stay afloat as bookings plummeted by more than 90 per cent in some months last year. British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, TUI and Ryanair have published pre-tax losses of more than £5billion since the crisis began, with the aviation sector having shed about 100,000 jobs.

Airlines alone have had to take on more than £5billion of additional debt to stay afloat as bookings plummeted by more than 90 per cent in some months last year (pictured: Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, March 2020)

Airlines alone have had to take on more than £5billion of additional debt to stay afloat as bookings plummeted by more than 90 per cent in some months last year (pictured: Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5, March 2020) 

JUSTICE BACKLOG

The pandemic has created an unprecedented backlog. There are more than 56,000 crown court cases waiting to be heard, while magistrates are sitting on a caseload in excess of 400,000. Some victims will be forced to wait years before their cases are heard. Meanwhile, the numbers of rape and domestic violence cases continue to rise.

VITAL DOCUMENTS CAUGHT UP IN CHAOS

By summer, a backlog of more than 400,000 passport applications had built up – and around 150,000 births could not be registered with town halls shut. As many as 127,000 paper driving licence applications were waiting to be dealt with in September, while learners faced six-hour waits just to book a test.

CITY CENTRES HOLLOWED OUT

Retail had its worst year for a quarter of a century, with almost 200,000 jobs lost and 16,000 stores closing. This year is expected to be even worse, with 20,000 premises forecast to shut. There are now approximately 35,000 empty sites across the UK – with the highest vacancy rate since records began in 2012 – turning once-thriving areas into ghost towns.