Police chief reassures Middleton-in-Teesdale after bizarre clown-in-a-dress raid

A SENIOR police officer has visited a Teesdale village to reassure residents in the wake of a bizarre and terrifying robbery.
Thomas Prodger was jailed for 20 months last year after robbing the Co-op store, in Middleton-in-Teesdale, while wearing a dress, washing-up gloves and a clown mask.
Prodger, from Jubilee Terrace, pleaded guilty to the crime.
The South Durham neighbourhood operations manager, Chief Inspector Stephen Ball, visited Middleton-in-Teesdale Parish Council to explain how police operate in the area and said additional resources can be redirected when there is a need.
Describing the incident, he said: “A character walked in dressed as a clown. It was very frightening for a member of staff. There was an assault and there were cigarettes taken. There was alcohol smashed on the floor. It was certainly bizarre and obviously that chap is now serving quite a sentence.
“It is interesting that since I took over this area I have heard that Middleton-in-Teesdale is one of the safest places in the country and yet you have that sort of incident there, where you think ‘how safe is it?’.”
He added that people had approached him saying they no longer see policemen and had concerns they weren’t receiving the same service.
The chief inspector explained how police work with other agencies, such as housing providers and neighbourhood wardens, to build a “jigsaw puzzle” around people who might be of concern.
He said: “What I try to do is overlay all these pieces of information and see what is going on. So in the case of the gentleman in question, there was a wealth of information there.”
While people had a “view about who it was” hard evidence was needed before an arrest could be made, he said.
Chief Insp Ball added: “The detectives went as far as to check every retail premises to see if they could pick up the mask in particular, and they did. They got CCTV from a shop in Bishop, and managed to put that, and the crime, to that individual and now he is at Her Majesty’s pleasure.”
Chief Insp Ball said the police force did not have the resources it once had and the emphasis is on preventing crime rather than detecting it.
To achieve this police rely on getting information from communities such as “tittle-tattle” picked up by PCSOs when they attend community luncheons and other events.
He said: “I am waiting for those flags which say, ‘things aren’t quite right’. In other words, I don’t care if it is tittle-tattle or good craic, because I think in a community like this there is always someone who knows what is going on.
“We encourage you, as a parish council, as well to use the conduits into local officers.”