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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Video shows police recovering a gun in The Meadows

Officers had their hands full as police action to recover firearms attracted a rowdy crowd in the start of a brand new series of Police Interceptors.

The episode follows a tense operation where officers surrounded a house in Orange Gardens, The Meadows, following intelligence that there was an illegal gun inside.

Sergeant Katie Eustace quickly set up a scene to contain the area and officers began to move in, preparing to come face-to-face with potentially armed suspects inside whilst the teams were searching as quickly and thoroughly as possible for the reported gun.

Officers at the front of the property could see a light on and began their action, initially warning and shouting to those inside the property to make their way out.

After around six minutes of the house being surrounded, a woman came outside the front door, followed by a man shortly after. They were both detained and the property was searched.

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As they went into the property, they began searching each room in the three-floor property before heading to the loft. As officers searched the back of this area, a pistol was found in the insulation and it was safely recovered.

In the midst of the search, on Monday 3 February 2020, Katie was met with an ever-growing number of onlookers at the edge of the cordon which had since been put in place.

“Firearms can have deadly consequences and we take any reports or intelligence like this extremely seriously,” she said.

“It is vital in this situation to contain the area quickly, which in this situation included a cordon and road closure, so that the public are safe and kept away from any potential harm.

“Officers also need to be able to do their jobs and work effectively with minimal disruption so that no evidence is lost and any detainees are kept both safe and with officers, so it is definitely a challenge but rewarding when you’re managing all these different aspects of a scene and investigation.”

“I also worked The Meadows for the first five years of my policing career, so I know the area quite well and this still comes in handy when you need to find people or search certain parts of it.”

Sergeant Eustace, who has spent four of her 12 years with the force dedicated to the firearms squad, was able to combine her experience and multitasking abilities to liaise with senior officers, act on the instructions they were giving, whilst managing the crowds and the detainees who had become agitated.

“As we started bringing the suspects out of the house, a number of people started to gather around the cordon and it was attracting a lot of attention,” she said.

“I then had people trying to get through the cordon and telling me all kinds of things, which was extremely helpful eventually but took some work to filter out and decipher what was legitimate, whilst at the same time keeping people out of the cordon.

“All this information had to be quickly relayed to officers leading the operation and the team inside for us to make decisions on the best plan of action. It was a challenge when it became quite chaotic, but in the end it was really rewarding with the result we got.

“A gun was recovered, which is a huge achievement for us as a team. It means that it is now out of circulation and won’t fall into the wrong hands.

“The man and the woman in the house were subsequently arrested and questioned, alongside another man who was arrested a little time after.

“Both of the men were later charged and had to answer to what we found in court, and this is thanks to the team effort on that night. Everyone did a fantastic job of pulling together to make sure the house was searched quickly and that both detainees and people with information were spoken to and dealt with appropriately.

“I’m very pleased that once again the public get to see the sheer breadth of the job, what we come up against as officers and the challenges we face. ”

Sean Hopps, 24, of Orange Gardens, The Meadows, and Callum Hopps, 31, of Canal Street, Nottingham city centre, have since pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and ammunition. They are currently awaiting sentencing.

No further action was taken against the 53-year-old woman, who has since been eliminated from enquiries.

The tension doesn’t stop there though. Other incidents featured in tonight’s episode include a tearaway driver who hurtles along the wrong side of a road in a horror Halloween pursuit, and a roads cop who gets a blast from the past when he pulls over a vintage Micra in need of some tender loving care.

All this and more on tonight’s brand new Police Interceptors – Channel 5 at 8pm .

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