Flats evacuated in blast threat drama
Oct 30 2007 by Sam Wood, The Journal
EVACUATED families returned to their homes yesterday after a dispute in which a man threatened to blow up a block of flats was resolved.
Police were called to Mostyn Green, Kenton, Newcastle, in the early hours.
The residents of 12 flats in the block, several with young children, were woken by police and told to leave their homes.
In a tense stand-off, a 30-year-old man told officers after they arrived at his home that he would try to cause a gas explosion.
The disturbance began when police were called to a domestic incident at the first-floor flat at about 3am.
The man, named locally as Steven Naples, made violent threats towards the officers then began to wreck the flat, neighbours said. A woman and child had left by the time police arrived. Trained negotiators were called in and the man was eventually arrested at 5.30am.
A police spokesman said: “As a precautionary measure, the flats were evacuated, force negotiators were utilised and successfully resolved the incident.”
Transco was called in to make sure the building was safe before residents were finally let back into their homes at 7am.
A man, who did not wish to be named, who lives in the block with his partner and three children, said: “We heard some shouting, but that happens all the time.
“All this block was evacuated, no one told us what was going on. They just told us to get out at around 4am.
“One officer said someone was threatening to blow the place up.
“The police had to break into one or two of the flats because people were still in bed and wouldn’t wake up. They just broke the doors down and went in.” Another neighbour said: “It was chaotic. I was woken up by the noise of shouting and then a while later the police came round and told everyone to get out.
“There were riot police here, fire engines, ambulance and loads of police. We were out of our homes for about four hours altogether.”
Mother-of-one Haley Rhodes, a 32-year-old pharmacy assistant who lives in the next block, said: “I heard a lot of voices talking in the back lane but I didn’t think anything of it – then, when I woke up this morning, there was police tape all around my home. I’ve got a little girl, so it makes you worry.”
Last night a 30-year-old man, arrested at the scene, was still being questioned by police.
