Sex man’s damages bid fails

Jun 3 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

ACONVICTED sex offender yesterday failed in his fight for damages against the police who raided his house to gather evidence.

Angus Bowman, 42, is currently in Durham’s Frankland Prison after he was found guilty of hoarding child pornography and indecently assaulting two young boys three years ago.

But yesterday the former-engineer appeared at Newcastle Crown Court in an attempt to force Northumbria Police to pay for the doors they damaged when they raided his home.

Representing himself, Bowman claimed officers used excessive force to make their way into his house when they already had the keys to his property. He said the damage totalled £1,300, after the police destroyed the front and rear doors along with a garage door at his home in Moresby Road, Cramlington, Northumberland.

However the police said that the keys were not available and that they had to enter because Bowman had contacted his mother and told her to go to his house and remove his computer files, which held valuable evidence.

Yesterday, Judge Christopher Walton dismissed the case, saying the police had acted reasonably.

He said: “It was reasonable for police to proceed as they did and that is why the claimant is dismissed.

“The police were dealing with a period of time and they could not wait for someone to come with the keys, which were at Peterlee police station where Mr Bowman was being held.

“This was an urgent matter that they were responding to. There was a risk that persons might interfere with the premises and that risk was justified after Mr Bowman’s mother removed the computer.