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Gatwick drone chaos: arrested couple freed without charge Gatwick: police examine drone after former suspects are exonerated
(about 7 hours later)
Detectives hunting for the people behind the drone chaos that paralysed Gatwick airport have released the only two people they have arrested and declared them innocent. Detectives were examining a damaged drone for clues on Sunday night after they had to release two people who were exonerated over the incidents that have repeatedly brought Gatwick airport to a standstill.
Sussex police said on Sunday that the man and woman had been released without charge and ruled out of their inquiries. Sussex police said they were not “back to square one” and pointed to new persons of interest and house-to-house inquiries near the location of the drone sightings. DCS Jason Tingley said the damaged drone was a significant line of inquiry.
Following the most disruptive incident ever caused by a drone at a major international airport, detectives interviewed the 47-year-old man and 54-year-old woman from Crawley as forensic officers searched a house in the West Sussex town, three miles south of Gatwick. But the force’s head of crime also warned that wet weather could have washed away evidence, saying there were no pictures or video of the drone incursions into the airspace around Gatwick despite 67 sightings and that there was “always a possibility that there may not have been any genuine drone activity in the first place”.
A series of drone sightings above its runway forced Britain’s second-largest airport to shut three times in three days last week, leaving about 140,000 passengers stranded. It was the airport’s biggest disruption since the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud of 2010. The setback to the investigation followed a series of newspaper reports naming those arrested as 47-year-old Paul Gait, a window fitter, and his 54-year-old wife, Elaine Kirk, from Crawley, three miles south of Gatwick.
Gatwick is offering a £50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the culprits. The two suspects, who were named and pictured by some news outlets, will try to return to their normal lives. They were released after 36 hours of questioning. Their friends expressed dismay that the couple had been arrested in the first place.
Det Ch Supt Jason Tingley of Sussex police said in a statement: “Both people have fully co-operated with our inquiries and I am satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents at Gatwick. Their pictures appeared on a number of Sunday newspaper front pages, one of which asked: “Are these the morons who ruined Christmas?” The television presenter Piers Morgan apologised after describing the pair as “clowns” in a tweet and said the situation was a fiasco.
“It is important to remember that when people are arrested in an effort to make further inquiries it does not mean that they are guilty of an offence and Sussex police would not seek to make their identity public. The airport is now offering a £50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.
“Our inquiry continues at a pace to locate those responsible for the drone incursions, and we continue to actively follow lines of investigation. We ask for the public’s continued support by reporting anything suspicious, contacting us with any information in relation to the drone incidents at Gatwick.” Sussex police said the damaged device had been found near to the north perimeter of the airport and added that they were fast-tracking tests on it to offer any clues as to who had been flying it.
Tingley also said that police had recovered a damaged drone on the north perimeter of the airport. The series of sightings over the runway had forced Britain’s second-largest airport to shut three times in three days last week, causing hundreds of flight to be cancelled and an estimated 140,000 passengers to be stranded at the airport.
“Obviously we will be doing everything we can with regards to forensically examining that drone and that is something that is being fast-tracked and expedited,” he told Sky News. Tingley said the arrests on Friday had followed a tipoff and said police were working through persons of interest.
Sections of the media came under scrutiny for their treatment of the couple, who were surrounded by officers and photographers as they returned to their home on Sunday. Police said they had not put the couple’s names into the public domain.
Police made the arrests just after 10pm on Friday. The man and woman were detained on suspicion of disrupting civil aviation in a way likely to endanger the safety of people or operations.Police made the arrests just after 10pm on Friday. The man and woman were detained on suspicion of disrupting civil aviation in a way likely to endanger the safety of people or operations.
They were the first arrests made since the drone sightings plunged Gatwick into chaos on Wednesday, with a rogue operator playing a cat and mouse game with the authorities by flying the unmanned vehicles so close to Britain’s second busiest airport that hundreds of flights had to be suspended. They were the first arrests made since the drone sightings plunged Gatwick into chaos on Wednesday. It was the airport’s biggest disruption since the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud of 2010.
Police and military specialists were deployed to search for those behind the drones, which reappeared near the airport as the authorities battled to keep the runways open at one of the busiest times of the year. After the release of the couple, Tingley said in a statement: “Both people have fully cooperated with our inquiries and I am satisfied that they are no longer suspects in the drone incidents at Gatwick.
Airport bosses feared drones could potentially strike passenger planes with catastrophic consequences and the financial consequences of cancelled flights are estimate to run into millions of pounds. “It is important to remember that when people are arrested in an effort to make further inquiries it does not mean that they are guilty of an offence and Sussex police would not seek to make their identity public.”
Labour has called for an independent inquiry after accusing the government of missed opportunities to mitigate against the risks posed by drones, claims the government dismissed.
Police and military specialists were deployed to search for those behind the drones, which were sighted again near the airport as the authorities battled to keep the runways open at one of the busiest times of the year.
Airport bosses feared drones could potentially strike passenger planes with catastrophic consequences. The financial consequences of cancelled flights are estimate to run into millions of pounds.
Anti-drone technology used by the army has been brought into Gatwick in an attempt to thwart any further attempts at disruption. British authorities do not believe the incidents were linked to terrorism or any foreign power.Anti-drone technology used by the army has been brought into Gatwick in an attempt to thwart any further attempts at disruption. British authorities do not believe the incidents were linked to terrorism or any foreign power.
Gatwick airportGatwick airport
Air transportAir transport
TransportTransport
Drones (non-military)Drones (non-military)
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