Arrested 'threats to kill' seller given Fanta by masked police outside Primark
| Published date | 09 December 2020 |
| Publication title | Birmingham Mail: Web Edition Articles (England) |
This time the man was spoken to by West Midlands Police officers.
Checking up on the 48-year-old, they then learned he was "wanted on suspicion of making threats to kill" and was arrested by officers.
Claiming to be diabetic, the man still had his hands cuffed behind his back when he was gently administered a can of Fanta by a policeman wearing gloves and a face mask because of COVID-19.
At the same time another man carried on holding a cigarette between his fingers after he was also handcuffed just yards away.
Meanwhile, nearby families with children were busy moving along in a 50-yard queue to get into Primark on the first Saturday after the second lockdown of the year ended on Wednesday, December 2.
With just two more Saturday shopping days to go before Christmas, the scene illustrated the chaotic nature of Birmingham city centre even in Tier 3.
At a time when everyone is supposed to be observing the 'hands, face, space' advice while social distancing in a pandemic in which 62,000 people have died, yuo can watch the events unfold in the above video.
Two weeks in to the UK's first national lockdown on April 6, BirminghamLive watched arrests at either end of High Street when the city centre was all but empty and the doors to the 160,000 sq ft Primark megastore were closed.
This time, there were crowds of people walking to and from the Bullring while there was also a constantly moving queue outside of Primark.
The visual scene included helium balloon sellers and flashing light pedlars.
Contrasting noises were being made by a man demonstrating his bird-like whistles while preachers were using loud speakers.
Meanwhile, police officers were also monitoring an anti-vaxxers rally which had gone down Moor Street Queensway and through Dale End towards Lancaster Circus...
For good measure, there was a further call about a man apprehended in Boots on High Street who would not give his details.
The arrests
Waiting outside of Primark to see if the hundreds of anti-vaxxers would show up, I suddenly become aware of scenes that might have seemed like a spoof edition of Only Fools and Horses were they not taking place in the middle of a pandemic.
A middle-aged man in an orange jumper and no face mask has been busy selling perfumes from cardboard boxes yards from Primark's main entrance.
As previously reported by BirminghamLive, this kind of chaotic scene has been a recurring theme ever since to thousands of shoppers amid national acclaim on Thursday...
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