Man jailed after causing extensive damage during Rainworth pub roof stand-off

A man threw tiles from a pub roof and smashed windows during a near five-hour stand-off as trained officers negotiated with him. 

Joseph Dowling caused over £8,000 worth of damage during the incident at The Lurcher pub in Rainworth. 

Nottingham Crown Court heard that the 38-year-old had been drinking alcohol steadily throughout the day, from around 11am, before he was involved in a verbal altercation with his former partner in the pub later that night. 

He became abusive, started to throw things around in an upstairs flat, and ripped a CCTV screen off the wall causing damage to it. 

The violence and abuse escalated after his ex-partner asked him to leave but he refused. 

Dowling, of Catlow Walk, Rainworth, climbed out of a window onto the roof of the pub, at around 11.30pm on Friday 19 April 2024. 

The pub was cleared out after police arrived on scene and they began negotiating with him to bring the incident to a safe conclusion. 

However, Dowling continued to be abusive and aggressive towards officers, smashed windows to the flat, ripped off roof tiles and threw them to the floor near officers. 

Dowling eventually came down from the roof at around 4.30am on Saturday 20 April 2024 and was taken into custody.

No-one was injured during the incident. 

Dowling was subsequently charged, and he went on to plead guilty to one count of affray and two counts of criminal damage. 

At his sentencing on Wednesday (3 July 2024), the court heard that Dowling had previously been fitted with an alcohol abstinence tag for six months but had turned back to drinking following the death of his child. The court was also told he was remorseful for his actions. 

Dowling was jailed for a total of 15 months and made subject of a five-year restraining order. 

Detective Sergeant Emily Hewitt, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “This was a challenging situation for us to deal with and our priority throughout was keeping people in the area safe, including Dowling who was on the roof. 

“A number of police officers were involved in managing the scene and thankfully the incident was brought to a safe conclusion after Dowling eventually calmed down and came down from the roof following skilled negotiations. 

“I’d like to thank local people for their patience and understanding while this incident was safely dealt with.

“I’d also like to commend the officer in this case, investigator Kathleen Simpson, for her hard work and the other officers who helped to pull everything together to achieve a good result.”