Police update on Portsmouth robbery series arrests

Officers investigating a series of robberies in Portsmouth on Monday night (22 May) are continuing their enquiries while a Section 34 dispersal order remains in place across the city.

A dispersal order under Section 34 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 has been authorised across Portsmouth and will run until 5pm this evening (Thursday 25 May).

The dispersal zone covers the areas pictured and enables police to deal with any issues of anti-social behaviour in the directed area more effectively, and gives our officers the power to order a person to leave the area with no return within the specified time period. Those who refuse to comply with the order are committing a criminal offence and are liable for arrest.

Individuals who are aged under 16 will be taken be to their home address, and follow-up work will be done with parents.

Officers will continue to patrol across the city, and anyone with concerns, information or questions is asked to please come and speak to them.

A 16-year-old, 15-year-old and 17-year-old boy from Portsmouth, all arrested on suspicion of robbery and assaulting an emergency worker, have now been released from police custody on conditional bail to allow for further enquiries to continue.

The bail includes strict conditions which must be adhered to, including curfews and restrictions on entering certain areas of the city while our investigation is ongoing.

The boys will be required to report to custody throughout the course of the investigation and a breach of any of their bail conditions can result in further arrest.

The release of the boys on bail has been deemed necessary to allow enough time to conduct and progress a thorough investigation, with officers currently following up extensive lines of enquiry in addition to those that have been investigated so far. These include, but are not limited to, forensics work, comprehensive house to house enquiries and CCTV scoping, phone examination, identification of stolen items and further witness statements.

Portsmouth Chief Inspector Pete Smith said: “We know that this series of incidents has had an understandable impact on the community and we want to reassure you that we are working hard to ensure that a full and thorough investigation is conducted in order to bring those responsible to justice.

“In order to bring a case before the court we need to ensure we have presented all of the evidence available, which can take time. We will ensure the public is kept updated on any developments.

“In the meantime, our officers will continue to patrol hotspot areas, so please do come and speak to them if you have concerns or questions and please keep reporting any suspicious behaviour or incidents to us.

“We would like to thank the residents of this city for your patience and understanding while we work to bring those responsible for this abhorrent series of crimes to justice.”

Anyone with information regarding either of Monday’s incidents who hasn’t yet spoken to police is asked to call 101 quoting reference 44230202557.

Alternatively, go online and submit information via https://www.hampshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/