AN Ipswich man who held a toddler in a barricaded bedroom for almost two hours has been ordered to pay more than £200 after he admitted obstructing a police officer.
AN Ipswich man who held a toddler in a barricaded bedroom for almost two hours has been ordered to pay more than £200 after he admitted obstructing a police officer.
Josh Day, 31, from Reynolds Road, pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared at South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court.
Clare Barlow, prosecuting, said that on August 1 last year police were called to an address that Day shared with his then girlfriend.
She was in an agitated state and Day had barricaded himself in a bedroom with a three-year-old boy.
The child was not hurt and seemed quite relaxed - he was playing happily with toys.
Police went on to a flat roof outside the bedroom to talk to Day, and his girlfriend also went there at one stage - but things became heated and she was told it would be best to go down.
Eventually a trained police negotiator was called in and Day left the bedroom. The incident lasted about an hour and 40 minutes.
During Wednesday's hearing, Diana Infanti, for Day, said his girlfriend had anger management issues and Day had shut himself in the bedroom partly to get away from her anger.
He had been concerned when the police arrived because he did not want be restrained and felt if the child was with him they would not burst in and restrain him.
His relationship with the woman had since ended and he was now living at home with his mother in Reynolds Road.
He also cares for his children at that address.
Day was fined £160 and ordered to pay £60 in prosecution costs.
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