Wyverstone: Controlled Explosion At House

22 April 2014, 10:55

Police are continuing investigations at an address in Wyverstone following the discovery of a number of weapons at a home earlier this week.

Officers initially received a report on Sunday 13 April that a woman in her 40s had been assaulted at a property there on Thursday 27 March.

Police attended the address and a 49-year-old man from the Stowmarket area was arrested on suspicion of assault.

As part of the investigation, police carried out a search warrant at the property and discovered a number of weapons. 

James Arnold, a 49-year-old man of Potash Road in Wyverstone, was charged with two counts of assault and four counts of possession of a prohibited weapon and appeared before Ipswich Magistrates Court earlier today, Monday 21 April.

As part of the ongoing enquiry, and as a precautionary measure in order to ensure some items found at the premises are safe, a controlled explosion was carried out over the weekend.

A 45-year-old woman from the Stowmarket area, who was arrested on suspicion of possession of a prohibited firearm, was interviewed by officers and has now been bailed to return to police on May 21.

UPDATE 10:30am 22nd April

A parish council chairman has been charged with firearms offences after a hoard of weapons was found in a village home in Suffolk.

Police spent the weekend searching a home in Wyverstone and bomb disposal experts were called in to carry out a controlled explosion after initially being alerted to reports of a woman in her 40s being assaulted on Thursday, Suffolk Police said.

The village's parish council chairman, James Arnold, 49, of Potash Road, Wyverstone, was arrested and charged with two counts of assault and four of possession of a prohibited weapon.

The charges related to weapons including an Uzi machine gun, AK47 assault rifle, a bolt-action shotgun and a self-loading rifled gun.

Magistrates remanded Arnold in custody to appear at Crown Court next month.

A police cordon remains in place at the property.

A 45-year-old woman from the Stowmarket area, who was arrested on suspicion of possession of a prohibited firearm, was interviewed by officers and has now been released on police bail.