A dad rushed home from holiday after being told his home was surrounded by armed police. Liam McCarthy was horrified when friends sent him pictures of officers with guns surrounding his newbuild, as he was enjoying a family break in Blackpool.
Police have since said they were looking for a wanted person. But electrician Liam fears the incident could have damaged his reputation and his business.
Family holiday interrupted
The 25-year-old said: "It's not every day you have armed police surrounding your house. My neighbours now will think I am a criminal. I am a local electrician this could be catastrophic for my business. It was horrible."
Liam was in Blackpool with his wife Tamsan, daughter Rosa-May and newborn son Thomas, when the drama unfolded on Saturday night. Friends began to send him pictures and videos showing several marked police cars parked outside his end terrace, on Hutton Court in Annfield Plain near Stanley, County Durham.
Liam says his friends joked by asking him what he had done.
Police response
"A couple of my friends sent us a video saying 'Liam what have you been doing'," he explained. "My wife and three-year-old and four-week-old baby could of been traumatised by this ordeal."
Liam rang police to ask what was going on and was told he should come home as soon as possible.
"They said; 'There are armed police at your house, you need to go home or make yourself know to the police,'" he said. "I was distressed when I was sent these alarming photos. A couple of neighbours said they thought they had got the wrong house."
Liam returned home from holiday early and went to Stanley Police Station asking for an apology.
However, a spokesman for Durham Constabulary explained officers were doing their duty while looking for a wanted person.
The spokesman said: "Officers searching for a wanted individual were carrying out enquiries in the Annfield Plain area on August 8. As part of those enquiries, armed response officers attended an address on Hutton Close. No response was received by the occupants, and no entry was made to the address.
"Once further enquiries had been made and officers had satisfied themselves that the wanted individual was not present, they left the area. We appreciate that any police attendance can be unsettling, particularly where families and young children are involved, and we apologise for any distress caused to those affected. However, officers have a duty to pursue all appropriate lines of enquiry when responding to serious incidents to protect the public and bring offenders to justice."
However, Liam fears people will believe the police activity was connected to him.
He added: "You wouldn't want an electrician working in your house if they had had armed response at their house."
