A man armed with a crossbow who was shot dead by police in London after he tried to break into a house was a convicted stalker who was forbidden from entering the road in which he was killed, it has emerged.
The incident is the latest involving crossbows.
Around 5 a.m. on Tuesday the police were called as Bryce Hodgson, 30, tried to break into a property in Surrey Quays, south London.
Armed police soon arrived and, after a brief stand-off, Hodgson was shot dead.
It has now emerged Hodgson admitted to a stalking offence at a hearing at Croydon Crown Court in July 2023 and was given a suspended prison sentence of 16 weeks.
He was also given a 12-month supervision order.
Stalker Banned from Entering Road or Contacting Woman
He was also given a restraining order which banned him from entering Bywater Place—the road in which he was killed—for five years or contacting the woman.The Metropolitan Police say Hodgson was wearing body armour and had in his possession several crossbows, a knife, a sword and a hatchet.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it was carrying out an investigation into Hodgson’s death, which is standard practice when the police are involved in a fatality.
IPOC Regional Director Mel Palmer said, “Given a man has died after being shot by police, our role is to independently investigate all of the circumstances surrounding this incident including the actions and decisions taken by the police.”
He said, “We appreciate that the community will want answers quickly and our investigators are working hard to establish the facts and piece together what occurred.”
Matt Twist, the Metropolitan Police’s assistant commissioner, said, “The first unarmed officers knew they were arriving on scene to reports of a man armed with weapons and threatening to harm people inside an address.”
Mr. Twist, who has overall responsibility for firearms, said: “The officers knew there were people inside and had genuine fears for their safety. Armed officers were called and attempted to get the man to surrender. They entered the property and shots were fired.”
“I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of all our officers who responded and thank all the emergency service staff involved. I firmly believe their actions prevented further loss of life,” he added.
Crossbow Crimes but no Change to Legislation
The law on crossbows has not changed for more than 30 years.Five people have been killed in England and Wales in the past seven years with crossbows, which are currently legal to purchase and own.
One of those was Sana Mohammed, who was eight months pregnant when her ex-husband, Ramanodge Unmathallegadoo, fired a crossbow bolt into her back at her home in east London in Nov. 2018.
Mrs. Mohammed died but the bolt narrowly missed her unborn son, who was safely delivered by emergency Caesarean section.
Unmathallegadoo was later jailed for life and told he would not be released for at least 33 years.
On Christmas Day 2021 Jaswant Singh Chail was arrested in the grounds of Windsor Castle while armed with a crossbow.
Chail, who had asked an AI chatbot for advice about killing the monarch, was jailed for nine years for treason offences last year.
At the time of Chail’s arrest the then-Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered a review of the law and said the government was “considering options to strengthen controls on crossbows.”
Ms. Patel was sacked as home secretary in 2022 and replaced by Suella Braverman, who was later replaced by James Cleverly.
Neither Ms. Braverman or Mr. Cleverly announced any changes to the law on the purchase or possession of crossbows.
The Epoch Times contacted the Home Office to clarify the status of the review into crossbow legislation but it did not respond.
