Man arrested after 4mph chase of narrowboat along canal

A man in a narrowboat was arrested after a 4mph chase along a canal for eight miles.

The low-speed pursuit took place when officers were called to a disturbance at a house in New Parks, Leicester where a 15-year-old boy was assaulted on 23 April.

The suspect was tracked down to his barge which was moored in the city on the Grand Union Canal but it was gone by the time police arrived.

After working out the direction he would have travelled, an officer on a bike followed the narrowboat while a colleague hid in the undergrowth ahead.

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The man was arrested on suspicion of assault and breaching a restraining order when he stepped off to negotiate a lock in Glen Parva.

Police tweeted: "For 15 years I've been trying to tick off a water-based pursuit in landlocked Leicester and today I've ticked it off.

"We waited until he was out the boat and at Lock 37 on the GUC, (Grand Union Canal), when the trap was sprung by my colleagues lying in wait in the undergrowth nearby."

One person replied: "I like to think it was like the boat chase in James Bond live and let die."

Another added: "Sounds like something from Alan Partridge."

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A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said the arrest followed an alleged assault on a teenager.

They said: "It was alleged that a man, subject to a restraining order preventing him from doing so, arrived at the address and during the incident a 15-year-old boy was assaulted. He was not injured.

"Officers received information of the suspect's whereabouts and that his narrowboat was moored in the city yesterday afternoon.

"Officers obtained a direction of travel for the boat, as it had since left, and an officer, who was on a cycle, set upon following its route.

"The boat was located travelling in the Glen Parva area and after further officers were called to assist, the suspect was arrested as he left the boat to travel through a lock."

The man was charged with assault by beating and breach of a restraining order and appeared before Leicester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.