A man who was arrested after a siege in Evelyn Terrace, Brighton, is to be tried for affray.
Kelvin Crouch, 33, Evelyn Terrace, Brighton, is accused of committing the offence during a three-and-a-half-hour stand-off with police on Monday 16 May.
Crouch appeared before Brighton magistrates this morning (Thursday 16 June), having denied the charge.
His barrister Lucie Stoker said: “Mr Crouch called the police himself. He has been charged with affray but he didn’t make threats against anyone else. He made several threats against himself.”
She said that he told the police that if they didn’t let him speak to his friend Aaron he was going to blow himself up – and the house. He was believed to have threatened to cut the gas pipes and blow up the street.
She said: “The threats were made over the telephone. Nobody could see whether there were gas pipes.”
She added: “He was having a psychotic breakdown. He wasn’t in his right mind.”
He co-operated fully at the police station, she said, and accepted the need for treatment. An expert witness is expected to testify at his trial about his state of mind at the time of the siege.
People were evacuated from their homes in Evelyn Terrace by Sussex Police and gas engineers were brought in when the siege ended to check that the property was safe.
Crouch was given unconditional bail to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 22 September when he will be tried for the offence.
