Kirkstall Road: More arrests over Hallowe’en ride out

Three more men have been arrested as part of the ongoing investigation into the Halloween ‘ride out’ on Kirkstall Road and Leeds city centre.

Three men – two aged 27 and one aged 23 – have been arrested over the last week on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance and released on bail pending further enquiries.　

Their arrests follow a ‘Mad Max’-style incident where motorbikes and quad bikes congregated in Kirkstall Road before a large number were ridden through the city centre en masse, including through pedestrian areas and shopping arcades.

The latest arrests follow an operation on December 9 which saw six men and a woman arrested in dawn raids on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

Two other men, aged 28 and 29, were arrested days later after handing themselves in. All nine remain on police bail as does a 26-year-old man, who was arrested the day after the incident.　

Officers are continuing to appeal for information to identify seven suspects shown on CCTV and other footage from the night.

Proactive policing operations were put in place to stop two similar potential ‘ride out’ events planned for Leeds on December 11 and New Year’s Eve.　

Police visited those identified as being involved in organising the events to highlight the county court injunction granted to Leeds City Council which bans anyone from participating in anti-social driving of motor vehicles, including motorbikes and quad bikes, involving two or more motor vehicles in any public place in the Leeds district.　

Roads policing units and other officers were also deployed to prevent any build-up of vehicles at key locations on those dates.　

Chief Superintendent Paul Money, Leeds District Commander, said:

“We are continuing to take firm action to address the dangerous and anti-social behaviour that we saw on Halloween, which put people’s safety at risk and caused unnecessary fear to the public.　

“We have now shown how proactive policing arrangements supported by the recently-granted injunction can have a strong deterrent effect on those planning similar events. We will be continuing to take a robust approach and I would like to remind people that we will not hesitate to make full use of the order to target any further planned events.

“With the likelihood of being arrested and having your vehicle seized, I think it would be very unwise for anyone to involve themselves in planning or taking part in any further ‘ride out’ events.”　

Anyone who knows the identity of the suspects shown in the images or who has any information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact officers on Operation Dice via 101 quoting crime number 13160541790 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.