A BUSY road had to be closed after a man got onto a roof and started launching tiles onto the street shouting "you’ll have to shoot me" at police officers standing below.

Ryan Thompson said his protest had arisen from "unfair treatment" he claimed to have been subjected to earlier that day, when he had been stopped and searched in the street.

As a result of his antics, Padiham Road, Burnley – a busy route lined with homes and shops – was blocked-off to protect members of the public as officers tried to talk him down.

But rather than comply with the requests, Thompson picked up roof slates and tiles and hurled them into the street, aiming them at emergency service vehicles including an ambulance and paramedics who had been making their way to a separate incident. 

Prosecuting the case, Stephen Parker explained how Thompson had "taken umbrage" to the way he had been dealt with by the police, and ended up climbing onto the roof of a bus shelter before making his way onto the rooves of a row of terraced homes.

He told Burnley Crown Court: “The officer [who arrived first] saw the defendant on the roof throwing tiles onto the pavement and the road.

"She immediately took the decision to block the road off by placing her car at one end of the street and standing at the other.”

Soon back-up arrived and the road was fully blocked-off to stop people walking into the path of danger.

Mr Parker said the officer first arrived to the scene at 9.40pm with Thompson eventually coming down around two hours later, adding: “During the course of that time he was being very erratic, walking back and forth, throwing tiles and slates down.

“He shouted, ‘I’ll f***ing stay here all night, you’ll have to shoot me’ and ‘you lot are bullies’."

The court heard how Thompson had been heavily intoxicated at the time and had taken cannabis and cocaine. 

Mitigating, Kristian Cavanagh said: “The very first thing he said to me in conference was that he has no excuse for the way he behaved that day.”

Mr Cavanagh went on to say his client had been homeless at the time and was actively seeking help for his issues, but had been unable to get any support.

He added that since being in prison he had managed to get clean from drugs and had undertaken a detox.

He said that his client's family were waiting to help him with accommodation and support once released from prison.

Thompson, 33, of no fixed address, was in breach of three separate court orders by committing the offence.

He pleaded guilty to counts of affray, criminal damage and causing a public nuisance at an earlier hearing. 

Jailing him for 12 months, Recorder Paul Hodgkinson said the defendant "hadn’t given anyone else a moment’s thought" when he climbed onto the roof.

He said: “If you had a compliant to make, you should have done it through proper means, but what you decided to do was climb onto a bus shelter, make a scene, and then climb onto the rooves of houses.

“You didn’t give it a moment’s thought, you were only interested in yourself and drawing attention to yourself.

“You got yourself into a disgraceful state and then you behaved in this fashion.”

Recorder Hodgkinson added the incident had taken both the police and paramedics away from other duties and Thompson had "no regard" for the people who lived in the houses below – including two elderly women and customers who were buying food at a takeaway.

However the Recorder recognised the genuine remorse shown by Thompson for his actions, adding: “I am prepared to reduce the starting point by the real recognition of remorse that you have shown.

“I have seen that through my own eyes today, how upset you are. I have to say, so you should be.”