Police dog tracks down suspect hiding in Peacehaven field

Police said officers were called to Pelham Rise at 8.40pm on October 11 after a man was seen bleeding.

When officers arrived, police say they were unsure of the exact route taken by the suspect but a flicker of light had been seen in a field earlier.

Police dog (PD) Hox, a two-year-old German Shepherd, handled by police constable Gareth Evers, was sent to help track down the suspect.

PC Evers said, “I was well briefed by the officers on scene, and although the exact route taken by the suspects was unknown, a flicker of light was seen about 200 metres into the field where it was believed the suspect had lit a cigarette among bushes.

“I kept PD Hox deployed on a lead because the search area was far too great and progress through a ploughed field was slow.

“Hox began to track naturally and took me through to a small clearing in the bushes, over a barbed wire fence and into a neighbouring field.

“He then indicated to me where the suspect was. It was pitch black but we found a suspect sitting in high grass.”

Police say officers charged 26-year-old James Graves, of Central Avenue in Telscombe Cliffs, with two counts of causing criminal damage, theft in a dwelling, and assault by beating.

Police confirmed he appeared before Brighton Magistrates’ Court on October 13 and has been remanded on conditional bail to appear before the court again on December 7.