West Midlands 'most wanted' preferred cider to cells and gave up trying to hand himself in

One of the West Midlands' most-wanted men was willing to give himself up to police, but got bored of waiting and went on the run with cans of cider. Benjamin Partridge was apparently willing to turn himself in but became frustrated after waiting 45 minutes for police to arrive.

Partridge is accused of breaking his ex-partner's jaw and arrived at the home of his brother-in-law, Andrew Thomas, at about 8pm on Tuesday (1 March) to say he was handing himself over.

But after Thomas called police it took them three-quarters of an hour to arrive at the home in Birmingham so he instead grabbed the alcohol and went back on the run.

"I thought they'd be here a bit quicker, to be honest," Andrew, 47, said. "The police arrived in large numbers and blocked every exit on the street. There was real drama that night."

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "Police were called to Barratts Road, Birmingham, at 8.15pm on Tuesday following reports Benjamin Partridge, who is wanted for a domestic abuse related offence, was at the address. Officers were immediately dispatched, but by the time they arrived Partridge had already left the scene. A search of the local area was conducted but officers were unable to locate him."

Chief Inspector Jack Hadley added: "The force responds to hundreds of incidents every day across the West Midlands. Both officers and staff are committed to keeping our communities safe and work round the clock to do so.

"On this occasion, we were not able to arrest the individual in question, but we are dedicated to apprehending those we believe have committed crime and anyone who has any information about any of our outstanding offenders is urged to call us."