Barnard Castle Police

07/08/2026

🔎 WANTED: Have you seen Billy Sumpton?

We want to speak with him in connection with an ongoing investigation into an alleged assault and criminal damage.

The 31-year-old has recent links to the Shildon, Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland areas.

📲 If you have any information regarding Billy’s whereabouts, please don't comment below, call us on 101, alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

22/07/2026

PACT Meeting Reminder- Today 18:30
Gainford Pact Meeting will be held at Gainford Village Hall. If you are unable to attend, please drop an email to: [email protected] or drop us a message via the messenger app.
Thank you

15/07/2026

Life is Precious!

Last week, students from Staindrop Academy attended a multi-agency event hosted by the Barnard Castle Neighbourhood Policing Team.

🚘 The event, organised by PCSO State, was designed to promote road safety among young people, helping them understand the risks they may face not only when they begin learning to drive, but also as passengers, especially when travelling with other young and newly qualified drivers.

A huge thank you to all the services and staff involved in making these events possible, and to those who attended on the day to share their experiences, knowledge and expertise:
DCC Road Safety Team
County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Durham Roads & Armed Policing
Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (who provided funding to carry out these workshops)

📵 Some of the topics and real-life incidents discussed were hard-hitting, but the students were excellent throughout. They also had the opportunity to see demonstrations of some of the specialist equipment carried by our emergency services.

By working together, we hope to help young people make safer choices and understand: Life is Precious, it's not worth the risk!

08/07/2026

PACT Meeting Reminder:
Barnard Castle Town PACT meeting will be held tonight at 6:30pm at the QUAD Station, Wilson Street.
Butterknowle PACT Meeting will be held at 7pm at the Village Hall.

If you can't make it however have an query, email: [email protected]

30/06/2026

🐱Three people have been charged after thousands of pounds worth of Jellycat toys were stolen from two businesses in Teesdale and Durham.

The first theft happened on June 20 when £2,000 worth of stock was stolen from Raby Castle shop, followed by a theft of £4,000 of the same toys from Poplar Tree Garden Centre, in Durham, a week later.

Two suspects were arrested after being stopped in a car shortly after the Durham theft whilst an investigation by Barnard Castle Neighbourhood Policing Team saw a further two people arrested in the Sunderland area and 19 Jellycats recovered.

A man and two women have subsequently been charged with theft and are due to appear at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on September 14.

A third woman remains under investigation.

24/06/2026

PACT Meeting Reminder- Today 18:30
Gainford Pact Meeting will be held at Gainford Village Hall. If you are unable to attend, please drop an email to: [email protected] or drop us a message via the messenger app. Thank you

21/06/2026

Happy Father’s Day 💙

Happy Father’s Day 💙

To all dads, step-dads, foster dads, grandads, great-grandads, dads-to-be, and those no longer with us, we wish you a happy Father’s Day.

Being a police officer is a rewarding job, but being a Dad is a role like no other.

To all our blue light dads working today, thank you. We appreciate everything you do, both on duty and at home.

17/06/2026

⚽️ We want positive results on the pitch, not off it.
🚗 Drink and drug driving kills. Don’t risk it!

⚽️Tonight’s the night!

For all you England fans, we know you’ll be gearing up for the excitement of the first England game.

Some of you will enjoy the game, have a great time and get home safely.

Some of you will get too drunk, take illegal drugs (or both) and put yourself or someone you love in the morgue after wrongly thinking you’re fine to drive.

We’re not being dramatic; this is the reality our officers see with a 20.9 per cent spike in road traffic collisions on England match days from 2016 to 2024.

That’s why we’ve launched a specific road safety campaign for this world cup.

Teaming up with our emergency service partners last week, we invited media outlets a road traffic collision demonstration.

They were able to see someone being cut out of a crashed car and bring it to your teatime screens on BBC Look North.

What they didn’t see are the death knocks our officers have to make when the people in the car can’t be saved.

Or when the driver is in court, then prison, for killing their mates.
All because they thought it was fine to drive under the influence or couldn’t be bothered to book a taxi.

We don’t want to see you sent off permanently before you can even say penalties.

🚗Drink and drug driving kills. Don’t risk it.

County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service Durham Roads & Armed Policing

16/06/2026

PACT Meeting Reminder- Wednesday 10:00am
Barnard Castle Town Pact Meeting will be held at the QUAD Station, Wilson Street, Barnard Castle. If you are unable to attend, please drop an email to: [email protected] or drop us a message via the messenger app. Thank you

11/06/2026

PACT Meeting at UTASS on the 19th June at 4pm‼️

Come talk to us about any concerns or issues you may have, or just come join us for a cuppa and a chat ☕