Violent fugitive taunts Gwent Police on Facebook (From South Wales Argus)
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Violent fugitive taunts Gwent Police on Facebook
2:54pm Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News
FACEBOOK TAUNTS: Alan Leslie Watkins
A FUGITIVE violent thug boasted on Facebook that Gwent Police will not catch him after they issued a wanted appeal for his arrest.
Alan Leslie Watkins, 24, from Newport, took to the social networking site saying "Catching me is like keeping up with Usain Bolt, impossible" after Gwent Police launched an appeal to find him.
Watkins was released from prison in May last year half way through a one year seven month sentence for assault occasioning actual bodily harm but is now being sought by police for breaching his license conditions. When he is caught he will be recalled to prison to finish his sentence.
Gwent Police posted the appeal for information on its Facebook site and on the South Wales Argus website on Monday, with Watkins sharing the piece with his friends an hour later, adding the caption: "Wow I'm on the Gwent police site. You catch me if you can do ur f****** job."
Over the next three hours, he talks with friends about the appeal for his arrest, saying things like "they could have put a better pic up".
He boasted "I’m too fast for them, trust me" and "I aint getting caught". Then replied to friends' posts with comments like "whoop whoop", "they can jog on".
His own Facebook account is under the name Alan 'Dipper Boss' Watkins and he states he is a plasterer from Newport and his current location is ‘on the naughty step’.
One friend asks "what you done now?", and he alludes to a violent crime, while another says jokingly: "Ha ha, you can run but you can’t hide. They found you once and they’ll find you again."
Watkins, also known as Alan Martin Launder, was posting again today on the social networking site, saying: "freedom or prison? That is the question", contemplating giving himself up. But, he resolved "Freedom, make them work for a change".
A friend posted "Police banging my door yesterday looking for you, I’m not happy about it".
Gwent Police declined to comment on the criminal's boasts.
Do you know the wanted man?
Watkins is five feet nine inches tall, of a medium build and hazel eyes and is known to frequent the Cwmbran and Newport areas.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Gwent Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111
Comments(8)
pwharley
says...
2:43am Wed 13 Feb 13
gathin
says...
3:09am Wed 13 Feb 13
Jedi Master Katarn
says...
8:42am Wed 13 Feb 13
pwharley wrote:Firstly, this is technically and physically impossible to do from a Facebook account, message, comment.
Surely the police can track him down via the IP address?
Secondly, even if they were able to trace an IP address via his communications (which is not to an exact location but to an approximate), they would have to be online as he did it and have a unit at the supposed location to arrest him simultanously.
Thirdly, there are specific laws that prevent them from doing this and they have to 'have a warrant' to do so.
alongfortheride
says...
9:20am Wed 13 Feb 13
gathin wrote:People like you really get up my nose. Please evidence your ridiculous statement or go home. I read in the argus this week about them putting down a drugs ring where one had near 18 years, a paedophile andan article on community policing. So clearly they are doing more than that.
If they actually gave a monkey's i'm sure they could. They're far too busy fining the public with "parliamentary acts" on the public to do any proper police work.
No doubt you are someone who has been fined and is disgruntled by the fact you couldn't do what you wanted without consequence. Either parking or speeding. Go tell someone who's child gets hit outside a school due to some idiot parking badly, or someone who has died because of an idiot driver speeding that the police should do better things than issue tickets for these offences.
gathin
says...
10:15am Wed 13 Feb 13
ianzemma
says...
11:00am Wed 13 Feb 13
portforever
says...
11:36am Wed 13 Feb 13
gathin says...
1:55am Wed 13 Feb 13
I hope the coppers do their job and nab him really soon.