Ellesmere drug dealer who kicked woman in the stomach escaped cops in cuffs with the help of his mum

Owen Batha’s mother Laura Sudlow said her “maternal instincts took over” when officers tried to arrest him for a drugs offence.

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During the chaotic arrest attempt, police had the cuffs on Batha’s wrists, but his mum, her friend Debbie Jones and his fellow drug dealer Billy Joe Davies, ahed 22, helped stop the officer detaining him and Batha made a run for it.

Davies later filmed his dad cutting Batha’s cuffs off with an angle grinder and posted the video on Snapchat.

Shrewsbury Crown Court was told that on April 25, 2020, shortly after the Covid lockdowns were brought into force, an illegal gathering was taking place in an area of Ellesmere where 23-year-old Batha lived.

Sudlow, 44, and Jones, 43, appeared “intoxicated” to the officer on the scene. It turned out they had been at the funeral of a friend earlier in the day.

There were five others present, but two left the scene.

The officer asked Sudlow about Batha, as he wanted to speak to him about a drugs offence, before he found Davies there.

Batha then appeared and went straight to the back door. The officer detained Batha and put cuffs on him, but Batha shouted Davies for help to get the police off him.

Davies and another man arrived, and the officer called for back up and used Pava spray on one of the men.

The officer was pushed up against the wall and obstructed from arresting Batha by several people including his mum and Jones.

Later on, Davies videoed his dad cutting Batha’s handcuffs off with an angle grinder and posted the clip to Snapchat. His phone was later seized by police and had a number of text messages on it relating to the cutting of the cuffs.