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Armed police arrested a drug dealer after a pursuit through the streets of a historic UK city and were left stunned after finding a deadly crossbow in his car. Matthew Grieves, 27, suddenly drove off on January 27, 2026, when a suspicious police patrol in the Tunstall area of Stoke-on-Trent spotted him.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard how a Staffordshire Police armed response unit was dispatched to stop him, but he ignored their requests and continued driving through the city's streets. After a minor collision with the driver of another vehicle, Grieves ditched the car on the roundabout at the junction of Reginald Mitchell Way and the A500.

He fled the mangled wreckage on foot and tried to evade officers by hiding.

But Staffordshire Police said: "A police dog quickly sniffed him out around a mile away from the scene of the collision, and he was arrested.

"When we searched the car, we found cannabis inside and a crossbow."

On Monday, March 2, Grieves, of no fixed address, was admitted to possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, possession with intent to supply Class B drug cannabis, driving a motor vehicle dangerously and using a motor vehicle without third-party insurance.

He was remanded into custody on April 29 to face a likely lengthy prison sentence.

Speaking outside court, PC Brittany Astley - of Staffordshire Police's city proactive team - said: "Greaves put himself and others in harm's way in his dangerous attempts to avoid being caught with the drugs and crossbow.

"We're determined to keep working proactively to target those involved in drug supply across Staffordshire."

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Last May, The Express revealed how Labour is introducing two-step age verification to stop teenagers buying the lethal weapon on websites, in a partial victory for the Sunday Express Crackdown on Crossbows crusade.

Our campaign, launched on July 7, 2024, exposed how it was possible to buy a potentially deadly crossbow online for as little as £50 simply by sending a picture of a driving licence.

It was then delivered to a reporter's door with no further questions asked.

Our investigation came just days before deranged Kyle Clifford used a crossbow and knives to murder his former girlfriend, Louise Hunt, 25.

He also killed her sister, Hannah, 28, and their mother, Carol, 61, the wife of BBC racing commentator John Hunt, at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire.

Clifford, 26, received three whole-life orders for their murders in March 2025.