Moment thug tries to carjack police armed with a 'gun' made from a PAPER BAG

Daily Mail​

04-08-2025

CCTV footage has shown the moment a thug tried to carjack police officers - armed with a supposed 'gun' that was actually made from a Primark brown paper bag.
Matthew Sylvester, 37, was caught on camera chasing a police car while pointing the imitation firearm in Telford, Shropshire, on February 22, a court has been told.
Officers had been called after Sylvester tried to smash his way into a shop with a shopping trolley before indecently exposing himself to staff cashing up inside.
Shrewsbury Crown Court heard he then wrapped a jumper around his face and fashioned a gun from a brown Primark bag after learning police were on their way.
After spotting the patrol car enter the car park through the barrier, he immediately charged at the vehicle while brandishing his makeshift weapon.
Officers believed the firearm was genuine as it was dark and tried to flee the scene, only to get stuck behind the car park barriers.
The footage shows Sylvester then pointing the 'gun' at the passenger window before kicking the vehicle and trying to open the boot.
PC Dan Arthur and PC George Oliver bravely jumped from the vehicle before apprehending Sylvester following a short chase on foot.
It was only then that they established the firearm was in fact a brown paper bag Sylvester had folded in a way to mimic a handgun.
Sylvester, of no fixed abode, was arrested for a number of offences, including having an imitation firearm and assaulting an emergency worker.
He was charged with two counts of assaulting an emergency worker, possession of an imitation firearm to cause distress, possession of class A drugs and attempted burglary.
Sylvester has now pleaded guilty to all charges at Shrewsbury Crown Court half way through his week-long trial and was jailed for 19 months.
Sentencing, Recorder Anthony Warner told him: 'You spoke of a gun and the paper you had shaped certainly looked like a gun and that would have been very frightening to the police officers and anybody else who was there.'
The court was told Sylvester was having some sort of 'delusion' when he tried to batter down the door of the store at about 10pm in Telford town centre.
Prosecuting, Danny Smith, said the defendant was banging on the glass doors after the shop was closed and was urging staff to let him in.
Mr Smith said: 'He stated he had a gun and demanded the door was opened or he was going to shoot.
'It is fair to say, they (the store workers) never actually believed he had a gun so they took out a phone out and started recording him.'
He said Sylvester then used shopping trolleys to try to smash his way inside and when that failed 'lowered his trousers and showed his penis and buttocks'.
Police were called and two officers arrived on the scene.
Mr Smith said Sylvester then took out a 'brown Primark bag' that he had just fashioned it into a gun shape in a corner of the car park while also wrapping some black cloth around his face in a makeshift balaclava.
Mr Smith said: 'He shouted, "I have a gun", and aimed it at the police car and demanded the the officers both get out.
'When they refused, Sylvester attempted to open the boot to police car.
'Being concerned what he might take out of the car, the officers bravely got out.'
The court heard Sylvester had 34 previous convictions to his name, for 84 offences, and was on licence when the incident occurred - having just been released from prison for a 'similar offence'.
Paul Smith, defending, said Sylvester had been 'sleeping rough' due to being homeless after recently leaving prison and was having a 'delusional period', likely due to the cocaine he had been taking at the time.
Chief Inspector Matt Sanders, of West Mercia Police, said after the case: 'When officers are sent to an ongoing incident they are going into the unknown.
'That night, PC Arthur and PC Oliver responded to an attempted burglary, and came face-to-face with a man whose clear intention was to cause harm and distress to police.
'Sylvester's actions were calculated, going to great lengths to ensure officers were called to the scene, including threatening members of the public and trying to break into a shop.
'He covered his face with a jumper to ensure he wasn't recognised by officers before manipulating an object to look like a small firearm so he could threaten whoever was responding.
'The bravery and professionalism shown by both PCs that evening was nothing short of extraordinary.
'Fortunately, neither officer sustained any injuries, and Sylvester was swiftly arrested thanks to the quick thinking and actions of both officers that night, along with those who also came to their aid.
'No-one should come to work and face violence and we thank our officers that day for their bravery and dedication to keeping communities safe.'
In a video interview released following the case by West Mercia Police, the two officers have described the incident – and their fears at the time that they really did face a gunman who could shoot them.
PC Arthur recalled: 'It sort of takes you a minute to engage with what's going on. There's a figure, person, all balaclava'd up, masked up, pointing something at the car which you don't really want to take chances with.
'The second he's seen the car, he's just started sprinting towards the car but still holding it out like that.'
PC Oliver said: 'He was shouting at us, "I've got a gun – I'm going to shoot you, I've got a gun".
'So I told Dan we need to get out of here as quick as we can – so we drove off and he kept on following the car, but then we got to the barriers the other side where we couldn't get out.
'We're trained in dealing with lots of things and aggressive people, but we're not firearms officers.'
PC Arthur added: 'Then he's gone round to the back of the car and for some reason decided to open the boot and then I think that's the start of the point that we've both decided we'll get out.
'We just thought we try and get him into a position where we can properly search him and make sure that we're safe and any other officers that are coming would be safe as well.
'So once we've got him secured, I think that's when we've unravelled and realised that he's adapted something in a way that would quite easily mimic a firearm.'
'We then thought, we need to ID who this person is – so we've taken his face (covering) off and that was when we realised, yeah, it's Matty Sylvester.'
PC Oliver went on to say: 'We know that he's got a history of trying to assault police officers.'
And PC Arthur reflected: 'It's a pretty stressful situation to be in – it's one of the few times where you've thought, I hope I make it back.'
PC Oliver remembered: 'I'm sat in the car thinking, I might not actually be going home tonight.
'We've got no reason to believe that isn't real – you hear about all these stories of people that want to do police harm and you know there's terror attacks and stuff like that.
'So that's all going through your head when it's happening, going, is this actually really? Is this the time that we do get caught out?
'But after it's happened, you just have to look and go, actually these things don't happen that often.'