Video footage showing four men from Lowestoft parachuting off buildings and climbing up cranes was played in court as they were found guilty of causing alarm and distress.

East Anglian Daily Times:

Matthew Adams, 23, of Raglan Street, Lowestoft; Javier Centeno-Gomez, 24, of Benacre Road, Ellough; Daniel Batchelor, 26, of Newark Road in Lowestoft and a 17-year-old boy also from Lowestoft appeared before Lowestoft Magistrates Court last Thursday where they were found guilty of causing alarm and distress to residents following several incidents in the Lowestoft area.

The court heard that the four men repeatedly put their own lives, and the lives of other members of the public, at risk by climbing and parachuting from buildings and structures in the north Suffolk town.

Video footage taken from their own head cameras showed the group lowering themselves over the edge of the roof and hanging off the side of St Peters Court in Lowestoft - 15 storeys above the ground.

In one instance they were directly above the main entrance door to the building, while they were also filmed climbing on a large crane at Clapham Road.

The court also saw footage of one of them parachuting from the wind turbine at Kessingland.

All four were handed criminal behaviour orders in court.

A statement issued by Suffolk police today said: “Police felt they had no alternative but to take action due to the extreme danger of their actions.

“As was pointed out during sentencing, they may have fallen and not only killed themselves but innocent passers-by on the ground.

“Evidence gathered by police showed they had repeatedly carried out the activity and had been posting footage on the internet.”

They were all found guilty of a section 5 public order offence of disorderly behaviour.

They were fined £205 each, including costs and a victim surcharge, and were each given a criminal behaviour order for two years.

It means that they cannot climb, walk, crawl, hang or be on the outside of any building or manmade structure in England and Wales over three metres from the surface below, unless it has been specifically designed for climbing, they have the written permission of the owner and appropriate safety equipment is used.

The order also includes requirements not to go beyond safety barriers on any building or structure and not to parachute off any structure without the written permission of the owner.