Help From Abroad: UK Police Save Woman in Canada From Intruder After Mistake Call

Andrea Arthur, the inspector and head of the force control room in the Durham, UK police station said that officers would assist in rescuing a vulnerable victim regardless of where they live.

Last week, British police helped to rescue a Canadian woman living 3,000 miles away after she wrote to them by mistake, saying someone had broken into her home. UK’s Durham Constabulary received a message via its online service about an intruder in Durham, Canada, according to CBC News.

"I need help, he is going to come, he is in the house," the woman wrote.

Inspector Hallett, of Communications/9-1-1 “This is certainly a success story of international cooperation between 2 comm centres separated by tremendous distance. We are grateful for the assistance of our @DurhamPolice colleagues in ensuring we received this critical info. https://t.co/28y8YAjZHO

— Durham Regional Police (@DRPS) February 11, 2022

Realising the woman had meant to contact a different law enforcement force in another country, the call handler, without closing the chat with woman’s message, asked his colleagues to contact police officers at Durham Regional Police Service in Ontario.

"This was an unusual incident and a very distressing situation for the victim, but the team remained calm and managed to help our Canadian colleagues resolve the situation quickly and professionally," Andrea Arthur, the inspector and head of the force control room in UK, said as quoted by CBC News.

According to Durham Constabulary, the suspect was tasered and eventually arrested about half an hour after the victim wrote her message.