Five 'criminals' from Salisbury were arrested and charged with fictitious crimes on Friday to raise money for Salisbury Hospice Charity.
Across Salisbury, the criminals were arrested, before being sentenced at the Guildhall. Despite some non-guilty pleas, they were all found guilty and locked away in a jail at Live Escape Rooms.
READ MORE: PHOTOS: 5 people 'arrested and jailed' for Salisbury Hospice Charity
Corporate fundraiser at Salisbury Hospice Charity, Louise Compton said: “I‘ve seen this happen up and down the country and I thought it looked like so much fun.
“I got the idea in November and have been recruiting people since then - we’re putting fun into fundraising.
“We’re so grateful for the support from the community and the police doing the arrests, giving up their time for that because they really wanted to volunteer – they did not do it on any police time and the arrests were just fantastic.
“The charity aims to raise £1.5m a year but we can’t do it on our own. It’s a real team effort.”
One of the prisoners, Craig Hicks from Salisbury Radio, was arrested for “stealing all the chocolate biscuits”.
He said: “It’s a fun way to raise money – the hospice is our chosen charity that we back at the radio and we have a nice relationship.
“I’ve been sat on my phone trying to get as much money as possible from a mix of friends, family and radio clients.”
In the next cell, employees of Brighter Days Care Emma Belcher, arrested for “confectionery coercion” and Zena Embleton, arrested for being a “sugar rush robber” spent their time laughing away.
Emma said: “Lots of our clients use the hospice so we wanted to give something back. We have just been laughing away – it’s what our office is like.”
Zena added: “It’s so lovely to do something where we can just be ourselves and give something back – it feels good.”
Patrick Pierce, store manager at Tesco Extra, was arrested in Tesco Express for “chronic habitual tardiness” – well known at work for being fashionably late.
He said: “Our store supports the charity - we lost a manager a year ago and the hospice cared for them. It’s our way of giving back.”
He’s managed to get donations from customers, friends, and colleagues.
Patrick added: “I think some of them may be paying to keep me in!”
Finally, a mystery prisoner, Trevor Austreng, was charged for retiring after 50 years working at Fawcetts. He shared a cell with Emma and Zena.
He said: “I’ve been arrested for five counts but I am not guilty of any of them! Actually, life in jail is not too bad, we had a lovely pizza, a coke and a mug of coffee. And I’ve had two lovely friends to spend my time with."
All prisoners have reached their target amount of £999 but continue to fundraise. You can visit the Salisbury Hospice Facebook Page to donate.
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