Cornwall Garage Chaos: Man Jailed After Rooftop Standoff and Threats to Blow Up Station

A man who caused a three-hour rooftop standoff at a Cornwall garage, sparking a major emergency response and road closure, has been jailed for more than two years.

The Incident

Lawry Alison, 24, from Polstain Road in Threemilestone, stole alcohol from Biscovey garage before returning to the scene, becoming violent and making threats to set the site on fire.

The court heard how, on 15th September 2025, Lawry barged his way out of the store with a bottle of wine and later attempted to re-enter by kicking and pulling at the door. When he couldn’t get back inside, he moved to the fuel pumps, gesturing that he had a lighter and would start a fire.

Staff quickly disabled the pumps, but the situation escalated when Lawry climbed onto the garage roof. The incident led to a large-scale response from emergency services and a road closure lasting around three hours.

While on the roof, Lawry damaged cabling and antennas and shouted racist abuse at staff, also threatening to blow up police officers and the garage if anyone approached.

Earlier Assault

Just days earlier, on 6th September, Lawry had shouted abuse at a man before striking the victim twice in the face, causing facial injuries.

The Court Hearing

At Truro Crown Court on Friday 24th October, Lawry pleaded guilty to several offences, including intentionally or recklessly causing public nuisance, criminal damage, assault, theft from a shop, threat to damage by fire, and a racially aggravated public order offence.

He was sentenced to 27 months in prison.

Police Response

Officer in the case PC Zachary Pomeroy said:

“We welcome the sentence given by the court to Lawry Alison.

This was a prolonged incident which resulted in significant loss to the business and disruption to people in the area.

But most importantly, Alison’s actions were no doubt absolutely terrifying for garage staff and those present at the time.”