Bamford siege man sentenced

Date published: 02/10/2008

The man that barricaded himself into his house on Midge Hall Drive after it was repossessed, has been sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work under a two-year community order.

Peter Sastawnyuk, 53, threatened to set himself on fire during a five-hour siege at his Bamford home last month. The father of two locked himself inside the house with gallons of petrol, Rochdale Magistrates' Court heard.

He pleaded guilty to wasting police time.

Sastawnyuk fell into financial difficulty when an accident in 2006 left him unable to work.

He was evicted in August after he failed to make a mortgage payment on his home. He had taken out a £300,000 loan to buy the house, which was valued at £370,000, but earlier this year it became clear that he could not afford the repayments.

In protest at the repossession he claimed squatter's rights and phoned his doctor and told him that he was going to set himself on fire.

The Midge Hall Drive property is now up for sale, priced £250,000.