A two-week operation targeting wanted individuals - including people sought for burglary, sexual offences, serious assaults, recall to prison and failing to attend court – resulted in more than 50 arrests.
Operation Merlin is Cumbria Constabulary’s on-going operation seeking out wanted individuals, including through the execution of warrants at addresses.
The most recent operation ran from 2 February 2026 to 13 February 2026.
Week One
Monday (2 Feb)
Operation Merlin officers made a total of nine arrests in the south of the county.
Three individuals sought for failing to attend court were arrested and handed to the courts.
Two men wanted in other police areas were arrested and handed over to the respective forces.
A Windermere man was arrested on suspicion of being over the drug-drive limit but subsequently released with no further action.
A Carlisle man was arrested on suspicion of harassment and subsequently bailed.
Shaun Nelson, aged 30, of Rawlinson Street in Barrow was arrested on suspicion of shoplifting. He was subsequently charged with five counts of theft from shop and one count of common assault. He was bailed to attend Barrow Magistrates’ Court on 6 April 2026.
Tuesday (3 Feb)
Operation Merlin officers made eight arrests in the Carlisle and West Cumbria areas.
Three individuals from Carlisle – two men and a woman – were arrested for recall to prison.
A further three men – from Maryport, Whitehaven and the Kendal area – were arrested for failing to attend court.
A seventh man wanted by another force for offences including possession of an offensive weapon a criminal damage was arrested.
An eighth man – Garry Bedford, 55, of Hawthorns Close, Distington, was arrested and subsequently charged with disqualified driving and driving without insurance. He was bailed to attend Workington Magistrates’ Court on 3 March 2026.
Thursday (5 Feb)
A further seven arrests were made, including a 17-year-old from Kendal who was subsequently charged with a number of offences including possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs, dangerous driving, driving without insurance and driving without a license.
Further arrests included a Milnthorpe man sought for coercive and controlling behaviour and a man of no fixed address sought for stalking.
Officers also arrested an Appleby man sought on suspicion of drink driving and two men from Barrow for failing to attend court.
A Carlisle man was also arrested for failing to attend court.
Friday (6 Feb)
Ten further arrests were made on Friday, including two people subsequently charged with offences.
Roxanne Irving, 38, of Bower Street in Carlisle was arrested and charged with breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO), two thefts from shop and assault. She attended Carlisle Magistrates' Court on 12 February where she denied assault and one shop theft, whilst admitting breach of her CBO and another shop theft. She is next due at Carlisle Magistrates' Court on 12 March 2026.
Byron Rodgers, 35, of Mawsons Court, Cockermouth was arrested and charged with a public order offence, two counts of theft from shop, assaulting an emergency worker and possession of a Class A drug (cocaine). He was bailed to attend Carlisle Magistrates’ Court on 17 March 2026.
A Workington man was arrested on suspicion of fraud and subsequently bailed.
Officers also arrested a man from Carlisle sought for assault. He was subsequently bailed.
Also arrested were two women and a man sought for failing to appear at court and a man who had breached the terms of his electronic tag, as well as two men for recall to prison.
An additional Op Merlin arrest was made on Saturday (7 Feb). Andrew Mitchell, 37, of Ravenstone Way, Carlisle, was charged with shop theft. He admitted the offence at court and was sentenced to a conditional discharge.
Week Two
Monday (9 Feb)
Op Merlin officers in West Cumbria targeted four men wanted for offences including conspiracy to burgle - including the targeting of quad bikes in rural areas.
The men – aged between 20 and 35 - were bailed with conditions not to associate with each other, and overnight curfews with a requirement to present to police.
Officers also arrested a Carlisle man for breach of court bail and a Whitehaven man wanted for recall to prison.
Tuesday (10 Feb)
Officers arrested a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old – both from Barrow – on suspicion of dangerous driving. Both were subsequently bailed.
A man from the Windermere area was arrested for failing to attend court.
Officers also arrested two from Carlisle who were wanted for shop theft offences. Darren Matthews, 53, of John Street, Carlisle, was subsequently charged with shop theft and bailed to attend Carlisle Magistrates’ Court on 23 March 2026.
Wednesday (11 Feb)
Officers arrested a 30-year-old man wanted for a series of offences. Allan Mattinson, of Kirkbride, Cumbria, was subsequently charged with offences including intentional strangulation, coercive or controlling behaviour, harassment and criminal damage.
He attended Carlisle Magistrates' Court on 13 February for a first hearing. He is due at Carlisle Crown Court next month.
Officers also arrested three men sought for failure to attend court and one man for recall to prison.
Friday (13 Feb)
Police arrested a 19-year-old from the Penrith area who was wanted for sexual assault. He was subsequently released on bail.
A man aged 66 of no fixed address sought for assault occasioning actual bodily harm was arrested and subsequently bailed.
A 27-year-old woman from Barrow and a 39-year-old man of no fixed address were arrested for failing to attend court.
Superintendent Matt Pearman said: “Operation Merlin continues to yield results and more than 50 arrests over the two weeks is a significant achievement.
“We will continue to target those individuals who are wanted by the police, the courts and the prison service and I would urge anyone who is aware they are sought by the police to come forward today before our officers visit your address.
“Often the intelligence for making such arrests comes from within local communities so I continue to urge people to report individuals who are committing criminality or who are wanted by the police, so action can be taken.”
You can report online at www.cumbria.police.uk/reportit
You can also phone on 101.
Alternatively you can contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Always call 999 in an emergency, including when a crime is in progress.