POLICE who forced their way into a Darwen house which had been barricaded from the inside found Jonathan Irlam hiding in the attic.

Blackburn magistrates heard that Irlam told police he did not know where the man they were looking for was, even though at the time he was hiding under a cot mattress less that 6ft away.

Irlam, 20, of Birch Grove, Middleton, Manchester, pleaded guilty to obstructing a police officer and was fined £100 with £40 costs.

John Dewhurst, defending, said his client accepted that he had lied to the police, telling them the other man might have gone to Rochdale, when he was actually less than 6ft away.