Brighton man jailed after assault on woman and three-hour police stand-off

A Brighton man who assaulted a woman before a three-hour stand-off with police officers has been jailed.

Shortly after midnight on Thursday, 24 August, 2023, police were called to a property in High Street, Brighton, to reports of a woman being assaulted and threatened.

Officers attended the scene and Oliver Phipps, 39, of no fixed address, was found sat on a ninth-storey window ledge wielding two large knives.

Specialist negotiators engaged with Phipps for around three hours, while he threw items from the window, including a mirror and a bedside cabinet, to the street below.

Phipps was finally arrested after coming down from the ledge in the early hours of the morning.

He was subsequently charged with two counts of causing actual bodily harm, affray, criminal damage and intentional strangulation.

He pleaded guilty to affray, criminal damage and one count of causing actual bodily harm, and was found guilty of intentional strangulation.

He was found not guilty of one count of causing actual bodily harm.

At Lewes Crown Court on Friday (12 April), Phipps was jailed for three years and six months.

Detective Constable Stewart Cameron said: “Oliver Phipps is a dangerous offender, whose reckless behaviour endangered the lives of his victim, the officers at the scene and himself.

“It is testament to the work of the specialist negotiators on the morning of 24 August last year that this incident did not have a tragic outcome.

“I would also like to commend the victim for supporting this investigation throughout, and the quick-thinking member of the public who reported the assault.

“If you or someone you know is a victim of violence, please report it online or via 101. If it is as an emergency, always dial 999.”