Bamford siege man withdraws appeal

The man that barricaded himself into his house on Midge Hall Drive after it was repossessed has withdrawn an appeal against his sentence for wasting police time.

Peter Sastawnyuk, 53, was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work under a two-year community order after he 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 had already completed the 150 hours work before his appeal was heard, so he withdrew it in court earlier this week. The two-year community order against him remains in place.

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.