Drones: Call for all police forces to use devices after man's rescue

The granddaughter of a man whose life was saved by a police drone has called for every force to use them.

Roy Giblin was located by drone pilots 18 hours after going missing.

The 83-year-old, who has dementia, was spotted lying in long grass near Abergele last August.

North Wales Police said their drone unit had become a vital tool, including to help find missing people, monitor crime scenes and even to help control large gorse fires.

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'They saved my granddad'

Lauren Delaney says every police force should have drones

Mr Giblin's granddaughter Lauren Delaney said the outcome could have been "very, very different if it wasn't for the drone team".

Her grandfather, from Abergele in Conwy, was found in overgrown 4ft high grass near the town's railway station on 8 June.

"There were that many people on foot and a helicopter, but it was the drone team that found him in the end.

"I think it's time to push for every constabulary to have some drones, because look what they've done: they saved my granddad," she said.

North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin, who is deputy lead for police technology for the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said it was important to use drones responsibly.

"We have to be sensible in our approach and how people feel about them, because I really do recognise the ethics needed in operating drones and we do have treat things quite sensitively," he said.

'A real game-changer'

Sgt Paul Terry says the drone unit can help to find missing people or those absconding from officers

Sgt Paul Terry, who works in the force's drone unit, said colleagues' feedback was that this service was a "real game-changer".

"In the case of Mr Giblin we've been really blessed... we were in the right place at the right time, supported by our colleagues on the ground with some investigation tasks, and we were able to direct our search to the right place," he said.

Sgt Terry added that the unit could "really assist" with efforts to look for missing people or people that have absconded from the police.

The force's drones were deployed more than 350 times in the first three months after going operational in April.

North Wales Police drones have thermal imaging capacity

They have been credited with saving the lives of three missing people and helping the fire service reach a major gorse fire on Llantisilio mountain, near Llangollen, in June.

The high powered video cameras have thermal imaging capacity and a zoom enabling the pilot to tell the time on someone's wrist watch from high in the sky.

Roy Giblin was found by a police drone 18 hours after going missing