UPDATE: Can you help us find man wanted in connection with incident at East Surrey Hospital?

UPDATE issued on 28 January 2021

A man wanted in connection with an incident at East Surrey Hospital last week has been arrested this afternoon (28 January).

The 45-year-old man, of Maidstone, Kent, has been arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and is currently in custody.

The appeal was issued in connection with a public nuisance offence following an incident at the hospital last Thursday (21 January), and a report we received on Saturday (23 January), in relation to social media posts which included videos and abusive comments towards hospital staff.

On investigation, these posts related to an earlier incident at the hospital on Thursday 21 January when a number of people, some of whom were not wearing masks, gained access to the critical care ward to visit a family member and were abusive towards hospital staff when they were asked to do so. They also refused to leave. Officers attended and issued fines to two individuals involved for breaching covid restrictions and issued a breach of the peace warning which resulted in the group leaving the location.

A second man was also arrested this afternoon on suspicion of assisting an offender and is also in custody.

East Surrey Detective Chief Inspector Kimball Edey said: "The appeal generated hundreds of calls from members of the public with information as to his whereabouts and we would like to thank both them and the media for their help in tracking him down.

"I would also like to thank our colleagues at Kent Police, who assisted with the arrests.

"The man will be interviewed and further updates will be issued in due course."