Full Breakdown
99 Pyramid Rings Seized Ahead of Appleby Horse Fair
6/6/2026, 9:20:00 PM
Police Seize 99 Pyramid Rings En Route to Appleby Horse Fair
On the morning of 5 June 2024, Cumbria Police stopped a van bound for the Appleby Horse Fair’s trading fields and seized 99 pyramid rings – gold-band jewellery topped with a pyramid – deemed capable of causing significant injury. The rings will be destroyed.
Appleby Horse Fair: Event Profile and Prior Enforcement
The Appleby Horse Fair, a five-day event that takes place between 4 June and 10 June each year, attracts thousands of visitors to its market fields. Police and Trading Standards have previously targeted the fair for counterfeit goods and imitation firearms, prompting heightened vigilance. On the opening day, a joint operation seized counterfeit merchandise and realistic air weapons, reflecting the heightened vigilance described by police and Trading Standards.
Lead Officers and Agencies
Operation leader Dan St Quintin serves as Gold Commander for the fair within Cumbria Police. Trading Standards manager Catherine Hornby of Westmorland and Furness Council coordinated the joint raid, using intelligence from outside the region.
Seized Items and Risk Assessment
Police reported seizing exactly 99 pyramid rings, alongside dozens of realistic air weapons, BB pellets, several vapes, children’s toys and perfumes. Authorities classified the rings as capable of inflicting ‘significant injury’.
Police and Trading Standards Statements
Cumbria Police described the seizure as proactive work to keep people from all communities safe and warned that anyone attempting to bring knives, imitation firearms or air weapons will be ejected. Trading Standards praised the joint operation for preventing counterfeit goods from reaching the market fields.
Verbatim Quotes
- “This is another example of our officers carrying out proactive work to keep people from all communities safe.” — Dan St Quintin, Cumbria Police Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Fair
- “Anyone who thinks it is acceptable to bring items such as air weapons, imitation firearms, knives or other such items to sell at the event can expect to have such goods seized and be ejected from the area.” — Dan St Quintin, Cumbria Police Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Fair
- “We’re pleased that this successful joint operation with the police, working on shared intelligence from outside the area, has prevented counterfeit goods from reaching the market fields at Appleby Horse Fair and resulted in the seizure of a number of unsafe items.” — Catherine Hornby, Trading Standards manager for Westmorland and Furness Council
- “There have been numerous examples around the country of such rings being used to cause significant injury to people, so I welcome the fact we have been able to seize these items and have them destroyed before they are made available for sale.” — Dan St Quintin, Cumbria Police Gold Commander for Appleby Horse Fair
Ongoing Monitoring During the Fair
Police and Trading Standards will continue to work closely throughout the fair, maintaining monitoring of the market fields for any further prohibited items, with intelligence support from outside the area.
