The Gazette can reveal in an exclusive set of pictures the police carrying out a raid at the legal high shop in Ryde “Space Inc 2″.
Shortly after 3.30pm on Wednesday August 18 two CID officers followed by four uniform police officers moved in to carry out the dramatic raid.
A simultaneous raid took place at Spaced Inc in Newport. Officers arrested one man at each store accused of selling mind-bending drug Ivory Wave. Chef Michael Bishton plunged 300ft to his death from a cliff in Culver Down after taking Ivory Wave.
A spokesman for Hampshire and IW Police said “Two police operations were carried out on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at shops suspected of selling illegal drugs and ‘legal high’ substances.
Officers visited a shop in Ryde High Street where a 32-year-old man from Sandown was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a class B drug, and on suspicion of distributing a harmful substance under General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
Police also visited a shop in Orchard Street, Newport, where a 49-year-old man from Newport, Isle of Wight was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a class B drug, and on suspicion of supplying hazardous materials contrary to General Product Safety Regulations 2005.
Both men were taken to Newport Police Station for questioning.
These arrests were part of a police operation, which had been planned in response to reports about the supply of illegal drugs and ‘legal high’ substances on the Island.
The arrests are not directly linked to police enquiries into the death of Michael Bishton.
An inquest into Michael Bishton’s death was opened and adjourned at the Isle of Wight Coroner’s Court today (Wednesday, August 18) when the preliminary results of his post-mortem examination were made public. The cause of his death was a brain injury, skull fractures and a multi-organ injury.
The results of toxicology tests on Michael Bishton’s body are expected in several weeks’ time.
His death is not being treated as suspicious by the police. There is no evidence at this time to confirm a link between legal high substances and Michael Bishton’s death.
Police are grateful for information from the community about the circumstances surrounding Michael Bishton’s last known movements.
Anyone with information about the circumstances surrounding the death is asked to contact Newport Police Station by phoning 101. From outside Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, call the police on 0845 045 45 45. Mini-Com users can call the police on 01962 875000. Information can be given anonymously by phoning the independent Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.
