Operation overkill: Armed cops swoop on Action Man looking for a mortar after owner posts picture of TOY weapon on Facebook
- Ian Driscoll posted photo of Action Man as his profile picture on Facebook
- In the background was a toy mortar gun, about six inches tall
- More than a month later, five officers, including two armed with submachine guns, arrived at his home
Stormed: Armed police raced to the home of Ian Driscoll (pictured) after he posted a new profile picture on Facebook featuring an Action Man, along with a toy mortar gun in the background
There were five police officers at the door, two of them carrying submachine guns.
And they were ready to smash the door open so it was fortunate Ian Driscoll was in when they pulled up outside his home.
They had come in search of a deadly mortar tube – spotted in the background of a picture that Mr Driscoll had posted on Facebook.
Mr Driscoll, 43, did indeed have a mortar in the home and promptly showed it to the squad.
It was a toy.
After inspecting the model mortar, the rather embarrassed team of officers apologised and took their leave.
‘I couldn’t believe someone thought it was real,’ said Mr Driscoll, a model maker, at his home in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.
‘It’s tiny and quite clearly a toy. I can’t stop laughing. I think it’s hilarious.’
The mortar, or at least part of it, was featured in a picture Mr Driscoll took of an Action Man figure and a toy Alsatian dog.
He posted the picture on Facebook ‘as a laugh’ because he says he looks rather like the Action Man figure and owns an Alsatian.
The mortar was near to a TV remote control which showed how small it was. Nevertheless, someone called in the police.
Share this article
He says that the officers did manage to ‘see the funny side’ even though their mission had ended in farce.
Cause of alarm? The Facebook profile picture of Mr Driscoll showing an action man and his model mortar
Mr Driscoll said: ‘I was stunned. It was just mad. Five officers turned up in unmarked police cars.
‘They flashed the search warrant in my face and said it was lucky I was in so they didn’t have to break my door down. Everyone has been laughing about it and I think it’s funny. It’s so stupid.
‘The Action Man looked a bit like me so I decided to put it as my Facebook picture.
‘I didn’t even notice the mortar in the background.
‘Over a month later, there were the cops, threatening to bust down my door.’
Mr Driscoll posted the picture on December 7 and the police arrived at his home on January 28.
Mortars are portable, short-range weapons used to fire shells or bombs at a steep angle to drop them on to enemy lines.
'I think it's hilarious': Mr Driscoll said he couldn't believe someone thought the gun was real and reported it to the police
Gloucestershire police spokesman Alexa Collicott said: ‘The information was given to us in good faith and we acted with good intentions.
‘We are sure that the community would rather we acted quickly on information given to us of this nature, in case it had turned out to be a weapon.
‘The officers attending were hugely relieved that it wasn’t anything more sinister and we would much rather have a result like this than to put the public in harm’s way by not taking action.’
Most watched News videos
- Russian soldiers catch 'Ukrainian spy' on motorbike near airbase
- Helicopters collide in Malaysia in shocking scenes killing ten
- Rayner says to 'stop obsessing over my house' during PMQs
- Moment escaped Household Cavalry horses rampage through London
- New AI-based Putin biopic shows the president soiling his nappy
- Vacay gone astray! Shocking moment cruise ship crashes into port
- Shocking moment woman is abducted by man in Oregon
- Prison Break fail! Moment prisoners escape prison and are arrested
- Ammanford school 'stabbing': Police and ambulance on scene
- Columbia protester calls Jewish donor 'a f***ing Nazi'
- MMA fighter catches gator on Florida street with his bare hands
- Sir Jeffrey Donaldson arrives at court over sexual offence charges
