Police warning over replica guns after arrest in Malmesbury (From This Is Wiltshire)

Police warning over replica guns after arrest in Malmesbury

3:28pm Thursday 9th September 2010 in

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A teenager who waved a toy gun from the first floor window of a house in Malmesbury was arrested by armed police.

The incident took place at the home of Malmesbury Secondary School teacher Mike Neal but he had nothing to do with it.

He said: “I was on a carnival float at the time. It was a boy who shouldn’t have been in my house and I’ll leave it at that.”

The officers arrived in three police cars at the house above the vacant Wine Rack shop in the High Street.

They had been called out after passers-by saw the boy pointing the replica gun out of the window.

The incident happened at around 5pm on Saturday, just as the town was getting ready for the carnival procession.

The boy was taken to Malmesbury Police station and later released without charge. The plastic replica BB gun was destroyed.

Nearby shops and offices were mainly empty and many residents were away watching the carnival.

One woman saw the police arrive but didn’t realise they were armed. She said: “Some policemen were knocking on the door. I just thought someone had been locked out. Police were not pointing guns at the window or anything.”

Sgt Martin Alvis warned people against using replica guns in public. He said: “Some of these toys can look very similar to the real thing.

“We followed the usual procedure in responding to the call but in the end it was a false alarm.

“We spoke to the boy and his family and they were very embarrassed by the whole thing.”

The incident follows one last month in which police were called after boys aged ten and 11 were seen with replica firearms near Allington Way, Chippenham.

The toys, which were bought from Chippenham’s Poundland store, were confiscated.

At the time, Sgt Alex Reid denied being a killjoys by confiscating the guns but said: “Our number one priority is always public safety.”