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UK cops raid 'armed' teen's home
23/06/2006 19:13 - (SA)
London - Police raided a London house after being tipped off that someone inside was carrying a rifle - only to find it was a teenager with a replica gun.
Officers launched the raid on Monday night, after receiving a tip-off from what they described as "a credible witness", who reported seeing two youths in their late teens standing by the window armed with a rifle.
Police forced open the front door and searched the house. They took away a replica rifle, which police said looked similar to a genuine assault rifle.
The raid comes at a sensitive time for London's police, who have been criticised for raiding a house in Forest Gate, east London, on a tip-off which turned out to be misleading.
During that raid, which involved 250 officers, police shot and injured an innocent man.
Commenting on Monday's raid, police chief superintendent Bill Tillbrook said: "Armed officers will always respond to credible reports of guns being seen - the circumstances facing the officers meant they had no other option than to carry out this search.
'It only takes one trigger-happy cop'
"On this occasion, the gun seen was a replica. However, we have a duty to remove guns from the streets and protect everyone. As with most replicas, this gun has exactly the same appearance as a real gun.
"This was a considered and well-planned course of action for the officers to take - all the options were carefully considered in light of what police knew at that time."
The Evening Standard said the 15-year-old and his father were handcuffed during the raid, and quoted the father, John Trimbos, as saying he had been terrified.
"My initial reaction was that a drunk or drug addict had broken in and my first thought was to grab a heavy object to protect my family," he told the newspaper.
"Thank God I didn't because it only takes one trigger-happy cop. Words can't describe the feeling of seeing guns trained on your chest and your family."
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