Posted on 07/22/2009 11:05:38 AM PDT by Stoat
Martin Bentham, Home Affairs Editor
Specialist officers raided the girl's home in Croydon
A 13-year-old girl has been arrested by armed Met police after a sub-machinegun was found in her wardrobe.
The weapon was discovered when a specialist anti-gang crime squad of 15 officers with hydraulic battering rams and combat shields raided the girl's home in Croydon.
She was detained on suspicion of possessing a firearm, an offence which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for adults and three for juveniles.
The raid, which police say is likely to be followed by further arrests, will prompt renewed fears that older criminals are involving children in gun and gang crime and using them to look after weapons.
Police declined to comment on the background to the arrest but said the raid was part of an operation by the Aries squad in Croydon which targets criminal gangs.
A Met spokesman said: “A 13-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm and taken to a south London police station. The weapon was a sub-machinegun. She has been bailed and further arrests are anticipated.”
Sergeant Darin Birmingham, who led the raid, added: “We received information that the young man living here, who is a known gang member, had access to firearms.”
In the raid yesterday afternoon, armed officers sealed off the Monks Hill Estate in Shirley and people were told to stay in their houses. A hydraulic battering ram was used to force the door of the flat where the girl was in Tedder Road.
Those were made right here in Anderson, Indiana and a lot of people here have them. It’s no big thang.
Are they Class 3 exempt, or have they been modified to only shoot semi-auto?
ha! ha! A GREASE GUN!!!!
Those were mass-produced stamped things!
Kinda point in a general direction and let it rip.
Even the full auto often became semi-auto since they would jam like Grand Funk Railroad.
I just helped a guy toward paying the fee ($200?) so his was full auto, I’ve never heard of a semi-auto M-3.
FYI, the plant here also made those `one-shot’ pressed steel, use a gun, get a gun, .45 pistols provided to the French resistance.
Fortunately there are strict gun laws in the UK so kids can never get their hands on guns...
...er...
How’s I supposed know she was 13, your honor?
Kewl! Legally registered grease guns are worth thousands in the US. Actually, I think they work pretty well if the magazines are in good shape. Mags are the usual weak spot in full and semi-autos. That was the main problem with the Sten gun.
Kewl. Evansville made the landing ships that delivered tanks to Normandy. We’ve got one on display down at the river. Still works, too.
It’s grease gun Barbie hosing down Ken after he stumbled in at 3 AM with lipstick on his collar, liquor on his breath and lovin’ on his mind.
Ah.. the “Liberator”. Those things look like they are just as dangerous from the breech end as the muzzle.
According to other sources, the weapon is not at WW2 -vintage 'grease gun' as suggested by The Evening Standard. Perhaps this was a matter of weapon-ignorant Socialists using any old stock photo for their article because "all guns are evil and they're the same".
Teenage girl arrested after assault rifle found in room The Sun News
Violent ... teen was found with M4 CQB rifle
The converted M4 CQB was discovered under a wardrobe during a raid targeting gangs in South London.
Cops received a tip-off it was being stored there.
Around 15 armed CO19 officers used hydraulic battering rams to blow off the doors of her parents' flat in Shirley, near Croydon.
Officers raced inside with combat shields shouting: "Armed police, get on the ground."
The girl was arrested on suspicion of possessing the firearm which was under a wardrobe wrapped in clothes.
It his thought her 17-year-old brother had been storing it for older gang members.
Sergeant Darin Birmingham, who led the raid, said: "We received information that the young man living there - a known gang member - had access to firearms.
"We pieced together the information we had and decided to act immediately in case the firearm was used.
"If we get this information we will act as swiftly as we can to take these guns off the streets.
"If you mess around with weapons we will be at your front door and you will come face to face with an armed response unit, we will not tolerate the use of weapons in this borough."
Roads were cordoned off on the Monks Hill Estate and people told to stay in their houses as the heavily armed officers made their way to the building.
Cops armed with sub-machine guns sealed off the property on Tuesday searching for the automatic weapon.
Scotland Yard said: "A girl - aged 13-years - was arrested for possession of a firearm and taken to a South London police station. She has been bailed to return. Further arrests are anticipated."
Schoolgirl, 13, arrested after sub-machine gun found in her wardrobe Mail Online
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:36 PM on 22nd July 2009
A 13-year-old schoolgirl has been arrested by armed police - after they discovered a sub-machine gun in her wardrobe.
The teenager was taken into custody yesterday afternoon after the M16-style rifle - capable of firing up to 900 rounds-per-minute - was seized at a flat in Croydon, South London.
Around 15 officers carrying sub-machine guns, hydraulic battering rams and combat shields raced to the address after hearing reports of the weapon on the estate.
An M16-style rifle: Police seized a similar type of weapon from the 13-year-old girl's wardrobe in Croydon
They forced the door open and stormed into the flat shouting: 'Armed police, get on the ground.'
After they secured the flat, Sergeant Darin Birmingham and his team searched the rooms, uncovering the weapon wrapped in clothes under a wardrobe.
Sgt Birmingham said: 'We received information that the young man living here, who is a known gang member, had access to firearms.
'We pieced together the information we had and decided to act immediately in case the firearm was used.
'The people of Croydon need to know that if we get this information we will act as swiftly as we can to take these guns off the streets.
'If you mess around with weapons we will be at your front door and you will come face to face with an armed response unit.
'We will not tolerate the use of weapons in this borough.'
A police spokesman said: 'A girl - aged 13 - was arrested
(edit)
My daddy carried one of those weapons for a while,said
it was better than it looked
Made by Singer Corp I believe?
Guide made the M-3 when the M-1 Thompson became just too expensive and time consuming.
As I type this, I’m sitting in my office, which is Guide’s last headquarters.
They went out of business two+ years ago and we bought the building.
1/5th of the guys in my department were at Guide then and totally screwed out of their pension and health benefits.
The “Liberator” pistol (FP-45) was a single-shot .45ACP that held the cartridge in the pistol grip (but not as a magazine). You are correct. It was also manufactured by Inland Guide (GM) right here in Anderson, Indiana.
Singer made a small number of M1911 .45ACP pistols during WWII.
IIRC, they’re some of the most sought after and valuable M1911s ever made.
Where you at?
I’m sitting in the last Guide headquarters right now.
I thought 'nicked' was slang for stolen?
Please see the update at post #31...it appears that the Evening Standard may have been lazy when posting a stock photo, and the weapon may have been an M-16 style instead.
My understanding is that 'nicked' can be used both as slang for stolen as well as for being arrested.
I'm sure that our friend Manc or other Brit Freepers can verify.
My understanding is that 'nicked' can be used both as slang for stolen as well as for being arrested.
I'm sure that our friend Manc or other Brit Freepers can verify.
lol
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