‘I found this 2ft sword caked in blood in my garden but the police don’t care’: Great-grandad, 85, unearths lethal blade but is told officers are TOO BUSY to help
- Stuart Ingram, 85, said that he found the blood-stained sword in his front garden
- He contacted West Midlands Police but they told him they were too busy to get it
- An officer later apologised to Mr Ingram and said police will come and collect it
Stuart Ingram, 85, said that he found the 2ft sword in his front garden in Dudley, West Midlands
A disabled pensioner who called 999 after finding an apparently blood-stained sword in his garden says police told him they were too busy to help.
Stuart Ingram, 85, who uses a walking frame to get around, said officers told him to take the weapon to a police station himself.
The widower insisted West Midlands Police should have taken the potentially dangerous weapon out of circulation and he feared the owner would now return to collect it.
‘I did everything I thought I should do. The police were a waste of time in this case. Now I’m stuck with a deadly weapon and the police couldn’t care less.’
Mr Ingram, who has six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, was tending the front garden of his home in Dudley, West Midlands, on Monday when he saw the sword, which appears to have blood stains on the blade.
The retired foundry business owner said: ‘I was shocked. I could see blood caked on the bladed edge and my first thought was it could have been used to stab someone. I brought it back into the house and just laid it on the table and thought, “What should I do?”
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‘I read about the police being keen to crack down on knife crime and thought this might help solve a crime or at least take a dangerous weapon out of circulation.’
He said he called police and explained what he had found.
‘This chap came on the phone. He was very, very short with me,’ he recalled. The call handler refused to send anyone to pick up the sword, telling Mr Ingram ‘we are far too busy’ and ‘the best thing is for you to bring it down to the police station’.
He added that he found blood caked on the bladed edge of the sword (pictured) and feared that it could have been used to stab someone
‘I told him I can’t walk without a zimmer frame,’ said the pensioner. ‘He said, “You carried it in from the hedge didn’t you?” I was just about to tell him my address when he put the phone down. I have never been so annoyed.’
Home Office figures showed the West Midlands has had the highest increase in knife crime outside of London.
Forces have been accused of failing to investigate crimes, but say they are struggling to cope with demand.
Lyndsey Swallow of West Midlands Police said the force accepted that ‘the caller’s experience was unacceptable’.
She apologised to Mr Ingram and said the call-handler who dealt with him had been spoken to. She added that officers will now collect the sword.
However, West Midlands Police were ‘very short’ with him and said they wouldn’t collect it – though another officer later apologised
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