Geezah
03-11-2004, 10:31 AM
By LYNDSEY WEATHERALL
A GRAN taking photos in the dark with an infra-red camera was raided by armed police who thought she was wielding a rifle with a night sight.
They swooped on Maureen Jennings’ council bungalow at 1.30am.
And an officer phoned her to say: “We believe you have a rifle. Come out with your hands up.”
Maureen, 50, who is just 4ft 10ins and has a chronic heart condition, stepped outside to find six armed cops waiting for her.
They asked her if she had a gun. Maureen said she hadn’t but they raced into her home.
There was no weapon to be found, though — only the digital camera Maureen had been using at a window to snap yobs who have been plaguing her for two years.
At night, the camera gives off a red beam that can be seen when it reflects off glass.
Ex-nurse Maureen, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, said: “When the police came I thought it was a joke. It’s ridiculous to think I’d have a gun.”
She said they left without apologising and added: “I’ve been crying and shaking since then.”
Maureen, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, was trying to collect evidence about thugs who have trashed her car five times.
It is thought the cops were called by a yob who made up the rifle beam story.
Police said: “There was a report of a man with a gun."
This is what gets me "She said they left without apologising and added" completely unrepentant, why am I not surprised!
A GRAN taking photos in the dark with an infra-red camera was raided by armed police who thought she was wielding a rifle with a night sight.
They swooped on Maureen Jennings’ council bungalow at 1.30am.
And an officer phoned her to say: “We believe you have a rifle. Come out with your hands up.”
Maureen, 50, who is just 4ft 10ins and has a chronic heart condition, stepped outside to find six armed cops waiting for her.
They asked her if she had a gun. Maureen said she hadn’t but they raced into her home.
There was no weapon to be found, though — only the digital camera Maureen had been using at a window to snap yobs who have been plaguing her for two years.
At night, the camera gives off a red beam that can be seen when it reflects off glass.
Ex-nurse Maureen, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, said: “When the police came I thought it was a joke. It’s ridiculous to think I’d have a gun.”
She said they left without apologising and added: “I’ve been crying and shaking since then.”
Maureen, of Macclesfield, Cheshire, was trying to collect evidence about thugs who have trashed her car five times.
It is thought the cops were called by a yob who made up the rifle beam story.
Police said: “There was a report of a man with a gun."
This is what gets me "She said they left without apologising and added" completely unrepentant, why am I not surprised!