I caught a machine gun in the canal
As Madonna prepares for her big birthday by posing for Vogue, JAN MOIR says she may look like she’s at a Saga sex party at Dracula’s castle — but thank heavens she’s still so gloriously bonkers!
A KEEN magnet fisherman was astonished to reel in a submachine gun from the depths of a quiet waterway.
Soldier Gareth Bryer, 36, whose hobby involves using a powerful magnet to find submerged metal items, landed the Mac 10 gun at Enfield Lock on north London’s Lee Navigation.
As he continued to search, he also found an ammunition magazine and a knife.
Mr Bryer, from Oldham, has found many discarded weapons in waterways around the north-west of England.
‘But never anything like this,’ he said. ‘A submachine gun is pretty big. I found the gun and then thought before ringing the police, “I’ll see what else I can find.” Then when I found the magazine as well I thought, “It’s time to ring the police.” ’
He said armed officers were on the scene within four minutes to retrieve the gun.
‘When I’ve done it in Manchester I’ve found the usual knives, a samurai sword and a crossbow and I’ve found two guns before too,’ said Mr Bryer. ‘I would say I’ve found at least 50 weapons and that’s just in Manchester.’
He has 10,000 followers on a YouTube channel where he posts videos of his finds.
Until 1988, Enfield was home to the Royal Small Arms factory which made British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816. It made the original version of the Lee-Enfield rifle, which was issued to British and Commonwealth troops throughout the early 20th century.
However, the Mac-10 submachine gun, also known as the M10, is an American model produced from 1970 to 1973 by the now-defunct Military Armament Corporation.