TERROR POLICE LOSE THE PLOT!
Cops feared veg king was making bomb
A CHAMPION giant veg grower who bought fertiliser and pipes online was quizzed by police who feared he was making a bomb.
But green-fingered John Handrahan-Cook actually bought the items to help grow his award-winning, supersized marrows, onions and runner beans.
The 47-year-old bought 55lb of calcium nitrate fertiliser – which is explosive – and growing tubes as well as screws and plastic sheeting to build an onion house.
But his online purchases were flagged up to police as potential terrorist activity.
He then had the shock of his life when police turned up on his doorstep to question him.
Officers told him the goods he had bought could be used to make pipe bombs.
He said: “They told me it was because I had ordered a lot of fertiliser.
“I started to think about what I had ordered – the pipes, the fertiliser, the screws, the plastic – and realised it was basically what you need for a bomb.”
The keen gardener, from Nottinghamshire, had purchased the horticultural materials in April, September and October from eBay to help him boost the size of his produce.
The online auction site then reported his account to police.
John managed to convince the two officers that he was using the calcium nitrate to grow his huge veg, even showing them the certificates he had been awarded with.
The stepdad-of-two also showed them around his plot, in which he is currently growing massive marrows and onions. He said: “I buy the fertiliser in bulk to get the price down. The officers seemed quite satisfied when I gave them the tour of the veg patches and was able to prove I was growing giant veg and not making bombs.”
John began growing veg when he was four, but started cultivating oversized vegetables five years ago.
In September he took first place at a show for his 70lb marrow and 29in runner beans, and won second prize for his onions. He also grows giant varieties of beetroot, marrows, celery and potatoes.
He said that him being cautioned by cops has become a running joke in the community.
He said: “We joke that the police would think we were making bombs – or growing cannabis. But this is the first time I’ve heard it happen.”
Last week a German pensioner sparked a bomb scare over an “unexploded World War Two shell” that turned out to be a huge courgette.
The unnamed 81-year-old rang police in Bretten, near the city of Karlsruhe, to check the object in his garden.
But it was actually a huge courgette measuring 16 inches and weighing 11lbs.
Police said in a statement that the vegetable, which was almost black in colour, did resemble a bomb and that it was believed to have been thrown over a fence and into the man’s garden.
‘I thought about what I’d bought – pipes, fertiliser, screws – and realised it looked dodgy’