It’s a bombshell for burglary victim... and his neighbours
POLICE CLOSE STREETS AFTER FINDING OLD GRENADE WHILE INVESTIGATING HOUSE RAID
A DAD-OF-THREE who collects war memorabilia sparked an evacuation of his street when police found his decommissioned grenade after he’d been burgled.
Simon Hall, 34, only moved into his room on Dover Street, Rochdale, a few weeks ago after he’d been given the news that his mum had passed away.
However, on Saturday, someone smashed their way through Simon’s window to steal his laptop and disability money.
And when police arrived to investigate the burglary, they found the dad’s decommissioned grenade, the pride and joy of his war memorabilia collection he bought at a market.
When Simon couldn’t provide the paperwork to prove it was no longer explosive, officers were forced to evacuate two streets and call in the bomb squad and took the grenade away.
“I got it off a market stall about ten years ago, the guy said it had been decommissioned in 1836 when the pin had been pulled in battle,” Simon said.
“That was one of the only things that survived my relationship with my ex and now that’s something I’m never going to get back, it’s lost forever.”
After growing up in foster care, Simon spent a large portion of life homeless, sleeping on the streets of Greater Manchester, and was grateful to start looking towards a brighter future.
But he says he has been left devastated after the burglary.
He said: “I went out on my scooter for about an hour to go and get some chicken for my dinner and now I’ve lost everything.
“When I came back I caught him coming out of my room and I asked for my stuff back four times before I called the police.
“He’s taken all my money too, I was saving up for a new scooter and he’s stolen all my money, it was the only thing I’ve been looking forward to.”
Simon, who suffers from a condition in his spine that causes him a lot of pain, has to use a walking aid to help move about.
He enjoys using his electric scooter to get around as it helps to give him freedom – but now he feels trapped as his current device has some electrical problems, and he was hoping to purchase a replacement.
Simon claims the man responsible for the burglary smashed his laptop on the street after the police had been called.
Police confirmed they were called at around 3.35pm to a report of a burglary at a property.
A spokesperson for GMP said: “Officers attended and upon entering the property a suspected grenade was found. Bomb disposal officers attended the scene to assess the device and it was deemed not to be viable.
“A man was arrested at the scene but later de-arrested.”