Rehearsal that turned into a police drama
WHEN t he s ound of a man begging for his life drifted across a suburban street through a house’s open window, neighbours were quick to call the police.
A squad of 15 armed officers soon arrived and stormed the home – only to discover it was in fact an actor practising a part for an audition.
Simon Gordon, 25, was rehearsing the role of Carole King’s husband Gerry in Beautiful, the musical about the singer, with the help of his housemate Joel Harper-Jackson, who plays the part in the West End.
The pair, who share their home with two other actors, heard a knock at the door at 11. 0pm on Thursday and were surprised to find themselves face to face with armed police. The officers rushed into their home in Hither Green, south London, and held the men in the living room, before searching the house for a gun.
Mr Gordon, from Dundee, said: ‘It was an experience. The scene gets a bit heated, and one of the windows was open. Someone misconstrued the scene and called the police.
‘They had sniper rifles in the garden, they came into the house and searched every room. One of the boys, Rory Taylor, came out of his room and was confronted by riot shields so he got the biggest fright. They backed him up into the living room as well. They had the house surrounded and we had been under surveillance for 40 minutes. They could see the surprise on our faces and I think they realised we didn’t have a gun.’
The police said no firearms were found and no arrests made. Mr Gordon does not know which of his neighbours made the call, but said: ‘[It was] someone across the road who called – at least they’re looking out for us.’
He said he wished he had taken a selfie with the police, but felt ‘it would have been rubbing salt into the wound after they came out for nothing’. Mr Gordon added that the ‘surreal’ experience makes for a great story, which he can ‘keep in the back pocket’ to retell if he is ever invited on to Graham Norton’s celebrity chat show.