Mobile phones and shoes being used to disguise guns, say police

Criminals are turning everyday objects, such as cigarette packets, mobile phones, buckles, tennis rackets, and shoes, into deadly weapons capable of firing bullets, a police intelligence squad has warned.

Concerns about the growing availability of "disguised weapons" has prompted the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) to produce a guide for police officers to spot them.

Among the deadly objects highlighted in the report include a pack of cigarettes in which a gun was concealed. The barrel of the single-shot gun was surrounded by cigarettes and could be fired through the top of the box by a concealed button hidden under the packet's label.

Another weapon used a mobile phone that could be converted in to a gun with four barrels. Shoes have been discovered to hide small firearms or knives in the heel, and a toy gun had a knife that sprung out when the trigger was squeezed. Lighters were frequently used to disguise tiny single shot guns, and belt buckles have also been found to incorporate a firearm.

According to Detective Constable Alan Shiers, a disguise expert who works in the firearms intelligence section at NCIS, hidden guns and knives were more likely to be used to kill than a conventional weapon because the victim would be unaware they were about to be hit.

He told Police Review magazine: "People think it is just James Bond stuff, that these kinds of weapons are only used in movies. The truth is they are used – and have been used – against police officers."

He cited a case where CCTV film showed a man appearing to shake hands with someone he was talking to in a pub. But actually he had just shot him in the face with a pen pistol. The bullet pierced the victim's lip and lodged in the back of his neck, and almost killed him.