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

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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.