Sadiq Khan is the Mayor of London (Image: Getty)
Armed officers protecting London Mayor Sadiq Khan left a bag full of firearms on the street outside his home in a serious security lapse. It is believed five officers accidentally abandoned the holdall, which was discovered on the kerb at around 9.30pm on Tuesday.
A pregnant passer-by riskily kicked the bag before telling her partner, who took in the haul, which included an MP5 semi-automatic Heckler and Koch carbine, a Glock pistol, a Taser and ammunition. Jordan Griffiths told the Sun: “My partner saw the bag sitting in the road by the kerbside and became suspicious. She went over to it and kicked it to see what it might be. But it was really heavy and didn't move.”
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The bag included guns of high capacity (Image: Getty)
Jordan took a look at the bag and picked it up, noticing that it was quite heavy. He thought it might be filled with coins, so he decided to bring it inside his house. After opening the bag up, he “couldn't believe his eyes”.
Lying loose inside the bag were guns of high capacity, such as one that fires up to 800 rounds a minute, a weapon capable of zapping targets with 50,000 volts, as well as a pistol fitted with at least 10 rounds.
He added that there was also a Taser and a pocket “which felt like it was full of bullets”.
After calling the police, Jordan was told the bag had been left there by one of Khan's security officers.
He said the police turned up “within a few minutes” to collect the guns. He added: “When they arrived, they were really shocked. They looked through the bag carefully and hurriedly took them away.
“I was told they had been left there by one of Sadiq Khan's security officers, which made sense as he lives here.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, told the Express: “This is a very serious incident, which has been referred to the Met's Directorate of Professional Standards. The Met must now take all steps to ensure an incident like this never occurs again.”
A Met Police spokesperson told the Sun: “At around 21:40hrs, a member of the public called the police after finding a bag containing Met-issued firearms and a Taser on a street in South London.
“Within seven minutes of the call, officers arrived at the scene and safely recovered the items. We are urgently reviewing the circumstances of this incident and recognize the concern it may cause.
“At this stage, it is believed the bag was misplaced by on-duty officers a short time before the member of the public located it. An internal review was immediately launched into the circumstances. Five officers have been removed from frontline duties while these inquiries remain ongoing.”
It comes amid mounting pressure on Sadiq Khan over a spate of recent crime incidents across the capital.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of M&S, wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood after groups of teenagers reportedly organized mass shop raids, believed to be driven by online trends.
Meanwhile, six teenage girls have been arrested following two separate incidents in Clapham.