As i'm sure some of you are aware, there were quite a few chemicals available on ebay relating to pyro hobbies in the past year or so, but recently they've all dissappeared.
I think this is because there are no real companies that are willing to stand up to ebay's abuse
Well, a friend of mine (a respectable young guy - he's a student who just likes to build fireworks, rockets and mess around a bit, like we all do to some extent) bought some KNO3, S, Amonium nitrate and cardboard tubes etc from some German guy on ebay who had his own little shop selling chemicals. Now, he didn't buy huge quantities of stuff, but i suspect that the 1kg of Ammonium nitrate was what really caught the authorities eye.
AN does catch the proverbial eye, does not really matter what quantity.
Anyway, this purchase was a one off and it was made in 2003. At some point afterwards the German guy got raided, and my friends details were found along with many others. Interpol got in touch with the UK police and he was arrested on anti-terrorism charges. The police held him for just under a day, while they searched his flat.
This sounds a bit harsh to me, having had direct experience of this, but then again I may have had a little bit of the old 'wink wink nod nod'. Given today?s climate, one may be forgiven for thinking that armed raids are necessary in 100% of cases. Not so, even arrest warrants under the new anti-terrorism act are used sparingly, precautions are made before intended raids but SO-13 will usually have a chat first and invite you to the station before arresting you. They will only perform a forced raid should their be intel that the people there are a bit dodgy or a complete lack of intel. Even so they don't just rush in a nick everything in sight, this is illegal unless you are doing something dodgy and leg it. If you co-operate they will only arrest you if they know, or suspect you are going to, or have committed a crime. Saying ?no comment? like a dick head will only get you nicked.
The police are servants of the realm and have to adhere to the laws just as anyone else. They are far too often subjected to over zealous scrutiny so they do everything by the book. The power of arrest is only used when there is evidence that the person they are holding is, or has broken a law. This country is unique in the world, we have one of the, if not the only police force that is not armed with firearms. The police are the only people that have executive powers, (that is the stuff like arresting you, and carry weapons), in most other countries these powers are spread across a wide section of public services, contrary to popular belief, even the security services in this country are not allowed to carry firearms or arrest people.
They found the chemicals because he has not used much of them, and they found tubes and mixing apparatus and other bits and bobs. They also imaged the HDD on his PC.
They were very nice to him, he wasn't locked in a cell, and they openly said almost immediately they they thought he wasn't a terrorist but they were just "going through the motions".
This is the sort of reason the police have to use. The ?going through the motions? bit is very true though. What if your mate was the next Timothy McVeigh, and they didn?t check it out? They have to because they are required to.
So, he had his chemicals confiscatated, but was released without charge or a caution, and was just told to be more sensible in the future. The only questions he has is whether they're going to persue the fact he has ?1000's of illegal software on his PC
Anyway, it's an interesting tale. On the one hand you wouldn't think the police would come after you for an ebay purchase made years ago, but then on the other hand they were very nice to him and obviously take a very leniant view to the making of homemade fireworks and suchlike, providing there is no malicious intent.
So, just bear these thoughts in mind if your buying chemicals from dubious sources in the future.
Pirate software is not within SO-13?s remit. To be honest they don?t care about such a thing, they are interested in finding out if you are going to kill people etc.
Given the circumstances your mate should have asked for his property back after the investigation was concluded. The thing is; does your mate live on the 13th floor of a block of flats in the middle of London?
In my experience, members of SO-13 and other anti-terrorist branches around the country, do not have a sophisticated knowledge of home made fireworks, this is probably due to lack of exposure and education. It is common practice to call in someone that does know what they are looking at, but still they often have had no exposure to home made fireworks, they will however, spot an IED in the making. One hopes that one would have helped educate a few members of SO-13 from when I had my little chat with them. Lenient, perhaps lucky is more accurate, education is the way forward, and I sure the BPS will liaise with the police on may occasions in the future.
Everyone needs to be aware of the legal limit, including the police, and we need to obey that for now, I think that education about licences for hobbyists is essential if the hobby is to grow, be more accessible and enjoyable, and remain legal.
