Arsenal of ‘IRA’ firearms – including AK-47 and M16 assault rifles – found by two teenagers ‘magnet fishing’ on Somerset Levels http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Arsenal-8216-IRA-8217-firearms-8211-including-AK/story-26075910-detail/story.html DavidWells | Posted: February 24, 2015 An arsenal of machine guns, assault rifles and other deadly firearms that some suspect is a former IRA weapons cache has been found by two teenagers – who were ‘fishing’ with a magnet on the Somerset Levels. The cache of about 40 rusty and mud-caked military-grade guns date back to the Second World War and included a Browning .50 machine gun, capable of bringing down a helicopter, an M16 semi-automatic machine gun and a Soviet Russia-designed AK-47 assault rifle. A military expert has suggested the weapons could have belonged to the IRA – who might have dumped the cache when they were tasked with decomissioning their arms in 2001 as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. James Cork, 16, was ‘magnet fishing’ off a bridge with a friend on the Somerset Levels when they began to lift the weapons from the river. The haul of weapons, 20 of which they managed to put together, appear to also include an MG 42, SA23 9mm and a Smith & Wesson revolver. Magnet fishing is a form of metal detecting using a string or rope with a magnet on the end, often pulling out metal objects from the water. James, who goes magnet fishing with his friend most weekends, said he had never caught anything like it and could not believe what the friends had unearthed. James had been fishing with a friend in Greylake on the Somerset Levels, which is surrounded on both sides by nature reserves and has a sluice gate just opposite, which may have caught the weapons. A police spokesman suggested they may have come from a former weapons factory in the area and possibly dated back to the Second World War. However, some of the guns identified appear to be more modern than that and writing in The Sun newspaper, SAS veteran and author Andy McNab suggested the weapons might have been part of an IRA cache. The nearby Royal Ordinance Factory at Puriton used the King’s Sedgemoor Drain as a back-up water supply, but it was known primarily for producing explosives. The majority of the guns were pulled from the river last Saturday, with the pair returning on Sunday for more. James, who is still in school, said: “I was really shocked. We have never found anything like this before. There were a few whole ones but not many. “There were a lot of machine guns and maybe six to 10 revolvers. There was this one massive machine gun on a stand.” The pair had been driven to the popular fishing spot by one of their mothers. They began fishing from the river bank but soon moved on top of the bridge once they realised what was below. James, from Street, Somerset, added: “There was a fisherman there and he was getting quite angry because we were disturbing the water. But when he saw what we pulled out he came over and helped. “One of the guns was so heavy it took all three of us to pull it out.” We struggled to pull it out. His mum picked us up from on the day. She didn’t care about the guns. “They put them all in the car boot. Some of them didn’t fit so we threw them back into the river. “We knew we were going to find more. On the last throw we could hear the clicking so we knew more were there.” James and his friend have gone magnet fishing almost every weekend for the last six months. They use a 15ft piece of rope with a magnet on the end which is capable of lifting 160kg. It is the fist time they had tried fishing in Greylake, having tried a different location every time. They normally find simple bike parts or little pieces of metal which James’ friend sells on. He threw most of the guns back into the water, but he took one of the guns – thought to be a 1930s Smith & Wesson .38 - home as a trophy. However, when his mother Katherine discovered he had the weapon, she called 999 and armed police arrived minutes later. The married mother-of-four-said: “I have a rule that nothing illegal is allowed in the house. “He said to me that there wasn’t a trigger but at the end of the day, they are dangerous. You never know if it is loaded or anything like that. “There are four kids in this house. I was definitely worried.” Most of the guns they found were in pieces, but in relatively good condition and could be easily put back together. Katherine, 37, who works in telesales, called the police as soon as she noticed the gun, with armed police arriving at the property five minutes later. A spokesman from Avon and Somerset Police said: “We received a call on Tuesday, February 17 from a woman who said her son and a friend had been magnet fishing last weekend and discovered what appeared to be firearms from the Greylake at the Kingweston Sluice, near Street in Somerset.

• published: 24 Feb 2015
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