Armed police stormed a man's home after his new Facebook profile picture included a toy mortar.
Ian Driscoll, 43, was confronted by five policemen - including two armed officers - who wanted to know about the deadly field weapon.
He said: “I was shocked and stunned. It was just mad. Five officers turned up in unmarked police cars.
“They flashed the search warrant in my face and said it was lucky I was in so they didn’t have to break my door down.”
The drama unfolded after Ian took a snapshot of an action figure and toy dog he saw at a friend’s house.
Ian thought the figures looked like him and his German Shepherd and posted the picture on his Facebook page - unaware there was a toy mortar and TV remote control in the background.
He added: “Everyone has been laughing about it and I think it’s funny. It’s so stupid.
“The Action Man looked a bit like me so I decided to put it as my Facebook picture. I didn’t even notice the mortar in the background.
“Over a month later, the cops were threatening to bust down my door. I couldn’t believe someone thought it was real.
“It’s tiny and quite clearly a toy. I can’t stop laughing. I think it’s hilarious.”
Ian posted the picture on Facebook on December 7 and cops arrived at his home in Tewkesbury, Glos, on January 28 after receiving a tip-off.
Gloucestershire police spokeswoman Alexa Collicott said: “The information was given to us in good faith and we acted with good intentions.
“We are sure that the community would rather we acted quickly on information given to us of this nature, in case it had turned out to be a weapon.
“The officers attending were hugely relieved that it wasn’t anything more sinister and we would much rather have a result like this than to put the public in harms way by not taking action.”
Ian Driscoll, 43, was confronted by five policemen - including two armed officers - who wanted to know about the deadly field weapon.
He said: “I was shocked and stunned. It was just mad. Five officers turned up in unmarked police cars.
“They flashed the search warrant in my face and said it was lucky I was in so they didn’t have to break my door down.”
The drama unfolded after Ian took a snapshot of an action figure and toy dog he saw at a friend’s house.
Ian thought the figures looked like him and his German Shepherd and posted the picture on his Facebook page - unaware there was a toy mortar and TV remote control in the background.
He added: “Everyone has been laughing about it and I think it’s funny. It’s so stupid.
“The Action Man looked a bit like me so I decided to put it as my Facebook picture. I didn’t even notice the mortar in the background.
“Over a month later, the cops were threatening to bust down my door. I couldn’t believe someone thought it was real.
“It’s tiny and quite clearly a toy. I can’t stop laughing. I think it’s hilarious.”
Ian posted the picture on Facebook on December 7 and cops arrived at his home in Tewkesbury, Glos, on January 28 after receiving a tip-off.
Gloucestershire police spokeswoman Alexa Collicott said: “The information was given to us in good faith and we acted with good intentions.
“We are sure that the community would rather we acted quickly on information given to us of this nature, in case it had turned out to be a weapon.
“The officers attending were hugely relieved that it wasn’t anything more sinister and we would much rather have a result like this than to put the public in harms way by not taking action.”
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