I Helped To 'Make Nothing Happen' And Saved Hundreds Of Lives
I Helped To 'Make Nothing Happen' And Saved Hundreds Of Lives
A true life story of what happens when you report something suspicious.
A true life story of what happens when you report something suspicious.
It was my boyfriend who first said it, actually – how weird it was for someone to have that much fertiliser.
He laughed and said that it was what terrorists use to make bombs.
I didn’t think much of it when the guy came in, to be honest – people store all kinds of weird stuff, which is the only reason I even mentioned it. But then I remembered reading about the Oklahoma bombing, and how those guys had used fertiliser too, and what my boyfriend had said really started to bother me.
When I thought about it more, it made even less sense: why would somebody need fertiliser in November? He’d said it was for his allotment, but 600 kilograms of it? It seemed like a lot just for someone’s garden.
After that, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong – I can’t explain it really, it was just a strong gut instinct. It niggled at me, I guess. It could have been nothing: maybe he really was using it to fertilise his garden. I had no idea whether it was worth police attention at all – I mean I work in a self-storage unit, so I’m hardly an expert! And I was worried of accusing someone of something they weren’t guilty of. What if I got into trouble?
I went through the options in my mind
In the end, I decided that the best thing to do was to call the police.
I figured that if there was nothing going on then nothing bad would happen – they’d investigate and find nothing. Not doing that, though, meant I’d be taking a huge risk. Hundreds of people died in Oklahoma, and I wasn’t willing to take that risk.
It paid off – the police investigated, and it turned out that the guy had been planning attacks with a group of other people. They were days away from planting the bombs, and my actions saved lives, the police said. It was definitely difficult for me to make the decision to report it, but I have a clear conscience knowing I did the right thing.
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You can help police keep communities safe by reporting your concerns about suspicious activity on 0800 789 321
Your information could save lives.{{#met_police_3_img}}
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Don’t worry about wasting police time or getting someone into trouble. Let the specially trained police decide if the information is important. What you tell the police is treated in the strictest confidence and is thoroughly researched by experienced officers before, and if, any police action is taken. No call or click will be ignored.
Call the police confidentially on 0800 789 321 if you're worried something might be suspicious.
To find out more visit gov.uk/ACT
In an emergency always call 999