A couple in their eighties were sat drinking tea in their dressing gowns when ‘six heavily-armed police officers’ arrived at their holiday home. John and Yvonne Hullican from Rossendale, Lancashire, were enjoying a break at Thurstaston Caravan Park on the Wirral when the raid began.
The pensioners say they had earlier bought two air pistols and a target from a licensed store in Ellesmere Port, before taking them back to their holiday home. But on the morning of May 18, before the couple had chance to have a shower, three police cars arrived outside.
Six officers ‘carrying pistols and machine carbines’ were soon at their door, the Liverpool Echo reports. Mr Hullican, 85, said: “We were dressed only in dressing gowns prior to a shower and enjoying a cup of tea.
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“At approximately 11am came the loud banging on the outside door, then, ‘police, open up’. We immediately thought something was awry on the site. As I approached the door, I attempted to fasten my belt tighter. No sooner was the door ajar, a hand grabbed my coat sleeve and began to pull me strenuously outside, the gown coming off and exposing bare flesh.
“I resisted this, then provoked the brute into further pulling, as he shouted ‘you’re under arrest’, then reading me some garbled rights and asking if I understood, to which I replied no. All six of them then entered the caravan and began searching. My wife asked them why they were here.
“They said ‘we’re here to get some reported firearms’. By now I’m outside on the pavement barefooted and my wife was told to go outside in just her nightdress. She refused and screamed asking to dress herself. An officer followed her while she dressed and asked her ‘where are the guns’. She said ‘right there on the shelf, they are new air pistols and have not been used’.”
Mr Hullican, a former bricklayer and site manager who previously served in the Royal Engineers, said he believes the air pistols were reported to the police after he was seen examining one of the weapons on his porch steps. Mr Hullican and his wife, an 84-year-old former clothing and shoe mall manager, claims officers told them their air pistols ‘could be modified’.
However, the Hullicans claimed they questioned the gun shop owner at length when they spent £320 on the air pistols, who told them it was ‘absolutely impossible and the guns were completely legal for us to purchase’. Merseyside Police confirmed to the Liverpool Echo that officers first received a call at around 9.25am and seized the two air pistols around two hours later ‘following enquiries and a risk assessment’.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police confirmed Mr Hullican was initially arrested but was de-arrested pending an assessment of the weapons. The spokesperson added: “These were subsequently confirmed to be air weapons, and as such, no offences were identified.”
Mr Hullican, who told the Echo the police investigation had been a ‘disgraceful invasion into our lives’, claimed he has made repeated efforts to speak with the force to retrieve the air pistols. Mr Hullican claimed when he visited Edge Lane police station officers gave ‘evasive or no answers’.
However, Merseyside Police has claimed officers have tried to repeatedly contact the husband and wife. Since the Echo has been in contact with the Hullicans, the pair have confirmed they will be meeting with Merseyside Police’s evidence management team next week to pick up their air pistols.
The Hullicans have written to both the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, and Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy regarding their experiences. Mr Hullican, who said he and his wife have been prescribed various medications for cancer and heart conditions, said following his arrest he has ‘lost all faith in the police and government system’.
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police added: “Whenever we receive intelligence in relation to the suspected storage, possession or use of firearms, we have robust systems in place to ensure that the safety of our communities is paramount, and that we take swift action to assess and minimise any risk.
“I’m sure the vast majority of people would prefer for officers to respond quickly and with due caution when there are sightings of weapons. On this occasion, the information was passed to us in good faith by someone with legitimate concerns to call the police, which we would always encourage.
“Armed officers attended the same day as the information was received, seized the weapons in question and, as in all cases, forensically assessed them. Officers have made repeated attempts to contact the man in question to arrange for the return of his property.”
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