Handgun found by litter picker in Allesley...

“I thought ‘I’ve got a gun, what do I do with it’?”



Volunteer litter pickers were left shocked after discovering a handgun while out keeping their local area tidy.

The discovery was made by Kay and Les Rainsley on the Allesley bypass close to the Bridle Path on Thursday, April 29.

Kay, aged 68, was “taken aback” when she made the shocking discovery, having initially thought the gun might have been a child’s toy.

She and her husband Les, aged 69, regularly go out on litter picks around the Allesley area where they have lived for 40 years.

It was shortly before 11am last Thursday that she discovered the Bruni automatic handgun in a grassed area close to a tree.

She immediately called 999 and two officers from West Midlands Police were on the scene within a matter of minutes.

They were joined shortly after by two more officers and then two firearms officers who took the handgun away.

“Kay was certainly taken aback,” said Les. “She saw a straight edge and thought it was a piece of metal.

“She tried to pick it up with her litter picker. “Surprise surprise, it was a gun.

“It had obviously been there some time by the condition it was in - it was quite rusty.

“You do find some strange things but this is definitely the most weird.”

Kay said: “I saw a tiny little row of metal ridges it looked like the back of a child’s toy.

“I thought ‘what on earth is that?’ and tried to pick it up with my litter picker but couldn’t because it was partially buried.

“I had to put my hand down and pull it out.

“I thought ‘I’ve got a gun, what do I do with it’?”

Kay immediately phoned 999. When she got through she apologised for dialling the emergency number but was reassured by the operator.

“I apologised for dialling 999, but the operator said if you find a gun you definitely ring 999,” she said.

“They asked me what was written on it, so I told them it said it was a Bruni automatic made in Italy.

“They recognised the name of the gun and said they would send someone out and asked if I could stay with it.

Kay said she and Les had been litter picking locally in Allesley since the lockdown started.

“You go out walking and notice all the rubbish,” she said. “I guess, like everyone else, I think ‘why doesn’t someone pick it up?’ then thought ‘why don’t I pick it up?’.

“I go out at least once a week and do a couple of bags, usually to Coundon Wedge Drive.”

Kay said she was intrigued as to how the gun might have got there.

She said: “I’m sure it was used for something illegal - why else would you have a gun?”

It is not known whether the gun was a real one or a replica blank-firing one. Italian gunmaker Bruni makes both.

You should never pick up any firearm you're not familiar with. Contrary to what you see actors doing in movies and on TV no two guns work the same way and they can easily go off in your hands and in the case of older weapons can even explode in your face!