A MAN was left shocked by a sudden police visit after he had inadvertently purchased bomb-making materials online.
Joe English had taken to the internet last week to purchase fertiliser pellets for his garden, having previously browsed and bought a tub of hydrogen peroxide to clean out his fish tank.
The keen gardener received both deliveries within the next few days and thought little of it until he received a knock at his door yesterday afternoon.
Joe, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, was left stunned to see two police officers standing on his doorstep, and was told they were checking up after his two suspicious purchases.
The trio were left in giggles though after Joe showed the officers around and reassured them that he had genuinely bought the items for their intended use.
Joe captured an image of the officers heading back down his front path to their patrol car, which he shared to social media yesterday.
He wrote: “Note to self; next time you buy some fertiliser pellets for the garden, don’t buy hydrogen peroxide (for my fish tank) in the same week. We all had a giggle in the end.”
In the image, the officers are wearing stab-proof vests but do not appear to be equipped with any weapons as they walk away from Joe’s front door.
His post has received over 34,500 likes and more than 2,300 comments from users who were left in stitches over his seemingly honest mistake.
One user said: “Police: ‘So we have you buying fertiliser and hydrogen peroxide…what’s that about?’
“You: ‘For my tank.’
“Police: ‘…excuse me'”
Another joked: “So it sounds like you were prepared for this and made a very convincing alibi. Well played, bombs away.”
A third quipped: “I don’t think anyone mentioned it but nice front garden.”
Another joked: “Yeah but the garden is just a front for [Joe’s] bomb-making operation.”
Speaking today, Joe said: “I have a problem with algae in my saltwater marine fish tank and if it is left unchecked they form a brown slime on the sand bed and grow over corals and kill them.
“They are also toxic to the fish – using hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidising agent and weakens them without harming fish and coral in the tank too much.
“I explained this to the police and they said I had a lovely fish tank and left.
“I’m quite glad to know this sort of thing is checked but I only bought a litre of the stuff.
“I also got a big 20kg bag of slow release fertiliser pellets for the lawn.
“All in all it was just a five minute check and they were both polite and apologetic when they realised.
“It made me uneasy but I’d rather have that feeling than have people stockpiling this stuff.”
