Police say no crime committed after dynamite discovered in loft of Portsmouth house
Police have said there was no crime committed after four bombs of dynamite were found in the loft of a Portsmouth house last week - resulting in the road being locked down for several hours.
Police and an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit attended a vacant house in Spinnaker Drive, Hilsea, on Tuesday of last week around 11am to deal with the potential life and death situation. The horrifying discovery was made by a worker for Home Group housing association.
Four bombs were reportedly found in an ammo tin in the loft of the end of terrace house where an army veteran used to live before he died around a month ago aged about 70.
Nearby residents were evacuated from their houses during the emergency situation that could have seen the “road wiped out”, according to a petrified neighbour. A brave bomb disposal expert was forced to disarm the devices in the garden as residents held their breath and were shouted at to keep back.
A woman with children, who said she was “lucky” not to be killed, told The News previously: “It was very scary. It’s not everyday you find out you’re living by a ticking time bomb. Police hammered on my door and shouted ‘police, police…we’ve found a suspicious package’. I asked if I was safe and they told me to stay in my house.
“They found four tightly wrapped bombs with fuses showing and told me the bomb squad was on the way at around 1.30pm. I knew this was very serious.
“When the bomb squad arrived they put the box down in the garden to scan it to see if the bombs were active. I was spotted looking out the window at what was going on and the man from the bomb squad shouted: ‘Move away from the window, it’s not safe.’
“He had to diffuse the bombs in the garden because it wasn’t safe to move them. The materials used in the bombs were very dangerous, I was told. It was extremely frightening. If there had been a fire the whole road would have been wiped out. I’m lucky I’m still alive.”
Now a police spokesperson has said there is no probe after no crime was committed. A spokesperson said: “There is no ongoing investigation with this one, no crime has been identified. The report was that some dynamite was found in a loft at an address.
“EOD attended and safely disposed of this. The previous occupant of the address is believed to sadly be deceased.”