Police admit to ‘accidentally’ destroying part of gun collection

Andrew Osborne with his empty gun cabinet.

POLICE have pledged to learn lessons after guns seized following an incident in a bank were “accidentally” destroyed.

Shooting enthusiast Andrew Osborne was questioned by police following a confrontation with bank staff over a disputed debt six years ago and more than 20 weapons from his collection were seized.

Mr Osborne (54) was made subject to a mental health assessment and given the all-clear but his guns were not returned.

The experienced hunter agreed for most of them to be transferred by the police to a gun shop in Chesterfield but five - which are said to be worth several thousand pounds - went missing.

Mr Osborne, a coach driver from Swallownest, said he and his solicitors had spent the years since trying to find out what had happened but had not received a proper response from police.

“I have seen a piece of paper saying five guns had been destroyed but there were no details of the weapons,” he said.

“I have not received any official paperwork about this.

“If one of the weapons were to be used in an offence, what’s to stop them linking it back to me?

“I would have expected them to provide me with some official confirmation giving full details of the guns involved.”

But when questioned by the Advertiser, South Yorkshire Police admitted the weapons, which Mr Osborne said were three shotguns and two rifles, had been destroyed and that this was an accident.

The force said it had found no wrong-doing around the destruction but had launched a review of its processes to learn lessons.

A police spokeswoman said: “A number of firearms seized from Mr Osborne’s address in 2010 were confirmed destroyed.

“Following a complaint by Mr Osborne into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of these firearms, the Professional Standards Department carried out a thorough and comprehensive investigation.

“This concluded there was no case to answer and the destruction of the weapons was accidental. To ensure this does not happen again, a review of force processes is underway to establish what lessons can be learned.

“Mr Osborne remains in dispute with the force and, as such, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”