Man drove in live ‘bomb’

Press, 8 May 1978, Page 2

Man drove in live ‘bomb’

PA New Plymouth A New Plymouth scrapmetal dealer drove round the town for more than three days last week unaware that three sticks of gelignite in the boot of his car could explode at any time. When the police discovered the danger, an explosives expert from Rotorua was called in to destroy the highly unstable material.

“My God,” was Mr P. McKay’s reaction when he was told of the situation. “I didn’t realise there was any danger at all or I would never have touched the stuff. Mr McKay said that he had helped an auction firm’s staff tidy up a house and shed in the suburb of Glen Avon. “The proprietor said, ‘There is some gelignite in the shed and would I mind getting rid of this for him?”

He suggested taking it to the police.” Mr McKay took the sticks from their box and looked at them. He said they had appeared dry and safe. “I just stuck them in the boot, intending to drop them off at the police station.” They were still in the boot on Friday when he remembered them and asked his son to take them to the police station

in the centre of New Plymouth. A policeman took one look at the sticks, saw that they were soft and weeping, and immediately took precautions to prevent any further danger. “We locked the office in which they had been examined, told people to stay out, and called the Internal Affairs expert from Rotorua,” said Sen-ior-Segeant B. Smith.