THE Sunday Post today exposes how easily criminals can get their hands on illegal high-powered stun guns disguised as iPhones after we were sent one through the post.
We ordered one of the “Electronic Riot” devices capable of delivering a potentially deadly 80,000 volt shock online and it was delivered to us within days.
The sinister £15 device looks exactly like an Apple iPhone 4.
We received the plastic stun gun through the post within 10 days of ordering it on the iOffer online market place, which is similar to eBay.
Marketed as a personal safety device, the stun guns are for sale alongside handbags and children’s clothing. The fake phone has electrodes at the top, with the electric charge triggered by the mobile phone’s “volume” buttons.
It is not illegal to buy the weapons in the US where the website is based but possession of a stun gun can carry a jail sentence in the UK.
Our stun gun is understood to have been shipped from Hong Kong to Switzerland before being delivered to a home address in the UK.
Instructions inside the box say the iPhone stun gun is an “ideal present for friends and family”.
Even more astonishingly, its packaging bears a signed declaration on the box reading: “This item does not contain any dangerous article or articles prohibited by legislation or by postal or customs legislation.”
The police have been alerted about The Sunday Post investigation. Our revelations come as ex-prison guard Maurice Thomson, 40, was sentenced for importing 12 stun guns from the US to his mum’s house in Dundee.
But police fear smuggling operations are far more widespread with at least 10,000 stun guns disguised as phones and torches falling into the hands of British criminals.
A police source said: “We are finding more and more of these along with drugs and other weapons on raids in cities across the UK.
“Many are one-offs, ordered through the post by misguided people but others are being used by gangsters for robberies or torturing rivals.
“They can incapacitate, cause bad scarring and, at worst, kill people.”
Last night, experts reacted with horror to our investigation and called for a tightening-up of security to crack down on smuggling.
Lord West, a respected former security minister in Gordon Brown’s Labour government, said: “It does seem extraordinary that such a dangerous item is so readily available.”
Criminologist Peter Squires, of the Gun Control Network (GCN) said: “This is the problem with the parcel service. They just do not have the capacity as far as I can see to scan every parcel, as it would just totally disrupt the service.”
Border Force officials claim they are getting a grip on the problem and say there have been seizures of similar stun guns at Glasgow and Manchester airports.
Calls are now being made for stricter punishment for possessing the weapons.
Mick Gradwell, a former Lancashire Police Detective Superintendent, said minor punishments for possession of the “potentially-lethal” weapons meant they had become the weapon of choice for organised gangs.
He added: “Whilst intelligence may indicate these stun guns are being sought and used by organised criminals, it is concerning that these items could easily end up in the hands of children.”
A Home Office spokesman said the Border Force works closely with the police and National Crime Agency to prevent the importation of weapons into the UK, including those bought over the internet.
Their spokesman said: “Border Force officers use some of the most high-tech equipment available to keep offensive weapons off our streets and we keep this intelligence-led work under continued review to ensure we are always using the most effective approach.
“Anyone caught trying to smuggle dangerous weapons into the country will have them confiscated and could face prosecution.”
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