By Catalina-Adelina Constantin
Two magnet fishermen have given more details of how they landed a hand grenade from the canal near Bede Island and caused part of a De Montfort University Open Day to be closed.
Thomas Dickson, 31, and his 16-year-old friend Isaac Baldwin ‘caught’ the hand grenade while fishing for metal using a magnet tied to a rope underneath the bridge in Mill Lane on Saturday, February 15.
Realising what they had found, they called the police at about 11am and the area was cordoned off until about 2.30pm. Pedestrians and drivers were diverted from the area as police dealt with the situation.
The bomb squad were called by police to remove the grenade and do a controlled explosion in an empty field in Enderby.
Isaac Baldwin and Thomas Dickson
Isaac, who said he had previously found a World War Two German Luger gun, explained how the pair had started fishing in the canal with their magnets tied to a rope, starting on one side before moving along the bank.
“I threw it [the magnet] just underneath the bridge just next to the wall and obviously I pulled it up and then we started like looking at it and stuff and we realised what it was.”
Admitting to being a little bit scared, he added: “I’ve got like the shell off one of those at home that I’ve had before anyways so I knew what it was. We carried on fishing.”
The pair put the grenade in a bag they had with them before alerting police.
The area was sealed off by police, causing nearby buildings being used for a DMU Open Day to be evacuated.
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