Father and sons play rugby with live mortar

(from Ananova)

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A 43-year-old father and his two teenage sons played rugby with a live mortar.

Peter Williams from near Poole in Dorset found the shell while he was clearing out a garage.

He threw it around with sons Harry, 15, and Joshua, 13. An ex-soldier friend who came to their house told him it was live.

The Mirror quotes Mr Williams as saying: "I thought the bomb was a dud, but it could have taken out my whole street. Me and the kids were chucking it about like a rugby ball. Had we dropped it hard on the floor it could have exploded. It just doesn't bear thinking about."

He called police who brought in bomb disposal experts.

They exploded it on nearby waste ground.

Story filed: 10:36 Saturday 23rd February 2002