Film-maker and Bristol councillor Christian Martin (Picture: SWNS)
A Bristol councillor and film producer was arrested on the set of his latest movie by armed police – after they mistook a £9.99 toy cap gun for a real weapon.
Experienced film-maker Christian Martin, 42, sparked a major security scare on Saturday afternoon when locals in Montpelier reported a firearm and petrol bomb in his back garden.
A police helicopter was scrambled and about 20 officers – including an armed response unit – swooped to Mr Martin’s home in St Andrew’s Road and arrested him at gunpoint.
But the weapon turned out to be a harmless toy gun – which fires caps – and the petrol bomb was actually a makeshift Molotov cocktail in a fake, sugar-glass bottle.
It later emerged that the production crew had warned Avon and Somerset Constabulary about the film shoot in advance and shown them the ‘weapons’.
Mr Martin said: “Police cordoned off the whole street and arrested me – while another SWAT team stormed the house. I was told to ‘put my hands up’ and warned that the officers had loaded weapons.
“I was shouting ‘they are prop guns, they are prop guns’, but I was handcuffed, put up against a wall and ordered not to move or speak. There must have been around 20 police there in total.
“I think there were some pretty red faces among the armed response unit when they entered my home after arresting me and being met by two cameramen.
“It was pretty heavy-handed – especially considering I visited a police station about 10 days before. I had showed them the guns, explained we were going to be filming and told them they were not real.”
The movie-maker, who runs film company Bonne Idee, was producing ‘Cal’, a sequel to a Bristol-based film released two years ago – called Shank.
Filming has been going on at the house for the past two weeks and Mr Martin claimed he had notified police by visiting the city’s Trinity Road Police Station with the guns.
On Saturday he held a prop day at his house for the crew involved in the film, teaching them how to perfect explosions and stunts for the movie safely.
The plot for the film surrounds a youth getting caught up in violent rioting in Bristol – mirroring scenes of unrest in the city seen earlier in the year.
Mr Martin, a Lib Dem Bristol City councillor for Clifton East, has been involved in the film industry for 25 years.
He has worked in Hollywood – where he helped finance films such as Get Carter, starring Michael Caine, and The People Versus Larry Flynt.
Avon and Somerset police confirmed they called armed officers and the force helicopter to the scene.
A spokesman said: “We received reports of two hand guns at the property and that a petrol bomb had been set off earlier in the day. Enquiries established that it was actually a result of some filming by the occupants. Those initially arrested were then released.”
