Brave 14-year-old from Ripon saves the day by alerting police to an undetonated bomb

A brave 14-year-old boy from Ripon saved the day when he discovered an undetonated bomb along his dog walking route yesterday.
The bomb found in Ripon by Benjamin Garrett yesterday. Picture: the Garrett family.The bomb found in Ripon by Benjamin Garrett yesterday. Picture: the Garrett family.
The bomb found in Ripon by Benjamin Garrett yesterday. Picture: the Garrett family.

Benjamin Garrett has walked his dog Bella along the field behind Ripon Morrisons many times, but this time he decided to walk through a diffferent part of it to mix things up a bit.

There he discovered the unexploded bomb, which led to a large police cordon in Ripon yesterday afternoon. A bomb disposal team was called out at around 5.30pm, and a controlled explosion took place. The exact age of the ancient bomb has yet to be confirmed.

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Proud mum Debbie, has spoken of her son's bravery in a nerve-wracking situation.

She told the 'Gazette: "When he found the bomb he was a bit scared and unsure what to do at first. He had a look around the area then came home. He said he was scared of saying anything in case he’d get in trouble for some reason, but I guess it’s not every day you find a bomb! It was quite a shock for him.

"He told us what he’d found and my husband and daughter Emma went up with him to have a look as we couldn’t quite believe it could actually be a bomb.

"He was nervous when the bomb squad arrived as it then hit him that he’d actually been stood right next to a real bomb and what could have happened. Watching it all unfold once he was home, he just didn’t know what to think.

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"We are really proud of him for being so sensible and doing the right thing. He’s made us so proud."

The A61 was closed between Quarry Moor and Dallamires Lane for several hours while the controlled explosion took place.

Debbie said: "We saw all the traffic stopped past our house, which never happens. We were listening to the traffic updates on Stray FM, and following people’s posts on Facebook, and he just couldn’t take it all in.

"I think he felt a bit guilty for causing chaos but obviously it wasn’t his fault at all. He still can’t believe it happened - when we heard the explosion it became very real for us all. The boom was much louder than we imagined it would be. It was an exciting day for us all."

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Benjamin directed police to where the bomb was, and Debbie said the whole experience has inspired him in an unexpected way.

She said: " I think it’s spurred him into being something to do with the police when he’s older."

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