Aberdonian twins shaken and stirred by armed siege drama

Published on Tuesday 10 August 2010 14:45

IT WAS supposed to be a bit of harmless fun by a pair of movie-mad twin brothers. But the teenagers' tongue-in-cheek tribute to James Bond ended with the boys - and their hapless father and older sister - surrounded by armed police and thrown into the cells after they sparked a terrorist scare.

• Scenes from the video shot by the family show one of the fake weapons that led to the intervention of an armed police unit

When Hugo and Ollie Inglis decided to enter a competition to make their own commercial for Blue Tak they took to the deserted streets of an Aberdeen industrial estate on a quiet Sunday morning and started filming.

As the shoot got under way Grampian Police units raced to the East Tullos industrial estate on the outskirts of the city to swoop on the unsuspecting family, who were using a pellet gun as one of their props, after concerned members of the public warned that a "masked figure brandishing a gun" was in the area.

They were handcuffed, taken into custody and spent hours in the cells before finally convincing police they had only been filming mock adverts.

Hugo, who was wearing his father's dinner jacket to play 007 in the film and Ollie, playing the role of the "terrorist" pursuer, were taken into custody together with their father, Robert, 58, who works as project manager with oil firm Shell, and their sister Martha, 20.

The brothers, both pupils at private Robert Gordon's College, have been making films since they were six.

Ollie said: "The idea of the advert was to have some bad guys chasing James Bond. We got my dad and sister to do the stunt driving. I was dressed as the terrorist and I had a pair of tights on my head with a big smiley face on it and a camouflage jacket.

"I had an old pellet gun which had lost its magazine and couldn't fire and I was leaning out the window of the pursuing car. We heard these sirens and then all these police cars blocked us in. Armed police came charging out with guns and tasers and then we were arrested and put in police cells for four or five hours.

"We were pretty freaked out because we thought we could actually get shot. They were pointing guns at us. Eventually we managed to convince them we weren't criminals or terrorists, just making a film."

Mr Inglis said: "(The police] got the tasers out for the boys and made them lie spread-eagled on the floor before handcuffing them. Then I heard them getting a call that 'permission to shoot has been rescinded'. It was pretty scary."

Details of the real-life drama were revealed yesterday after another entry by the two boys was awarded the runners-up prize in the nationwide competition.

Last night a senior Grampian police officer defended the force's action.

Chief Inspector Adrian Berkeley said: "This was a reckless and irresponsible thing to do. We received calls from worried people telling us there was a masked figure brandishing a gun.

"This incident tied up significant police resources for a considerable period of time dealing with a situation which any sensible person should have seen was reckless and potentially dangerous for those involved."

It is understood that although no action was taken against the twins, both Mr Inglis and his daughter Martha received adult warning letters from the Procurator Fiscal.