Five armed Metropolitan Police officers have been taken off frontline duties following a serious security lapse in which a bag containing firearms and a Taser was left unattended on a street in south London.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening outside the home of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan. A member of the public discovered the holdall on the kerbside at around 9:40pm and immediately raised the alarm.
According to reports, the bag held a Heckler & Koch MP5 sub-machine gun, a Glock pistol, a Taser, and ammunition — all standard issue for the Met’s protection officers.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said it believes the bag was misplaced by on-duty officers shortly before it was found. Officers arrived at the scene within seven minutes of the public call and safely recovered the items.
The force’s Directorate of Professional Standards has launched an urgent review into the circumstances. All five officers involved have been removed from frontline duties while the investigation continues.
A passerby who spotted the suspicious bag described the moment he and his partner alerted police. Jordan Griffiths told The Sun he looked inside, took photographs of the contents, and contacted officers straight away.
“When they arrived they were really shocked,” he said. “They looked through the bag carefully and hurriedly took them away. I was told they had been left there by one of Sadiq Khan’s security officers, which made sense as he lives here.”
A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq Khan described the lapse as serious and called on the Met to take every possible step to ensure such an incident never happens again.
The Metropolitan Police acknowledged public concern in its statement: “We are urgently reviewing the circumstances of this incident and recognise the concern it may cause.”
The discovery has raised fresh questions about standards within the Mayor’s protection team. Sir Sadiq has had full-time armed police security at his residence since 2017, after he accepted 24-hour protection due to assessed risks.
This embarrassing episode comes at a time when the Metropolitan Police continues to face scrutiny over operational discipline and public safety standards in the capital.
