A teenage boy has been arrested after being found armed with a taser. Police detained the 16-year-old near Wigan bus station on Saturday evening (January 11).
Officers say they came across someone “acting suspiciously” at about 7pm. After hearing screams, they found the boy holding a taser.
He was arrested on suspicion of firearms offences. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries.
No one was injured in the incident and the taser was seized, police said.
Inspector Jon Ezard, from Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Venture team, said: “This incident demonstrates the seriousness of having a weapon like this and using it in a public place is not only dangerous but extremely foolish.
“Thankfully, due to swift action from our officers we were able to prevent any harm and meant we have seized and removed this item from being used again to either inflict injury or cause fear.
The taser seized by police
(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
“Our officers only deploy their tasers when really needed to ultimately protect the public when attending incidents and requires rigorous training to be granted authority to obtain one as part of their duties.
“It goes without saying, no matter the age, tasers should not be used or bought by the public to play about with.
“As part of our deployments across Greater Manchester we patrol key hotspots based on intelligence we gather to ensure we can have an active presence in these areas to prevent crime from happening and will continue to use a mix of high-visibility policing and covert tactics to keep local communities safe.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to call police on 101, quoting incident 2380 of 11/01/2025. To report anonymously, call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via the website: www.Fearless.org – which enables young people to pass on information about crime anonymously.