There's Madness Here All Right...

Seamus Boyle, 27, of Albemarle Close in Grays, called Essex Police on November 7, 2016, from a payphone in Basildon town centre to tell them that he felt distressed and paranoid and was in possession of a firearm along with ammunition and that they must come down and confiscate it from him, stipulating that they would not be harmed.

With that, armed police rushed to the scene to arrest Mr Boyle.

As you would expect!

The court heard how only around 25 minutes prior to him calling the police, at roughly 10:10pm, Mr Boyle visited Basildon Police Station in an attempt to hand in the gun but it was closed.

Ooops!

He approached a police officer dressed in plain clothes who had finished her shift and asked her if the station was closed.

She replied that it was and that if he wanted to report a non-emergency crime he should call 101 or send the police an email, but she did not explicitly announce that she was a police officer.

He subsequently made the phone call in Basildon town centre that led to his arrest.

Boy, was her face red!

Mitigating Boyle was Jon Harrison, who told the court that Boyle had "obtained the gun for protection and believed that people were coming into his home" but that he later felt a "sense of danger" having it in the home around his family.

Mr Harrison also said that Boyle claimed he "obtained this firearm by magic and magic made him do what he did."

Boyle saw numerous psychiatrists who all assessed him as not suffering from an acute mental illness.

Hmmmm, OK, if you say so!

Boyle was sentenced to four years, which includes the 14 months he has spent in custody since his arrest.

It's taken over a year?! I know who is bonkers in this whole sorry tale, and it's really not Seamus!