Student held in US for gun 'dare'

Worcester students were evacuated from their halls for five hours

A British student has been arrested in the US for attempting to buy a gun for a dare using fake ID, US police said.

Stephen Jackley, 22, was accused of attempting to buy the firearm from a gun store in Waterbury, Vermont - which was said to be for a £100 bet.

His arrest prompted a police search at the University of Worcester in the UK, and a suspicious package was found.

Mr Jackley, who is originally from Sidmouth, Devon, is in custody awaiting a US court appearance.

'Fled the building'

Vermont State Police senior trooper Robert Lucas said Mr Jackley had gone to Parro's Gun Shop on 19 May.

"He told me that he had been bet £100 that he could not buy a gun over here.

"When realising it was fake ID, the store owner called the police department and Mr Jackley fled the building, got into a vehicle and in the process of exiting the parking lot he backed into a vehicle."

Police caught up with him a mile away and also charged him with leaving the scene of an accident.

There was one student with only a quilt around her and bare feet Lewis Liu, student

Mr Lucas said that Mr Jackley had his University of Worcester ID card on him at the time of his arrest which led police in Vermont to contact West Mercia Police.

Officers from the English force evacuated Wyvern and Bredon blocks of flats at the Worcester campus for five hours on Friday while the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit was called in to deal with the package.

West Mercia Police confirmed the university search had not been terror related.

Lewis Liu, a 38-year-old post-graduate student, said: "Police collected all the rubbish and checked through the bins of Wyvern halls.

"They found the suspect package in a bin near the flat. We were all evacuated and had no time to take any money or anything with us.

"There was one student with only a quilt around her and bare feet."