- LONDON (AFP) -- An illusionist's
attempt to trick British television audiences into thinking he had played
Russian roulette with a loaded pistol backfired today when police said
the weapon had contained only a blank round.
-
- "There was no live ammunition involved, and at no
time was anyone at risk," said Lenny Harper, chief of police on the
British Channel Island of Jersey, where the stunt was filmed.
-
- Derren Brown, 32, had been televised on Sunday by Britain's
Channel Four television pretending to shoot himself with the loaded pistol,
raising protests from police and anti-weapons groups.
-
- Viewers saw the magician point a Smith and Wesson revolver
at himself before pulling the trigger.
-
- Brown said he used a series of psychological tests to
supposedly read the mind of the person who loaded the handgun, to determine
which chamber contained the bullet.
-
- He asked the person to count to six, using the sound
of his voice to help locate the live chamber.
-
- Brown fired the fifth chamber towards a sandbag, and
it apparently went off. The cameras then showed a hole appearing in the
bag.
-
- But police revealed today that a prop company had brought
blank ammunition to the island.
-
- "There is absolutely no way that the Jersey police
would allow anybody to put themselves at risk, and shoot themselves dead,"
Harper said.
-
- "This program was made by a television company very
experienced in pyrotechnics, in making smoke and bullet holes appear. It
was no different to film which uses special effects," Harper said.
-
- "This was just an illusion. The question of whether
it was in dubious taste is another matter," Harper said.
-
- Brown had claimed the stunt needed to be filmed at a
secret foreign location to bypass Britain's strict gun laws. However, the
laws in Jersey are just as tough.
-
- Channel Four refused to confirm that blank ammunition
had been used, but admitted it had liaised with police in Jersey before
filming.
-
- Brown's spokesman declined to comment, apart from saying
that if the illusionist had fired a blank round into his head "he
would have died anyway".
-
- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
-
- http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7497767%255E1702,00.html
|