Armed police guarding London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan ‘leave holdall full of guns on the kerb outside his home’ before they were found by pregnant woman

Armed police guarding London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan have been accused of a major security blunder after leaving a bag of weapons on the pavement outside his home.

Five officers are believed to have mistakenly left the bag outside the property in Clapham, south London, at around 9.30pm on Tuesday.

This blunder occurred on the same evening as a large-scale riot in which a gang of wild youths descended on the town’s main street.

The chaos, which saw youths set fires, frightened bystanders and even clashed with police officers, took place just a short distance from the home of the Labor mayor’s family.

A pregnant passerby noticed the piece of luggage on the side of the road and immediately became suspicious.

He took a risk and kicked it to see what it could be but realizing it was unusually heavy he went home to seek help from his partner Jordan Griffiths.

He returned with the woman to where the bag was and took it home to investigate further, initially thinking its weight might mean it was full of coins.

The scaffolder looked inside, where he found an MP5 semi-automatic Heckler & Koch carbine, a Glock pistol, Taser and bullets.

The blunder occurred on the same evening as a large-scale riot (pictured) on the borough’s main street, which was swarmed by a huge gang of wild youths.

Mr Griffiths said: “It was lucky one of the guns inside didn’t go off otherwise she and our baby, due next month, would have been shot and killed.” Sun.

‘I couldn’t believe my eyes.’

He added: ‘I hate to think what might have happened if any of the people in Clapham had found that bag. There could have been chaos.’

Mr Griffiths left the guns on his bed and called the police after taking pictures of them on his phone. Police arrived within minutes to take away the weapons.

The official said officers were ‘shocked’ when they saw the weapons and examined the bag carefully before hastily taking it away.

The cops told him that the luggage had been left by one of Sir Sadiq’s security guards.

When Mr Griffiths asked if there would be a reward for finding the guns, they told him they would give him ‘a bag of sweets’.

Loose in the bag was an American-made semi-automatic Heckler & Koch MP5SF A3 rifle, which fires 800 rounds per minute.

The stun gun, which could hit targets with 50,000 volts, was in a nylon sheath.

The Austrian Glock 17 pistol, loaded with at least ten bullets, was hidden in a leather holster.

The Metropolitan Police’s professional standards directorate is investigating the incident.

Five armed guards have been temporarily suspended from front-line duties until an outcome is reached.

Sources questioned how the bag full of weapons was removed from Sir Sadiq’s house and left on the street.

A former Met firearms officer has admitted police officers are only human and can make mistakes.

For example, they admitted to being aware of an incident in which a Special Forces operator left his handgun in the toilets of a motorway service station.

But an insider said a mistake like the one made by Sir Sadiq’s protection team must have repercussions.

Loose in the bag was an American-made semi-automatic Heckler & Koch MP5SF A3 rifle (pictured, file photo), which fires 800 rounds per minute.

Retired detective chief inspector Mick Neville said gun crime was rife in south London and “plenty of bad guys would be delighted to find the bag”.

He said the Met was lucky the people who found him turned him in, as otherwise it could have resulted in a crime facilitated by a police-issued weapon.

But Mr Neville stressed that rare errors occur even among highly professional firearms police officers who work hard to protect the public.

Sir Sadiq was provided with 24-hour armed guard by a team of around 15 police officers after repeated threats to his safety.

The married father of two revealed the formidable security arrangements at a side meeting of the Labor Party conference in 2021.

He said he needed protection because of ‘the color of his skin and the god he worships’ and that the threat against him was ‘harsh’ for his family.

A Met spokesman said: ‘At around 9.40pm, a member of the public called police after finding a bag containing Met-manufactured firearms and a Taser on a street in South London.

‘Seven minutes after the call, police arrived at the scene and removed the items safely.

‘We are urgently reviewing the circumstances of this incident and are aware of the concerns this may cause.

‘At this stage it is believed the bag was misplaced by officers shortly before members of the public found it.

‘An internal investigation into the circumstances was immediately launched.

‘Five officers have been suspended from frontline duties while these investigations are ongoing.’

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: ‘This is a very serious incident and has been referred to the Met’s Professional Standards Directorate.

‘The Met must now take all steps to ensure such an incident never happens again.’

Figures show crime has risen in London since Sir Sadiq came to power, despite claiming the capital is a ‘safe city’.

The mayor, who replaced Boris Johnson in 2016 and is re-elected in 2021 and 2024, this week called on British diplomats around the world to counter “disinformation and lies” about the capital amplified by Donald Trump.

It comes as teenage flash mobs (pictured) wreaked havoc in Clapham this week, with wild youths tearing up the streets in a series of Easter holiday attacks.

He acknowledged that the capital, dubbed ‘lawless London’, was not perfect but defiantly insisted it remained a ‘safe city’ – even more so than major US cities.

But by March 2025, police had recorded around 1,116 firearms-related crimes in the capital alone.

In the same 12-month period, 32 people across the country were killed with licensed or unlicensed weapons.

M&S retail manager Thinus Keeve accused the mayor of failing to tackle crime following this week’s Clapham mobbing.

“I hear that crime is falling, particularly in London, which is something none of us believe and very few people working in retail can see,” Mr Keeve said.

‘It’s worse in London, but it’s happening across the country and it’s become routine because it doesn’t seem to have any consequences.

‘We are powerless without a government that seriously tackles crime and a mayor who prioritizes effective policing.’

He said he had written to Sir Sadiq to urge him to allocate more resources to the police, amid a wave of crimes also occurring in his own stores.

M&S CEO Stuart Machin also wrote to Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood.

It comes as teenage flash mobs wreaked havoc in Clapham this week, with wild youths tearing up the streets in a series of Easter holiday attacks.

Staff working on the busy high street said they had to lock their doors early on Saturdays and Tuesdays as children made a mess.

And with the holidays still weeks away, it looks like we’ve only seen the beginning of this increase in youth disorder.

Responding to a call to create chaos that first emerged on social media last week, the scheming youths are believed to be already planning their next mob action.

The shady underworld organizing the disruptions has evolved into more secretive group chats, away from the public eye.

The crazy ‘links’ over the last few days were first organized using a digital flyer on Snapchat.

It read: ‘Clapham Courts returning in 2026…Let’s bring the courts back for the summer!!!! Saturday, March 28 – from noon to 14.00.’

The flyer had a line at the bottom encouraging attendees to bring their own balloons, which are often used to consume laughing gas, as well as marijuana, Metro reported.

Messages in a leaked Snapchat group chat reveal the planning that went into the Clapham flash mob and the potential for more meet-ups.

Users are sending each other messages telling each other how excited they are for the flash mob, with one boasting: ‘If I’m there the police will run away.’

The group chat then goes on to discuss the possibility of being caught following the outage, with one participant asking: ‘Am I screwed?’

‘Tell them the police are racist,’ says one man making plans on how to evade police action.

Burgess Park and Crystal Palace Park in south London are being touted as possible locations for the next ‘connection’.

‘Crystal Palace Park is an absolute scream,’ says one person.

‘B.C. [Because] ‘It’s too big for the police to get in, plus there’s only one entrance the police can get into and that’s at the back.’

Another adds: ‘The Burgess is too big for everyone to pack in and there’s a bare ground there. [lots of] interest.’