Nine-year-old who went viral for police training with grandma lobbing pinecones gets real deal

A nine-year-old boy who went viral after being spotted having police training with his grandma in the park has been given the real deal with West Mercia Police.

James, from Berkshire, became a social media sensation after he was seen donning an armed police costume while his grandmother threw pinecones at him in a park.

West Mercia Police saw the clip, which was shared online by UK Cop Humour, after officers at Staffordshire Police shared it with them.

The youngster and his mum Helen were invited to the force’s training centre to see real public order tactics in action.

In the video, which was shared by the police, he was seen getting involved in public order training, meeting with police dogs, and seeing firearms and tasers. He was seen donning a white police cap and a riot shield, posing for photos with different units of the police force.

Mum Helen said: “There was a video of James and my mum that was put up onto the internet of him doing riot training in the local field and my mum throwing fir cones at him and then some officers got in touch with us and asked if he’d like to come for a day here to see what it’s like to be a police officer.

“His confidence today has grown and I think he’s really enjoyed all of the different things that he’s taken part in. He’s just loved every minute of it, getting up close and doing things that you wouldn’t normally get to do.”

When asked what she thinks his future career would be, his mum said that “without a doubt” she believes he will become a police dog handler.

After the experience day, his mum said that he continues to act out police roles “spending a fortune on water balloons to imitate fire bombing in the garden” and loudly declaring he was “hiding drugs for the dogs to find” while in earshot of the neighbours, and continues to wear his cap.