A prison blade has been found by a child in a box of Christmas crackers

The dad has said the weapon was also “encrusted in blood”

Daniel Young’s 2 year old son came running down the stairs of his family home yelling, “I’ve got a chopper” after finding the wooden-handled blade in a box of Christmas crackers just before Christmas .

David said the weapon, which resembles the kind of improvised blade used by prisoners, was “encrusted in blood” and he took it off the toddler and handed it to police.

The premium crackers were bought from a Home Bargains store in Greater Manchester, however, Home Bargains are denying that the crackers are packaged or assembled in a prison and this story is only coming to light now after Home Bargains did not respond to requests for an explanation as to what it was.

David said: “My wife had bought these crackers from Home Bargains and she put them upstairs in one of the rooms ready for Christmas. One of my adventurous toddlers decided to open them and came running down the stairs. We were horrified, he was shouting ‘I’ve got a chopper’ while running down the stairs. My wife was petrified he was going to fall on it.”

He continued ”He said: “We went to them in December and they said they could not do anything because the factory had shut down for Christmas.”

A spokesman for Home Bargains said: “Home Bargains undertakes vigorous checks on all its suppliers to ensure they meet our high standards and we can confirm the products are made in a reputable factory.

“Extra steps have been implemented in relation to the control and use of tools within the factory to ensure a similar incident does not happen again.

“We received Mr Young’s complaint on December 23, and our factory was closed until January 7, so there was a delay in responding to him.

“We informed Mr Young of this on January 6, confirming that we would be in touch once investigations had been concluded with our supplier.”