Saturday, September 24, 2011 9:11am ET by  
Comments (0)

, , , , , , , ,

Matt Cardle took a handgun into his school

Matt Cardle has told The Sun that he took a handgun into his school when he was just 11:

"I was at a posh private school in Essex, then my dad got made redundant and we went to the local school down the road.

I went round to a mate's house and he said he had a gun. He was worried his dad had rumbled him and was searching for it. I gave him my dad's fishing knife and a tenner in a swap deal.

"I was expecting some sort of spud gun and he brought out this shiny, nickel Beretta. It was decommissioned but still had the magazine and everything.

I took it into school to show another mate. I'd only been there for a week. We were in history, pulling it back and holding it, letting it unload with a 'cling' sound.

"There was a bit of metal welded into the barrel. So I had friends in the fifth year go into the CDT lab to fix it.

"We were hoping to free the barrel so we could shoot real bullets. I don't know what we were thinking. Where the hell was some posh kid from Essex going to get a bullet from?

"It didn't work and the older lads took it from me and were running round pretending to shoot it.

"The head boy told the headmaster and I was in deep trouble. I remember running behind the back of the science lab. I was sat there with the gun in my bag.

"Before I knew it, the headmaster was round the corner shouting, 'Matt Cardle!'

"I think he was expecting a cap gun. When I showed him, I'll never forget his face.

"The next thing my mum and I were in the car park with a gun-shaped brown paper bag. I was begging her not to shop me. She took me straight to the police station. I got there in this school blazer that was far too big for me.

"My mum said, 'My son's got a gun.' So she put this gun up on the desk, the copper took it away, came back and confirmed it was a real, decommissioned gun. I'd been watching loads of The Bill and there I was, sat with my mum, being asked where I got it. I said, 'No comment', thinking I'm cool. I said it about four times and then my mum started crying.

"I crumbled and told them who gave it to me. He got a telling off, I got a telling off and a couple of weeks' suspension from school. It could have been worse."

Cardle's new album, 'Letters', is scheduled for release on October 17. As previously reported by Pressparty, the first single to be taken from it has been penned by X Factor judge, Gary Barlow. It's called 'Run For Your Life' and is out on October 9. 

Watch the 'Run For Your Life' video below, and Cardle speak about this 2011's work schedule so far: