Prisoner makes fake GUN from soap as part of jail escape plan

This was 1930s bank robber John Dillinger’s soap gun that the inmate hoped to copy (Picture: History Centre Allen County, Indiana)

It isn’t quite Orange Is The New Black in terms of originality, but a prisoner has been caught making a gun from soap as part of an elaborate escape plan.

The inmate at HMP Bedford confessed to planning a breakout from prison after crafting the fake gun using several bars of soap he had hoarded.
A fan of the infamous 1930s US bank robber John Dillinger, the inmate planned to emulate his hero and bluff his way out of prison with his own soap gun.

Orange Is The New Black (Picture: Netflix)

Did I hear someone say soap? (Picture: Netflix)

Dillinger made a name for himself by breaking out of prison using violent means, including one occasion in 1934 when he used a wooden gun to force the guards to let him escape Lake County Jail, Indiana before driving off in the local sherrif’s car.

His British fan however had a change of heart and handed his soap gun into authorities.
The Daily Mirror reported a prison source describing this fake gun as: ‘lovingly crafted and the right shape and size.
‘Painted black, it would have been impossible to distinguish from a proper pistol.’
After handing over the fake weapon, the enterprising inmate has been placed in the Care and Separation unit.
HMP Bedford have stated that it had not been used and no one had been injured as a result.
Forget a black and white Crime watch dramatic reconstruction, here is Woody Allen depicting how one could achieve a realistic replica from a bar of soap in the 1969 comedy film, ‘Take the money and run’:

John Dillinger robbed banks across USA before being gunned down by police in 1934 (Picture: History Centre Allen County, Indiana)