The images are shocking . A man apparently wielding an ax looms over a figure lying spreadeagled on the cobbled road , clad in red overalls . The first man turns to face the camera as it passes and watches , ax in hand , as it drives into the distance . Almost more disturbingly , swiveling around on Google Street View , a man stands watching the grisly scene , hand nonchalantly resting on his hip . All three faces are blurred . But the identities of the two men at the center of the tableau are far from a secret in this corner of Edinburgh . The man lying seemingly lifeless on the ground is Dan Thompson , who has owned and run the Tomson Motor Company on Giles Street -- in the Edinburgh district of Leith -- for 30 years . Above him , longtime employee Gary Kerr . Zoom closer and , through the distortion , Kerr 's expression could make you shudder . The `` axman '' is laughing . His boss and apparent victim is chuckling too , when he describes the hoax to CNN . Thompson and Kerr have been at the center of much media attention in Britain after a local newspaper picked up the story of their Google Street View `` murder . '' But it took a while . The photos , Thompson reckons , were taken around August 2012 . `` Giles Street is like a misshapen horseshoe . By chance , I saw the Street View car going in other leg . I knew it would reach us in half a minute , '' he says . `` I had just enough time to whip in , grab Gary and a pick-ax handle and he came out to give me a so called 'Leith massage , ' which is essentially being bashed . '' Kerr has worked at the Tomson Motor Company for more than a decade , and was `` right up '' for the prank , Thompson said . He said Google had apparently uploaded the images and some months later the company was alerted when one of its suppliers rang it up `` in fits of laughter . '' Thompson said it was more than a year before someone apparently alerted the police , who he says `` very properly '' came around to check out the incident . `` A WPC [ female police officer ] has her car serviced here and she said ' I know exactly what 's going on here -- it 's a wind up . ' `` They came in and said 'you guys , do you happen to know anything about this ? ' We explained what had happened , '' Thompson said . `` They were smiling when they came in and were roaring with laughter when they left . '' Thompson said that he had n't heard from Google about the prank but speculated that the publicity it had generated would be very good for the company . `` It 's nothing obscene , but now a lot more people know about Street View -- so I would think this must be a joy to them . '' When CNN contacted Google about the prank , the company declined to comment . Thompson fears that his tableau may not be long for the cyberworld . `` Infuriatingly I think last Thursday the Street View car went past and we had n't set anything up , '' he said . `` I expect there will ll be a lot of copycats of this now but the trick is spotting [ the Street View car ] in time . '' As for the police , they told CNN they would `` always respond to any reports of concern for personal safety . ''
Images of Edinburgh 's Google Street View on Giles Street appear to show an axe murder . But mechanics Thompson and Gary Kerr say they staged the `` murder '' for a laugh . Gary Kerr said he spotted the car coming and grabbed Thompson in time to set-up the tableau . He said that the image was spotted by a supplier and police later visited to investigate .