South Wales Echo,
2 March 2005
A sniper targeted four bus passengers, including two
children, waiting at a bus stop in Pentrebane, Cardiff. When
police arrived they were seen to confiscate an
air rifle but witnesses were
surprised that no one was arrested. It is believed that the shots
came from a block of flats.
Sunderland Echo,
1 March 2005
A six-year-old boy almost blinded a 12-year-old girl
from Pallion when he shot her in the eye with a
ball-bearing gun. The victim was
playing with her friend when the boy aimed the weapon and fired at her
face. The police described it as "an unfortunate accident".
Sheffield Today,
1 March 2005
A pensioner was shot in the head as she walked home
from a Sheffield
bus stop. The pellet was fired from a
ball-bearing gun. The victim fainted with fear when she
felt the blow and saw blood streaming from an inch-long gash.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner,
22 February 2005
Three shots were fired at a church in
Huddersfield
during an evening service. The shots, thought to be from a
high-powered airgun, broke
double-glazed windows.
BBC,
22 February 2005
Three people suffered injuries after being shot at with
airgun pellets in
Gloucester.
One man needed treatment in hospital for wounds to his knee and elbow,
another was shot in the leg and medical staff have been unable to
remove the pellet.
BBC,
21 February 2005
A woman cycling along the A435 at Portway near
Redditch was fired at from a passing car and injured by a
pellet. She heard a cracking
sound as she and a friend were overtaken by a silver coloured Peugeot.
Pendle Today,
18 February 2005
Roger Baldwin discharged an
air pistol through his window,
which overlooked Colne cricket ground, during a match. A pellet
hit the ground near to the bowler, who had started his run up. He has
been given three years' detention.
Cambridge News,
15 February 2005
At least five people have been hit by
airgun pellets in a series of
shooting incidents in the Barton Road area of
Cambridge.
Eastbourne Today,
8 February 2005
Eastbourne Buses will not reinstate evening bus
services to the Shinewater estate which were suspended because
of attacks on buses, including one in which a teenager shot at a
window with an air rifle.
BBC,
5 February 2005
A firefighter was shot at with an
air rifle whilst tackling a blaze
in Stockwell, south London. He was hit close to the collarbone
but escaped serious injury. A gang of six youths was being sought.
Express & Star,
4 February 2005
Arron Ellis, 16, twice opened fire with an
air rifle on pupils at
Wodensborough Technology College in Wednesbury. He shot and
injured five children on a playing field in one attack in November
2004 and hit and injured a boy in December 2004. He admitted two
charges of common assault and asked for four identical offences to be
taken into consideration. He has been given an eight-month detention
and training order (Express & Star, 3 March 2005).
Manchester News,
4 February 2005
A Wythenshawe schoolboy was shot in the face
with an airgun in an unprovoked
attack as he waited for the bus home. The victim has blurred vision
in the injured eye.
icBerkshire,
3 February 2005
A schoolboy on a trip to the theatre in London was hit
in the leg with an airgun
pellet. The incident took place during the interval when the pupils
and staff were outside on the South Bank. The pellet was
removed in hospital the next day.
Sheffield Today,
1 February 2005
A mother was terrified when she was hit in the face by
a youth firing a pellet gun
whilst making a phone call in
Gleadless Valley.
A gang of around 20 youths had been firing paint bombs at the phone
booth before she was shot at.
BBC,
1 February 2005
In the past two months five people in
Fareham
and Gosport
have been hurt by being hit by plastic
ball bearings fired from a moving car. Police believe the
attacks are connected and have been carried out by a person or group
in a small silver hatchback.
BBC,
1 February 2005
A 68-year-old man was shot in the chest with an
airgun as he walked past three
youths in an alley in
Greenhithe,
Kent. He was treated in hospital for a cut but doctors told him he
could have died had the pellet hit his heart or lungs (This is
Local London, 9 February 2005).
Manchester News,
24 January 2005
A milkman sorting out crates in Cheadle was shot
in the face with an airgun.
The pellet, fired at pointblank range, lodged in his cheek. Five
teenagers produced the pistol and fired without warning.
BBC,
21 January 2005
A man and a teenager were arrested after a bus was shot
at, probably with an airgun, in
Stoke-on-Trent.
BBC,
20 January 2005
A man was arrested following reports of a number of
people, including a 14-year-old boy and his friend on their way to
school, being shot in
Telford
with an air rifle.
icCoventry,
18 January 2005
A commuter driving on the A46 at the
Marraway Island
was threatened by another
motorist who pulled up alongside and pointed a handgun at him through
an open window. An 18-year-old has been arrested and two
air pistols recovered by police,
one from a car the other from the arrested youth's home.
Leeds Today,
17 January 2005
An air rifle was
fired from a car at players during a brawl at an amateur Rugby League
game in Pontefract. Chequerfield fans had invaded the pitch
during a match with Bradford West Bowling. The trouble started when
members of the crowd chanted racial abuse at a West Bowling player.
The match was abandoned and the club have now been thrown out of the
competition (Guardian, 25 January 2005).
Eastern Daily Press,
11 January 2005
A married couple walking into
Norwich
city centre were shot at with an
air rifle from a block of flats.
They suffered minor injuries and were left shaken by the experience.
BBC,
9 January 2005
An air rifle was
fired randomly from a block of flats in Borehamwood. Three
people were hit by pellets. A woman in her 50s has been treated in
hospital for a head injury. The Borehamwood & Elstree Times
(January 14 2005) reported that a fourth victim, a man in his 50s, had
been shot in the shoulder and found an airgun pellet lodged in his
jacket. They also reported damage to windows and a front door in the
area.
Shropshire Star,
4 January 2005
A coach driver escaped injury when a missile was fired
through his windscreen as he left a
Telford
depot. It is believed that an air rifle
pellet shattered the windscreen.
Eastern Daily Press,
30 December 2004
In a report on a recent spate of vandalism and
anti-social behaviour in Mattishall the paper described how
air rifle pellets were fired at
the surgery, shattering a window.
Edinburgh Evening News,
27 December 2004
A teenager fired an airgun
pellet into the cab of a bus being driven through a housing
estate in Dalkeith. The pellet narrowly missed the driver.
Doncaster Today,
23 December 2004
Two 12-year-old boys were shot in the face with
BB guns at a school in Balby.
Four boys were arrested after the incident.
Stockport Express,
21 December 2004
A grandmother who was shot in the face with an
air rifle as she waited as a bus
stop in Stockport
on her way home
has supported calls to halt the underage sales of the weapons.
Evening Chronicle
(Newcastle),
18 December 2004
A teenager is almost completely blind in one eye after
being shot with an airgun by a
16-year-old youth in Ryton. The youth was convicted of
grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 14 months in a young
offenders institution and made the subject of an anti-social behaviour
order for two years (Evening Chronicle, 20 January 2005).
Rochdale Observer,
17 December 2004
A four-month-old baby and her parents were lucky to
escape serious injury when their car was hit by an
airgun pellet in
Rochdale.
The back window of the car was completely shattered.
Grampian TV,
6 December 2004
A teenage girl was shot with an
airgun on the doorstep of her home
in Elgin.
She was hit in the chest as she went to put rubbish in a bin.
Epping Forest Guardian,
2 December 2004
A bus was attacked with what was probably a pellet from
a ball-bearing gun in
Nazeing. Glass door panels were shattered.
News and Star,
2 December 2004
A 13-year-old boy from
Dudley
needed emergency surgery to save his sight after being
shot in the eye by a 7-year-old brandishing a
ball-bearing gun. He is now back
at school after spending several days in hospital.
Daily Record,
30 November 2004
John McGuire, who was thrown out of a Chinese
restaurant in
Paisley for racist
abuse returned armed with an air rifle.
He threatened to shoot members of staff. He later pointed the gun at
police. Sentence was deferred after he admitted shouting racist abuse
and weapons charges.
Evening Gazette
(Middlesbrough),
27 November 2004
A 15-year-old boy has admitted a charge of unlawful
wounding after an incident in which a 13-year-old girl was shot with a
loaded air pistol. The pellet
entered her face close to her eye. The boy was clearer of deliberate
shooting as the jury at Teesside Crown Centre accepted his plea
that he did not know the air pistol was loaded and would not have
pulled the trigger if he had known.
Northampton Today,
25 November 2004
A 14-year-old boy was fighting for his life after
suffering a gunshot wound at his home in Quinton,
Northamptonshire. It is believed that the injury was sustained with
an air weapon.
Evening Times,
22 November 2004
Two teenagers, Jack Dunsmore and Kevin Holland, shot at
a 14-year-old boy with an air rifle
as he as walking into the playground of
Larkhall Academy.
The boy was forced to flee but was left with severe bruising to his
leg and was seriously shaken. The perpetrators were both former
pupils. Both are facing jail sentences after admitting possessing the
air rifle and firing it at their victim.
Derby Evening Telegraph,
22 November 2004
A house in Derby was surrounded for two hours
after a man allegedly fired an air rifle
and refused to hand over the weapon. A man was arrested. The
incident happened when environmental health workers from Derby City
Council were clearing a large pile of rubbish from the doorstep of the
house.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner,
18 November 2004
A bus driver was robbed after being threatened with a
handgun in Meltham. After the robbery he had to be taken to
hospital suffering from chest pains. It was the latest of a series of
attacks on buses in the village, including a possible
airgun attack in which four
windows were smashed. The First Bus company has imposed a night-time
curfew on buses going on to the Broadlands estate in Meltham.
Evening Times,
17 November 2004
Eleven-year-old Scott Heap was buried following a
family funeral. Scott was shot in the eye in the bedroom of his home
in Barlanark, Glasgow (Sunday Mail, 31 October 2004) and
died four days later. He and a school friend were playing with an
air pistol. The friend was
apparently not aware there was a pellet in the pistol and put it
against the boy's face and pulled the trigger.
BBC,
16 November 2004
A man died after being shot in the eye with an
air rifle at a flat in
Castleford. Police have charged a 20-year-old man with
manslaughter.
Evening News
(Norwich),
13 November 2004
A 12-year-old schoolgirl was shot in the leg whilst
talking to a friend outside a school in
Norwich.
Police believe an air weapon
was used.
BBC,
13 November 2004
A man was arrested after two people were shot with a
BB gun in
Manchester
city centre. One of the victims
suffered minor eye injuries after being shot in a bar; the other
victim was shot in the face in a restaurant.
Derby Evening Telegraph,
5 November 2004
A man suffered a pellet
wound in his leg after being shot whilst walking home from
a pub in Derby.
icCoventry,
5 November 2004
A couple from
Kenilworth
were shocked to discover that someone had fired an
airgun at the home. The shot
appeared to have been fired from an alleyway at the back of the house.
Express and Star,
4 November 2004
Pensioners on two Stourbridge estates are being
terrorised by vandals who throw bricks and fire
airgun pellets at their homes.
Guardian,
3 November 2004
Six people were arrested on suspicion of wounding after
a teenager was shot with an air rifle
in Kensington, Merseyside.
Not included in the list are any of the numerous
incidents in which animals have been shot.
