APRIL 2008
We prepare
a monthly summary of gun incidents, focussing on those that raise key
issues about the nature of gun crime and the adequacy of gun legislation. Items that
have been amended or added to the list since the
Summary was written are marked (*).
ENGLAND
This is Hull and East Riding,
30 April 2008
A window was smashed in east
Hull with what witnesses believe could have been a firearm.
A man and a woman have been arrested.
Daily Echo,
30 April 2008
Gareth McCarthy fired an
air rifle pellet into a young woman's
eye while he was fooling around with the weapon in Portland,
Dorset, in October 2007 (see
Incidents). The victim was visiting the McCarthy's
girlfriend at the time and is still receiving treatment for her eye.
McCarthy pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing an El Gamo 5.5mm
calibre air rifle and a charge of possessing ammunition less than five
years after his release from a young offender institution. He was
given a two year suspended sentence with a curfew.
Birmingham Mail,
30 April 2008
A teenager was shot in the
leg during a party in a club in Handsworth, Birmingham. His
injury is not believed to be life threatening.
BBC,
30 April 2008
Two boys, aged 15 and 16,
were arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm in a
public place after an armed response was called out when they were
spotted playing with a gun in Southend, Essex. The weapon
was a BB gun.
BBC,
30 April 2008
A security guard was shot
with a stun gun by a robber at a store in South Wootton, Norfolk.
Two men demanded cash before the gun was fired. They stole what
police described as a "quantity of cash".
BBC,
30 April 2008
A man is in a critical
condition after being shot at point-blank range by two men on the
doorstep of his home in Whitleigh, Plymouth. He was taken
to hospital with a shotgun wound to his stomach and facial injuries.
It is believed the man was pistol whipped before being shot. Three
men have been arrested and subsequently bailed (Herald
(Plymouth), 7 May 2008).
Yorkshire Post, 29 April 2008
A woman was robbed at
gunpoint as she was walking in Headingley, Leeds. She was
approached by a man who was armed with what is believed to have been a
handgun who demanded money. She was told to walk away after
handing over some cash.
Nafferton Today, 29 April 2008
A newsagents in Doncaster
has been robbed by three men and a woman who threatened a worker with a
handgun.
Lincolnshire Echo, 29 April 2008
A taxi driver was held up at
gunpoint in Lincoln. He had just dropped off two women
customers when two men approached. He was forced to hand over his
cash when he was threatened with a handgun.
BBC, 29 April 2008
A man was shot in the hand
in Bolton and had to undergo surgery to remove the bullet.
He has now left hospital. Police have released CCTV images of some
of the group of men with whom the victim had been involved in an
argument just before the shooting.
BBC, 29 April 2008
The 19-year-old from
Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol charged with terrorist offences has, among
other offences, been accused of possessing a quantity of
airgun pellets.
Times, 28 April 2008
A former detective has been
arrested by armed police at his home in Darton, Barnsley, after a
newspaper photographer saw him with what appeared to be a handgun at his
front door.
Lakeland Echo, 28 April 2008
Peter Quirk, 20, and Liam
Ashworth, 19, have begun jail sentences totalling more than six years
for offences which happened in September 2007 in Morecambe,
Lancashire (see Incidents).
They held a gun to the head of a takeaway worker and a delivery driver.
They tried to steal a wallet and demanded cash from the delivery driver
who gave them what was in his cab. The weapon was a
realistic looking toy gun. Quirk
pleaded guilty to robbery and three firearm offences. Ashworth
admitted handling stolen goods and one firearms offence. Both men
had been drinking heavily.
Halesowen News, 28 April 2008
Martin Cowley from
Oldbury, West Midlands, fired a powerful
air rifle at his father-in-law after a drunken argument with
his wife. He had been drinking heavily at the time and followed
his wife and son to his father-in-law's home armed with a .22 air rifle.
Cowley sent a pellet into a window frame. He has been given a 12
month jail term suspended for two years.
BBC, 28 April 2008
A bag full of live rifle
ammunition has been found during a clean up of a canal in Brierley
Hill, West Midlands. The rounds were collected by police
officers to be safely disposed.
Yorkshire Post, 25 April 2008
An 11-year-old girl was shot
with an airgun while out playing
with a friend in Barnsley. The pellet went through her
jeans and into her skin.
This is Hertfordshire, 25 April 2008
Three men have been jailed
after kidnapping a business man. He was dragged into a car in
Chingford, north London, and driven to Sheffield where he was
held captive. He was beaten and repeatedly threatened with a gun.
His girlfriend travelled to Yorkshire and handed over a substantial sum
of money to secure his release. Dean Laycock, Nathan Sutton and
Dwayne Smith were given concurrent sentences for kidnap and possession
of a loaded handgun, Laycock for ten years and the others for six years.
The Star (Sheffield), 25 April 2008
Danville Miller has been
jailed indefinitely (minimum term of nine and a half years) after
shooting a cafe owner in the stomach in Spital Hill. The
victim recovered after emergency surgery but has been so traumatised he
has since sold the businesses.
Kilburn Times, 25 April 2008
A man was shot dead in a
barber's shop in Harlesden, north west London. The gunman
burst in and shot his victim four times before fleeing.
Times, 24 April 2008
A 16-year-old was among four
defendants on trial after a gun, bullets and £2000 in cash were found at
a property in Haydock, Merseyside, in November 2007. Kieran
Farrell was sentenced to five years' detention for conspiring to posses
a firearm, ammunition and silencer: he had taken a taxi to the home of
Philip Worsley where he had arranged to buy or rent a Browning 9mm
pistol fitted with a silencer. Worsley pleaded guilty and was
jailed for six years and four months. His "lieutenant Andrew Bell
was sentenced to six years and "storage man" Lee Travis to six years and
four months.
Crosby Herald, 24 April 2008
A 16-year-old was shot in
the neck with an air rifle in a road
in Litherland, Merseyside. He had gone out for to an ice-cream
van with a friend. He was taken to hospital where he underwent a
three-hour operation to remove the pellet which was embedded in his
skull.
Bakewell Today, 24 April 2008
A girl was shot in the head
with an air rifle, apparently fired
inside a flat in Bakewell, Derbyshire. She was treated in
hospital after pellets lodged in her head.
Times, 23 April 2008
A 17-year-old girl, Lindsay
Shinkfield, has been sentenced to three years in a secure institution
after she admitted hiding a machine pistol under her bed at her family
home in Huyton, Merseyside. Police found the weapon in
December 2007. They believe it was used in an incident in 2006 in
which a person was injured.
Echo (Essex), 23 April 2008
A teenager was threatened by
the driver of a car who pulled a silver handgun on him and demanded his
mobile phone. The victim, who had been riding along a road in
West Horndon at the time, refused and drove off.
Devon 24, 23 April 2008
The Health and Safety
Executive have been asked by the police to look into an incident in
which an airgun pellet shattered an
office window in Barnstaple. It is thought that the damage
may have been caused by a ricochet whilst a pest control company was
dealing with a pigeon problem.
Rochdale Observer, 22 April 2008
A man was gunned down in the
street as he walked through an estate in Rochdale, Lancashire.
Police were called and shortly afterwards traced the victim to hospital.
He had injuries to his legs and lower back which are not thought to be
life threatening.
Newmarket Journal, 21 April 2008
Armed robbers targeted a
security van at a supermarket in Ely, Cambridgeshire. The
offenders are believed to have been armed with shotgun. They were
forced to flee empty-handed in a car later found abandoned.
Fenland Citizen, 21 April 2008
Safraz Majid has been found
guilty of attempted murder, perverting the course of justice and
possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. He had fired a
volley of shots at a car in Luton in October 2006. The
driver tried to get away and collided with two other vehicles. He
has been jailed for 18 years.
Cambridge News, 21 April 2008 *
A man armed with an
automatic rifle fired around 25 bullets into a house in Fulbourn,
Cambridgeshire, before speeding off on a motorbike. Police arrived
later and cordoned off the street. A man has been charged with
conspiracy to murder (BBC, 22 May 2008).
Bracknell Forest Standard, 21 April 2008
Three teenagers have been
arrested after an air rifle and two
BB guns were seized at a
Bracknell house. They were tracked down after a member of the
public called 999 to say he had seen three young men with guns near a
skate park in Chavey Down near Ascot, Berkshire.
BBC, 21 April 2008
A train guard was threatened
with a gun after refusing to let two men travel. They had been
ejected from the train at Settle but returned with an
airgun as the train arrived at
Horton in Ribblesdale. One of the men pointed the weapon at
the guard. Two men, one aged 18, have been arrested (Lakeland
Echo, 29 April 2008).
BBC, 21 April 2008
A man is on trial charged
with the murder of a man in an "execution style" shooting in
Birmingham
in April 2003 (see Incidents).
He was arrested after routine DNA checks confirmed a match and the
murder weapon was allegedly found under his pillow along with other
firearms at his home in Kingstanding. Another man has also been
charged with possessing the weapons.
BBC, 21 April 2008
Jermain Carty has been
jailed for a minimum of 14 years for shooting a student who was working
as a doorman at a concert in Loughborough, Leicestershire, in
March 2007 (see Incidents).
He had denied attempted murder and possession of a firearm. His
victim was seriously injured when he was hit three times.
Sunday Mirror, 20 April 2008
Makin Dayil from
Nottingham has been jailed for 10 years for carrying a 45-calibre
revolver loaded with five bullets.
Lowestoft Journal, 20 April 2008
A masked raider fled
empty-handed from a shop in Lowestoft after confronting the
owners with a handgun. The owners told him there was no money and
the man ran away.
BBC, 20 April 2008
A man is in hospital after
being shot in the buttocks in Werneth, Oldham.
The Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent), 19 April 2008
Four
teenagers attending a party in Alsagers Bank in August 2007 took a rifle and an
air
rifle from the house, which belonged to the parents of one of them,
Charlotte Clowry, 18. They drove in a car and fired the weapons in a
wood. They then took the guns to Audley Community
Centre. Kyle Williams, 19, said all of them had a shot but the
others denied firing either weapon. The rifle was returned
(100 rounds of ammunition were missing) but the air rifle, which had
been used to shoot at a pigeon, tin cans, trees and a glass bottle, was
never recovered. All four defendants pleaded guilty to possessing
a firearm without a certificate, and Williams and Clowry also pleaded
guilty to possessing an air weapon in a public place. Clowry,
Williams and Phillip Adams, 19, all received suspended sentences in a
young offenders' institution, and unpaid work. Nathan Moss, 16,
was given 12 months' supervision.
Press Association, 19 April 2008
Armed officers attended a
street brawl in Brigstock, Northamptonshire, after reports that a
man was brandishing a firearm. The fight involved four men.
Two of the men were arrested on suspicion of assault and firearms
offences and a starting pistol was
recovered.
Worksop Guardian, 18 April 2008
Two teenagers have been
arrested after they allegedly fired an airgun
at cars on the forecourt of a garage in Boston, Lincolnshire.
A woman who works at the garage was shot in the leg
and was taken to hospital.
BBC, 18 April 2008
Two masked men robbed a
building society at gunpoint in Moortown, West Yorkshire.
One man stood at the door with a gun and the other took cash and
threatened staff. The men then stole a car.
BBC, 18 April 2008
Police were examining
whether a gun was used in a robbery on a security van guard outside a
bank in Poole, Dorset. It is not known whether any cash was
stolen. A man and a woman have been arrested.
BBC, 18 April 2008
A man is at the centre of a
police investigation into robberies at branches of two banks in
Sheffield. Police have issued a picture after he walked into
one branch with a gun and demanded money.
BBC, 18 April 2008
An armed man walked into a
bank in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, and demanded money. He
said he was carrying a handgun and also claimed to have a bomb.
The police would not say whether or not any cash was stolen.
BBC, 18 April 2008
Three men have been found
guilty of taking part in a number of jewellery raids across the Midlands
and the South. Luke Nash was convicted of robbing a jewellery shop
in Winchester, Hampshire, in December 2006 and of possessing an
imitation firearm during the raid.
Simon Waller pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a string of
robberies and Elliott Burton was convicted of taking part in nine raids:
he absconded while on bail. The shop owner in Winchester
described how the gun was held to his head during a second raid on the
premises.
Weston & Somerset Mercury, 17 April 2008
A family in Portishead,
Somerset, who have been plagued by dog walkers throwing bags of dog
faeces over the fence and into their garden have also had their kitchen
window broken by what they believe to be an
airgun pellet.
Shields Gazette, 17 April 2008
A window of an upstairs flat
was shattered by a gunshot in South Shields, Tyneside.
Since the incident armed police have swooped on two addresses in Westee
and Biddick Hall. A man and a 17-year-old youth have been arrested (Shields
Gazette, 18 April 2008), and another three people were arrested
later (Shields Gazette, 21 April 2008).
Oxford Mail, 17 April 2008
A police helicopter and two
police cars were scrambled when a man was seen with a shotgun standing
beside a car at Marsh Baldon, Oxfordshire. It turned out
that the man had a licence for the gun and his car had broken down.
A policeman waited with him while his vehicle was recovered.
Manchester Evening News, 17 April 2008
A couple were threatened at
gunpoint by raiders at the home in Higher Blackley, Manchester.
The four men tied up the homeowners and threatened them at gunpoint.
The man was assaulted with the weapon. The house was ransacked
before the gang escaped with cash and a TV.
Kent Online, 17 April 2008
A man carrying a black
handgun walked into a filling station in Farnington, Kent, and
demanded money from a member of staff. He took a cash tin and
walked out of the premises.
Herald Express, 17 April 2008
A man from Newton Abbot,
Devon, has been charged with possession of a handgun following a police
raid in the town. Officers also recovered ammunition and a small
amount of cannabis.
BBC, 17 April 2008
Two primary school pupils
have been shot by a youth who fired a pellet
gun into the playground of a school in York. One
was hit on the elbow, the second on a shin. Although one of the
boys was in a lot of pain neither child was seriously hurt. An
11-year-old boy has been arrested (BBC, 21 April 2008).
97.4 rockfm, 17 April 2008
Andrew Friar took out an
imitation gun as he passed another
motorist on the M6 at Leyland, Lancashire, in September 2007.
He took both hands off the wheel and simulated loading the gun before
pointing it at the victim. He has been sentenced to 12 months in
prison.
Woking News & Mail, 16 April 2008
A man found dead at the
shotgun ranges of the National Rifle Association at Bisley, Surrey,
is believed to have shot himself in the head. An inquest has been
opened.
Telegraph & Argus, 16 April 2008
Shahzad Shahpal twice fired
a ball-bearing gun at a woman
employee at a psychiatric hospital in Bradford and held the
weapon to a delivery driver's head. He was arrested by an armed
response team. He has pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation
firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. He was sentenced to
a two-year community order with supervision and a condition that he
undertake psychiatric treated for 12 months or for as long as doctors
deem appropriate. The judge branded such guns a menace.
Southern Daily Echo, 16 April 2008
A man is recovering in
hospital after being attacked in Sholing, Southampton, by a gang
armed with a handgun. The man was left with bruising to his head
and chest and a stab wound to his leg. Two people are in custody
in relation to the assault.
BBC, 16 April 2008
An
imitation gun was among items seized by police during an
operation in Bolton to crack a major drugs ring in Greater
Manchester.
Telegraph & Argus, 15 April 2008
A 13-year-old walking with a
friend in Skipton, North Yorkshire, sustained an injury to her
leg and believes she was shot with an air rifle.
Swindon Advertiser, 15 April 2008
Armed police officers
stormed a house in the centre of Swindon and arrested four men
after a firearms related incident. An air
rifle has been recovered.
Midhurst and Petworth Observer, 15 April 2008
Stuart Raven shot himself
after taking part in a clay pigeon shooting session in Midhurst,
Sussex, in November 2007. He was found dead by an 11-year old boy.
A coroner has recorded that he took his own life while suffering from
depression.
Herald Express,
15 April 2008
Armed police searched two
houses in Paignton, Devon, after reports of a man wielding a
shotgun. Nothing was found and inquiries are continuing.
Daily Post (Liverpool), 15 April 2008
Paula Robinson has been
jailed for five years and three months for minding a stash of weapons
which were found by police when her home in Orrell Park,
Liverpool, was raided in January 2008. They discovered a bag
containing three handguns, one with a silencer and loaded with a live
round. She pleaded guilty to 11 firearms offences.
Bolton News,
15 April 2008
A taxi was stolen at gunpoint
in Collyhurst, north Manchester. Shortly after three people
got into the taxi one of the offenders grabbed the driver from behind and
restrained him with a seatbelt. Another produced a knife and a
sawn-off shotgun and demanded cash. The driver was then told to get
out of the vehicle and the offenders drove off.
Warrington Guardian,
14 April 2008
Antony Peers, 21, who was seen
brandishing an air rifle in a park in
Culcheth, Cheshire, in November 2007, has been given a 12 month
community order. He had approached two women and began to swear at
them. The women then saw him fire the gun and alerted the police.
Hartlepool Mail,
14 April 2008
A masked robber held a handgun
to the head of a female worker after three men burst into a takeaway in
Hartlepool. They made off in a getaway car with the till and "a
large quantity of cash".
This is Lancashire,
12 April 2008
A newsagent from Prestwich
chased a gun-toting raider down the street after he had been confronted by
the man carrying a handgun after opening up his shop. No-one was
hurt in the incident but the gunman is still at large.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 12 April 2008
An
airgun was fired at the rear window of a vehicle in
Flockton. In another incident in Flockton an
air weapon was fired at a house window.
This is Hampshire, 11 April 2008
A gunman ran off with a cash
box after holding up a security van outside a store in Four Marks,
near Alton. He had approached one of the guards with a small,
silver handgun.
Surrey Advertiser, 11 April 2008
A woman was threatened at
gunpoint during a robbery at a betting shop in Ewell. Three
men demanded money from the cashier before emptying the tills and
unlocking the drawers of four games machines.
Manchester Evening News, 11 April 2008
Police seized a
ball-bearing gun after residents in
Denton reported seeing a man in the street with a firearm. A
20-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of firearms offences.
Malvern Gazette, 11 April 2008
A burglar was seen on the
roof of a shop in Malvern Wells, Worcestershire, by a neighbour
armed with a shotgun. He and another man had been attempting to open a
skylight. The neighbour threatened to shoot them if they did not
stop. The man, who has admitted burglary, was put on probation for
three years.
Lancashire Evening Post,
11 April 2008
A man was rushed to hospital
after being shot in the neck in Deepdale, Preston. The shot
was fired from a car. The victim was taken to hospital where his
injuries were not thought to be life threatening.
Hexham Courant, 11 April 2008
A family who have recently
moved to Corbridge, Northumberland, have been subjected to
anti-social behaviour on their own estate. On one occasion a
window was smashed with a ball bearing gun.
Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 11 April 2008
Two ambulances were hit by
airgun shots while answering
emergency calls in Middlesbrough.
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 11 April 2008
An 18-year-old is in
hospital under police guard after he was shot as he walked through the
cemetery in Walker, Newcastle. A bullet has been removed
from his right thigh (Evening Chronicle, 12 April 2008).
BBC, 11 April 2008
Brothers Ashley Cohen and
David Cohen will serve 33 and 31 years respectively after being found
guilty of the murder of a taxi driver in the Pitsmoor area of
Sheffield in March 2007 (see
Incidents). Their victim was shot while driving his
cab. The attack was a revenge attack against the victim's son who
had taken a gun to David Cohen's house in revenge for trouble at a
Sheffield nightclub.
BBC, 11 April 2008
Five people, including four
teenagers (two aged 14 and one 13) have been charged after members of
the public were allegedly shot at in Gloucester. They were
charged with possessing an air weapon
in
public after an imitation firearm was recovered.
This is Total Essex, 10 April 2008
A couple in Bocking
were awoken by the sound of breaking glass after their window was shot
twice with an air rifle.
Bolton News, 10 April 2008
A gasman fled from a house
in Horwich when the homeowner came downstairs wielding what
appeared to be a gun. The gasman had been trying to change the
meter because the householder had been served with a disconnection
warrant. Police raided the house to find the suspect no longer
there.
BBC, 10 April 2008
Police were hunting three
teenage robbers, probably aged between 15 and 18, who threatened betting
shop staff with a gun. They escaped with a large amount of cash
after robbing a betting shop in Cleethorpes, Humberside.
BBC, 10 April 2008
A man has been arrested on
suspicion of a firearms offence after an incident at a house in
Wigston, Leicestershire. There were reports that a man had
been threatening someone with a gun.
Northampton Chronicle & Echo, 9 April 2008
Burglars who raided two
houses in Northampton stole replica
handguns (a Desert Eagle replica and a Glock replica) and an
air rifle (Walther competition
airgun). A tin of pellets was also stolen.
Morley Observer & Advertiser, 9 April 2008
Sean Hodgson pointed a
starting gun at his ex-girlfriend at her home in Morley,
West Yorkshire, in November 2007. He then asked a neighbour to get
rid of the gun but took it back from her and went back to his
ex-girlfriend. The gun had been taken from a youth the day before.
He pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of
violence, possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate and
failing to provide a breath specimen. He has been jailed for five
years.
Get Reading, 9 April 2008
Aaron O'Neill, then 19, was
responsible for five raids in a two-day spree with an
imitation gun in February 2008. His
targets were three shops, a bookmakers and a sandwich outlet in the
Reading area. He also ordered a taxi driver to drive him home which
the driver did once he spotted the imitation handgun and a carrier bag
full of cash. He was caught the next day after stealing money from
another shop. He was jailed for eight years.
Lancashire Evening Post, 8 April 2008
A teenager was shot in the
face with an air rifle seconds after
his girlfriend told the gunman not to aim at them as they were walking
home in Ribbleton, Preston, in August 2007. He was
fortunate not to lose his sight. The gunman, Jamie Murphy, has
pleaded guilty to a charge of unlawful wounding. His defence
claimed he was aiming at chimney pots as well as a tin can. Murphy
was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution, suspended
for 18 months, and placed on a four month night time curfew. Four
days after the court case the teenage victim was stabbed and left in a
pool of blood after an alleged robbery in Ribbleton (Lancashire
Evening Post, 15 April 2008).
BBC, 8 April 2008
A machine gun has been fired
at a derelict former nightclub in Bury, Lancashire. Police
said 24 bullet holes were found in the side of the building and 18 spent
cartridges were found nearby. No one was hurt.
BBC, 7 April 2008
One of three men who entered
a jewellers in Bournemouth and threatened staff appeared to be
carrying a handgun. The thieves smashed windows and displays and
made off with a large amount of jewellery.
The Argus (Brighton), 5 April 2008
A motorcyclist on his way to
a registered shoot was stopped by police officers in Brighton
after he was seen riding with a 12 bore shotgun strapped to his back.
A force helicopter was scrambled in the process.
The Star (Sheffield), 4 April 2008
Gary Hamilton used a gun to
threaten his partner during an attack in a house in Wheatley Hills,
Doncaster, which landed her in hospital. Hamilton pleaded guilty
to the assault and was placed under supervision for 12 months. He
has had the air rifle confiscated.
His partner wrote to the judge pleading for him not to be jailed.
Northampton Chronicle & Echo, 4 April 2008
A man and a woman were
arrested following the discovery of a cannabis and an arsenal of weapons
at an address in Northampton. The weapons including an 8mm
self-loading blank firing pistol and
a high powered air rifle and sight,
as well as ammunition including a single rifle bullet, shotgun
cartridges and ammunition for the blank firing gun.
News Shopper, 4 April 2008
An inquest has heard how two
brothers were near their family home in New Cross, south London,
in September 2006 (see
Incidents), when a gang fired at them with an
air pistol and then plunged a knife into
one of them. The victim was pronounced dead in hospital. No
one has been brought to justice for the murder. A verdict of
unlawful killing was recorded.
BBC, 4 April 2008
A man and a woman have been
arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm following an incident
at a house in Netherley, Merseyside.
Suffolk Free Press, 3 April 2008
Andrew Browning from
Sudbury, Suffolk, has been jailed for two years after ignoring a
life-time ban on carrying a gun and breaking his wife's arm with a
saucepan. Police officers had found an
air rifle when they searched his home. He was jailed for
three years in 1991 for attempted robbery and possession of an
imitation firearm.
Skegness Standard, 3 April 2008
Five teenagers were arrested
after a firearm is believed to have been used to threaten someone in
Skegness.
Liverpool Echo, 3 April 2008 *
Nineteen-year-old Lee
Jamieson has been ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years in prison.
In June 2007 he attempted to shoot two teenage boys in Childwall,
Liverpool, in retaliation for them speaking to police about a robbery he
had carried out three years before. He leaned out of the window of
a car and fired five shots at them using a handgun. Earlier in the
day he had repeatedly driven past their house, shouting abuse and
threatening to stab and shoot them. Jamieson was found guilty of
two counts of attempted murder.
Camden New Journal, 3 April 2008
An optician's shop in
Hampstead, north London, has been raided and sunglasses worth
£15,000 stolen. It is thought that the thieves used an
airgun to try and break windows.
BBC, 3 April 2008
A man armed with a handgun
threatened staff at a building society in Cheltenham during an
attempted robbery. He fled empty-handed.
Wimbledon Guardian,
2 April 2008
A 15-year-old was shot in
Streatham Hill, south London. He received gunshot wounds to
the lower part of his body. His injuries are not thought to be
life threatening.
BBC,
1 April 2008
A man and a teenage boy were
shot in an internet cafe in Hockley, Birmingham. Both
remain under armed guard in hospital. Neither of the victims
suffered life-threatening injuries.
SCOTLAND
ic Lanarkshire,
30 April 2008
A security guard has
received an award for his act of bravery. Henry McLaggann
conversed with a drunken man who was seen with a gun tucked into his
trousers until the police arrived at the complex in East Kilbride,
Lanarkshire. Gordon Brodie was disarmed and searched by police who
found a tin of 17 dummy bullets matching a .38 Italian Magnum
replica gun. He was sentenced to
30 months imprisonment.
Scotland on Sunday,
27 April 2008
A man was arrested by police
investigating an alleged firearms incident at a caravan park at the
Isle of Whithorn, Newton Stewart, Dumfries and Galloway. They
received a 999 call from a man who claimed to have a firearm.
BBC,
15 April 2008
John Conway and two friends
drank 18 cans of lager he stole from a shop during a five-and-a-half
hour siege in Inverness in February 2008. He has been
jailed for five years after admitting to a number of charges including
assaulting two female shop assistants and possessing an
imitation pistol and presenting the
weapon at them.
Evening Times, 11 April 2008
An armed robber fled with
thousands of pounds after a raid at a shopping centre in Shawlands,
Glasgow. A security guard was taking cash from the arcade when he
was approached by a man who threatened him with a gun.
Hamilton Advertiser, 10 April 2008
Hugh Rodger, 18, of
Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, was put on a two year probation order for
recklessly discharging an air rifle
and severely injuring a child. The victim, a boy aged between 12
and 14, was permanently impaired. Rodger, who had pleaded guilty
to the charge of recklessly discharging an air rifle, failed to turn up
for a probation review and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
BBC, 10 April 2008
A man is to stand trial on a
charge of claiming to have a gun and threatening to take a hostage in
Jedburgh, Scottish Borders, in January 2008. He also denied
threatening to shoot a woman in a local newsagents and threatening to
shoot a man's children. David Williamson has been found guilty of
four charges of breach of the peace (BBC, 29 April 2008).
He has been jailed for almost two years (Daily Record, 27 May
2008). He has since appealed against his conviction (BBC, 7
July 2008).
BBC, 10 April 2008
Nasir Ahmed took part in an
attack on a man at a house in Shotts, Lanarkshire, whilst armed
with a replica gun. He and
another man ran off but were chased in their car by the occupant of the
house who rammed their vehicle. Ahmed together with Azeem Sarwaar
was involved in another violent raid on a home in Cambuslang in July 2007
in which they stole £50000. Sarwaar also tried to rob a postman in
Lanarkshire in September 2007 when he too used a
replica gun which he pointed at his
victim and demanded keys to the vehicle. Sarwaar was jailed for a
total of 11 years and 11 months, and Ahmed for eight years and eight
months.
Evening News
(Edinburgh), 8 April 2008
Alexander Cairns of
Craigmillar confessed to police he had a shotgun hidden in his
sister's attic. He revealed a sawn-off shotgun wrapped in a towel
stuffed inside a tennis racket sleeve. Police also found 31
cartridges. He admitted in court to possessing the weapon and was
sentenced to 28 months in prison.
BBC,
8 April 2008
Mohammed Hussain has been
jailed for five years after admitting being in possession of a banned
weapon and ammunition. Police had recovered a sawn-off rifle and
bullets from his home in Kilmarnock in November 2007. He
claimed he had found the gun in a car park in Port Glasgow but
had been too lazy to hand it in.
ic Renfrewshire, 7 April 2008
A gunman walked into a
garage in Renfrew and held a pistol at an assistant before
demanding money from the till. The assistant refused to hand over
any cash who left empty handed.
Barrhead News, 3 April 2008
A licensed gun-holder,
William McCready, has admitted to possession of ammunition in excess of
the authorised amount, failing to store them properly, and having a
quantity of prohibited bullets designed to explode on impact. He
appeared alongside, Alan McDonald who admitted four firearms charges.
The men, both from Barrhead, are facing imprisonment.
WALES
Daily Post, 26 April 2008
Steven Roberts, 18, who
admitted possessing an offensive weapon after brandishing a knife at a
McDonalds restaurant in Mold was also in breach of a conditional
discharge for previously having an airgun
in public. He was given a 10-month sentence in a young offenders'
institute.
South Wales Echo, 19 April 2008
Russell Saunders shot two
young men with a potentially lethal air rifle
as they returned home along a street in Maesteg in April 2007.
A court heard that he had been hoarding air rifles, stun guns and
anarchist literature and a homemade bomb in his bedsit. He was
given an indeterminate sentence.
Rhondda Leader,
17 April 2008
Armed police officers
surrounded a house in Tylorstown, Glamorgan, in a four-hour siege
after fears a man who lived there had a gun. They later arrested a
man on suspicion of assault and firearms possession.
ic Wales, 16
April 2008 *
Bernard Davies has pleaded
guilty to illegally keeping a number of guns, including a pump-action
shotgun and a revolver and to possessing exploding bullets. He also
admitted drugs offences. The drugs and weapons were found during police
raids on his house and garage in Cwmanan in Cynon Valley. The
judge said that he would show no mercy to Davies when it comes to
sentencing. He received an eight year jail sentence (Cynon Valley
Leader, 15 May 2008).
South Wales Echo, 15 April 2008
A student on his way home
from college in Trowbridge in Cardiff was left traumatised after
a teenager held what was believed to be a real gun to his head.
The attacker closed in on the student and pushed the victim against a
fence and demanded his wallet whilst the weapon was pressed into his
temple. The attacker then pretended the incident was just a bit of
fun before he ran away.
South Wales Echo, 2 April 2008
Would-be armed robbers are
believed to have thrown away a large air rifle
and a large kitchen knife into gardens after an attempted heist at a pub
in Cardiff. A man and a 14-year-old boy have been arrested.
INCIDENTS INVOLVING ANIMALS
Shields Gazette,
29 April 2008
A cat has lost the sight in
one eye after being shot with an airgun.
The stray was found on the streets in South Tyneside and dropped
off at South Tyneside and Sunderland Animal Rescue.
Lynn News,
29 April 2008
An
airgun attack has left a cat with a .22 pellet lodged in its
skull. The cat from Gaywood, Norfolk, was shot in the head
with the pellet entering his nose, passing through his mouth and lodging
in the root of his tongue. His owner has been left with a £2,500
vet's bill.
Lancashire Evening Post,
27 April 2008
Police marksmen shot dead a
pair of Rottweilers who attacked and killed a horse in a field in
Haslingden, near Blackburn.
This is Gloucestershire, 25 April 2008
A cat belonging to a
nine-year-old boy has been left with horrific eye injuries after being
shot by an air rifle in Walton
Cardiff, Gloucestershire. The cause of the injuries was discovered
when X-rays were taken. This is the second time that the pet has
been shot.
yourcanterbury.co.uk, 24 April 2008
A swan has been shot twice
in the head with an air rifle in
Canterbury. She is now recovering at a wildlife centre in East
Sussex.
Daily Echo, 24 April 2008
A cat was fighting for her
life after being shot in the spine with an air
rifle in West Moors, Dorset. The attack is
believed to have taken place in a forest behind the cat's home.
Daily Echo, 24 April 2008
Another cat has been left
fatally wounded in an airgun attack.
The cat was shot with an airgun pellet at Lower Bockhampton,
Dorset, and was left paralysed in his back legs. His owners had no
choice but to have their pet put down.
Chad (Mansfield), 23 April 2008
A 10-year-old cat was found
dead by its owners near their home in Mansfield. The pet
had an air weapon wound in the
left-hand side of her stomach.
Bucks Herald, 23 April 2008
A cat from Aylesbury
has survived an air weapon attack
despite suffering horrific injuries. Her pelvis was shattered by
one pellet which entered above her left hind leg and she had a hernia
where another pellet had ruptured part of her abdomen.
BBC, 21 April 2008
The Royal Society for the
Protection of Birds has warned that illegal shooting is threatening the
survival of Britain's bird of prey population. It believes that
some killings are being carried out by those who see birds of prey as a
threat to the grouse shooting industry. The killings are happening
in areas such as the north Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales,
the North York Moors and the Peak District.
Bexhill-on-Sea Observer, 15 April 2008
East Sussex Wildlife Rescue
and Ambulance Service report that there have been six shootings of
seagulls in Hastings, Sussex, in the last three weeks.
According to their casualty care manager people are shooting the gulls
with a shotgun rather than an air rifle. However, in neighbouring
Bexhill two seagulls have been shot with
air rifles within two weeks (Bexhill-on-Sea
Observer, 18 April 2008).
Kent Online, 11 April 2008
A woman whose two cats were
shot with an air rifle in Marden
now fears for the safety of her two young children. In the latest
attack her car staggered into the home with pellets lodged in her head,
leg and chest. In the previous attack another of her cats was injured in
the foot.
Evening News (Edinburgh), 11 April 2008
A stray cat has been found
in South Queensferry horrifically injured after being shot with an
airgun 40 times. It is believed
that the cat was held down while being repeatedly shot. He has had
to have one of his legs amputated.
Weston & Somerset Mercury, 10 April 2008
A cat has died after being
hit by an airgun pellet in Weston
Village, Somerset. Her owner found the cat wheezing and when
she was turned over she could see she was bleeding. She was
pronounced dead on arrival at a veterinary centre.
Kent News,
10 April 2008
Three cats have been badly
injured after being shot with air rifles
in incidents in Biggin Hill, Eltham and Westerham.
Lancashire Telegraph, 9 April 2008
Air
rifle thugs are shooting rare birds at a nature reserve in
Colne. Passers-by saw men lying on the ground and shooting at bird
tables in the reserve. When approached the men said they were
practising target shooting. Police said the men put at risk the
lives of families enjoying the reserve who could have been hit by a
stray pellet.
News Shopper, 9 April 2008
A cat was shot through the
eye with an air rifle in Eltham,
south east London. He was taken to the vets after arriving home
wounded and has had to have an eye removed.
Chad (Mansfield), 9 April 2008
A cat is recovering after
becoming a victim of an air rifle
shooting in Shirebrook, Nottinghamshire. He suffered multiple
fractures in the shooting which happened in the garden of his new home.
The Press (York), 7 April 2008
A cat shot near her home in
York has died following a two-and-a-half hour operation in a bid
to save her life. The vet's bill will cost her owner more than
£1000. An airgun pellet had
lodged in the cat's abdomen damaging her liver and intestines.
Express & Star, 7 April 2008
A dove let out for a flight
by its owner has been shot with an air rifle.
The bird was one of three released that were perching on the roof of the
owner's house in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, when it was hit.
Shropshire Star, 4 April 2008
A kitten was left
desperately clinging to life after being shot "at close range" with an
air rifle. She was found by
her owner cowering behind a shed in the garden in Wellington.
Hunts Post, 3 April 2008
A bird of prey died a week
after being deliberately injured in a shotgun attack. The buzzard
was found at the side of a road in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire.
BBC, 3 April 2008
Vets were trying to save the
sight of a cat after it was shot in the eye with an
airgun in Woodley, Berkshire.
The owners found the cat cowering under a bed with one eye closed.
Manchester Evening News,
2 April 2008
A dead coot recovered from
Little Lever, Greater Manchester, was found to have been shot
with an air weapon. It is
illegal to kill these birds during the mating season from March to July.
Evening Telegraph (Derby), 1 April 2008
A swan has been found dead
and another seriously injured in an airgun
attack near a canal in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. The injured
bird had to be put down by a vet a week later.
