JUNE 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
BBC,
30 June 2008
A man was shot outside his
home in Kensington, Liverpool, in what police say was a "targeted"
attack. The victim and offender had left when officers arrived but
the victim later attended hospital where he was treated for a bullet
wound. Police want to speak to the driver of the car who took the
victim to hospital (BBC, 1 July 2008).
BBC, 30 June 2008
An 18-year-old has been
cautioned by police after he and another teenager were arrested in
Torquay, Devon, after police received reports of a man being seen
loading a handgun. Officers recovered two
BB guns.
BBC, 30 June 2008
Eleven people were arrested by
police investigating a shooting of a man outside a nightclub in
Huddersfield. The victim's injuries are not thought to be
serious.
Banbury Guardian,
30 June 2008
A teenager pulled a handgun on
a man in Banbury, Oxfordshire, before assaulting him. The
incident followed an earlier assault. A mobile phone and cash were
stolen. A 17-year-old girl and two men, aged 19 and 20, have been
arrested on suspicion of GBH.
Lakeland Echo,
28 June 2008
An
air pistol was possibly used to cause damage to a new cafe on
the promenade at Morecambe, Lancashire. A glass door was
damaged and will cost £500 to repair. This was the third attack this
year on new property on the seafront.
Fleetwood Weekly News,
28 June 2008
Two masked men, one armed with
a sawn-off shot gun and the other with a machete-style knife held a bank
clerk at gunpoint as they robbed a branch in Lymm, near Warrington
in Cheshire. Other employees handed over a large amount of cash.
East London and West Essex Guardian,
28 June 2008
A man has been charged with
the attempted murder of a police officer, grievous bodily harm and
possession of a firearm after he fired at the officer in Debden,
Essex. He was arrested in Hornchurch, Essex, after police used a
stun gun following a high-speed chase in which two police patrol cars
crashed. The man has appeared in court and remanded in custody (BBC,
1 July 2008).
Banbury Guardian,
28 June 2008
A gang armed with a gun
threatened staff at a Chinese takeaway in Hanwell Fields, Banbury
in Oxfordshire. They stole £60 from the till.
Spenborough Guardian,
27 June 2008
A man robbed a cheque cashing
company in Spenborough, West Yorkshire, of a substantial haul of
cash. He threatened a female member of staff with a handgun.
East Anglian Daily Times,
27 June 2008
A man robbed a petrol station
in Haverhill, Suffolk. He claimed he had a gun and showed a
gun-shaped object in a carrier bag. He was given cash by the staff.
This is Plymouth,
26 June 2008
Yobs shot out three windows of
a moving bus in Plymouth with what is believed to be a
ball bearing gun. The windows were
worth around £700. A number of ball bearings were found on the
vehicle.
BBC,
26 June 2008
Eighteen-year-old Paul Carroll
has pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun which he claimed he was asked
to keep for the Croxteth Crew gang. The gun was found in a meter
cupboard in Croxteth, Liverpool, in January 2008. He has been
sentenced to three years detention.
BBC,
26 June 2008
A 20-year-old man has died
after he was shot in the head by masked gunmen at his sister's home in Harehills,
Leeds. Three men and a woman stormed into the property after knocking on several
doors in the area. Police have suggested that the incident was a
case of mistaken identity (BBC, 1 July 2008).
Yorkshire Evening Post,
25 June 2008
A masked gunman is being
hunted after he broke into a house in Wortley, Leeds, and shot one
of the occupants with a shotgun. The victim was shot in his left
upper thigh. He was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery
and was still being detained.
Wakefield Express,
25 June 2008
Nigel Tolley from
Portobello, Leeds, has been jailed for eight months for keeping
firearms while banned. When police searched his home they found
three air rifles and an air pistol despite his being barring after
receiving a jail sentence. He did not think that the bar covered air
weapons.
This is Grimsby,
25 June 2008
A market trader, John Goodhand,
showed "arrogant disregard for the law" when he sold firearms on his
stalls. He admitted three offences of possessing firearms while
banned in June and July last year. He was banned for life from
possessing firearms or imitation firearms but he was found with a
ball bearing gun and an
imitation gun in his vehicle,
air rifles were found in the boot and
other air rifles and
air pistols were found in his home in
Cleethorpes. He has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence
and must do 100 hours' unpaid work. The firearms will be destroyed.
Telegraph & Argus,
25 June 2008
A shotgun was fired at a house
in West Bowling, Bradford, following street gang clashes involving
up to 20 people. No one was injured.
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle),
25 June 2008
Police officers who carried
out a raid on a home following an arson attack on a car in Leadgate,
near Consett in County Durham, found drugs and an
air rifle. A man was arrested.
Liverpool Echo,
24 June 2008
A youth threw a gun into a
front garden in Huyton after being spotted acting suspiciously by
police.
Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough),
24 June 2008
The windows at the rugby club
in Guisborough have been shattered by airgun pellets.
This is Local London,
23 June 2008 *
A man and a woman were in
hospital following a shooting in Wembley, north west London.
The man was left at a hospital in a life-threatening condition. He
had surgery and is now in a stable condition. The woman was found
with a single gunshot wound. Her injuries were not life threatening.
A suspected argument at a barbecue is believed to have spiralled out of
control (Wembley & Kingsbury Times, 2 July 2008).
Telegraph,
23 June 2008
An American visitor, Bruce
Lee, who fired a handgun in Manchester in December 2007 (see
Incidents) has
persuaded a court that he was carrying the weapon because "the city was
more dangerous than his native New York". He claimed he found the
gun in a bush and fired it towards a police officer who was chasing him
through the Ardwick housing estate. He had been jailed for
five years but the Attorney General had criticised the sentence as unduly
lenient. However, the application was refused after Lee's barrister
pointed out the dangers in Manchester.
Liverpool Daily Post,
23 June 2008
Last year
air rifles, ball
bearing guns and several "unidentified firearms" were found at
10 Cheshire schools. Four out of every five times the
county's police are called to a school to deal with a weapon, a gun is
involved.
Cambs Times,
23 June 2008
A farmer has been arrested on
suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence
after an incident at his home in Benwick involving a prisoner on
weekend leave. The prisoner has been charged with criminal damage.
It is reported that a gun was fired and that a stray pellet hit one of the
occupants of a people carrier.
Birmingham Mail,
23 June 2008
Anthony Hamilton, 20, and
Michael Straker, 20, have been jailed for 12 years and eight years after a
pub shooting in Willenhall in July 2007 (see
Incidents) which left three people
injured. Hamilton pleaded guilty to taking a gun to the pub,
attempting to murder two men, wounding with intent and having a firearm
with intent to commit murder. Straker was convicted of three counts
of wounding with intent and having a firearm with intent to cause grievous
bodily harm.
BBC,
23 June 2008
A man has been arrested on
suspicion of firearms offences following an armed siege in Fawdon,
Newcastle, sparked by a man later found to be brandishing a paint gun.
Express & Star,
21 June 2008
A man was shot in a
residential street in Smethwick, West Midlands. The victim
was shot in the leg and taken to hospital, but his injuries were not
thought to be life-threatening.
BBC,
21 June 2008
A man who was injured when a
gun was fired randomly on a street in Luton, Bedfordshire, in
November 2006, has been jailed after admitting affray. David
O'Sadebay is already serving a sentence for possessing a firearm. He
was one of 11 men who had travelled from London and became involved in
trouble at a party. Two other men, Brenton Dias and George Booth,
were convicted over the shooting and sentenced to minimum sentences of
seven-and-a-quarter years and six-and-a-half-years, respectively.
The gunman who fired the semi-automatic weapon into a crowd has not been
traced. Nobody suffered life-threatening injuries.
BBC,
21 June 2008
A man has been arrested on
suspicion of attempted murder after another man and a woman were taken to
hospital with shotgun wounds. Police had been called to an address
in South Ormsby, Lincolnshire. The male victim has serious
facial injuries and was undergoing surgery, the woman's injuries were
non-life threatening. A weapon was found on farmland in the
Brinkhill area where the suspect was arrested. The man has been
charged with attempted murder (BBC, 22 June 2008).
BBC,
21 June 2008
Armed police officers
surrounded a flat in Sefton Park, Liverpool, during a 90-minute
siege after a man brandished what was thought to be a handgun at police.
He was later detained under the Mental Health Act. The gun was found
to be a blank-firing starter pistol.
Herald Express,
20 June 2008
A 90-year-old man appeared in
court on firearms charges accused of possessing a .22
air rifle without holding the required
firearms certificate at Shaldon, Teignmouth in Devon. It is
also alleged that he had 13 .22 rimfire cartridges without being a
firearms certificate holder. The case was adjourned until July.
BBC,
20 June 2008
A man was shot in the leg
while on a street in Garston, Liverpool. He is being treated
in hospital.
BBC,
20 June 2008
Jesse Williams, 15, was part
of a gang which robbed a man who then tracked him down, and he was made to
return the stolen goods. Williams later shot the man through a car
window in revenge in Peckham, south London, in October 2007.
He has been found guilty of attempted murder and having a gun with intent
to endanger life. He has been given an indeterminate sentence with a
minimum term of six years. Another teenager was cleared of all
charges.
Spenborough Guardian,
19 June 2008
An armed robber held up a
store in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. He was apparently armed
with a small gun. It is not know what was taken.
The News (Portsmouth),
19 June 2008
A firearm was seized by police
during an operation to catch rogue motorists in Portsmouth.
Loughborough Echo,
19 June 2008
A council grass cutter was
hospitalised after he was shot in the leg by an
air rifle at a park in Loughborough, Leicestershire.
He fell to the ground in pain and was carried back to the team van where a
deep wound was discovered in his thigh. The pellet was buried six
inches into his leg.
Evening Post (Bristol),
19 June 2008
Six people were seriously hurt
by ball-bearing guns and
airguns across the Avon and
Somerset police force area last year according to figures revealed by
the Home Secretary.
Camden New Journal,
19 June 2008
A woman was shot in the head
by an airgun sniper as she sat on a
doorstep in Camden, north London. She believes she may have
been targeted because she is homeless. Her canvas hat helped deflect
the pellet which bruised her head.
Bognor Regis Observer,
19 June 2008
A man stole an undisclosed
quantity of cash from a building society branch in Burgess Hill,
Sussex. He threatened staff with a handgun.
The Sentinel,
18 June 2008
Armed police patrolled the
Shelton area of Stoke-on-Trent after information was received that
people were carrying weapons including guns. No arrests were made
and no weapons seized.
Express & Star,
18 June 2008
Airgun-wielding yobs have smashed shop windows in the village
of Tettenhall, Wolverhampton, for the third time. Three
teenage boys have been arrested and bailed on suspicion of criminal
damage.
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle),
18 June 2008
Four young men spotted by CCTV
operators in Consett, County Durham, were arrested after drugs, an
air rifle and ammunition for clay
pigeon shooting were seized by police.
Yorkshire Evening Post,
17 June 2008
Ashley Jeffers was one of
three men who raided a house in Seacroft, Leeds. A man was
struck on the head with a gun after charging at the gang as his children
slept upstairs. Jeffers admitted robbery and possessing an
imitation firearm and has been jailed for
five-and-a-half-years.
Lancashire Telegraph,
17 June 2008 *
John Clark of Padiham
pointed a gun in his mother's face and threatened to shoot her. He
struck her in the mouth with the butt of the air
rifle, took her bank card and withdrew about £200. He
admitted the assault and has been given 120 days in prison, suspended for
18 months, with 18 months supervision and ordered to take a
substance-related offending programme. The prosecutor said "It's
worrying that somebody can have possession of an air rifle and behave like
that towards somebody when in drink" (Lancashire Telegraph, 11 July
2008).
Express & Star,
17 June 2008
Four men are on trial in
connection with an alleged kidnap which started in Wolverhampton.
The victim escaped but he was chased and caught and driven away to a
country lane close to Wombourne. He feared he would be shot
after one of the defendants allegedly told another to take the gun from
the car. He fled and walked to a police station. The case
continues.
Evening Courier,
17 June 2008
Four people were arrested for
criminal damage in Operation Focus, an operation which involved police,
transport police and bus company staff riding on buses around
Calderdale, West Yorkshire. The operation was a response to
several attacks on buses including some in which high-powered
ball-bearing guns have been fired at bus
windscreens.
BBC,
17 June 2008
Two men, Mohammed Sannoh and
Abdi Omar Noor, have been found guilty of murdering a 15-year-old boy who
was shot dead with a Mac-10 machine pistol as he slept at his home in
Peckham, south London, in February 2007 (see
Incidents). It was the victim's
brother's links to a robbery gang and the murder of one of their members
that led the gunmen to the family home. Both men have been sentenced
to life imprisonment and will serve a minimum of 30 years in prison (BBC,
18 June 2008).
Gazette (Essex),
16 June 2008
Plastic pellets from
ball bearing guns have been blocking jets
in a fountain in Clacton. They have been washed into the
grills and block the jets.
East Anglian Daily Times,
16 June 2008
Armed police were called to a
nightclub in Stowmarket, Suffolk, when a man was seen brandishing a
gun outside the club. Staff saw a man pointing the gun at them.
No shots were discharged and nobody was harmed. A man was arrested
and an air rifle was seized. The
man, a gamekeeper, faces a total of five charges including carrying an
offensive weapon.
The Comet,
16 June 2008
Workmen draining a lake in a
park in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, discovered a shotgun.
Officers are looking into whether the gun is of police interest.
Barking & Dagenham Post,
16 June 2008
Two men were arrested during a
police crackdown on knife crime at Dagenham Heathway station, east
London, for possession of a firearm, a bladed article and a small amount
of cannabis.
Bolton News,
15 June 2008
A gunman threatened staff at a
takeaway during an attempted armed robbery in Daisy Hill, Bolton.
The man was armed with a small black pistol-type gun. He was told by
staff that there was no cash to give and he ran way when someone screamed
at him.
BBC,
15 June 2008
A man has died after he was
shot while riding his bicycle through the Kirkdale area of
Liverpool. Police believe it was a targeted attack. A
post-mortem confirmed that the victim died as the result of a gunshot
wound to the left side of his upper torso (BBC, 16 June 2008).
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder (BBC, 17 June 2008).
This is Derbyshire,
14 June 2008
A bullet was fired through the
kitchen window of a house in Derby. This latest incident is
the eighth involving a gun being fired in the city since December.
Liverpool Daily Post,
14 June 2008
Detectives are hunting a
gunman after receiving reports of a shot being fired at a house in
Walton. No-one was injured during the shooting.
BBC,
14 June 2008
A 16-year-old girl has been
shot in the head in Gorton, Manchester, and is in a critical condition in
hospital. A 19-year-old man has been arrested nearby on suspicion of
attempted murder. He has appeared in court and charged (BBC,
16 June 2008).
The Sentinel,
13 June 2008
Mark Miller has been jailed
for five years after he fired a shotgun during a fight in Burslem,
Staffordshire, narrowly missing an innocent woman. He hit a man with
the butt of the gun and during the fight the gun discharged. The
incident occurred in May 2008. He pleaded guilty to possessing a
firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Huddersfield Daily Examiner,
13 June 2008
A woman was shot in the leg as
she and her partner walked their dog in Bradley. An
airgun pellet embedded deep in her left leg just behind her
knee, and surgeons fear that if it were removed there would be severe
nerve damage. Two teenagers were seen nearby.
BBC,
13 June 2008
Two men have sustained
life-threatening injuries in two shootings in south London. One was
shot in the back in New Cross, the other was targeted in Peckham.
Two men have been arrested over the latter incident.
The Sentinel,
12 June 2008
Two men have been arrested
after they were spotted carrying what appeared to be a handgun in a street
in Stoke. The weapon was recovered by police officers and was
found to be a replica.
Mid Cheshire Chronicle,
12 June 2008
A 17-year-old has been fined
£208 for firing airgun pellets into a
neighbour's garden in Winsford. He admitted firing an air
weapon in a public place. He started shooting at birds, and ten or 11
pellets rebounded off a tree and into the neighbouring garden.
The Citizen (Gloucester),
12 June 2008 *
Darren Ring from
Stonehouse has been bailed after he admitted possessing an
air rifle with intent to cause fear.
He pleaded guilty to having the .177 firearm with intent to cause people
to fear that unlawful violence would be used against them. He has
been jailed for 10 months (The Citizen (Gloucester), 31 July
2008).
BBC,
12 June 2008
Two men believed to be armed
with guns stole several hundred pounds from a bookmakers in Langley,
Slough in Berkshire. They threatened staff and demanded money.
No-one was injured in the incident.
BBC,
12 June 2008
A man was shot several times
in the stomach on a street in Chapeltown, Leeds. He underwent
emergency surgery and is reported to be seriously ill.
BBC,
12 June 2008
Three men have been charged
in connection with the murder of 16-year-old Brendon Lawrence who was
shot three times in the St Ann's area of Nottingham in February
2002.
South London Press,
11 June 2008
Mukhtar Musse, 20, was jailed for life for
shooting a Deptford man in August 2007. Musse was convicted of
attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger
life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 13 years.
Pendle Today,
11 June 2008
Police have arrested a man
after two people were hit by air rifle
pellets in separate incidents in Barnoldswick, Lancashire.
The victims were a male cyclist and a female teenage pedestrian.
The pellets had been fired from a house in the road. Ryan Kavanagh
has appeared before magistrates and admitted two counts of assault by
beating and one charge of discharging a firearm within 50 feet if a
highway. He claimed he did not aim the weapon at anybody. He
will be sentenced in August. Kavanagh was subject to a suspended
jail sentence for assault and possessing a weapon (Lancashire
Telegraph, 25 June 2008).
Evening Post (Nottingham),
11 June 2008
A Nottingham man shot
himself in the arm with a shotgun. Investigators concluded two
shots were fired and there were two spent cartridges in the gun.
Ryan Blacknell pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited gun and has
been jailed for two-and-a-half years (Sunday Mirror, 15 June
2008).
Bolton News,
11 June 2008
A man was injured after a
gun was shot at a window of a house in Ardwick. The
19-year-old man was injured with shattered glass.
News & Star,
10 June 2008
Michael Charlton has been sent
to prison for three years for keeping a loaded sawn-off shotgun beside his
bed at his pub in Carlisle. He claimed he was frightened of
intruders after a masked gang nearly killed him six years ago. He
also had an imitation pistol, which
fired blanks, in a holster on his bedpost. He pleaded guilty to
possessing the shotgun with intent to endanger life, possessing an
imitation firearm with intent to cause belief that unlawful violence would
be used and possessing an altered firearm without a certificate.
Leigh Journal,
10 June 2008
A man has been charged with
possession of a prohibited weapon after a shotgun was recovered along with
ammunition in Oldham, Greater Manchester.
Kent News,
10 June 2008
Police negotiators were
talking to a gunman who had taken refuge in a house in Maidstone.
A man has been remanded in custody after he was charged with possessing an
imitation firearm (Kent Online,
12 June 2008).
Birmingham Mail,
10 June 2008
Marcus Bailey was jailed for
a further five years after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm, a
Mauser pistol. Bailey was already serving a life sentence for the
attempted murder of a police officer in Wolverhampton in November 2006
(see June 2007 Incidents).
107 The Bee,
10 June 2008
Barry Kirk and James Hurst
were sentenced to six years and eight months and eight years,
respectively, for robbing a woman in Accrington, Lancashire, at
gunpoint. She took them on a text drive when she believed they
wanted to buy her car when the one of the men produced a pistol and
threatened her before driving off in her car. They both pleaded
guilty. Kirk had already admitted being involved in carjackings in
Bolton and Warrington (see
January 2008 Incidents).
Evening Chronicle,
9 June 2008
A correspondent to the
newspaper from Winlaton, Tyne & Wear, has described how he was
shot at four or five times by two youths causing hundreds of pounds to
his vehicle. He caught the two culprits and handed them over with
the gun, presumably an airgun.
The two were reprimanded by the police but no further action was taken.
The victim has been left to claim through his car insurance for the
damage.
BBC, 9 June 2008
Two raiders threatened staff
and stole several hundred pounds during a robbery at a post office at
Hurn, near Christchurch in Dorset. A
blank-firing pistol was fired during the raid. No-one was
hurt in the incident.
BBC,
9 June 2008
A police officer has died
after suffering a gunshot wound to his chest in a training exercise in
Newton Heath, Manchester. He was taken to hospital where he was
pronounced dead. The Independent Police Complaints Commission has
been notified. The victim was apparently hit with a dummy CS gas
cartridge fired at his car as he played the part of a criminal (Daily
Mirror, 13 June 2008).
BBC,
9 June 2008
An 18-month-old girl was shot
in the leg while out walking with her mother in St Helens,
Merseyside. She was taken to hospital where it was confirmed that
the injury as consistent with a pellet fired from an
airgun.
BBC,
8 June 2008
A man is seriously ill in
hospital after he was shot in Partington, Manchester. He
suffered bullet wounds to the chest. A 20-year-old man has been
charged with attempted murder (BBC, 19 June 2008).
Richmond & Twickenham Times,
7 June 2008
Children were seen waving a
gun around in a street in Mortlake, south west London. The
gun, described by one witness as an AK47, turned out to be a toy
airgun. The road has been plagued
by antisocial youths.
Leigh Journal,
6 June 2008
A robber held up a
supermarket in Stockport, Greater Manchester. He pointed a black
handgun at a cashier and demanded money from the till. He took
cash before running from the shop.
Leigh Journal,
6 June 2008
Two men were arrested on
suspicion of firearms offences after five guns were seized when police
stopped a car in Hindley, Lancashire. The police officers
were from the Xcalibre Organised Crime Unit.
Gloucestershire Echo,
6 June 2008
A spate of shootings has
been carried out in Bishop's Cleeve. Three
airgun attacks have taken place in the
past month. In the most recent incident two windows at the library
were damaged. Earlier a man was seen pointing a weapon at passing
vehicles, and two holes were made in a window of an estate agents.
BBC, 6 June 2008
A man fled empty handed after
trying to rob a convenience store in Poole, Dorset. He was
armed with a fake gun. He fled
after seeing that the till was empty.
This is Gloucestershire,
5 June 2008
Lumps of rock and an
airgun have been used to smash windows
in the village hall in Sedbury for the fourth time this year.
Pendle Today,
5 June 2008
Dean Kendall has admitted
trespassing on land with a firearm and possessing a loaded
air rifle in a public place, a tow path
at Salterforth, Lancashire. He has been bailed for
pre-sentence reports.
The Gazette (Blackpool),
5 June 2008
A suspected gunman was on
the run after a four-hour armed siege in a Blackpool street.
Police raided a home, but the man responsible for the stand-off was not
in the building. Neighbours said they had seen one man attacked
with an axe and called police after seeing what they believed to be a
gun in another man's hand.
Evening Chronicle (Newcastle),
5 June 2008
Police were called after
families reported a house in a neighbourhood in Gateshead being
peppered with airgun pellets.
A local man was arrested.
This is Hampshire,
4 June 2008
A car was sprayed with shots
while it was parked in a car park at a school in Bassett,
Southampton. Airgun pellets
were retrieved from the car. Police say the damage was so severe
that they believe the rifle used is of high performance and illegal in
the UK without a firearms certificate. They confirmed they had
received a call to report someone seen using an air rifle.
Although gun club members have questions whether an air rifle could have
been responsible because of the severe damage, police chiefs have
revealed that ballistic experts had been consulted and that it is highly
likely that an air rifle was used (This is Hampshire, 16 June
2008).
Southern Daily Echo,
4 June 2008
A home in Southampton
was shot at with a pellet gun.
The owner called the police after hearing a noise and seeing damage to
an upstairs window.
The News (Portsmouth),
4 June 2008
A man entered a convenience
store in Fareham, Hampshire, brandishing what is believed to have
been a gun. He demanded money but fled empty-handed.
Chad (Mansfield),
4 June 2008
Paul Millward has been
jailed indefinitely (minimum term of five years) for shooting his former
boss twice with a sawn-off shot gun in Kirkby in September 2007
following a dispute over a debt. He was cleared of attempting to
kill his victim but admitted wounding with intent and possession of a
firearm.
Bakewell Today,
4 June 2008
A 12-year-old boy was being
questioned by police after an eight-year-old was shot five times with a
BB gun in Matlock,
Derbyshire. It is alleged that the boy held the gun a foot away
from his victim before firing at his face, body and legs.
Newham Recorder,
3 June 2008
Three men, one aged 17, have
appeared in court in connection with drugs and firearms offences after a
series of police raids on homes and vehicles in East Ham, east
London. A fourth man is still being questioned.
Evening Herald (Plymouth),
3 June 2008
A man seen shooting an
air rifle from a beach in
Plymouth had served a prison sentence for culpable homicide in
Glasgow. Robert O'Neil was banned for life from possessing any
firearm. He pleaded guilty to breaching an order by possessing an
air rifle. He has been given a 12 month conditional discharge and
ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the air rifle.
Echo (Essex),
3 June 2008
Jeremy Keeble caused mayhem
in December 2007 when a shotgun stuffed down his trousers went off as he
tried to flee from the police in Basildon on a bike. He had
been drinking prior to the incident. He was sentenced to
three-and-a-half years in jail for possessing an altered firearm without
a certificate and two years to run concurrently for possessing a
prohibited gun.
This is Gloucestershire,
2 June 2008
A 17-year-old has been
sentenced on 12 charges including four of common assault, one of assault
causing actual bodily harm and three of using an
air rifle. He sat in his family's home in
Gloucester in March 2008 using the rifle to take potshots at
members of the public. He hit a jogger, a postman, a builder and a
motorcyclist. The jogger was hit in the back of the head and
needed hospital treatment. He admitted that he bought the gun for
£30 while drunk and had used it while under the influence of cannabis.
He was ordered to complete 60 hours of community work over the coming
year and to attend programmes or training at the request of the
Probation Service.
Saffron Walden Reporter,
2 June 2008
A gunman was spotted outside
a pub in Saffron Walden, Essex. A man has been arrested on
suspicion of possessing a firearm.
Daily Mirror,
2 June 2008
A father turned in his son
for hiding a gun and 11 live bullets in his room. Paul Metcalfe
from Nelson, Lancashire, faces up to five years' jail after being
convicted of possessing a firearm. His father called the police
after finding 11 live bullets and armed officers found a modified 8mm
Vendetta starting pistol under his
bed. He was jailed for three years (BBC, 20 June 2008).
Chad (Mansfield),
2 June 2008
Four people are on trial
facing changes relating to conspiracy to supply drugs. The two
male defendants and one of the female defendants, from Mansfield
and Kirkby in Nottinghamshire, are also accused of possessing a
firearm with ammunition, a shotgun and criminal property.
SCOTLAND
BBC,
30 June 2008
A cache of weapons was
allegedly found in a car near a supermarket at St Rollox, Glasgow.
The car park and store were evacuated and cordoned off. The find has
been linked to Michael Ross convicted earlier in the month with a murder
in Orkney in June 1994 (see below).
Evening News,
21 June 2008
The investigation by police of
a man who had ordered a stun gun from the US over the internet led
to the finding of child pornography images on his computer. Ryan
O'Donnell from Loanhead, Midlothian, was given a two-year probation
order after admitting downloading the images.
BBC,
20 June 2008
Michael Ross has been found
guilty of
murdering a waiter at an Indian restaurant in Kirkwall, Orkney, in 1994.
The victim was shot once by a man with a mask and a hood as he was
serving a family. Ross, who was 15 when the murder occurred, was a
serving soldier at the time of his arrest. A woman who was in the
Army Cadets with Ross claimed he had said "Blacks should be shot and
guns put to their heard." He will be sentenced later.
BBC, 19 June
2008
Eighteen-year-old Rhuairidh
Duncan has been admonished after he was seen leaning out of a car and
pointing a ball-bearing gun in
Inverness and on the A9 between Inverness and Aviemore.
BBC, 18 June
2008
Michael Glancy has been
jailed for five years over an armed robbery attempt at a post office in
Inverkip, Inverclyde, in October 2007 (see
Incidents). He pleaded guilty to
threatening staff with a fake gun.
He had been caught after being filmed preparing for the raid and
returning to his car empty-handed.
Evening News (Edinburgh),
12 June 2008
Residents in East Craigs,
Edinburgh, reported hearing gunfire in the early hours of the morning.
Evening News (Edinburgh),
11 June 2008
A man who was found
wandering around fields in a country estate near Pathhead,
Midlothian, had a gunshot wound to the leg. He originally claimed
to have been stabbed. It is understood that the victim has been
unwilling to co-operate with police. He was released from hospital
24 hours after being admitted. Detectives will be carrying out
road checks in the area (BBC, 23 June 2008).
ic Renfrewshire,
10 June 2008 *
Anthony Gallagher was seen
playing with a handgun in a close at a tenement block in Renfrew
in March 2008. He had reportedly been seen with the gun at a pub
earlier in the evening. Armed police officers disarmed him and
seized what appeared to be a replica
of an 8mm police pistol. He admitted unlawful possession of a
pistol and blank cartridges, being in possessing of a replica handgun
which had been converted and brought within the terms of the Firearms
Act. He has been sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to
carry out 100 years of unpaid work in the community (Paisley Daily
Express, 8 July 2008).
Sunday Mail,
7 June 2008
Ronald Paterson has been given
a jail sentence of at least 20 years for killing a man who was shot dead
in the street in Cumbernauld in April 2006 (see
Incidents).
The shooting followed an argument at a mutual acquaintance's house.
BBC,
6 June 2008
Gary McFadyen has admitted
shooting a man with a sawn-off shotgun on his own doorstep in
Blantyre, Lanarkshire, in January 2008 (see
Incidents). He admitted a charge
of attempted murder and a firearms offence. He has been jailed for
nine years (BBC, 4 July 2008).
Evening Times,
4 June 2008
Two people were treated by
paramedics after being shot and injured by
airgun snipers in Drumchapel, Glasgow. Both had
injuries to their arm, and one of them, a woman, was also injured in the
head. Men were spotted by neighbours on land close by. Three
men have been charged with firearms offences, assault and breach of the
peace.
Evening News (Edinburgh),
4 June 2008
A man sustained head
injuries in a shooting incident outside a casino in Edinburgh.
He was rushed to hospital but his injuries are not thought to be
life-threatening. The shooting has been described as an
execution-style attack (Scotsman, 5 June 2008). Two men
have been charged with attempted murder (BBC, 27 June 2008).
BBC,
4 June 2008
Simon Anderson and Michael
Brankine took turns to fire an air rifle from a flat window in
Dundee
after a drinking session in January 2008. A 14-year-old boy was
shot in the head. They were each given 240 hours of community
service. Brankine, who fired the pellet which hit the boy, was
also ordered to pay £500 compensation. The two claimed they never
intended to hurt anyone and were firing at lampposts, chimneys and a
phone box.
BBC,
3 June 2008
A man has appeared in court
in connection with a stand-off with armed police officers in Forfar.
He faced six charges including possession of an
imitation firearm, police assault and
theft.
WALES
South Wales Echo,
28 June 2008
An
airgun is believed to have damaged several windows in Barry.
South Wales Echo,
28 June 2008
Two guns and a stash of
expensive property have been stolen during a burglary in Birchgrove,
Cardiff. The guns taken were a BSA air
rifle and a Smith and Wesson pistol.
South Wales Evening Post,
21 June 2008
A teenager has appeared in
court charged with a firearm offence in Gowerton. He is
alleged to have brandished an air rifle
with the intention of causing other people to fear unlawful violence would
be used. He has been remanded in custody and proceedings have been
adjourned until September.
This is South Wales,
18 June 2008
Adrian Jones has admitted five
charges of robbery and five of possessing a prohibited weapon and has been
remanded in custody until sentencing. In February 2008 he robbed a
post office in Cymmer in the Afan Valley, threatening the postmaster
with a shotgun, and in March he threatened an assistant at the Dyffryn
Afan post office with a gun (see
Incidents). He committed three
other robberies in Wales and England before being arrested in Brentwood,
Essex. He stole in excess of £29,000 in cash and a large quantity of
electricity tokens.
This is South Wales,
17 June 2008
Paul Leonard has admitted
having a double-barrelled 0.410 shot pistol with the intention of
committing an indictable offence and also wounding a man with the
intention of causing him grievous bodily harm. He shot a man in
Mayhill, Swansea, in March 2008 (see
Incidents). The victim was left
with injuries to his face and body. The judge warned Leonard that he
was facing and inevitable sentence of imprisonment and could expect a term
of at least five years.
Western Mail,
12 June 2008
Two men and a woman were
arrested on suspicion of firearms offences after armed police officers
were called to a school in Swansea. Pupils getting off
their school buses saw a man holding the gun in an area of parkland.
A firearm was recovered near the scene. An 18-year-old has been
charged with a firearm offence relating to an
air rifle. The woman has been released without charge (South
Wales Evening Post, 13 June 2008).
Neath Guardian,
12 June 2008
Two
air rifles were among items stolen from
a shed in Neath. One air rifle is a Falcon 19RS .22 calibre
8 shot including telescopic sights and silencer and rifle case.
The other is an S 410 classic .22 10 shot including sights and silencer
and case.
BBC,
9 June 2008
A man threatened a couple
with a firearm in Llandudno, Conwy. Armed officers and the
force helicopter were called and following a sighting on CCTV a man was
arrested. He has been charged with possessing an
imitation firearm with intent to cause
a man to believe unlawful violence would be used against him or another
person.
Evening Post (Swansea),
3 June 2008
John Garnett from Swansea
pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after an
incident which took place during a party in March 2008. He pointed
an air rifle at a friend before
hitting her in a fight over it. He was given a six-month prison
sentence suspended for two years with a supervision requirement for 12
months. He was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
INCIDENTS INVOLVING ANIMALS
Newton News,
30 June 2008
A correspondent in Newton
Aycliffe, County Durham, has written about the shooting of her cat
with a high powered air rifle using
.22 pointed hunting pellets which she has as evidence. The cat was
fortunate that the pellet missed vital organs and she survived after
having surgery. The woman also described how her front door window
has been shot out and attempts have been made to shoot her CCTV cameras.
She is appealing for witnesses.
Horncastle News,
30 June 2008
A young cat has been shot and
wounded with an air rifle in
Horncastle, Lincolnshire. She returned home with a wound to her
side and a vet found a pellet had entered one side of her body.
Wimbledon Guardian,
27 June 2008
A pet cat in Wallington,
Surrey, has died after being shot at five times with a
ball-bearing gun. X-rays revealed
pellets lodged in her back.
Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News,
26 June 2008
A cat may need to have its leg
amputating after it was shot with an airgun
in Widnes. A vet found a pellet lodged in the cat's leg.
Hexham Courant,
26 June 2008
A cat has been killed and
another left blind in one eye after being shot with an
air rifle in the village of Acomb,
Northumberland.
Skegness Standard,
25 June 2008
A kitten belonging to a family in Skegness, Lincolnshire, has been shot with a metal
pellet which is believed to have been fired from an
air rifle.
Northern Echo,
24 June 2008
A pony has been shot with an
air rifle in Stanley, County
Durham. A vet had to remove a pellet.
Birmingham Mail,
24 June 2008
A pet cat was left seriously
hurt after being shot four times with a pellet
gun in Kingswinford, West Midlands. The cat was
found bleeding in the garden shed of his home.
Evening Herald (Plymouth),
23 June 2008
A seagull was shot dead in
Torpoint, Cornwall. Police say that the bird was probably shot with an
air rifle.
BBC,
23 June 2008
A rare red kite has died after
being shot out of the sky in Berwickshire. The bird was found
injured but died three days later of massive internal injuries.
Burnham & Highbridge Weekly,
21 June 2008
A fawn has been saved by a man
out walking through fields in Axbridge, Somerset. He heard a
shot and went to investigate and saw a deer had been killed. The
gunman was about to shoot the faun but he put himself in front of the fawn
and shouted at the person not to shoot. The faun is not being cared
for at a wildlife rescue centre in West Huntspill.
Lincolnshire Echo,
20 June 2008
A spate of illegal bird
shooting in the Sleaford and Ruskington area of Lincolnshire
has seen the slaughter of sparrows, blue tits and pigeons. A pigeon
shot in the chest with an air rifle in
Ruskington has survived, however.
This is Gloucestershire,
18 June 2008
Ten sheep have been shot dead
by a rifleman near Stroud. Three were shot and killed on one
occasion and then a further seven were killed the following day.
Daily Echo,
16 June 2008
A six-month-old tabby cat has
been injured in an airgun shooting in
Upton, Dorset. The cat was found in the family garden covered
in blood with a round hole in his side. A vet operated on the cat
but there is only a "50-50" chance that he will survive.
Hounslow Chronicle,
12 June 2008
A cat has been shot with a
BB gun in Feltham, west
London. The pet came home with a limp but no apparent wound but an
X-ray showed a ball bearing pellet lodged in the cat's left hind leg.
BBC,
12 June 2008
A swan was found in Telford,
Shropshire, unable to stand after being shot with an
airgun. It has been operated on and
is recovering at a wildlife rescue centre.
BBC,
10 June 2008
Two oyster catchers have been
shot dead on an industrial estate in Perth. Both had been
shot with airgun pellets. A
third bird was found squashed on the road.
Evening News (Edinburgh),
9 June 2008
A pet cat has lost an eye
after being shot in the head with an air rifle
in Tranent, East Lothian. Vets said she was lucky to be alive
after the pellet lodged in her skull.
Lancashire Evening Post,
7 June 2008
A cat belonging to a pensioner
was shot at and had its leg broken in an air
rifle attack in Brookfield. The shattered leg may
now have to be amputated.
Evening Telegraph (Northampton),
7 June 2008
A buzzard has died after being
illegally shot in a field near Great Addington. The landowner
found the bird and noticed it had a gunshot wound and reported it to
animal charity Safewings. It died despite receiving treatment.
Daily Post,
6 June 2008
A young goat was shot in the
neck with an airgun. She and
another young goat were found wandering in a quarry at Nantlle,
near Caemarfon in North Wales. A pellet was removed by a vet.
Argus Lite,
4 June 2008
A cat has been
injured in an airgun attack in
Hove, Sussex. The attack has been reported to police. It is
the latest in a spate of shootings. In one vets reported treating
a cat with six pellet wounds.
