DECEMBER
2007
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
Telegraph,
31 December 2007
A 20-year-old who fled after
being shot in an incident in Southwark, south London, was found
dead in a communal garden the next day.
BBC,
31 December 2007
A man is recovering in
hospital after an apparent targeted shooting in Toxteth,
Liverpool. He had a gunshot wound to the shoulder. A car
with suspected bullet holes in it was found abandoned. Police say
that the victim is not cooperating with inquiries.
BBC,
31 December 2007
Police found a shotgun and a
military-style rifle when they executed a warrant at a property in
Huyton, Merseyside. A teenage girl, a man and a woman were
arrested and then released on bail pending further inquiries.
BBC,
31 December 2007 *
A man has been arrested by
police investigating the shooting of a woman police officer during a robbery at
a pub in Bamber Bridge, Preston. The officer received 12
pellets in her leg and was treated in hospital. Two men charged
with attempted murder have appeared in court (Lancashire Evening Post,
18 January 2008). Four men have been charged with
attempted murder (BBC, 3 April 2008).
Observer,
30 December 2007
It has been reported that a
gun (a Browning 9mm pistol) stolen from a British military base or
smuggled from Afghanistan or Iraq was used in the attempted murder of a
policewoman in Nottingham in February 2006 (see
Incidents).
The National Ballistics Intelligence Programme has identified a number
of 'serious crimes' involving military weapons that have fallen into the
hands of criminals. Military police have launched Operation
Plunder to prevent soldiers smuggling weapons and ammunition from
Afghanistan and Iraq into Britain.
BBC,
30 December 2007
A man who reportedly
threatened a member of the public with an "Uzi-style" sub-machine gun
was shot dead by armed police officers in Stansted, near
Sevenoaks in Kent. Police challenged the man and fired two shots.
The incident will be investigated by the Independent Police Complaints
Commission. The incident is being reported to have been "suicide by cop"
(Telegraph, 31 December 2007).
BBC,
30 December 2007
Four men have been charged
in connection with a robbery at a supermarket in Westhoughton,
near Bolton. A traffic officer was threatened with a handgun in
Atherton following a high-speed pursuit of a car.
Worcester News,
27 December 2007
Diners at a hotel in
Tenbury Wells were shocked when they were showered with glass in a
drive-by shooting with a paintball gun.
Wigan Today,
27 December 2007
A pizza delivery man was
robbed at gunpoint in Hindley Green. He was ordered to hand
over his takings by a man wielding what was described as a black
automatic pistol.
Wiltshire Times &
Chippenham News,
27 December 2007
Two teenagers have been
arrested on suspicion of shooting at a police station and an officer's
car with a paintball gun in
Chippenham. One car window and an office window were hit.
A paintball gun and pellets were recovered.
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald,
27 December 2007
John Homes was sentenced to
six months in prison suspended for 18 months for firing an airgun at a
group of youngsters playing football in a park in Stratford near
his garden fence. The 78-year-old escaped being jailed because of
his poor health. He had admitted possessing an
imitation firearm, a
ball-bearing-firing Walther CP38, with intent to cause fear of violence.
South Manchester Reporter,
27 December 2007
A man armed with a handgun
stole cash during a supermarket robbery in West Didsbury.
He approached the till and pushed the cashier out of the way, grabbing a
quantity of cash.
Bromsgrove Standard,
27 December 2007
A convenience store in
Bromsgrove was raided by two robbers, a man and a woman, who escaped
with around £300. It is thought that they were armed with an
imitation gun.
BBC,
27 December 2007
A man who died in
Hartcliffe, Bristol, was shot police have confirmed.
Originally they believed the victim was stabbed. Four men have
been remanded in custody charged with murder.
Times,
26 December 2007
A 17-year-old was fighting
for his life after being shot in the face in Wandsworth, south
London. He was sitting in a parked car at the time of the
shooting. The boy's condition has improved and he has now left
hospital (Wimbledon Guardian, 27 December 2007).
Daily Mirror,
26 December 2007
The family of a woman who
died when her car crashed off the A127 at Dunton, near Basildon
in Essex, have blamed an airgun
attack for the crash. Another driver said his window was smashed
by an airgun pellet as he went under the bridge where the woman lost
control of her car. Police confirmed that people have reported
cars being hit with stones, pellets and branches.
Express & Star,
24 December 2007
Armed robbers threatened
staff with a handgun and baseball bat before getting away with the
takings during a raid at a betting shop in Bloxwich, Walsall.
The men escaped with a 'substantial' amount of money.
ChiswickW4.com,
24 December 2007 *
A man has been charged with
possession of firearms, a prohibited weapon and ammunition after police
discovered a huge cache of lethal weapons including pump action and
semi-automatic shotguns, an Uzi machine pistol, several convertible
handguns and over twenty rifles and handguns. Police went to the
address in Chiswick, west London, after being called for
assistance by Hounslow Mental Health team.
GCN is indebted to a
correspondent for alerting us to this item
BBC,
24 December 2007
A man brandishing a gun
escaped with a quantity of cash from a bookmakers in St Helens,
Merseyside.
BBC,
24 December 2007
A man has been charged with
attempted murder after a gun was fired at a police officer in Ardwick,
Manchester. A revolver and a bulletproof vest were later found
nearby. The man has also been charged with possession of a firearm
with intent to endanger life.
BBC,
23 December 2007
A man who was shot in the
chest outside of a pub in Newtown, Birmingham, has died.
Several shots were fired after a disturbance in the pub which spilled
out onto the street.
BBC,
23 December 2007
A police officer was shot
during a surveillance operation in New Cross Road, south east
London. He was in an unmarked police car, following a suspect as
part of an investigation into crime in nightclubs. Two men, aged
20 and 19 have been arrested, one at the scene of the shooting.
Wigan Today,
21 December 2007
Two women were threatened at
gunpoint during a raid at their off-licence in Wigan. The
robbers stole an undisclosed quantity of cash.
The Citizen
(Gloucestershire),
21 December 2007
Two men, David Gale and
James Smith, who terrified passers-by when violence flared between them
at a Gloucester pub in April 2007 have been fined £1000 each and
given 200 hours' unpaid community work. They were also sentenced
to a community order with supervision for 18 months. Gale had gone
to his home and fetched an air rifle
during the dispute.
BBC,
21 December 2007 *
A man was arrested after an
attempt to rob a building society in Exeter. A cashier was
threatened with a handgun before the man ran off empty handed.
BBC,
21 December 2007
A replica of the American
forces M16 assault rifle was among items stolen from a house in
Madeley, Telford. The gun was described as a rare
air rifle.
Evening Telegraph
(Derby),
20 December 2007
An
air rifle was among items stolen from house in the Ripley,
Derbyshire, during a spate of robberies.
Wimbledon Guardian,
19 December 2007
A teenage boy had two guns
held to his head by a gang of teenage robbers who burst into his home in
Thornton Heath, south London, in order to steal his puppy.
His family are being assisted in their search for the puppy by
doglost.co.uk.
Evening Chronicle
(Newcastle),
19 December 2007
Paul Bourn, who was obsessed
with the wife of his victim, and his brother Max Bourn face life
sentences after being convicted of the attempted murder of a man who was
shot four times at close range at his home in Lemington,
Newcastle, in September 2006 (see
Incidents). Both men were found
guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm and conspiracy to
commit murder. Max Bourn shot the victim with a .22 weapon whilst
his brother was in the house with the victim and his wife. Another
man who denied conspiracy to murder was cleared.
BBC,
19 December 2007 *
A man was taken to hospital
after a gunman shot him in the back outside his home in Consett,
County Durham. The shooting apparently followed an altercation.
Two men were being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.
Lancashire Evening Post,
18 December 2007
Two teenage cousins have
been granted conditional bail after facing charges of affray during an
incident in Ribbleton, Preston. One of them is accused of
threatening a man with an imitation firearm,
the other with possession of a handgun.
BBC,
18 December 2007
Three men were in hospital
with serious injuries after being shot in a pub in Congleton,
Cheshire. The men had spent the evening together and it is
believed that one of the men shot the others before turning the gun on
himself.
Weston & Somerset Mercury,
17 December 2007
An
air rifle belonging to a former tenant was found at a
property in Weston-super-Mare by police responding after two
young girls were reported to have been burned with cigarettes and
neglected for more than seven months. The house was filled with
drugs, faeces and rubbish.
Evening Telegraph
(Northampton),
17 December 2007
A gunman fired shot at a
house in a residential street in Rushden. A window was
damaged, although no-one was injured or threatened.
Evening Chronicle
(Newcastle),
17 December 2007
The paper has reported that
Andrew Ewels, 20, has admitted firing an air
rifle in New Hartley near Blyth in August 2006.
A pellet hit a 12-year-old in the head as he got off a bus. The
pellet narrowly missed blinding him and lodged just centimetres from his
eye. Ewels was fined £70. The boy's mother had called for
air rifles to be banned.
BBC,
17 December 2007
A man has been arrested
after reports of cars and other property being shot at from a house
window in Kells in Whitehaven, Cumbria. Police seized an
air rifle.
BBC,
16 December 2007
A man was injured in the
buttocks when he was approached and shot by two men on a motorbike in
Grange Town, Teesside. A local man has been arrested on
suspicion of attempted murder.
News & Star,
15 December 2007
Police who raided more than
10 homes and arrested a number of people in Carlisle and north
Cumbria recovered a firearm and ammunition.
Manchester Evening News,
15 December 2007
A man was tied up and
threatened with a handgun by a gang of masked men who broke into his
home in Woodhouse Park, Manchester. The gang demanded cash
and car keys before tying his wrists and ankles together.
Evening Gazette
(Middlesbrough),
15 December 2007
Jackie Reed was given a
six-month jail term for a firearm and public order offence but was
released as he had already served five and a half months on remand.
Reed held a .22 air pistol in one
hand and a steam iron in the other and said he would kill two victims in
a verbal confrontation in June 2007 in Hartlepool. Reed
admitted possession of a firearm when prohibited.
BBC,
15 December 2007
A man was seriously injured
in a suspected gun attack in Smethwick, West Midlands. He
was in a stable condition in hospital. It is believed he was
injured after answering the door to a caller or callers who shot him.
Oxford Mail,
14 December 2007
A police officer had a gun
pointed at him when a car was stopped in Didcot, Oxfordshire,
after it was seen to be driven erratically. The gunman
disappeared. Pupils were locked into two local schools during the
subsequent search for the man but he was not found. Metropolitan
Police detectives have now been called into the hunt for the gunman (BBC,
16 December 2007).
The Herald (Plymouth),
14 December 2007
Graham Smith was given a
12-month suspended jail sentence after a pump-action shotgun prohibited
in Britain was found in a military cabinet at his home in St Judes.
Police had been called to the house in June 2007 after reports of damage
caused to vehicles and of someone shooting pigeons with an airgun.
When police searched his home they found the shotgun with a shortened
barrel, an air rifle, an
air pistol and 32 cartridges of
ammunition. Smith, who had no firearm certificate, was a "hunting
enthusiast" who had brought the shotgun in Portugal and was merely
keeping it in Plymouth. His intention was to take the weapons back
to Portugal. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a
prohibited gun, two counts of possession of a firearm without a
certificate, and one of possession of ammunition without a certificate.
Smith was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work in the
community.
BBC,
14 December 2007
PC Richard Grey who was shot
by Peter Medlicott in Shrewsbury in May 2007 (see
Incidents) was
unlawfully killed an inquest has ruled. Medlicott, who had a gun
licence, committed suicide. West Mercia Police have been
criticised for not revoking Medlicott's gun licence earlier and the
coroner has recommended that police charge their licensing practices.
Medlicott had three previous convictions, two offences for disorderly
behaviour and one for drink-driving and he was also arrested for assault
in April 2007 yet he was allowed to keep guns.
BBC,
14 December 2007
Thirty two
BB guns and three crossbows were seized
by police and trading standards officials from a car boot sale in
Rufforth, York. The guns were described as extremely
convincing replicas.
Bexley Times,
13 December 2007
A 17-year-old girl, who
cannot be named, and two men have been jailed after a fellow employee of
the girl's was robbed at gunpoint in Belvedere, south London, in
June 2007. Jonathan Hayward and Francis Little were tipped off by
the girl and stole £3,500. Police found an
imitation gun at a flat associated with
the two men. All three pleaded guilty: Hayward and Little were
sentenced to four and a half years and three and a half years
respectively. The girl was jailed for 12 months. Hayward,
who had previously been jailed and released on licence, after being
caught in possession of a firearm was ordered to serve the remaining
eight years of his licence concurrently.
BBC,
13 December 2007
Shots were fired at a house
in Longsight, Manchester. Two shots hit the front door and
two hit the front window.
BBC,
12 December 2007
A teenager is in a stable
condition after being shot in Shepherds Bush, west London.
Another male received minor gunshot wounds. A man has been
arrested in connection with the shooting.
BBC,
11 December 2007
A man was arrested by armed
police in Leasowe, Wirral, after they were confronted by the man
with a firearm. He was arrested on suspicion of making threats to
kill and possession of an imitation firearm
with intent to cause fear of violence.
BBC,
11 December 2007
Hina Uroog, Kashif Ahmed and
Liaqat Khan have been jailed for four years and nine months, nine years
and six-and-a-half years. respectively, for their part in a fake kidnap
plot in which Uroog attempted to extort £300,000 from her boyfriend.
The plot was uncovered by police who set up a sting operation in
Longsight, Manchester. Ahmed ran off when he saw the officers
and threw a loaded Russian-made 9mm gun into a garden. Khan was
crouching behind a van and a sawn-off shotgun was found hidden under
vehicle. Uroog was jailed for
This is Lancashire,
10 December 2007
A masked gang stole cash
from a motorist in Whitefield. The man was approached by
three men, two of whom appeared to be carrying handguns. One of
the gang opened the passenger door and demanded cash which the victim
gave them.
Daily Mirror,
10 December 2007
A disabled woman was
arrested after a burglary at her bungalow in Epping because she
kept a stun gun under her bed. A stun gun is a prohibited weapon.
Essex Police say it was considered appropriate to deal with the offence
by way of a police caution.
Bedford Today,
10 December 2007
A Taser gun, £3000 cash and
a large quantity of cannabis have been recovered by police during a raid
in Houghton Regis. A man was arrested.
BBC,
10 December 2007
Masked burglars broke into a
house in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, and assaulted three people in
the kitchen with a hammer and a gun. One of the occupants was hit
on the head with the gun. The offenders made off without any money
or property.
Observer,
9 December 2007
According to an article in
The Observer inquiries into the whereabouts of 3000 weapons
supplied by convicted father and son William Greenwood and Mitchell
Greenwood (the two were jailed in January 2004, see
Incidents) have revealed that the
weapons have fallen into the hands of paedophile rings, drug cartels and
extortion rackets. The deactivated guns
were sold by the men along with instructions and kits so they could be
modified to convert them to live firearms. A cache of 100 such
weapons was recently traced to a home in rural Devon, and guns
supplied by the Greenwoods have been recovered from at least 8 murder
scenes, gangland shootings and a loyalist paramilitary arms cache.
Guns from the two men have been traced to at least 65 crime scenes.
The article highlighted the ongoing problems with deactivated firearms
which are reactivated to become live weapons.
Lancashire Evening Post,
8 December 2007
A man described how he
thought he had been shot when the car in which he was travelling in
Avenham, Preston, came under fire in June 2007 (see
Incidents).
A bullet hole was later discovered in the boot of the car and cartridges
recovered from the street. Two men are charged with violent
disorder, having a firearm or imitation firearm to commit that offence
and possessing a firearm or imitation firearm
to cause fear of violence. The trial continues.
Kent News,
7 December 2007
An MP5 semi-automatic
machine gun was seized in a raid by armed police on a house in
Ramsgate. A large quantity of cannabis and other drugs were
also seized. Three men were arrested.
Daily Echo,
7 December 2007
In separate incidents
airgun pellets were fired at two
elderly women as they walked along a street in West Moors,
Dorset. A 74-year-old was shot in her bottom and an 88-year-old
was shot in her left leg and needed hospital treatment.
BBC,
7 December 2007
A shot was fired during a
ram raid by a gang on a bank in Cradley Heath, West Midlands.
Three robbers drove a car into the front of the bank. No-one was
hurt.
Harlow Herald,
6 December 2007
A fourteen-year-old
schoolboy shot another teenager in the leg with an
airgun he bought on the internet.
A court heard that the 16-year-old victim has been left "very depressed"
after the attack which took place in a street in Harlow, Essex,
in January 2007. The accused admitted charges of unlawful wounding
and possessing a firearm and was placed under supervision of a probation
officer for 18 moths, a condition being that he attends offending
behaviour work sessions.
Daily Mail,
6 December 2007
A postmaster and his wife
who were robbed by robbers who threatened them with a handgun and a
knife and then stole £11,000 from their shop in Lowestoft,
Suffolk, in September 2007, were instructed by Post Office management to
pay back the lost cash because the amount of cash stored in the till
exceeded guidelines, but the Post Office has now announced that the
claim had been withdrawn.
BBC,
6 December 2007
Ahmed Osman Hersi from
Southall, west London, has been jailed for five years after pleading
guilty to several charges of firearms and drugs possession. A
police operation targeting a gang run by Hersi recovered drugs, £300,000
cash along with two machine pistols, five semi-automatic handguns and
one Brocock revolver.
Telegraph & Argus
(Bradford),
5 December 2007 *
A man has been detained for possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear
of violence in July 2007. The court was told how a teaching
assistant heard a "ping" on the window of the school minibus she was
driving in Bradford. Boys on the bus confirmed it had been
shot with a BB gun. The
accused man was carrying the black plastic handgun with him as he walked
to his mother's and admitted shooting the minibus, claiming that the
people in it would have realised it was not a real gun. Gary
Marshman has been remanded in custody and is expected to be transferred
to a hospital to be assessed by a psychiatrist. He has since been
given a two year jail sentence (Telegraph & Argus, 23 January
2008).
Evening Gazette
(Middlesbrough),
5 December 2007
A former policeman has
cleared his named after his convictions for assaulting two youths were
quashed. He said that the youths had fired an
air rifle at him in Lingdale,
Cleveland, in August 2006. He acted to prevent youths shooting the
gun at him and his land, to protect himself and his animals and to
prevent crime, the judge ruled.
BBC,
5 December 2007
A gang of up to 25 masked
men, carrying guns and dressed all in black, was seen patrolling the
streets in Moss Side and Whalley Range in Manchester by a
number of witnesses, according to police.
Evening Telegraph
(Northampton),
4 December 2007
Of 19 firearms recovered by
police in the north of Northamptonshire between April and October
five were imitation or replica guns,
five were ball-bearing guns, five
were air weapons, one was a
toy gun and another a builder's sealant
gun.
Evening Telegraph
(Northampton),
4 December 2007
A man has been
pistol-whipped by an armed robber who threatened him with a gun in a
street in Rushden. The robber stole the victim's jacket and
£20.
BBC,
4 December 2007
A gang of four threatened a
man walking home in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. A gun was held
to the man's head as they went through his pockets to find his wallet.
BBC,
4 December 2007
Three men armed with a
shotgun and a knife fled with cash after holding up a bank in Little
Lever near Bolton. Nobody was injured in the raid.
BBC,
4 December 2007
Police seized 31
BB guns at a shop in Oldham,
Greater Manchester, as part of a crackdown on BB and replica guns which
look like genuine weapons. They hope the seizure will remind
traders of legislation which makes it an offence to manufacture, import
or sell realistic imitation guns.
Liverpool Daily Post,
3 December 2007
A 16-year-old boy was shot
in both legs in Kirkdale. He was taken to hospital with
gunshot wounds but police do not believe that his injuries are
life-threatening.
Liverpool Daily Post,
3 December 2007
Gunshots were fired at a
pizza shop in Dovecot. Damage was caused to the front
window of the premises but there were no injuries.
Bromsgrove Standard,
3 December 2007
A cashier at a service
station in Hopwood was threatened with a knife and a handgun
during an armed robbery. The robber told the attendant to empty
the taking from the till. He also took an undisclosed amount of
cigarettes.
BBC,
3 December 2007
A shotgun and ammunition
have been recovered by police from a garden in Lydgate, Oldham.
The find followed reports of a disturbance. Four men have been
arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm.
Lancashire Evening Post,
1 December 2007
Police investigated 28
"firearms" incidents in Lancashire schools between April 2006 and
March 2007. Police and school chiefs say they do not relate to
"serious offences" but unions have expressed concerns at the figures.
The incidents appear to have involved ball
bearing guns and toy guns.
SCOTLAND
BBC,
19 December 2007 *
David Scullion fired two
shots from a replica pistol from his
car in Dumbarton in September 2007 and was then chased by police
reaching speeds of up to 130 mph on the A82 before he was caught at
Luss. He admitted dangerous driving, recklessly discharging a
firearm, assaulting police officers and vandalising a police car.
He had brandished a sword at police officers. He has been jailed
for six years (BBC, 11 March 2008).
BBC,
13 December 2007
Seventeen-year-old Otu Nylam
shot a 9-year-old in the head with an air
pistol in Edinburgh in November 2006 and then shot a
16-year-old in the eyelid. Police found a BB gun and pellets at
Nylam's flat. He has been sentenced to 225 hours community
service.
BBC,
13 December 2007
Shots were fired from a car
at a house in Maryhill, Glasgow. No-one was injured in the
shooting.
Evening News
(Edinburgh),
12 December 2007
A driver on his way home
from work was forced to stop his by a gang of teenagers near Tranent,
East Lothian. One of the gang pulled out an
airgun and fired a shot which left a
ten-inch crack in the windscreen.
BBC,
10 December 2007 *
A man has appeared in court
in private on petition charged with possession of a firearm after
incidents in Jedburgh. He has been jailed for three years
(see March 2008 Incidents).
BBC,
7 December 2007
Armed police took part in a
major search in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, for a man wanted on
a petition warrant for firearms offences.
Evening Express,
4 December 2007 *
A man told a court how he
was shot by an airgun and then
threatened with having his head chopped off with a samurai sword.
The incident took place in Aberdeen. Two men are accused of
attacking the victim and repeatedly shooting him with an air rifle.
One of the men faces a second charge of stealing an air rifle and
pellets. David Adamson has now admitted a reduced charge of
shooting the victim, brandishing a sword at him and placing it against
his neck, injuring him and scarring him for life. Lee Hutchison
has admitted shooting the victim with an air rifle, repeatedly punching
his head, injuring him and scarring him for life (Press & Journal,
5 December 2007). Hutchison was jailed for 14 months, Adamson for
16 months (Evening Express, 17 January 2008).
BBC,
3 December 2007
Police seized a gun and
heroin with a street value of £100,000 from a property on the Black
Isle. The gun had been stolen during a break-in at a house in
the Black Isle in December 2006. A man will appear in court.
WALES
ic Wales,
13 December 2007
A 16-year-old was shot in
the head with a pellet gun in Cwmbran. He was taken to hospital where
a pellet, which was embedded in his head, had to be removed during
surgery. Although it was initially suggested that the incident
took place in a street it was later reported to have occurred at a house
and that the alleged offenders were known to the teenager. Two
people have been arrested and two air weapons
and ammunition were recovered from one of two houses searched by police
(BBC, 14 December 2007).
INCIDENTS INVOLVING ANIMALS
Worcester News,
29 December 2007
A cat owner found her pet
petrified and bleeding after it was shot with an
airgun in Droitwich. A vet
found a puncture wound to the back of her left leg and the pellet was
removed during an operation.
Norwich Evening News,
13 December 2007
Two pigeons being kept in a
shed on an allotment in Gorleston, Norfolk, have been killed with
an airgun. Roofing was also
damaged by air pellets.
BBC,
11 December 2007
A dog was shot dead in a
street in the Pendleton area of Salford by a hooded youth seen
holding a gun in its mouth.
News & Star,
10 December 2007
A vet had to put down a cat
which is believed to have been shot in the face with an
airgun. The animal was found
horrifically injured and dying on the front doorstep of a house in
Carlisle. The PETA Foundation, an animal charity, has sent
special education packs to every school in the city in a bid to tackle
the spate of airgun attacks on cats in Carlisle (News & Star, 18
December 2007).
Evening Times,
6 December 2007
An RSPCA worker found two
swans shot at a pond in Inchinnan, Renfrewshire. The mating
pair had multiple airgun pellets to
the head. The male was already dead and the female had to be put
down.
Hartlepool Mail,
4 December 2007
A cat was left in agony
after being shot at close range with an air
rifle in the Bakers Mead area of Hartlepool.
Pins had to be placed in the cat's leg and a second operation was needed
when the pins became dislodged.
BBC,
3 December 2007
A cat was shot in the
stomach with a BB gun in
Carterton, Oxfordshire. The pellet was removed by a vet.
Her owners have been left with a £1000 vet bill.
