2005

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

Bedford Today, 31 December 2005

Police turned out in force in Sandy after reports of a man threatening a group of youths with a silver handgun.  The gun was later discovered to be a replica.  A man was arrested and released on bail.

icSouth London, 30 December 2005

Simon Gill who claimed he had an 8 mm handgun to commit suicide was jailed for five-and-a-half years.  Detectives, however, believed he paid for the converted Glock handgun after being caught up with drugs crime.  Police found the gun during a raid on a premises in Croydon.  Gill admitted possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of seven rounds of ammunition.

BBC, 30 December 2005 *

Armed police have arrested a man after the fatal shooting of another man in Grimsby.  The victim died in hospital after being found lying in the street.  A man has been given a life sentence for what was described as a "completely random, motiveless and pointless" attack (see October 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 30 December 2005

Three people were arrested by armed police after a man said a weapon had been fired at him in Cuxton, near Rochester.  It is not believed that anyone was injured in the incident.

BBC, 29 December 2005

Two men robbed a football club in Bristol, threatened and assaulted a barman before taking a quantity of cash.  During the raid a sawn-off shotgun was fired.

BBC, 28 December 2005

Two men were accidentally shot during a pheasant shoot in the Hennock area, near Newton Abbot.  Both were hit by shotgun pellets.  Police said the incident followed a misunderstanding between heaters and shooters.  The Health and Safety Executive has been made aware of the incident.

BBC, 28 December 2005

A man was shot in the leg as he sat in his car in Wembley.  He was approached by five men who hit him around the head before he was shot.  The victim's condition is described as serious, but not life-threatening.

Bexley Express, 28 December 2005

Two youths, aged around 18, are being sought after a 15-year-old girl had a gun held to her face and her mobile phone stolen in a street in New Eltham.  It is thought that a man may also have been a target of the duo at New Eltham train station.

BBC, 27 December 2005 *

A man has been shot dead and another received minor gunshot injuries after a row at a bar in Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury.  According to the police it is believed that the incident followed an altercation inside the bar.  Three men have been arrested in connection with the shooting (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 5 January 2006).  An 18-year-old has been charged with murder, a 17-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm and assisting an offender (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 30 March 2006).  Four men have received long jail sentences for their involvement in the killing (see March 2007 Incidents).

BBC, 27 December 2005 *

A woman was found shot dead at a house in Audley, north Staffordshire.  A man has been arrested and is helping police with their inquiries.  He was eventually  been found guilty of manslaughter (see August 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 24 December 2005 *

An 11-year-old boy suffered a serious sexual assault from a man who threatened him with what is believed to have been a handgun.  The boy was walking in Spalding with a 9-year-old boy when they were approached by the man. He pulled out a what is thought to have been a gun and grabbed the 11-year-old.  The other boy managed to run away.  A man has been jailed for at least six years (see April 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 24 December 2005

Two shop assistants were threatened by a man with a pistol at a store in Perham Down, near Tidworth in Wiltshire.  The man stole cash and then walked away from the scene.

South London Press, 23 December 2005 *

Damien Sawyers faces a possible life sentence after being convicted of possessing firearms and intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin.  He was caught with a Skorpion CZ-91S sub-machine gun and three pistols, one disguised as a key ring, when police went to his hideout in Clapham in February 2005.  However, despite the likelihood of a jail term the judge allowed Sawyers home until sentencing in February.  Sawyers was later refused a renewed application for bail and remanded in custody (Sun, 3 January 2006).

BBC, 23 December 2005

A security van was robbed by an armed gang in an attack at a supermarket in Ashby de la Zouch.  One of the gang was armed with a handgun.  Guards were threatened and a substantial amount of cash was taken.

BBC, 23 December 2005

A man has been arrested after reports of shotgun fire and shouting at Manninford Bohune near Pewsey in Wiltshire.  Specialist officers were called to protect police and the public.  Shotguns were seized.

BBC, 23 December 2005

The windscreen of a van was cracked as it was being driven along a road in Welton, Midsomer Norton, after it was shot at by a man using an air rifle.

This is Local London, 22 December 2005

Jerome Charles was sentenced to 25 years in jail after being convicted of murdering a man in Northolt as he begged for his life.  He had granted an unknown gunman permission to execute the victim, who had gone to the location for a drug deal in February 2005 (see Incidents).

Liverpool Echo, 22 December 2005

A schoolboy pointed a BB gun at a bus driver and passengers near Liverpool city centre.  Two children were picked up by the police following the incident.  The gun was seized and the boys taken home to their parents to be warned about their behaviour.  The driver was so terrified he is considering quitting his job.

icHuddersfield, 22 December 2005

Abu Mansha plotted to "hunt down" and kill a decorated British soldier.  When police searched his flat in Thamesmead they found "virulent anti-Western propaganda" and a blank firing gun in the process of being converted to shoot live rounds.  He insisted he had bought the pistol from a market stall as a souvenir.  He was convicted of one count under Section 58 (1b) of the Terrorism Act.  Sentencing was adjourned.

Herts Advertiser, 22 December 2005

A man armed with a handgun robbed a security van outside a bank in Harpenden.  The man got away with a substantial sum of money.

Croydon Guardian, 22 December 2005

A man from New Addington shot himself dead with an air rifle.  A pellet entered his right temple and went right through his head.  The coroner recorded a verdict of suicide.  His wife believed that the gun, which was in the loft, had been disposed of some time ago.

BBC, 22 December 2005 *

A £10,000 reward is being offered by detectives investigating the murder of a man who was shot dead in a street in Harlesden, north west London, in January 2005.  He was taken to hospital but died from a gunshot wound to the head.

BBC, 22 December 2005

A gun was fired from a moving car in Hulme, Manchester.  Damage was caused to a house window and wall, but there were no injuries.

Mirror, 21 December 2005

Earl White was reportedly shot by police in the back as he drove at an armed police officer when fleeing his mother's home in Fulham.  White was wanted by police for a string of crimes including robbery.  The Independent Police Complaints Commission would not confirm the details of the incident, although Scotland Yard have warned that White, who is in hiding, is "dangerous" and should not be approached.

Peterborough Today, 20 December 2005

Four teenagers have been arrested after a number of people were shot at with an air rifle in Dogsthorpe.  Residents were forced to duck for cover as the gun was fired at pedestrians and vehicles.  Three people were treated at hospital after being hit.

BBC, 20 December 2005

A boy was shot in the head with an airgun in an incident described as an accident, which happened as he played with the gun with a friend in Billingham.  He had to go to hospital to have a pellet removed from his head.  Cleveland Police say he was "extremely lucky".  The victim does not wish to press charges.

BBC, 19 December 2005

Mohammed Omar Akbar was found guilty of murder following the torture and shooting of a teenager at a house in Burnham in November 2003.  Altogether seven people have been convicted in connection with the murder but an inquiry is to continue.  Another man, Majad Khan, had also been found guilty of murdering the victim and was jailed for life in November 2004.

BBC, 19 December 2005 *

A man was shot dead by police at his home in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, after armed police were called to a block of flats by a neighbour.  A firearm was found at the scene and the man is also reported to have been wielding a sword.  The Independent Police Complaints Commission investigating produced a detailed report on the incident and an inquest into the death of Philip Marsden has returned a verdict of lawful killing.  The gun he was carrying was found to be an imitation weapon (BBC, 17 September 2008).

BBC, 19 December 2005

A man is recovering in hospital after he was shot in the leg following a car crash in Heckmondwike.  He was shot as he returned to his car after approaching the other car involved in the collision to talk to the driver.

BBC, 18 December 2005

A man has been arrested after he was seen brandishing an air rifle in the centre of Lincoln.  He had been reported to have been pointing a firearm at cars and passers-by.

Manchester Evening News, 17 December 2005 *

A shop worker was shot dead at an off-licence in Old Trafford.  The victim, who suffered a single gunshot wound, died at the scene.  It is thought that two gunmen escaped from the scene and that the shooting may have been a robbery which turned violent.  Detectives have doubled the reward on offer for information to £20,000 (BBC, 24 August 2006).

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 17 December 2005

An armed raider made off with money from the counter at Newburn post office after he had pointed a handgun at the postmaster's head.

National Newspapers, 16 December 2005

Damien Hanson, who was convicted of the murder of a financier and the attempted murder of his wife at their Chelsea home in November 2004, was also carrying a handgun when he knifed his victims as he and an accomplice attempted to rob them.

National Newspapers, 16 December 2005 *

Police have revealed that Lee Smith fatally shot his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend before turning his shotgun on himself.  Their bodies were found in a field near Woodsetts in south Yorkshire.  Both had died from a single gunshot wound to the head.  A friend of Smith's has been convicted of manslaughter and of shortening the barrel of the shotgun and been given a nine year jail sentence (see July 2006 Incidents).

Burnley Today, 16 December 2005

Around 100 BB guns were discovered in the backyards of boarded-up homes in Burnley Wood by community officers, who returned the following day to find another 20 to 30 weapons.  The guns ranged from handguns to large weapons.  Police feared that they could easily have got into the hands of criminals or children.

BBC, 16 December 2005

A man opened fire with a gun after disturbing two intruders at his house in Walpole St Andrew, west Norfolk.  The intruders escaped in a white van.  Police said that it remained unclear if either of the suspects was injured.

BBC, 16 December 2005 *

A group of youths thought to be between 12 and 15 fired BB guns at younger children outside a junior school at Maltby, near Rotherham.  Some of the children were hit in the face by the pellets.  There are unconfirmed reports that the incident was filmed on mobile phones.  South Yorkshire Police (21 December 2005) have announced that three males, aged 13, 14 and 15 have been arrested and released on police bail.  BB guns and ammunition and a mobile telephone have been seized.  In a further statement the police that no further action will be taken against the 13-year-old (South Yorkshire Police, 5 January 2006).  Two teenagers, who appeared in court charged with assault, affray and possession of an imitation firearm (Yorkshire Post, 27 June 2006), were found guilty and given supervision and curfew orders (see July 2006 Incidents).

This is Hertfordshire, 15 December 2005

Hertfordshire Police seized a gas-powered ball bearing gun in one of a series of raids in Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, London Colney, St Albans and Borehamwood targeted at the drug trade.

Bromley Times, 15 December 2005

Leonard Scamp dug up a shotgun from his garden and used it to shoot a visitor to his Orpington house in the leg.  He was jailed for 12 years.

Yorkshire Post, 14 December 2005

Andrew Sunman, 15, who deliberately fired a ball-bearing gun at a shop security camera, has been banned by an ASBO from four stores in Elmbridge, Hull, for the next two years.  He had shot at the camera when he refused to leave a store from which he was already banned and was told he was on CCTV.

Life Style Extra, 14 December 2005

One of nine men arrested following dawn raids in London's East End and Essex for offences relating to theft of motor vehicles was also arrested for possession of a firearm.  He was detained at an address in Romford.

icCroydon, 14 December 2005

A masked raider attempting to break into a pub in Norbury fired a shot after he failed to get in.  He sped off on a motorbike driven by another man.

BBC, 14 December 2005

Gunmen wearing balaclavas forced their way into a Warwickshire home where a couple and their two daughters were watching television.  The owner was forced to hand over cash and he was punched in the face.  Two of the five men in the gang carried guns.

Teesdale Mercury, 13 December 2005

Passengers on a bus that was attacked by youths as it passed through Gainford described it as an airgun attack.  Three of the bus's windows were smashed and the bus driver talked about someone using an air rifle.

BBC, 13 December 2005

A man was hurt in a struggle with an armed robber during a raid in Great Thurlow, Suffolk.  Two men wearing balaclavas armed with sawn-off shotguns entered the post office.  One worker suffered a cut to the head after being struck by the butt of a gun.

BBC, 12 December 2005

A shop worker was threatened with a handgun during a robbery in Tiptree, Essex.  The robber forced the man to open the till and the safe before escaping with cash.

BBC, 12 December 2005

Nine people were arrested after a series of morning raids in connection with a violent disturbance outside a nightclub and a subsequent shooting in Harpurhey, Greater Manchester.  Police believe that two of the people shot had been involved in the earlier disturbance.

BBC, 11 December 2005

A man underwent surgery after being shot in the stomach in a bar in Basingstoke.  Another man suffered a wound to his face, and a third man had a minor hand injury.  Two men were given indeterminate jail sentences after being found guilty of a number of offences relating to the incident (see December 2006 Incidents).

News & Star, 10 December 2005

Simon Lee shot his wife in the head and neck with an air rifle in a bid to murder her in Cockermouth in December 2001.  He has lost an appeal to have his convictions overturned.  The Crown considered it to be a deliberate shooting as Lee would have had to reload the gun between shots.  He was sentenced to nine years for attempted murder and three years concurrent for a firearms offence.

BBC, 10 December 2005

Thieves have stolen four BB guns, along with electrical items, during a break in at a house in Sandhurst.  Police fear the stolen guns could be used to commit crime.

Eastern Daily Press, 9 December 2005

Michael Harper admitted possessing an air rifle intending to cause fear of violence and was jailed for two and a half years.  A court heard how in July 2005 he had fired the rifle at a neighbour and a paramedic in Mulbarton after becoming "frustrated" over a financial matter.  Harper fired twelve shots in total, ten from his house and two from outside.  The sentence was reduced to 18 months on appeal (BBC, 10 March 2006).

Macclesfield Express, 8 December 2005

A 12-year-old girl was arrested after using a BB gun with a laser sight to shoot a man in the ear.  She had fired the gun from a house in Macclesfield.  Her victim lost hearing in his right ear for several hours after the attack.

Eastern Daily Press, 7 December 2005

Gary Franks, 18, was sentenced to youth custody for 18 months after threatening bouncers with an air rifle in Dereham after being refused entry to a pub.  Franks had previously been sentenced to youth custody for starting a blaze.

Sun, 5 December 2005

An army captain who had apparently stayed up drinking on the night before target practice shot a sergeant in the leg with his Minimi machine gun at a range between Lydd and Hythe.  He stumbled and accidentally fired a stream of bullets.

BBC, 5 December 2005

Police are hunting a gunman who forced a woman to drive him to Temple Meads station in Bristol.  The man stopped her as she was driving in Montpelier, got into the vehicle and forced her to drive him to the station where he left her unharmed.  The man is being hunted on suspicion of armed robbery.

BBC, 4 December 2005

A suspected robber was shot in the arm by police as they tried to arrest him at a supermarket in Peckham, south east London.  The wounded man and two others were arrested, but a fourth man ran away.

BBC, 4 December 2005

A man is recovering in hospital after being shot in a Saturday night incident in Chapeltown, Leeds.  Four people have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 3 December 2005

Shaun Sidgwick was given a life sentence after admitting two robberies and imitation firearm offences, Mark Gamble was jailed for seven years after admitting two imitation firearm offences and other offences and William Gatley was jailed for six years after he admitted theft and robbery charges.  The three men were involved in a series of crimes in May 2005.  Gatley pointed a pistol at a man in Wakefield and, together with Sidgwick and another man, stole the victim's car.  Later the same day Sidgwick pointed the gun at security guards after Gatley had tried to steal four cans of cider from a supermarket in Darlington.  In another incident Gamble and Sigwick robbed a woman of her car at gunpoint.  When police stopped Gamble in the car they found a kitchen knife and a BB gun.

Peterborough Today, 2 December 2005

Three robbers tried to drag a man into their car as he left a post office in Millfield, Peterborough.  They demanded that he hand over any cash and was hit over the head with a gun.  He handed over his wallet and mobile phone and the robbers took his coat.

News & Star, 2 December 2005

Armed police officers were called to an incident on an estate in Workington in which a firearm was believed to have been involved.  A man and a woman were later arrested and police were searching for a second man.

Hertfordshire Mercury, 2 December 2005

Motorists watched in horror as armed police held two suspects at gunpoint on the A414 outside Hertford.  However, it was revealed that the incident had been a training exercise.  Although police defended the exercise, some witnesses were terrified by the incident.

Chester Chronicle, 2 December 2005

A man in a deerstalker hat threatened staff of a building society in Taporley with a handgun during an armed robbery.  He escaped with around £2000.

Bedfordshire Times & Citizen, 2 December 2005

A man is in custody after a bungled shoplifting in Bedford in which a handgun was produced and two members of staff threatened outside a shop.  The assailant dropped his weapon which broke revealing it to have been an imitation gun.

BBC, 2 December 2005

Greater Manchester Police have begun an investigation after an officer accidentally fired a gun in the changing room of Collyhurst police station.  It is believed that a bullet ended up embedded in a wall.  The officer was a GMP authorised firearms officer.

BBC, 2 December 2005

Six men who killed a doorman in Birmingham in November 2004 (see Incidents) have each been jailed for life.  Dean Smith, William Carter, Carl Spencer, Michael Christie, who were allegedly all part of a street gang called the Johnson Crew, and Leonard Wilkins and Jemal Parchment were found guilty of murder.  They were also convicted of attempting to murder three of the murder victim's colleagues.  Two 9 mm handguns were used in the murder.  The judge said that the defendants must serve at least 30 years in prison.

icSurrey, 1 December 2005

Police are hunting a gunman who blasted the windows of a house in Merstham.  He used both barrels of a shotgun before jumping in a car which was later abandoned in the car park of East Surrey Hospital where a man and a woman left in a taxi and were dropped off in Crawley.  A man is due to appear in court charged with three firearms offences - four other people have been bailed (BBC, 3 December 2005).

BBC, 1 December 2005

A masked man armed with a handgun threatened a shop assistant in the Southbourne area of Bournemouth before stealing the shop's takings.  The gun was not fired.  Police are hunting an armed man and his accomplice believed to have been involved in five armed robberies in the Bournemouth area between 3 November and 10 December.  Premises targeted have been a bookmakers, a petrol station and three stores (BBC, 15 December 2005).

BBC, 1 December 2005

A biker shot at two men as they sat parked outside a pub in Ladbroke Grove, west London.  The driver is recovering from minor gunshot wounds.

Blackpool Today, 30 November 2005

Louis Kettle broke into a Blackpool hotel brandishing a gun.  He has pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and possession of an imitation firearm and was sentenced to six years in youth custody.  The family who own the hotel have described their terror when Kettle broke in and tried to take a phone and camera from behind the bar.

BBC, 30 November 2005

Staff at a bank in Coppull, Chorley, were threatened with a shotgun and a crowbar by two robbers who escaped with a "substantial" amount of money.

BBC, 29 November 2005

Paul Atkinson was jailed after threatening to kill his girlfriend, with whom he used to live in Aspatria, with a sawn-off shotgun.  He was sentenced to at least two years eight months in prison but was told by the judge that he would only be released if he no longer posed a threat to women.

BBC, 29 November 2005

Two teenagers threatened a farmer with a handgun when he told them they were trespassing on private land in Sandford-upon-Thames, Oxfordshire.  The youths, aged about 16, were riding a scrambler bike at the time of the incident.

BBC, 29 November 2005

A young shop assistant was shot in the face during an armed robbery in Sparkbrook, Birmingham.  The victim was taken to hospital where his condition was described as stable.  The masked raiders stole a laptop computer and a mobile phone.

Yorkshire Post, 26 November 2005

The body of a father-of-three was discovered in the driveway of a house in Moortown, Leeds.  Police say they believe that his injuries were consistent with a gunshot wound.

Life Style Extra, 25 November 2005

Four men, all 21 or under, were jailed following the fatal shooting of a robbery victim at a house in Dagenham in July 2004.  The victim suffered "catastrophic" injuries to his face and head after being shot at close range with a shotgun by Russell Patterson, then 19.  The victim had been enticed to the house by close friend Jay Marshall who was joined at the house by Patterson, Lee Wilson and Robert Crump.  Patterson pointed a loaded shotgun at the victim's head to threaten him but pulled the trigger as the victim attempted to disarm him.  Just hours before Marshall and Patterson had taken part in another gunpoint robbery.  Patterson and Marshall were jailed for 18 years for manslaughter and also given 12 years for firearms and robbery offences.  Wilson and Crump were given six year sentences for plotting a robbery.

Leigh Today, 25 November 2005

A fire engine was shot at with an air rifle as firefighters tackled a blaze in Tyldesley.  No one was hurt but the crew were said to be shaken by the experience.  Detectives are keen to trace a group of four to five youths, aged approximately fifteen.

icCoventry, 25 November 2005 *

Robbers armed with a gun forced the staff of a pub in Earlsdon, Coventry, to lie on the floor as they stole cash.  Two days earlier a group of four or five men, who were carrying handguns, attempted to rob a security guard as he delivered cash to a supermarket in Cannon Park, Coventry.  The guard managed to get inside his armoured vehicle and the men drove away empty handed.

BBC, 25 November 2005 *

A jury has ruled that police officers who shot dead Fosta Errol Thomson in St Werburghs, Bristol, in August 2002 acted lawfully.  Thomson, a drug dealer, was shot by armed officers during an undercover operation.

BBC, 25 November 2005

A lorry driver was kidnapped at gunpoint as he was parked in his cab at the Burtonwood Service Station off the M62.  A man with a shotgun burst into the cab and he and three other men forced the driver into a waiting van.  He was driven round before being dumped in Preston.  The truck was found minus its trailer.

BBC, 25 November 2005

A man was shot and seriously injured in West Bromwich.  He was found after police were called to reports of a gun being fired.  He is said to be in a serious condition in  hospital.

icSurrey, 24 November 2005

Ian Ranger was jailed for two years for possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and six months for damaging property after shooting at his wife's car in Bookham with a shotgun in August 2005. She had spurned his pleas to give their marriage a second chance.  Ranger had held a firearms certificate for 12 to 13 years and had three licensed firearms and an air rifle.

Mirror, 23 November 2005

In May 2005 Michael Elson was given conditional bail for threatening to kill a woman.  Three days later he ambushed her in Oldham and threatened her with an axe and an imitation gun.  He dragged her into a car and held her for 20 hours at a derelict house in Longsight before police talked him into releasing her.  He has admitted kidnapping, false imprisonment, perverting the course of justice, wounding with intent and possessing an imitation firearm.

BBC, 23 November 2005

Following three shooting incidents in Sheffield in a few days, the number of armed response officers has been doubled.  In addition to the attack on a couple in their car in Gleadless (see below, BBC, 21 November 2005), a man was shot several times while walking home in the Walkley area and a father of four was shot on the doorstep of his home in Darnall.

South London Press, 22 November 2005

Alfoday Fofanah was jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to the robbery of a supermarket in Peckham in April 2005.  The shopkeeper refused to hand over takings even when a gun was pointed in his face.  The self-loading 12 bore shotgun went off as the shopkeeper and his staff grappled with Fofanah, hitting the shopkeeper in the groin.

BBC, 22 November 2005

Police have charged a man with possession of a firearm after they were called to a charity lunch in Bath where the man have waved a gun.

BBC, 22 November 2005

A man was stabbed as he tackled two raiders, armed with a knife and a gun, who had threatened two shop assistants in Bridgnorth.  It is believed that the raiders have taken part in 19 other raids across the Black Country and Shropshire.

BBC, 21 November 2005

A couple were shot by a gunman who fired into their car as they waited at traffic lights in the Gleadless area of Sheffield.  The man was shot in the leg and suffered other minor injuries.  His wife sustained leg injuries.  Police believe the couple had been targeted.  A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.  The male victim was in a stable condition in hospital (BBC, 22 November 2005).

BBC, 21 November 2005

A man armed with a shotgun accompanied by another carrying a crowbar threatened staff at a bank in Haslingden, Lancashire.  The men escaped with a quantity of cash.

National Newspapers, 20 November 2005 *

WPC Sharon Beshenivsky, a policewoman answering a personal alarm call, to a raid on a Bradford travel agents was fatally injured when one of the three raiders shot her at point blank range.  Her colleague was also shot and suffered a serious injury to her shoulder.  Police have been questioning a number of people who were arrested in London.  One man has been charged with murder and two other suspects are being sought by police.   One man has admitted PC Beshenivsky's murder and another man was found guilty.  Two others were found guilty of manslaughter (see December 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 20 November 2005

Four men were hurt as a man with a gun attacked a pub in Plaistow, east London.  One man was pistol-whipped, another was hit in the stomach with the butt of the handgun and two others were hurt with glass from a broken window.

South London Press, 18 November 2005

A teenage girl was blinded in one eye when a gunman fired indiscriminately through the letter box of a property on a Walworth housing estate.  The bullet lodged millimetres from vital arteries.

icSouth London, 18 November 2005

Armed police went to a road in Thornton Heath after reports that a youth was seen brandishing a handgun.  Police said a ball-bearing gun was later recovered.  A 14-year-old boy was arrested.

Reuters, 17 November 2005

A 15-year-old youth has been charged with the manslaughter of a 12-year-old boy who was shot in the head with an air rifle in Conisbrough in May 2005 (see Incidents).  The gun went off in the bedroom of a house, sending an air pellet through the victim's eye.  The youth's father was also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Leeds Today, 17 November 2005

A boy of 11 was shot in the head by a nine-year-old with a ball-bearing gun when he refused to hand over a bag of Playstation games to three boys as he crossed common land in Osmondthorpe, Leeds.  His mother was able to take a photograph of the boys with her camera.  West Yorkshire Police later said that they could confirm that they did receive a report of an incident and a nine-year-old boy was warmed and advised in front of his parent.  No further action could be taken because he was beneath the age of criminality.

Ilford Recorder, 17 November 2005

Police found a Smith & Wesson revolver, ammunition and drugs when they raided the bedsit of Marcus Nelson in Ilford.  He pleaded guilty to firearm possession and drug offences and was given a nine-year jail sentence.  The report goes on to describe how Redbridge police have recovered 13 firearms in the past 11 months, eleven of which, including an AK-47 machine gun, were uncovered in a raid on an address in Woodford Green.

icSurrey, 17 November 2005

James Ginty, who brandished an imitation gun at a traffic warden in Reigate in October 2004 (see November 2004 Incidents), has been warned he could be jailed.  The incident occurred after the warden issued a ticket on his double-parked van.  He was found guilty of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

BBC, 17 November 2005

Five men were jailed for their involvement in the shooting and kidnap of a man in Tameside, which culminated in a high-speed motorway chase by police (see February 2005 incidents).  Three of the men, Adrian Miller, Jason Schultze and Ian Graham were found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and sentenced to 17, 12 and 13 years respectively.

BBC, 17 November 2005

A post office in Narborough, Norfolk, was raided by a gang of three men, two of whom were carrying guns.  Staff were threatened and the men escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

South London Press, 15 November 2005

A suspected gunman and the victim of a failed gangland-style hit in East Dulwich are both being sought by police.  The man who was shot at had not come forward.

Times, 14 November 2005

The man who called himself Lord Buckingham, who was recently sent to jail for obtaining a passport using a false identity, raised his ex-wife's fears when their children said they had found a gun in the glove compartment of his car.  The gun was found at his home in Little Billing, Northamptonshire, after he had stripped the house.  Police are checking to see if the Walther P88 pistol was a replica or had fired live ammunition.

Telegraph, 12 November 2005

Four armed robbers who burst into a couple's bedroom at Cressing, near Braintree, tortured the man with an electric Taser-type gun.  The gang left with a large quantity of cash and jewellery.

ITN, 12 November 2005 *

A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and other crimes after shooting incidents in Wigan.  Shots were fired at a house, then a woman was the victim of gun-point car-jacking.  Later police received a call to say that a man had been brought in with gunshot wounds to his upper body: he had been shot twice at his house.  Finally there was a second car-jacking at gun point.  Two men had their car stolen and were left extremely shaken.  Two women and another man have also been arrested in connection with the incidents (BBC, 14 November 2005) and two men have now been charged (BBC, 16 November 2005).  Neil Wood has since been jailed for life for a series of offences (see April 2006 Incidents).

Pendle Today, 11 November 2005

An ex-convict, Graeme Foster, took out a broken and unloaded air weapon after being confronted by a gang on his way home from a pub in Nelson.  He then returned home and loaded the air pistol before getting ready for bed.  An Armed Response Unit alerted by the earlier incident arrived at the house and seized the gun and ammunition.  He has been bailed for a pre-sentence report.

Hertfordshire Mercury, 11 November 2005

Two men armed with a gun tied up a young couple with tape and robbed them in their home in Hertford.  Police believe it may have been a targeted attack.  A number of items including computer equipment were stolen.

BBC, 11 November 2005 *

A gunman who was seen firing at a man in a parked car in Huddersfield later fired at two armed police officers shattering the windscreen of their unmarked car.  One had an eye injury from flying glass.  Police are trying to trace Marcus Nathaniel Rhoden in connection with the incidents (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 3 January 2006).  Rhoden was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting firing a shot at the officers (see October 2006 Incidents).  A second man who was with Rhoden at the time of the shooting has appealed to reduce his minimum jail term (see December 2009 Incidents).

BBC, 11 November 2005

A police operation involving high visibility patrols has been set up by Greater Manchester Police in the Wythenshawe area after four incidents.  In one of these two men on a motorbike were seen threatening a man with a shotgun.  Later a man and a woman were allegedly assaulted and threatened with a shotgun at a house in Baguley.  In two other incidents shots were fired at two different houses.

Sunderland Echo, 10 November 2005

Andrew Ross was caught by police with a sawn-off shotgun in the boot of his car at his house in South Bents.  He had changed his story about how the gun came to be there, but he eventually admitted possessing a prohibited firearm.  He was jailed for five years.

Hackney Gazette, 10 November 2005

Two young men were shot in Hackney in the early hours of the morning.  One had a lucky escape when a bullet grazed his head, the other was in a stable condition in hospital.

Welwyn & Hatfield Times, 9 November 2005

A policeman was shot with a rifle near Harpenden.  The .22 bullet tore into his arm.  He had been following the trail of suspected poachers.  Two men have been released on police bail.

The Mercury, 9 November 2005 *

Agnius Baicys, described as being part of a gang which had dealt in guns and drugs in Eastern Europe, was found guilty of wounding with intent after a shooting incident in Woolwich in which he fired six shots from a shotgun into the stomach of his victim in November 2004.  He had denied attempted murder.  His father-in-law, on whose behalf Baicys was drawn into a row which led to the shooting, was cleared of three charges.  Baicys has been jailed for 12 years (icSouth London, 14 December 2005).

Muswell Hill Journal, 9 November 2005

A 19-year-old was robbed at gunpoint in Muswell Hill.  Four men wearing black hoods stopped him, put a gun to his head and threatened him.  After punching their victim to the ground the men made off with his mobile phone.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 9 November 2005 *

A 17-year-old boy has died from shotgun wounds at his home in Newton Hall.  Police have ruled out foul play.  A coroner concluded that he had taken his own life (see April 2006 Incidents).

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 9 November 2005 *

Thomas Masserick is due to be sentenced for a string of assaults, threats to kill, common assault on a child and witness intimidation.  His ex-partner has described how he had shot holes in photographs with airgun pellets.  She had bought him an air rifle to divert his attention from her, but her daughter later revealed how he had put the gun to her nose.  Police were alerted when Masserick returned to the house in Newcastle and found that his partner had fled.  He started shooting up the house with the air rifle: pellets were sprayed over walls and furniture.  The weapon was never recovered.  Masserick was jailed for seven years (Evening Chronicle, 16  December 2005).

Leamington Spa Today, 8 November 2005

Matthew Reading of Kenilworth received a community order for possession of a loaded air weapon.

BBC, 8 November 2005

Two people were arrested after a man was shot in the head with an air pistol outside a take-away restaurant in Botley, Oxford.

Express & Star, 7 November 2005

A gang escaped with cash and mobile phones after holding up a video store in Dudley at gunpoint.  One of the men brandished a silver pistol.  No-one was injured and the gun was not fired.

BBC, 7 November 2005

A man was shot twice when he went to investigate a loud bang outside his home in Old Bexley.  The victim was said to be in a stable condition.  Villagers say a man had been in pubs, prior to the shooting, asking for the victim, who was well-known in the area (This is Local London, 9 November 2005).

BBC, 7 November 2005

A man was arrested at his Exeter home after throwing firecrackers at people.  He made threats to kill the officers.  Inside the house police found several replica weapons, two air rifles one was very high powered with a telescopic sight and a sound suppresser), and a deactivated machine gun.

Scotland on Sunday, 6 November 2005

A police officer at the US Embassy in central London sparked a gun drama when he accidentally fired his weapon, a Heckler & Koch MP5, while on guard duty.

Life Style Extra, 6 November 2005 *

A post-mortem indicated that a man found in a Chingford street lying in a pool of blood had died from gunshot wounds.  A man has been arrested in connection with the murder.  Two men have been given life sentences for the murder (see November 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 5 November 2005

Six men and two women were sitting in two cars in Bethnal Green when they were shot at and then stabbed by two men.

This is Hertfordshire, 4 November 2005

Kirk Holdrick, who escaped jail in 2004 whilst on remand, was caught after four weeks on the run, while in possession of a firearm and driving a stolen vehicle in Waltham Abbey.  He had originally been arrested during a surveillance operation as he and another man prepared to rob a security vehicle at gunpoint in Potters Bar.  During the four weeks he was on the run Holdrick committed three armed robberies.  After being found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robberies and being in possession of a loaded firearm he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Enfield Independent, 4 November 2005

A receptionist at Chase Farm Hospital was held at gun point by a mental health patient who had escaped from a secure ward.  She described how the man was threatening everybody.  He frogmarched the woman into a back room and pointed the gun at her head.  He was eventually restrained by a security guard and two paramedics. When he was disarmed it was discovered that the weapon was a replica gun.

BBC, 4 November 2005

A retired policeman has been jailed for two months after a gun was found in his hand luggage at Luton Airport.  He pleaded guilty after being arrested in August.  Bernard Gray said he put the unloaded Kommer handgun in his holdall for safekeeping and forgot to remove it when he packed for a holiday in Italy.  His counsel claimed that it had been Gray's intention to hand the gun to the police because he knew it was illegal.

BBC, 4 November 2005

A gun was fired at police officers answering an emergency call to a domestic incident in Newtown, Greater Manchester.  Police are now hunting Neil Wood who disappeared after the shots had been fired from a house.

BBC, 4 November 2005

Police have said that two armed robberies on stores in the Bristol area, one in Frenchay and the other a few days later in St George, may be linked.  Both involved a gang armed with a sawn-off shotgun.

BBC, 4 November 2005

A defendant in a murder trial has claimed that his girlfriend shot herself as they struggled with a gun in his car whilst they drove down the M1 towards Sheffield.  The gun was in the glove box of the car.  He has denied he ever had his finger on the trigger of the gun.  Howard Simmerson was subsequently found guilty of murder and has been given a life sentence and should serve at least 25 years (BBC, 8 November 2005).

Eastbourne Today, 3 November 2005

Youngsters were shot at with a ball-bearing gun at a child's birthday party in Eastbourne Old Town.  One boy, who was playing in a garden with his three-year-old nephew, was hit in the arm with a pellet.  The gun had been fired by a youngster in a nearby property.

BBC, 3 November 2005

Two staff were shot during an attempted robbery by masked raiders at a hotel in Liverpool.  They were in the bar area when three men wearing balaclavas demanded money before shooting them.  One victim had a stomach injury, the other an injured arm.

Derby Evening Telegraph, 2 November 2005

A gang of three men, believed to have been armed with handguns, threatened staff at a supermarket in Castle Donnington and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.  During the getaway they crashed into a car.

BBC, 2 November 2005

A police officer was shot at while on patrol in Trench, Telford, after he stopped to talk to a man carrying a black holdall.  The man ran off and turned and fired a short-barrelled firearm at the pursuing officer who was shaken but not injured in the incident.

BBC, 2 November 2005

A man and a woman have been charged with drugs and firearms offences after a police raid on a pub in Bedminster, Bristol.

BBC, 2 November 2005

A handgun has disappeared from the armoury of a nuclear site at BNFL Springfields in Salwick, Lancashire.

BBC, 1 November 2005

A gang wearing Halloween masks shouted "trick or treat" before shooting a man in the doorway of his home in Huyton.  He is critical but stable in hospital after surgery.

BBC, 1 November 2005

Five men were shot when a gang of four men forced their way into a house in Walthamstow.  The injured were taken to a hospital by a neighbour where three were treated for minor injuries and two are said to be in a stable condition.  Operation Trafalgar, which looks into non black-on-black gun crime in London, is investigating the incident.

BBC, 31 October 2005

The kitchen window of a house in Eccleshill, Bradford, was shattered by an air rifle.  The occupants of the house have claimed the police took half an hour to respond to their 999 call.  The culprits had apparently casually walked away from the scene.

BBC, 31 October 2005

Armed police were called to a house in Spalding when a man claimed he was assaulted and threatened with a firearm there.  A man was arrested and a replica firearm was recovered during a search of the premises.

Times, 29 October 2005 *

Carl Morgan, a member of So Solid Crew, was jailed for life for murdering his love rival in a gunfight in Tooting in November 2004.  He was sentenced to a minimum of thirty years.  His victim, who was hit by four shots, had armed himself with a modified pistol that fired homemade bullets and fired seven shots at Morgan, all of which missed.  The jury failed to reach a verdict on another member of So Solid Crew, Dwayne Vincent (Megaman), who faces a retrial. He is said to have urged Morgan to "burst" the victim.  Vincent was acquitted after a second trial collapsed (Guardian, 30 September 2006).

BBC, 29 October 2005

A man was arrested over reports that a gun had been fired in Selby.   There were no reports of any injuries.

BBC, 28 October 2005 *

The family of a murder victim have offered a £10,000 reward to catch his killer.  The man was shot in a street in Bordesley, West Midlands in September.  He died at the scene.  A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder (BBC, 18 May 2006).

BBC, 28 October 2005

Two men were injured, one seriously, in a shooting incident at Harpurhey, Greater Manchester.

BBC, 28 October 2005

Three men were shot and a fourth man stabbed in a series of incidents in the Sheepridge area of Huddersfield.  The police say the shootings are not connected with any other incidents and there is no threat to public safety.

Welwyn and Hatfield Times, 26 October 2005

After a report that someone was brandishing a black handgun in Hatfield an armed response unit rushed to the scene.  Police arrested three people after a BB gun was recovered. In another incident in the area boys playing with a toy gun were shining a laser sight at passing motorists.  A 15-year-old will appear in court charged with possession of an imitation firearm.

Times and Star, 26 October 2005

Two children, aged 8 and 12, were shot with a BB gun in Workington.  They were playing outside when they suffered injuries to their legs.

Islington Gazette, 26 October 2005

A 13-year-old boy seen showing a small black handgun to other youths outside a secondary school in Islington was arrested and taken to a police station where he was told off.  The weapon, which the boy had thrown away before police arrived, was believed to be a BB gun. 

icSouth London, 26 October 2005

Damian Meredith shot himself in the leg when he was tackled by unarmed police in Merton.  He pled guilty to possessing a firearm and was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in youth custody.

BBC, 26 October 2005 *

A man was discovered with gunshot wounds in the Handsworth area of Birmingham.  He had been hit in the buttocks and the injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.  A man has been convicted of attempted murder and other charges (see March 2010 Incidents).

icSouth London, 25 October 2005

A Glock semi-automatic handgun, loaded with 10 bullets was discovered along with a shotgun in an unlocked communal cupboard on a Brixton estate.  It was discovered when an electrician went to read a meter.  Police said it was a miracle that the gun hadn't fallen into the hands of an unsuspecting youngster.

Cambridge Evening News, 25 October 2005

A gang is believed to be firing potshots at pedestrians in Cambridge.  Two women were shot at with pellets from an airgun or ball-bearing gun in separate incidents.  Police are searching for the occupants of a car which spotted by both of the victims.

Telegraph, 24 October 2005 *

An 18-year-old was fatally shot in Newtown, Birmingham.  Police said it was 'too early to say whether the shooting was linked to the weekend's disturbances in the Lozells area'.    A teenager has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder and possession of a semi-automatic handgun with intent to endanger life (BBC, 27 February 2006).  He was jailed for eight years (see April 2006 Incidents).

icCoventry, 24 October 2005

Armed robbers fired a handgun as they tried to steal the keys of a car and then stabbed its owner when he refused to hand over the keys.  The victim was leaving a restaurant at Dordon with his wife.

icCoventry, 24 October 2005

Armed police were called to a pub in Leamington after one man was hit over the head with the handle of a gun.  Other pub customers were threatened as they tried to restrain the offender.  No shots were fired.

icBirmingham, 24 October 2005

A police officer was shot in the thigh with a ball-bearing gun during disturbances in the Lozells area of Birmingham which left a man dead with stab wounds and 35 people in hospital.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 24 October 2005

Three men armed with a handgun and Taser stun gun left empty handed after attempting to rob a Chinese restaurant in Newcastle.

BBC, 24 October 2005

A shop assistant had a gun put to her head during a raid on a supermarket in Ingol, Preston.  The perpetrator had a silver handgun and forced the woman to put hundreds of pounds in a bag before fleeing.

News & Star, 22 October 2005

Two 14-year-old boys were approached and one attacked by two young men carrying a BB gun in Carlisle.

Yorkshire Evening Post, 21 October 2005

David Wooler was given a 120-hour community punishment after pleading guilty to two charges of common assault after two young girls were shot and injured in Lupset.  Wooler had been firing an air rifle from his bedroom window but claimed he had not intended to hit anyone.  The leniency of the punishment was criticised by one of the girls' mothers.

West Yorkshire Police, 21 October 2005

A man was arrested following searches at an address in the Lister Hills area of Bradford.  Police had recovered a firearm, as well as a quantity of suspected Class A drugs and money.

BBC, 21 October 2005

Leondro Richards, who held a teenager at gunpoint in a bedroom during a robbery in Clifton, Nottingham, in April 2005, was jailed for seven years.  He had been charged with robbery, theft and possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

BBC, 21 October 2005

Following the shooting of a man in Throckley, Tyneside, three men have been charged with conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with  intent.

BBC, 21 October 2005

A man found dead in a car near his home at Stanton St John, Oxfordshire, had a bullet wound to his neck and had been shot with a handgun.  The car had been pushed into a ditch.

This is Nottingham, 20 October 2005

Bar staff at a pub in Radford were threatened by robbers with a gun.  Three men in balaclavas, one of them holding a handgun, forced one member of staff to open the safe and put its contents into a rucksack.

Harlow Star, 20 October 2005

Three housemates in Lower Meadow were held captive at gunpoint by masked burglars.  The gunman's accomplice stole mobile phones, cash and bank and credit cards.

BBC, 20 October 2005 *

An arsenal of weapons, including a pump action shotgun and four handguns, two of which were loaded, were found under a child's bed during a police raid on a property in Elephant and Castle, south-east London.  Rachael Jacobs has been charged with possessing four self-loading handguns, 76 rounds of ammunition and a silencer for a gun.  She is also charged with possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.  Ms Jacobs was cleared of all charges but a man has been jailed for five years for possessing the shotgun (see July 2007 Incidents).

This is Worcestershire, 19 October 2005 *

Ihtsham Zahoor, 15, who was caught in a police drug swoop on a car in Alvechurch, was found to have an imitation gun hidden in his boxer shorts.  He was sentenced to 15 months detention.

icSurrey, 19 October 2005

Lee Goodsell, who fired a BB gun round through the letter box of a house in Broadfield, has been made the subject of an antisocial behaviour order.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 19 October 2005

A man was shot at close range as he was walking through Sheepridge.  His attacker called out his name and the victim spun round with a man pointing a revolver at his head.  A shot was fired and a bullet hit the victim's arm.

BBC, 19 October 2005

A postmaster had a gun held to his head and a knife to his stomach during a robbery by three men in Hooley.  The victim was uninjured but very traumatised.  He has decided to close his post office (icSouth London, 28 October 2005).

Sidmouth Herald, 18 October 2005

A man was seen with a gun in Ottery's parish church grounds.

Peterborough Today, 18 October 2005 *

Nishan Bakunts and Misha Chatsjatrjan are on trial for the murder of a man who had been stabbed and shot and whose body was set on fire in a field at Upton in December 2002.  A witness said that Chatsjatrjan had confessed to putting eight bullets in the victim's head.  Bakunts was jailed for life (minimum 16 years) for murder and Chatsjatrjan was cleared of murder but found guilty of assisting an offender (BBC, 27 October 2005).

News & Star, 18 October 2005

Gun parts, used for making up ball-bearing weapons were stolen during a raid on a house in Carlisle.  Police were confident that the pieces could not be put together to form a BB gun.

BBC, 18 October 2005

Two drunken men who used an air rifle in the centre of Cheltenham have been jailed for a year.  Marek Losinski and Michael McMahon had bought the weapon in the town and then took turns at shooting at target.  The judge commented that "It must be that at the time they visited the gun shop they were under the influence of alcohol, which would have been visible to anyone".

Sunderland Today, 17 October 2005 *

A student was shot in the face with an airgun as he was walking in West Herrington.  He was knocked to his knees after being shot from a bunker at the roadside and needed six stitches after a plastic pellet tore through his cheek.  The victim's case has been raised in the House of Commons (Sunderland Echo, 18 October 2005).  However, the three boys charged with the shooting will not face justice because lawyers can't prove which one of them fired the pellet that hit the victim (Sunderland Today, 10 March 2006).

BBC, 17 October 2005

An army captain left a gun loaded with 13 rounds of blank ammunition in the toilet of a supermarket in Hitchin.  She left her waistband holster in the disabled toilet and the pistol was missing for two days.  She had been on an authorised military exercise according to the Ministry of Defence.   The gun was later found by detectives in a postbox after the person who found it told police on his mobile phone where he had dumped it.  A man was questioned and later released with a caution (The Comet, 18 October 2005).

BBC, 17 October 2005

A 13-year-old boy was arrested after a gun was fired in a school in Crewkerne, slightly injuring another pupil.  A ball-bearing gun was fired into the air and the ball bearing ricocheted off the ceiling and struck the victim.

BBC, 16 October 2005

A youth showed a counter assistant the handle of a gun which was tucked into his waistband during a raid at a Southend newsagents.  He escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

This is Nottingham, 15 October 2005

Troy Quimby from Mansfield was ordered to do 120 hours' community service after shooting a neighbour in the leg with an air rifle in April 2005.  He was found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Sun, 15 October 2005

A head teacher waved a real handgun in front of primary schoolchildren in Newchurch, Lancashire, at a harvest festival to illustrate a scheme in Mozambique in which the church swaps food for weapons.  The gun was decommissioned.

Life Style Extra, 15 October 2005

A police marksman who works for the Royalty and Diplomatic Protection Department was been arrested over rape allegations and firearms offences after a gun was found at his home address.  He has been bailed to return to Romford Police Station.

Borehamwood & Elstree Times, 14 October 2005

An 18-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an incident in which a Borehamwood family was terrified by youths firing an airgun at their front door.

This is Essex, 13 October 2005 *

A mother in Witham fears for her children's safety after airgun pellets were fired repeatedly at her home.  The front room window was broken.  She saw two men fire shots from a van which drove up to her house.

icCoventry, 13 October 2005

A Nuneaton school for children with learning difficulties has been closed after the caretaker was shot with an airgun whilst walking in the grounds.  Police were alerted after he found an airgun pellet.  No children were at the school at the time.

Hounslow Guardian, 13 October 2005

A gang of teenagers armed with guns, knives and hammers are believed to be behind a spate of robberies across Heston and Hounslow.  Victims have been hit with a gun and pistol whipped.  The thieves have made off  with cash and mobile phones.

Press Association, 12 October 2005

Mark Kelly and Junior Andrews were both sentenced to a minimum of 32 years each after they were convicted of the murder of 14-year-old Danielle Beccan who was shot dead as she returned home from the Nottingham Goose Fair in October 2004 (see Incidents).

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 12 October 2005

A jury heard how a doorman had a bullet lodged in his hand during a shooting incident outside a nightclub in the centre of Bradford in September 2004.  Raphael Hunte has denied a charge of attempting to murder the man and a further allegation of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Hastings Today, 12 October 2005

Douglas Quinnell from Hastings fired an air rifle from his bedroom window at two gardeners after having a bad day at work.  He was given an 18 month community rehabilitation order and also ordered to complete a programme to help him learn anger management.

Bishop's Stortford Citizen, 12 October 2005

A cashier was forced to hand over money at gun point in an armed raid at a convenience store in Stansted Mountfitchet.  One of the two cashiers was threatened with what appeared to be a small black handgun.

South London Press, 11 October 2005

A clubber was shot outside a nightspot in Brixton Hill.  He was rushed to hospital where he was in a stable condition.

News & Star, 11 October 2005

Gareth Hunter from Keswick has been jailed for six months after an off-duty police officer spotted him carrying an air rifle.  Hunter had a previous conviction for armed robbery and as a result of this was banned from keeping firearms.

BBC, 11 October 2005

Part of Leeds had to be sealed off after a man shot at police officers following reports of a domestic incident in the Harehills part of the city.  A man locked himself inside a house before leaving with a weapon which he fired several times at police.  He then returned to the house.  It has emerged that the suspect is a member of a gun club and a licensed gun holder (8 rifles, all of which are understood to be licensed, were removed from the scene).  At least 30 shots were fired at police officers (Yorkshire Post, 15 October 2005).  A man is on trial facing two charges of attempted murder (see May 2006 Incidents).

Hackney Gazette, 10 October 2005

Filming of what is believed to have been a tale about gun crime was halted when real shots were fired in a street in Shoreditch.  The film crew, who did not have permission from the local council, jumped into cars and fled.  Eye witnesses say that a man being driven away had what looked like a bullet wound to his face.

Croydon Guardian, 10 October 2005

Three teenage girls, Billie Jane Leslie, Simone Minott and Kerri Leyanne Storer, have been sent to prison after using an imitation gun in a robbery in Croydon.  Three other girls were robbed.  The sentences were five years for Leslie and four years for Storer and Minott.  Leslie's sentence was reduced to four years on appeal (ic South London, 25 January 2006).

BBC, 10 October 2005

Police have arrested 14 people after a series of early morning raids in Wolverhampton.  The properties raided were suspected to be connected with drug dealing and gun crime activities.

BBC, 9 October 2005

A woman has been questioned after a fake handgun was found in luggage at Newquay Airport as she attempted to board a flight to Stansted.  The woman has been bailed.

Eastern Daily Press, 8 October 2005

Two incidents in Norfolk led to police warning people that they face being arrested and sparking armed police operations if they carry around toy guns resembling real firearms.  At Swaffham a man was held after a police operation lasting more than an hour. The man was seen carrying the weapon which turned out to be a BB gun.  At Dereham St Nicholas Churchyard three youths were seen showing off lifelike guns while about 60 children from a local school were being taken on a tour.  The Rector called police.  Norfolk trading standards has already investigated two complaints about a new shop in Dereham which sells replica guns and displays some in the front window.

Independent, 8 October 2005

Linton Ambursley and Tyrone Headley were jailed for 12 years and 30 months respectively following an incident outside London's Barbican Centre in November 2004  in which a woman was shot.  The victim's life was saved when the bullet was deflected away from her heart by her underwired bra.  She had been caught in the cross fire when four men started shooting at another group of four men on the opposite side of the road, as hundreds of people who had been attending a music ceremony left the venue.  Ambursley admitted wounding her.  A third man involved has been deported to Jamaica.  (An item relating to this incident originally appeared on the September 2005 list).

Pendle Today, 7 October 2005 *

Ben Rushton, a soldier, fired at passers-by from a car with an imitation gun in Colne.  One woman was extremely frightened when the gun was pointed at her and another young victim was hit by a pellet.  Rushton was sentenced to 16 months in jail.  Rushton has lost his appeal against a custodial sentence (Pendle Today, 9 December 2005).

icBerkshire, 7 October 2005

Staff at a bookies in Britwell fled in fear when a masked raider brandishing a sawn-off shotgun burst into the shop and demanded cash from the till.  The gunman snatched £200.

BBC, 7 October 2005

Police were trying to trace a pick-up truck stolen from Rothwell, near Caistor, because the vehicle is believed to contain a gun belonging to its owner.

This is Worcestershire, 6 October 2005 *

Elvice Watt, a former in-patient at Kidderminster Hospital, had a ball-bearing gun tucked in the waistband of his trousers when he was confronted by a psychiatric nurse on a ward in the hospital.  A court heard that Watt had an interest in firearms.  More imitation guns were found at his home.  He pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession of a knife.  Sentencing was deferred.

Sutton Guardian, 6 October 2005 *

A man was left shaken but unhurt after he was held at gunpoint in his own home in Wallington and forced to hand over the keys to his moped.  Four men have been jailed for a variety of offences committed on two evenings in the Sutton area (see September 2006 Incidents).

Leeds Today, 6 October 2005

Three children, aged 11 and 13, have been cautioned for "possession of an imitation firearm" after they were seen playing with a BB gun on a street in Chapeltown.

Winsford Chronicle, 5 October 2005

Gangs of youths wielding fake guns are terrorising Winsford.  A former firearms officer is leading a campaign to ban the sale of the guns in local shops.

Sheffield Today, 5 October 2005

A woman who was shot in the head with an air rifle in Sheffield only escaped serious injury because she was wearing a cycling helmet.  She was walking with her bike at the time.  Three youths walked towards her before firing a pellet at her head and running off.

South London Press, 4 October 2005

A handgun, ammunition and a large amount of drugs were seized by police from a flat in New Cross.  A man and a woman were arrested at the address.

Liverpool Echo, 3 October 2005

Bullets smashed windows in homes near a pub in Everton after a pub brawl ended in a street gun battle.  Four men were being questioned.

Daily Post, 3 October 2005 *

A man was in custody after police were threatened with an imitation firearm after a three-hour car chase.  The chase began after police found a seriously injured woman at a house in Congleton.  He was sentenced to six and a half years in jail at a later trial (see February 2006 Incidents).

Bucks Free Press, 3 October 2005

Schoolchildren ran in horror as a blood-soaked man pointed a gun in their direction as they walked past a bus stop in Iver Heath.  The man, who had attempted to take his own life by slitting his wrists, pointed an air rifle at the pupils.  The man was taken away by ambulance.  Police said the gun was not loaded.

Yorkshire Post, 1 October 2005

Zulfiqar Shaffi was jailed for 13 years after he was found guilty of two charges of robbery and one count of attempted robbery.  He had targeted women drivers in two attacks in Bradford.  In one of the attacks he terrified one of his victims with what she though was a black revolver.  It turned out to be an imitation firearm.

Shropshire Star, 1 October 2005

Symon Wilkinson was jailed for 21 months for threatening another motorist with an imitation handgun during a road rage incident.  He had brought the gun and a baseball bat from his home in Sweeney and aimed it at his victim across a car park.  His victim was "absolutely terrified".

Sheffield Today, 1 October 2005

Craig Warmsley was sentenced to an eight-year-jail term after pleading guilty to his part in an aggravated burglary at a house in Firth Park, Sheffield, in May 2005.  Two men had forced their way into a house brandishing a revolver at the victim.

News & Star, 1 October 2005

Police may set a curfew to combat troublemakers on a Carlisle estate.  Among the problems that residents have experienced is being shot at with BB guns.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 1 October 2005

Stephen March found a sawn-off shotgun in a church wheelie bin and kept it.  He was jailed for 12 months after admitting possession of an illegal gun at his home in Washington.  The court heard he was a serial hoarder.

Mirror, 30 September 2005

John Smith, a Conservative councillor in Barnsley, left two children locked in alone at home with guns and a knife.  Police officers who broke into the house found a Bren gun with a loaded clip propped against a wall and a rifle in a bedroom.  He was given an eight-week suspended sentence after admitting two counts of child cruelty.

Liverpool Echo, 30 September 2005

Police officers could be put in every secondary school on Merseyside to stamp out the threat of ball-bearing gun attacks on pupils after three shootings in a week.  Two 14-year-old boys were suspended after a 15-year-old girl was shot in the face at Gateacre community school.  A ten-year-old boy was shot in the bottom in Speke and in a widely reported incident three 14-year-old girls walked into a high school in Netherton and threatened a teaching assistant with a BB gun.

icSouth London, 30 September 2005

Ricardo Gray who took part in a violent robbery in Thornton Heath in January 2005 in which a man was pistol-whipped and shot in the leg was jailed for 10 years.

icCoventry, 30 September 2005

A police helicopter was used to search for a man who fired an air rifle at a passing car on the A444 in Exhall, Coventry.  The offender had been spotted on a bridge over the road.

Chester Chronicle, 30 September 2005

A mother claimed that she had been threatened with an imitation firearm while holding her 15 month old son.  The incident took place in Lache Park where people are so concerned about the situation that they have formed a residents' association.

BBC, 30 September 2005

Shoppers fled from robbers brandishing a gun and a machete through a busy street in Chester.  A security guard had been threatened.  The gang, who stole a number of gems, escaped.

Manchester Evening News, 29 September 2005

A priest was robbed at gunpoint at a church in Ashton-in-Makerfield.  Two men robbed him moments after one of them asked for a blessing at the altar.

Journal (Newcastle), 29 September 2005

Claims were made that a Sunderland man, Gary Taylor, who murdered his best friend with an axe had been known by health bosses to be collecting a cache of weapons, including guns and knives.

icSurrey, 29 September 2005

A 10-year-old boy was arrested and put in a police cell after brandishing a plastic toy gun in the playground of a school in Smallfield.  The boy had pestered his father to buy the pistol from a toy shop three days before the incident.  The gun had been fired and a pellet hit a fellow pupil.

Harlow Star, 29 September 2005

Richard Murphy and Ross Plumridge were jailed for six years and Terence Wilhelm for eight years after they had threatened staff at a supermarket in Hatfield Heath with an imitation gun and stole £600, cigarettes and alcohol. 

Barking and Dagenham Recorder, 29 September 2005

Masked robbers held four workers at gunpoint before making off with more than £12,000 in cash from offices in Barking.

Bromley, Orpington & Chislehurst Express, 29 September 2005 *

The body of an unidentified man was found lying in a flat in Sydenham.  After a postmortem the cause of death was given as gunshot wounds.  The identity of the victim remains in doubt (South London Press, 14 October 2005).

Islington Gazette, 28 September 2005

Two children were held at gunpoint on a no.4 bus in Holloway.  Two teenagers asked them if either of them had mobile phones before pulling out a silver coloured handgun and threatening to shoot them.

Hemel Today, 28 September 2005

A driver parked in Gadebridge Park was approached by a gunman and told to hand over his keys.  He was forced from the driver's side of his car and the attacked got into the car and drove off.

Western Daily Press, 27 September 2005 *

Gamekeeper Michael Barrett of Ladbarrow in the Cotswolds successfully appealed against a police refusal to renew his firearms certificate and shotgun licence following an incident when he crashed his car while being pursued by the police.  Rather surprisingly, in view of the fact that personal security is legally  not a proper reason to own guns, the court accepted that Barrett played a vital role in helping protect Cotswold villagers from a notorious local family.

Worcester Standard, 26 September 2005

Timothy Bayliss pleaded guilty to firearm offences following a pub siege in Upton-upon-Severn in July 2005 (see Incidents) when he began firing a 12-bore shotgun.  He admitted possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and pleaded guilty to possession of a gun while committing criminal damage and causing criminal damage.  Sentence was adjourned.

icCoventry, 26 September 2005

David Judge arrived at a friend's house in Cheylesmore drunk and armed with a nailgun.  He admitted being in possession of an imitation firearm and was sentenced to a total of 515 days in prison.

BBC, 26 September 2005

A man is being hunted after he used a handgun and a screwdriver to rob a petrol station in Nottingham.  He stole the car of the cashier who was locked in a store-room.

Manchester Evening News, 25 September 2005

The co-owner of a private hire firm was shot dead at a cab rank in Chorlton.  The victim had a single gunshot wound to his chest and died in hospital.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 24 September 2005

A pensioner has been warned after causing a gun scare at a sheltered housing scheme in Blyth.  A fire alarm had been triggered during a minor kitchen fire but when firefighters reached the pensioner's flat he was aggressive and verbally abused them.  They spotted an air pistol on the floor and immediately withdrew.  Police later confiscated the gun.

BBC, 24 September 2005 *

Two shots were fired at the manager of a jewellery shop in Horsham when he chased a robber who had escaped from the shop with a fistful of gems.  The victim's mobile phone, in his suit jacket pocket, absorbed the impact of a shot and he was unhurt.  Police are treating the incident as attempted murder.  Two men are standing trial, one accused of attempted murder, robbery, and possession of a firearm and were later convicted (see May 2007 Incidents).

Blackpool Today, 23 September 2005 *

A suspected gunman brought St Annes to a standstill after he had been seen in the company of a "distressed" woman, carrying a rifle through a park.  Police saw them enter a block of flats and cordoned off the road.  After a seven-hour stand off the man gave himself up and surrendered the rifle.  The woman had left the building after an hour.  Police indicated that a domestic issue had started the incident.  Darren Emery was sentenced to 60 hours community service and ordered to pay £80 costs for carrying an air weapon in public.  He was also given a two-year supervision order and ordered to attend a Think First programme (Blackpool Today, 3 November 2005).

BBC, 23 September 2005

A postman from Bristol was hijacked at gun point in the Cotham area and was forced to drive to Exeter.

BBC, 22 September 2005 *

A man has been shot dead in a car in East Malling, Kent.  A double barrelled shotgun was found in the vehicle.  The death is not being treated as suspicious.

BBC, 22 September 2005

A man was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation gun after he was stopped by armed police near Sevenoaks.  The police were called by a man who thought he had seen someone in a lorry with an automatic pistol.

BBC, 22 September 2005 *

No action will be taken over the fatal shooting by police of Andrew Kernan in Liverpool in 2001.  He was shot dead outside a pub whilst wielding a samurai sword by police who had been asked by the local mental health trust to help detain him.

Stockport Express, 21 September 2005

A one-year-old girl escaped injury after teenagers turned her street in Heaviley into an airgun shooting gallery.  A sniper shot an air pellet at her bedroom window and made a hole.  Car headlights were also smashed by stray pellets.

Eastern Daily Press, 21 September 2005

Michael Carroll from Downham Market appeared before magistrates for failing to report for work - he had been given a 240-hour community order in June for damaging shops and windows during a drunken spree with an airgun.  See also April 2004 Incidents.

BBC, 21 September 2005

Six men were arrested and firearms found in a number of houses in Blackwater, Hampshire, after gunshots were reported to police.

BBC, 21 September 2005

A 4-year-old pupil who fired a BB gun at a teacher but hit another pupil at his Newark school in April 2005 has been told he faces custody.   He admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause others to believe unlawful violence would be used against them.  The owner of the gun, a 13-year-old, admitted possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.  The boy who fired the shot has been given a four-month detention and training order (Telegraph, 19 October 2005).  See April 2005 Incidents.

South London Press, 20 September 2005

Two men were left fighting for their lives after a gunman opened fire in a nightclub in Greenwich.  The paper also reported other incidents.  Police had discovered an empty car riddled with bullet holes and spent cartridges in Camberwell and a gunman was spotted confronting a man along a street in Brockley.  Shots were fired but missed the victim who was them hit with a claw hammer.  His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

icCoventry, 20 September 2005

Three masked men armed with a handgun held up a convenience store in Coventry in a dawn raid.  The robbers escaped with cash and cigarettes.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 20 September 2005

Nathan Foster, 15, from the Beechwood estate in Middlesbrough, has been locked up for 12 months for ignoring an ASBO given for bad behaviour over the past two years which included firing airguns.

BBC, 19 September 2005 *

 Jarvis Johnson has been jailed for life for shooting his lover after she attempted to end the relationship in May 2004 (see Incidents).  The victim was killed at her home in Wolverhampton.

BBC, 19 September 2005

 A man was tied up and threatened with a gun and machete by two burglars who forced their way into a house in Pendleton, Salford.  The raiders stole a watch, a diamond ring and electrical items.

BBC, 19 September 2005

Police sealed off part of the town of Epworth in North Lincolnshire after shots were heard.  A house window and a car window were damaged by up to three shots.  A man had been seen in the area at the time of the shots running away before driving off in a car.

Shropshire Star, 17 September 2005

A woman suffered an injury to her leg when she was hit by an airgun pellet fired from a car.  The victim was using a pathway at a retail park near Telford town centre.  Three youths are believed to be responsible.

News & Star, 17 September 2005

Scott Graham from Carlisle threatened a teenager with an air pistol in a row over a stolen bike after getting the blame for the theft.  He admitted possessing the gun with intent to cause fear of violence, as well as possessing it within five years of finishing a prison sentence.  He awaits sentence.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 17 September 2005

A group of six teenagers walking their dogs in a wood were confronted by armed gamekeepers.  The incident took place on Lord Gisborough's estate near Guisborough.  The men were wearing camouflage army gear and, according to one of the boys, "one had a camouflaged mask on his face and a shotgun and the other had a .22 rifle.  They just pointed their guns.."  The boys were told it was about poaching, but they claim they were walking on a public path.  The police were informed but are taking no further action.

Independent, 16 September 2005 *

A teenage father was shot dead by a gunman who turned up at his house in Chorlton, Manchester.  Another teenager has been convicted of his murder (see November 2006 Incidents).

icSouth London, 16 September 2005

Marcus Archer, who was caught outside a mosque in Thornton Heath with a loaded pistol, was jailed for eight years.  He had admitted possession of a firearm with intent and possession of ammunition without a certificate.  The gun was a blank firing pistol which had been converted to fire live ammunition.  Archer has previous convictions for possessing an imitation firearm, robbery and assault.

icCoventry, 16 September 2005

Armed robbers held up a van delivering cash to a petrol station in the Coventry suburb of Cheylesmore.  They sped away with a cash box.  No shots were fired.

Reuters, 15 September 2005

A man shot himself dead on the M1 motorway near Nottingham after a chase involving armed police officers.  The man had been pursued from an address in Thorne, Doncaster.  Graham Jenkins is understood to have fled his former girlfriend's house after an argument.  The police said "The man was in possession of a firearm.  Officers fired a baton round at the man, who then turned the firearm at himself"  (BBC, 16 September 2005).

icBerkshire, 15 September 2005

A six-year-old boy found a rifle in a hole dug by workmen in Ascot Heath.  His mother discovered him carrying the gun on the walk home from school.  The Martini-Henry rifle could date back to 1875.

Cambridge Evening News, 15 September 2005

A pensioner whose house in Barton has been targeted by youngsters firing airguns at his lounge window welcomed the proposals for tough new regulations on the sale of these weapons.

BBC, 15 September 2005

Detectives hunting a man who threatened a worker at a Bournemouth store during a raid in April have released a picture of the imitation sub-machine gun used in the robbery.  Police hope that someone may have heard the robber boast about the gun.

Wilmslow Express, 14 September 2005

A couple were tied up by masked gunmen who burst into their house in Wilmslow.  Jewellery worth £¼ million was stolen.

Tottenham, Wood Green & Edmonton Journal, 14 September 2005

A man was held at gunpoint, beaten and robbed after being tricked into buying a car in Tottenham.  He was attacked by three men who stole £450.

The Mercury, 14 September 2005 *

Two men faced charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, two charges of having firearms, possessing ammunition, possession of a semi-automatic handgun containing ammunition and two charges of having a weapon for the use of discharging noxious gas after being arrested in Sidcup.  Both have been given long prison sentences (see March 2007 Incidents).

Northwich Chronicle, 14 September 2005

Joe Rooney appeared in court charged with possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.  He was arrested after an incident at an illegal travellers site on recreation land in Greenbank.

London 24, 14 September 2005

A teenager was gunned down in front of revellers at a Dalston nightclub.  The same evening a street in Lower Clapton was sprayed with bullets which ricocheted into flats.  In a further attack a robbery ended in carnage when a man was shot and a teenager was stabbed in the back near Homerton railway station.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 14 September 2005

A cache of lethal weapons was seized by drugs police in raids in Teesside.  Twelve people were arrested in Redcar after the seizure of the weapons which included a BB gun.

BBC, 14 September 2005

A man walked into Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge and shot dead a shop assistant before killing himself.  Later reports described how the victim had been stalked by the perpetrator who had pleaded guilty to harassing her only two weeks earlier (PA News, 14 September 2005).

BBC, 11 September 2005 *

A man was shot dead by police after a gunman opened fire at a house in Ashton-under-Lyne.  A rifle and over 100 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the scene.  The incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).  The dead man has been named as Craig King.  He had earlier terrified residents after smashing a downstairs window and a vehicle with a machete (Tameside Advertiser, 14 September 2005).  An inquest concluded that Craig King was lawfully killed (see July 2006 Incidents).

Halifax Today, 10 September 2005

Matthew Roscoe, who pointed an imitation handgun at a car in which two young children were sitting, has been given an 80 hour community punishment and rehabilitation order for two years as well as being ordered to pay £400 compensation to his victims.  The offence took place outside a chip shop in Todmorden in March 2005.

South London Press, 9 September 2005

Two 15-year-olds who posed online with pump-action shotguns and boasted of robbing other children have been locked up for six-and-a half years.  Police believe they committed 35 offences between January and April. Falco Moludi and Ipaon Mosngo singled out pupils from a school in Streatham they thought had mobile phones.  On one occasion Moludi waved an imitation handgun.

Islington Gazette, 7 September 2005

A bouncer was shot outside a bar in Islington.  He was hit several times in the chest and shoulder by a hooded man.  His condition was described as critical but stable.

Islington Gazette, 7 September 2005

A man was fighting for his life after being shot in the head in an attack on the Elthorne Estate, Archway.

icBerkshire, 7 September 2005

A hooded robber burst through the doors of a building society branch in Thatcham and waved a gun at a teller and demanded cash.  He escaped on foot with bundles of cash.

South Yorkshire Police, 5 September 2005

Two separate incidents on the Winn Gardens estate in Sheffield are reported.  In one a group of youths carrying BB guns confronted a man at his front door and fired four shots at him which hit his chest and neck.  In the second incident a 13-year-old boy was hit in the back with a BB gun, causing marking to the skin.  Two older youths were allegedly responsible.  The police are appealing to parents to stop their children purchasing BB guns.

Mirror, 5 September 2005

A man was arrested after 20 shots were fired in a street in Kingsthorpe, Northampton.  Car windows were shot out as the man fired wildly in the air.  Police were held at bay for 2 hours before the man gave himself up.  A spokeswoman said police seized what they believed was an air rifle when the man was arrested.

Telegraph, 4 September 2005

The body of a man who had been shot in the head was found in the grounds of Rochdale Infirmary.

News & Star, 3 September 2005

Stephen O'Connor was jailed for 18 months after he terrified his mother as he ran amok with an air rifle in her flat in Workington in March.  He was drunk when he began firing the gun while demanding to know the whereabouts of his girlfriend.

Leigh Today, 2 September 2005

Two young children had a sawn-off shotgun pointed at them during a raid by a masked man on a Leigh superstore.  The man was accompanied by an accomplice armed with an axe handle.

Leigh Today, 2 September 2005

A 15-year-old who was climbing scaffolding at the rear of his house in Leigh was hit by an air rifle pellet fired from the fields behind the property.  He needed five stitches in a wound to his right buttock.  Police reported that there had been other incidents of this nature in the area.

icBirmingham, 2 September 2005

A masked man, accompanied my two accomplices, walked into a supermarket in Solihull brandishing what appeared to be a handgun.  A security guard was forced to hand over cash.

Hampstead & Highgate Express, 2 September 2005

A gunman tried to rob three orthodox Jews in separate incidents in Golders Green.  He fled empty handed because his victims were not carrying cash on the Sabbath.

Evening News (Norwich), 2 September 2005

Armed police surrounded a car in Norwich city centre after reports the driver was carrying a gun.  A man was arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm, although no firearm was found.

Evening News (Norwich), 2 September 2005

William Clarke admitted firing a ball bearing gun at a bus driver who had stopped to pick up passengers in Poringland.  Clarke, who was part of a gang of about 20 youths, told police he had been drunk at the time.  The driver was hit on the neck.  Clarke has been told by magistrates that he could go to jail.

BBC, 1 September 2005

A man was killed and another seriously injured when they were shot during a fracas involving as many as 40 people on a Birmingham street.  A man has been jailed for 11 years after admitting manslaughter (see May 2006 incidents).

Evening News (Norwich), 31 August 2005

Armed police were called out to Norwich city centre after a teenager was seen firing a gun from a car window.  The weapon, a BB gun, was later recovered from a garden and two 17-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear.

Telegraph, 29 August 2005 *

A woman holding a baby was shot dead at a christening party in Peckham that was raided by a gang of armed robbers.  Three hooded men armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a pistol burst in and began stealing bags and mobile telephones.  The victim stood up to the robbers and was shot immediately.  Four teenagers have been convicted of killing the victim (see December 2006 Incidents).

Eastern Daily Press, 29 August 2005

A man was robbed of his mobile phone at gunpoint in Norwich.  He was walking home with friends when two men jumped out of a car and threatened him with a handgun and stole the phone.  Another mugging and robbery two days later may be linked (Evening News (Norwich), 30 August 2005).  A later report suggested that the gun was an imitation firearm (Evening News (Norwich), 31 August 2005)

Times, 27 August 2005

Three men, Roger Vincent, David Smith and Julian Elfes, were jailed for the murder of a gangster in Hoddesdon in October 2003 (see Incidents).  The gang was believed to be an underworld hit squad.  Vincent and Smith were sentences to a minimum of 30 years and 25 years, respectively, and Elfes for 5 years (Guardian, 24 August 2005).  The article describes how the murder weapon, an AK47 rifle made for special forces in Hungary, had been sold by the Hungarian prison service to a company run by a Belgium arms dealer who sold weapons legally and illegally all over the world and was jailed in Belgium for two years for illegal arms trafficking.

Mirror, 26 August 2005

A teenager was captured on camera waving a gun at shoppers in Knutsford watched by a gang of his friends.  The weapon was a BB gun.

icSouth London, 26 August 2005

A petrol station cashier was hit in the face with a handgun as a gunman demanded money in an attack in Croydon.  The gunman grabbed cash from the till and ran away.

icSouth London, 26 August 2005

Robert Cassan held a pistol to a young mother's eye and threatened to execute her after he and another man had kicked down her front door in Manor Park.  He was found guilty of three counts of false imprisonment and also convicted of possession of an imitation gun with intent to cause fear of violence and aggravated burglary.  He was jailed for 10 years.

BBC, 26 August 2005

A shooting spree with a soft airgun caused damage to more than 20 cars in Somerton, Martock, Long Sutton and Yeovil.  Shop windows in Castle Cary may also have been targeted police have said.  They were searching for two men seen driving a car in the area.

BBC, 21 August 2005 *

A man is in a critical condition after being shot outside a police station in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

North West Evening Mail, 20 August 2005

A 12-year-old boy was shot and suffered bruising to his arm after a youth fired at him with a BB gun in Millom Park.  A group of three youths had been firing pellets in the park.  Yet again police had to warn youths about the dangers of playing with BB guns.

Express & Star, 20 August 2005

Armed police were forced to fire rubber bullets at a man brandishing a gun in a patients' waiting area at Cannock Chase Hospital.  The armed man had been shouting at medical staff.  The man was disarmed and the weapon was found to be an air pistol.  The man was arrested.

BBC, 20 August 2005

A man was arrested and a firearm seized when police entered a house in Dunster, Somerset, after residents said they had heard gunshots.  The arrest followed a four hour stand-off.

This is Local London, 18 August 2005

Zartash Khan, 20, was jailed for 22 years for the attempted murder of a policeman who was shot in the legs three times in Bromley in December 2004 (see Incidents).  Khan is believed to have been a member of a criminal gang known as the Muslim Boys.  Khan lost an appeal to overturn his conviction (Bromley Times, 4 October 2006).

Scarborough Today, 15 August 2005

Two young boys, aged 11 and 9, were shot in a BB gun attack as they played outside a house in Scarborough.  Both were hit by pellets, one in the leg and the other in the neck.  The boys' mother said the shots were the latest attack to oust the family from their home.

This is Local London, 13 August 2005

Malcolm Parker, a convicted killer, raided betting shops across Elmbridge and south London during the three years after his release from jail where he had served a sentence for manslaughter.  In each raid he had brandished an imitation firearm, forcing cashiers to hand over cash.  He was finally caught after a raid in Oxford.  He was sentenced to eight terms of life imprisonment after pleading guilty to eight offences of robbery and seven charges of possession of a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.

Peterborough Today, 13 August 2005

An elderly charity shop volunteer defied a man who held a gun to her head and demanded she open the till.  The man, who was armed with a handgun, burst into the shop in Millfield, Peterborough.  The man fled empty handed.

Daily Mail, 13 August 2005 *

Eleven men were arrested after a director of  Queens Park Rangers football club had a gun held to his head near the boardroom as the team prepared to play at their West London ground.  Five men allegedly kicked him and beat him and tried to force him to resign from the board.  Another director has been charged with blackmail and firearms offences (Scotsman, 15 August 2005).  Seven men were acquitted or cleared of all charges in June 2006 (Times, 28 June 2006).

Eastern Daily Press, 12 August 2005

A 14-year-old has been given an indefinite anti-social behaviour order after his terrorising behaviour led people living on a Norwich estate to demand action.  Daniel Whiting had been causing misery on the estate for almost four years.  He had been seen with a black ball-bearing gun.

Wandsworth Guardian, 11 August 2005

Ashley Palmer, who pistol-whipped a father in the face in front of his wife and children, has been jailed for three years.  Palmer and two other men kicked open the door of the victim's home in Southfields in May 2004.  One of the gang hit the victim with the gun and Palmer shoved the weapon into his face and demanded money.  He managed to wrestle the gun away and later gave it to the police who found Palmer's DNA on the trigger.  The gun was a blank-firing Magnum handgun, descried as being identical to the real weapon.

Life Style Extra, 11 August 2005

One man was shot dead and two people, a man and a woman, were injured following a row in a pub in Ilford.   All three were apparently at the pub together when they became involved in an altercation with others, which resulted in shots being fired.  The injured man and woman left the pub before police arrived in a bid to get away from the incident.

Peterborough Today, 10 August 2005

Armed police surrounded a flat in Stanground when a gun was found by council workers.  Officers discovered it was an air rifle, but also came across suspected stolen goods.

Muswell Hill Journal, 10 August 2005

An armed robber put a gun to the head of a bank employee during a raid in Muswell Hill.  He entered the bank as staff arrived.  No shots were fired.  The man made off with a quantity of cash.

icBirmingham, 10 August 2005

Oral Lattibeaudire and Kevin Jones have been jailed after carrying out a violent kidnap at gunpoint in south London.  They gagged, beat and pistol-whipped their victim after snatching him from a street in Brixton in October 2004 (see Incidents).  Lattibeaudire was shot in the stomach by police when they secured the victim's release from a flat in Norwood.  The men were sentenced to 20 years and 17 years in jail, respectively.

icSurrey, 10 August 2005

A cab driver feared for his life when raiders held a gun to his head and stole his taxi.  A man, whom he had picked up from Langley Green, pulled a gun out and said "We need your car".  Two other men got into the car.  The vehicle was returned after half an hour.

Cambridge Evening News, 10 August 2005

Police have warned airgun owners that they will face prosecution for irresponsible use of their weapons after reports of a gun being fired from the grounds of one house in Comberton into another's.

Liverpool Echo, 9 August 2005

A sawn-off shotgun, pistol and ammunition were seized by police during raids on three homes in Croxteth and Norris Green.  Other weapons and drugs were also found.

National Newspapers, 7 August 2005

Two sisters and a man were found shot dead in a flat in Stonebridge, north London.  They had been tied up.  A nine-month-old baby was left unharmed.  Two men received long jail sentences (minimum of 40 years and 20 years) after being found guilty of murder (see August 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 6 August 2005

Four gunmen opened fire at a driver who was fleeing a crash when his car smashed into railings in Walworth.  The gang had chased the car before the vehicles collided.

Mirror, 5 August 2005

Mohammed Khan kept a double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun under his bed at University College Northampton's halls of residence.  Police also uncovered a pistol during a search of the room.  He admitted possessing a firearm was jailed for five years.

BBC, 5 August 2005

A couple were shot with a stun gun when they were confronted at their home in Manchester.  The woman was kidnapped and thrown in the boot of a car in what the police describe as a 'targeted' attack.  The woman managed to get out of the boot after the car was left in Whalley Range.

This is Worcestershire, 3 August 2005 *

Robbers brandishing a machete and a handgun attacked a member of staff at a restaurant in Bordesley before making off with a substantial amount of cash.

Shropshire Star, 3 August 2005

Police were called to a row in a Ludlow housing estate after reports that a woman was shot with an air rifle and a car was attacked with baseball bats.  A couple had complained that they had been targeted by neighbours.

Manchester Online, 3 August 2005

A young shop assistant has described how terrified she was after being locked, along with another member of staff, in a toilet after she fled from a robber who burst into the off licence in Tytherington Shopping Centre armed with a handgun.  She had to wait fifty minutes for help after making three 999 calls.

icLiverpool, 3 August 2005

A ten-year-old boy who terrorised residents near his Kirkdale home for 18 months has been given an anti-social behaviour order.  Among the problems he has caused has been firing ball-bearing guns.

BBC, 4 August 2005 *

A woman found dead in a house in Walton, Liverpool, had been shot before the house was deliberately set alight.  Police believe she was shot in the front room.  A man and a 2-year-old girl managed to escape from the house.  Two teenagers have been arrested (BBC, 21 September 2005).  Police have made a fresh appeal for information and are still looking for a man to whom they wish to speak about this and another fatal shooting in Dingle in June 2004 (BBC, 3 August 2010).

Hartlepool Today, 3 August 2005

Shaun Murray, 19, from Hartlepool shot his girlfriend's 12-year-old sister from close range with a ball-bearing gun.  He shot her in the leg in front of his girlfriend.  He was sentenced to three weeks imprisonment.

BBC, 1 August 2005 *

An 18-year-old was charged with murder following a shooting outside a nightclub in Digbeth, Birmingham, on 23 July 2005.  The victim was shot in the head.  Another man has been charged with possession of a firearm for an unrelated incident.  A 14-year-old boy was later arrested in connection with the shooting (BBC, 4 August 2005).

BBC, 1 August 2005 *

A security guard and a customer were shot in an attempted armed robbery on a bank in Great Barr, Birmingham.  Neither injury was believed to be life-threatening.  Four or five shots are thought to have been fired during the raid which involved three or four men.  One of the robbers has been jailed for life for murdering a man in central Birmingham in February 2004 (see November 2007 Incidents).

Life Style Extra, 29 July 2005

Dwayne Eversley fired a .38 bullet through his own thigh when he pulled a gun on a doorman outside a club on the Isle of Dogs in October 2004.  The doorman was also shot in the leg.  Eversley was arrested after his cousin took him to hospital.  He was jailed for 12 years for wounding with intent and firearms charges.

Eastern Daily Press, 28 July 2005

A motorist careered across the A10 at Downham after youths shot an air rifle at his car window.  He said the perpetrators were as young as 14.

BBC, 28 July 2005

A man was arrested in Camborne after allegedly threatening a neighbour with a BB gun.

Express and Star, 25 July 2005

Young snipers are firing air rifles at Puxton Marsh in Kidderminster. The shots are aimed towards houses.  In one attack a car windscreen was hit.

icCroydon, 22 July 2005

A model collector jailed after buying a replica handgun on the internet has had his sentence reduced by an appeal court.  The gun had been discovered during a raid on his house in Thornton Heath in November 2004 after a tip off.  Zakir Rehman had been sentenced after pleading guilty to owning an illegal weapon.

Cheshunt and Waltham Mercury, 22 July 2005

The body of a heavily tattooed man was found shot in the head at High Beach in Epping Forest.

National Newspapers, 22 July 2005 onwards *

 In an anti-terrorist operation plain clothes police shot dead a Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, just after he had boarded a train at Stockwell underground station.  It was subsequently admitted that the victim had no connection with terrorist activities and was unarmed.  The incident is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).  The inquest jury into his death returned an open verdict (see December 2008 Incidents).

Observer News, 21 July 2005

An 11-year-old girl has been left terrified after being shot with an air rifle on a secondary school induction day in Bishop's Stortford.  She was hit in the back by a pellet fired from a property which abuts the school's playing field as she played rounders.  A 15-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy were arrested.

icBrimingham, 21 July 2005

The town of Upton-upon-Severn was brought to a standstill when a man was involved in a stand off with armed police for six hours.  He had barricaded himself into a pub with a shotgun.  A man pleaded guilty to various charges in September 2005 (see Incidents).

BBC, 21 July 2005

Two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a gun was fired in a house in Solihull.  A group of up to four men entered the house and threatened the occupier before firing a handgun.

Welwyn & Hatfield Times, 20 July 2005

A shop assistant was forced to hand over cash at gunpoint in a hold-up at a supermarket in Hertford.  The robber had produced a handgun and threatened her.

icSouth London, 20 July 2005

A teenager was recovering in hospital after being shot at his home in Addiscombe.

This is Local London, 19 July 2005

Mark Williams was sentenced to nine years in prison after being charged with seven armed robberies in the Ealing area.  Alexander Woods was sentenced to six years for armed robberies in Northolt and Isleworth.  Both were convicted of robbery and of possession of a firearm with intent.

Telegraph, 19 July 2005

An 11-year-old boy was held by the police for 3 hours after brandishing an imitation gun in the playground of a school in Sheerness.  A police spokeswoman said that the boy was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm in a public place and that "the officers acted appropriately and  in the public's interest".

Journal (Newcastle), 19 July 2005 *

A man was shot dead by police in Stocksfield.  He had barricaded himself in his house after his estranged wife was injured in a street attack, and according to police appeared to be carrying a gun.  The Independent Police Complaints Commission is carrying out an inquiry into the death.  No criminal charges are to result.  An initial investigation revealed that the victim, John Scott, had a homemade gun and shotgun ammunition was found in his house (BBC, 12 December 2005).  An inquest is being held into his death (BBC, 10 December 2007).

BC, 19 July 2005

Gavin Long admitted firing an air rifle at a group of eight teenagers from a first-floor flat in Lincoln in August 2004 but denied possessing an air rifle with intent to endanger life.  One girl was hit in the back by a pellet.  However, the case collapsed because Long had not been properly cautioned by police.  He was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months after it was revealed that he had also admitted to firing the gun from a window on an earlier occasion.  The father of the victim has criticised the police and intends to raise his concerns with the Crown Prosecution Service.

Wimbledon Guardian, 15 July 2005

William Sharman and Jamie Brennan appeared in court after they were spotted playing with a BB gun by an off-duty police officer in Colliers Wood.  One of them fired the gun out of a car window all the way from North Cheam to Wimbledon.  Both pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm and were fined.

Louth Today, 15 July 2005

The body of a man who had died from gunshot wounds was found by police at a house in Willoughby, near Alford.  Another man found at the scene had suffered serious, but not life-threatening injuries: he was not under arrest and the police were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. 

Mirror, 12 July 2005

Terrence Zelkin of Stepney was jailed for two years for chasing a gang of youths with a shotgun and knife.

Express & Star, 12 July 2005

Armed police sealed off a street in Cannock town centre following reports of a man brandishing a gun.  Four people gave themselves up and were being interviewed in connection with a firearms matter.  A weapon, believed to be a ball bearing gun, had been recovered.

BBC, 10 July 2005

West Midlands Police have arrested 21 people, fifteen men and six women aged between 13 and 35, in connection with gun crime offences.  The raids took place in Rowley Regis, Smethwick.

icSouth London, 8 July 2005 *

Charles Adeleye, Thomas Adenuga and Olanrewaju Olatokum were jailed for 9 years, life and 7 years, respectively, after terrorising six victims in two days in August 2004 in attacks involving a replica gun.  The first incident was a robbery in New Cross and they then cornered a teenager in Lewisham Hill and demanded he give them his moped.  The blank-firing gun was fired in the air when the victim refused.  Another man was beaten up and robbed in Woolwich and the gun was then aimed at a woman's face in Sidcup.  They were caught on CCTV when the robbed a jeweller's in Farnham and arrested the next day.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 8 July 2005

Two men and a woman were given a stern warning after armed police swooped after they were spotted in Marsh with a gun.  They were found to have a 9 mm blank firing pistol in their possession.

Eastern Daily Press, 8 July 2005

Duncan Smith threatened a prostitute, whom he'd picked up in Norwich, with a toy gun before raping her.  Smith was arrested the following day and police recovered the imitation gun.  He was jailed for eight years.

Epping Forest Guardian, 7 July 2005

A masked gunman stole hundreds of pounds from a supermarket in North Weald.  The man grabbed a female member of staff, took her inside and locked the door behind him.  He forced her to open the safe while pointing a small black handgun at her head.  The incident was captured on CCTV.

BBC, 7 July 2005 *

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.  The arrests relate to the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy at a petrol station Bradford in September 2001.

BBC, 7 July 2005 *

A man has been cautioned by police for carrying an offensive weapon after he was found with a replica firearm and a quantity of pellets in a nightclub in Redruth, Cornwall.

BBC, 7 July 2005

A man was shot in the leg when he disturbed burglars who broke into his home in Basford, Nottingham, and stole his car.

Camden Gazette, 6 July 2005

Armed police in Camden were called twice in two days to incidents involving schoolchildren carrying imitation guns.  In the more serious incident police drew their guns on two teenagers robbing a man at gunpoint in Camden Town and recovered a BB gun and stolen goods.

News & Star, 4 July 2005

A man was arrested after a gun siege in Currock, Carlisle, during which a shot was fired.  The shot was not directed at anyone.  Police had been called out after reports of a man in the street in possession of a shotgun and discovered him in a house with a woman believed to be his wife.

Scarborough Today, 1 July 2005

A man demanded money from a cashier in a Whitby bank and pointed what appeared to be a handgun in a bag.  Armed police later stopped a man in Scarborough but the suspect had been wrongly identified.

icCoventry, 1 July 2005

A car stolen at gunpoint in Bilton, Rugby, is believed to have been the getaway vehicle in an armed robbery in Coventry a day later.  The armed robbers held up a security van outside a building society in Cheylesmore and threatened one of the guards with a handgun.

Hampstead and Highgate Express, 1 July 2005

A teenager was shot in the leg at a rap concert in Kentish Town.  Despite this and other incidents Camden's Borough Commander said that there is not a major firearms problem in the area, but that any increase is treated seriously.

Evening Mail (Birmingham), 1 July 2005*

A man and woman were hurt in a drive-by shooting as they stood outside a nightclub in Wolverhampton.  Both received gunshot wounds to their legs and both were taken to hospital.  Two brothers have since been jailed (see March 2006 Incidents).

Cambridge Express, 1 July 2005

Grant Bidwell who warned his wife he would shoot her, then himself if she went through with a divorce has been jailed for three years.  He had terrified his wife and children in their Soham home with what is believed to have been a sawn-off shotgun and was convicted of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Streatham Guardian, 30 June 2005

Two men who stormed a roofing business in Streatham demanding cash left a victim for dead after shooting him in the stomach.  The men left empty handed but the victim is in hospital in a serious condition.

icSurrey, 30 June 2005

A CCTV operator spotted a group of teenagers in Woodhatch with what appeared to be a gun.  Armed police officers were quickly on the scene and a ball-bearing gun was seized from a 14-year-old boy.

Huntingdon Today, 30 June 2005

The rear near-side window of a car was smashed by an air rifle pellet in an incident on the A141 at Hartford.  In an earlier incident the window of another car was cracked near the Hartford roundabout.  The driver stopped and saw two youths, aged between 13 and 15.  Police say there may be a possible link to another attack on a car in Huntingdon in February 2005.

BBC, 30 June 2005

Sussex Police have recovered guns after a double shooting at a travellers' site in Robertsbridge.  One man was shot in the arm and the other in the neck.  One victim underwent surgery and was in a hospital under armed guard.  Two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

BBC, 30 June 2005

A woman bystander was shot in the back of the leg outside a jewellery shop in Manchester.  It is thought that the gunman accidentally dropped the gun and a shot went off.  It has been suggested that the gunman was having difficulty walking because he was wearing sandals and that was the reason for the weapon being discharged (PA News, 30 June 2005).

BBC, 30 June 2005

Police raids at a travellers' site in Cuxton, near Strood, led to guns, cash and drugs being seized.  A total of 32 guns, including two machine-gun type weapons, were recovered.  Eighteen people were arrested and released on bail pending inquiries.

Shropshire Star, 29 June 2005

Two men were threatened with a handgun by a driver in a supermarket car park in Oswestry.  The incident appeared to follow an earlier road rage incident.  Police said they went to an address where they found a BB gun, and a man was arrested.

Islington Gazette, 29 June 2005

A 476 bus travelling past the New River Green Estate, Islington, came under attack from an air rifle sniper.  A window on the upper deck was shattered.

Evening News (Norwich), 29 June 2005

Richard Squires, a physically and mentally disabled man, has been made homeless by Norwich City Council after being convicted for possessing a firearm.  Families living near him have said he had been a nightmare neighbour.  He had been sentenced to six weeks in jail for causing alarm in the city centre by waving an imitation firearm.

Cambridge Evening News, 29 June 2005

Samuel Heatlie has been remanded in custody after being accused of holding his landlord captive whilst armed with a plastic pellet gun.  The incident occurred in Cambridge.

BBC, 29 June 2005

A dog owner was forced to hand over his pet to a man armed with a handgun in Ealing, west London.  The dog was reunited with its owner after it was spotted in a nearby street days later.

PA News, 28 June 2005 *

Two brothers who delayed taking their seriously ill nephew to hospital after he was shot in the head during a "lamping" expedition near Castleford were jailed for 15 and 12 months.  John Norton and Stephen Norton made a series of "disastrous decisions" to try to cover up the shooting.  The victim, now 13, has been left permanently brain damaged with the pellet from a gas-powered air rifle still lodged in his brain.  The victim's father Gary Norton has been given a suspended prison sentence for lying to the police (BBC, 4 July 2005).  Lee Beauchamp, the family friend who accidentally fired the rifle, was given a 12-month conditional discharge for trespassing with an air weapon (Yorkshire Post, 9 July 2005).   (See September 2004 Incidents).

icCoventry, 28 June 2005

One window is being broken at a Coventry church about every month, sometimes by airgun pellets being fired through glass.

BBC, 28 June 2005

A man carrying a handgun stole £4000 from a betting shop in Warwick.  The manager was alone inside when the robbery took place.

BBC, 28 June 2005

Two gun crimes on the same day in Caterham-on-the-Hill were probably not linked according to police.  In the first a silver handgun was pointed at the victim by a man who asked him for a cigarette.  In the second three men threatened five teenagers with a black handgun and stole their mobile phones.

Peterborough Today, 27 June 2005

Police swooped on a house in Paston following calls about a disturbance and reports that a man had a gun.  After a stand-off for several hours the door was opened and police found a shotgun downstairs and then questioned a man on suspicion of firearms offences.

BBC, 27 June 2005

A taxi driver and his two passengers were robbed at gunpoint in the Willenhall area of Coventry.  A man brandishing two handguns approached the taxi and stole a quantity of cash before escaping on foot.

BBC, 27 June 2005

A man has died three days after being shot from a passing car as he stood outside a property in Crayford, south east London.

BBC, 27 June 2005

A man was abducted by two robbers in Stockport town centre when threatened with a handgun and chopping knife.  He managed to escape by jumping from his car on the M6 motorway.  The victim is in hospital with a broken shoulder.

PA News, 26 June 2005

Armed robbers attacked staff at a dog racing stadium in Harlow making off with a five figure sum.  One man suffered a head injury after being hit with a shotgun.

This is Local London, 26 June 2005

Sabu Singh Suwali from Colnbrook was jailed for ten years for conspiring to smuggle illegal immigrants into the country and having a small arsenal at his home.  He had earlier been found guilty of possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

BBC, 26 June 2005

A man was shot in the leg outside a nightclub at the Elephant & Castle, south London, after a group of 10 youths had been refused entry.  Police think the group fired more shots later.

BBC, 25 June 2005

Robbers armed with handguns broke into a home in South Woodham Ferrers, tied up a couple and then escaped with a large amount of money.  One of the victims was struck in the face.

BBC, 25 June 2005

A man was found in a crashed car in New Cross Road, south-east London, with a gunshot wound.

Peterborough Today, 24 June 2005

A Peterborough councillor was instrumental in securing £13000 funds to put CCTV on buses after she and fellow passengers were terrified when an air rifle was fired at the bus in which they were travelling through Orton Goldhay.

Bromsgrove Standard, 23 June 2005

The Chair of Stoke Parish Council has spoken of her fears about residents' safety after reports of a 12-year-old girl being shot with a pellet gun.  Two teenagers dressed in camouflage were seen in a nearby field.

BBC, 23 June 2005

A full scale police firearms response unit was deployed after five youngsters were reported to have weapons in Loughborough.  The youths were found to have BB guns.

Reading Evening Post, 22 June 2005

Police have issued an appeal to the public to look out for a grey Honda Civic (OE54 JPU) which was used by an armed gang who raided supermarkets in Wokingham and Earley.  Police officers were later threatened with a shotgun in Bray.

Islington Gazette, 22 June 2005

A gunman robbed a bookmakers in Islington as staff were preparing to close.  He ran off with £850.  A £10,000 reward has been offered for information.

PA News, 22 June 2005

Richard Bottley, who was jailed for six months for waving his son's toy gun at two youths in Oxford, had his sentence reduced to three months on appeal.  He had pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence in April.

Evening Standard, 21 June 2005

Daniel Turvey, who killed a student with a single shot to the head in Earls Court, was jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years for murder and attempted murder.  Police believe that he may have killed his victim on the orders of two drug dealers, but as the victim had no known criminal links it may have been a random killing.  Turvey had also chased and shot the dead man's friend in the thigh and buttock.  See April 2004 Incidents.

Evening Standard, 21 June 2005

In the article on Daniel Turvey (see above) a second conviction for a fatal shooting was reported.  Neil Jones was jailed for life after he shot his victim dead with a converted imitation gun in Chelsea.

BBC, 21 June 2005

Spent gun cartridges were found in a street in Highfields, Leicester, after shot were heard in the area.  Two cars were seen in the area at the time of the incident and one was later found abandoned.  Three people have been arrested (BBC, 30 June 2005).

BBC, 20 June 2005 *

A man has died following a triple shooting in Stonebridge Park, north west London.  The 19-year-old was found lying with a bullet wound in the chest.  Two other teenagers received gunshot wounds to the legs which are not thought to be life threatening.

BBC, 20 June 2005

A teenager was shot in the face with a pellet gun whilst waiting at a bus stop in Solihull.  The pellet went through the side of his face and he was being treated in hospital.  The gun was fired by one of two men who got out of a car and approached the boy.

Sun, 18 June 2005

Michael Carroll was charged with smashing the windows of cars with a ball-bearing gun.  Last year he had been arrested and questioned in connection with the discovery of firearms and ammunition at a house in Downham Market (see April 2004 Incidents).

Richmond & Twickenham Times, 17 June 2005

Farid Taran was found guilty of raping a girl he picked up at a bus stop in Kingston.  He used a black plastic toy gun to terrorise the girl after refusing to let her get out of the car.  The victim told police that throughout she was worried about being shot.

Leigh Today, 17 June 2005

A schoolgirl needed surgery to remove an airgun pellet from her skull after the 12-year-old was hit in the back of the head whilst with friends on wasteland in Leigh.

Hounslow Guardian, 17 June 2005

A man was shot at and then hit about the head with a baton in an Isleworth street.  The victim had been walking with his girlfriend when he saw another man staring at him.  The man pulled out a ball-bearing gun and shot at his victim four times but failed to hit him. He them attacked him with a baton.

Hampstead & Highgate Gazette, 17 June 2005

A man brandishing a revolver burst into a sandwich bar in Camden Town and ordered staff to hand over cash.

Bury St Edmonds Today, 17 June 2005

Shotgun rounds were fired at a small group of revellers at a wedding reception in Timworth.  Young children were asleep in the house where it was being held. The police confirmed that up to 15 shotgun shells were fired: it is thought that the gunman may have been angry at the party's music.

BBC, 17 June 2005

A man was abducted for seven hours by three armed robbers who stole his jewellery and two Rolex watches.  He was bundled into the back of his own van in Neasden and threatened with a gun and knife.

BBC, 17 June 2005

Sheila Eccleston, a supporter of Manchester's Mothers Against Violence, contacted the police to say she had a pump-action shotgun that had been given in by a gang member.  She had apparently kept the gun at her home in Longsight for six months waiting for a police guns amnesty.  She had asked the police to collect the gun after reporting an attempted burglary at a friend's home.  She was arrested by armed officers on suspicion of possessing a firearm and has been bailed.

Weekly News (Cheshire), 16 June 2005

A gun enthusiast from Runcorn killed himself with a high-powered rifle, an inquest has been told.  He had kept weapons at his home for many years and had threatened to commit suicide using his gun collection a number of times.  On a previous occasion his wife had been forced to disarm him by grabbing a loaded handgun which he had been waving around in a rage.  His wife described how the man's mood swings became too much to deal with.

Shropshire Star, 16 June 2005

A man is on trial accused of using an imitation gun to threaten workers as he allegedly robbed Post Office branches in Horsehay and Admaston.  He denied all charges.  Paulo Antonio was convicted of carrying out the armed raids and could now face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment (Shropshire Star, 27 June 2005).

Mirror, 16 June 2005

Robert Smith was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act following a series of incidents after he had stolen a gun from a friend's flat.  He  broke into a house and kidnapped three people, forcing them to drive at gunpoint and using their credit cards, and had held a toddler and father hostage in Trowbridge during what the report describes as an 18-hour shootout with police.

Milton Keynes Today, 16 June 2005

A drunken man fired an imitation gun in the car park of a pub in Fenny Stratford.  A police armed response team went to his house in Bletchley where he was arrested.  The gun was never found.  Troy Curran was given a four month prison sentence, suspended for one year.

icSurrey, 15 June 2005

Lee Darcy, who had been sentenced to two-and-a-half years for possessing a firearm without a certificate (a shotgun he found in a bin liner in his shed in Three Bridges), a prohibited weapon (a CS canister) and cocaine, failed in his attempt to get his jail term reduced.

icSouth London, 15 June 2005

A mother and her teenage children were violently robbed at gunpoint in their home in Purley.  Three men forced their way into the house and demanded cash.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 15 June 2005

Police were called to an estate in Bradley Mills after a man who lives there opened the door and was threatened with a silver handgun.  There was a scuffle and then the gun went off.  Two masked men escaped.  Police said there was no sign of a bullet: "It may be the handgun was a blank firing weapon."

Evening Star, 15 June 2005

An 18-year-old man arrested in one of a series of police raids in Ipswich has been charged with drug offences and is accused of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence and theft.

Blackpool Today, 14 June 2005

Two teenagers were spotted travelling on a bus waving a BB gun.  The police were called after the driver alerted his depot and the bus was intercepted in Lytham.  The teenagers were arrested for possession of an imitation firearm in a public place.

BBC, 14 June 2005

A man threatened a garage worker with a gun when his credit card payment was refused at a filling station near Bicester.  Up to three men returned with the gunman and stole items including cash, cigarettes, food and drink.

PA News, 13 June 2005

Another firefighter has been shot with an air rifle after answering a call for help.  He and another man were hit outside a pizza store in Borehamwood.  The firefighter was shot in the head.

BBC, 12 June 2005

A gunman riding a scooter shot another man in the leg outside a fish and chip shop in Archway, north London.  It is understood that a handgun was used.  The victim's condition in hospital was described as stable.

Peterborough Today, 11 June 2005

When Shyquri Hasaj returned to a Peterborough nightclub after he was refused entry he was brandishing a ball-bearing gun which he pointed at door staff.  He pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and driving with excess alcohol.  He will be sentenced later.

Life Style Extra, 11 June 2005

Seven gunpoint robberies have occurred in One Tree Hill Park in Wembley during two months.  Police believe that an imitation gun is being used.

Telegraph, 10 June 2005

A boy was allegedly threatened with arrest by armed police officers for using a cap gun in a street in Salisbury.  A neighbour mistook his replica flintlock, bought at a car boot sale, for a real weapon.  The boy's father complained "I know we have to be concerned these days about guns but I would have thought it was obvious the boys were just playing".  The article described the incident as "the latest example of police nervousness over replica weapons".  Another incident is reported in which a North Yorkshire Police armed response team was summoned after a man was seen taking a replica flintlock from his car.  The man, who is a member of Whitby International Pirate Society, said he understood the police point of view.

News & Star, 10 June 2005

Ten RSPCA inspectors on duty throughout the week-long Appleby horse fair were reportedly shot at by youngsters with BB guns.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 10 June 2005

A new Jaguar car parked outside a house in Grove Hill was shot at with an air weapon.  The car door was dented and the windscreen cracked.  The owner was concerned that the police had done nothing to catch the culprits. "A gun is a gun no matter what.... It frightens me that these weapons are so readily available."

Burnley Today, 10 June 2005

The police seized ball-bearing guns from two 10-year-old boys in a shopping centre in Burnley.  One of the guns had a red light on it to help the shooter aim the gun.  In another incident in Burnley a youth was arrested after walking into a post office carrying a ball-bearing gun.  An armed response team were called.

Sheffield Today, 9 June 2005

A gun-toting youth terrified a 13-year-old and threatened to shoot him near his grandmother's Sheffield home.  The victim thought the gun was real but the police believed it was a BB gun or an air rifle and did not deploy an armed response unit.  A youth has been arrested and questioned.

PA News, 9 June 2005

Leighton Bennett was jailed for 11 years after admitting attempted murder.  Bennett shot a man at point blank range outside a nightclub in Chapeltown, Leeds.  The shooting, which the victim was lucky to survive after a .38 calibre bullet hit him in the neck and passed through his jugular vein, was captured on CCTV.  (See January 2005 Incidents)

Leeds Today, 8 June 2005

A teenage girl was shot in the leg at close range with a high powered air rifle whilst the perpetrators friend photographed her injuries using his mobile phone in a so-called 'happy slap' attack in Wortley.  The victim was kept in hospital for two days.  The men were both described as being in their late teens.

Border News, 8 June 2005

An investigation is underway after a pupil at a Carlisle school was shot in the head with a replica gun.  Two boys who had the gun have been permanently excluded.

BBC, 8 June 2005

A workman was shot in the face with an airgun whilst he was working at West Rainton, near Durham.  The man declined medical treatment but was left shaken.  Police are trying to track youths thought to be responsible.

BBC, 8 June 2005

Three men have been charged with the murder of a man in Hyson Green, Nottingham, in March.  The victim was shot outside a pub.

Manchester Evening News, 7 June 2005

A woman was being treated for gunshot wounds after being shot in the stomach in her home in Fallowfield.  The police said they were keeping an open mind about the incident.

Evening Post (Nottingham), 7 June 2005

A man was shot in the leg at the Marcus Garvey Centre in Nottingham.  He is recovering in hospital.

BBC, 7 June 2005 *

A unique shotgun was stolen from a home in Priorslee, Telford.  The gun had been modified with its stock extended to 17 inches, probably the longest in the UK.  In October 2005 a man was jailed for stealing a shotgun from a Telford house (Shropshire Star, 28 October 2005).

BBC, 7 June 2005

A Blackpool bus driver was saved from serious injury by his spectacles when he was shot in the face by a ball bearing fired from a BB gun by a youth after a dispute over a fare.  The youth was one of three, aged between 12 and 14.

Sun, 6 June 2005

A reporter from the newspaper was threatened with a gun and a shot was fired whilst he was exposing a plot by two men from Kettering to sell the forthcoming Harry Potter book.  Aaron Lambert was charged with theft and possessing an imitation gun intending to cause fear of violence.  Another man has been charged with possessing an offensive weapon and with handling a stolen book.  Lambert has been remanded in custody after admitting theft and possessing an imitation Walther PPK pistol (Press Association, 10 October 2005).

Camden Gazette, 6 June 2005

Carlos Santos threatened to shoot a 12-year-old girl in the face after he had beaten his lover and dragged her into the streets of Kentish Town.  The gun turned out to be a replica, but the girl has had trouble sleeping since the incident.  Santos was jailed for three years.  PC Ashley Walker who tackled the gunman as he pointed the pistol at another police officer, has been praised for his bravery (Hampstead and Highgate Express, 10 June 2005).

Sunderland Today, 4 June 2005

An adapted ball-bearing gun caused shoppers in Sunderland to flee in terror because they thought they were coming under fire when they spotted a red laser sight dot being aimed at them.  Police arrested and cautioned a man and are now working with trading standards investigators to get the imitation handguns pulled from the shelves.

Greater Manchester Police, 4 June 2005

Detectives are investigating the discovery of a loaded firearm in a garden in Royal Oak.

Blackpool Today, 4 June 2005

Four armed police officers tackled a teenager seen with a firearm inside a Blackpool takeaway.  The weapon was a replica ball-bearing gun.  The 16-year-old was arrested for possession of an imitation firearm in a public place and the weapon has been confiscated and destroyed.

South Manchester Reporter, 3 June 2005

A shot from a ball-bearing gun was fired through the window of a restaurant in West Didsbury, damaging a picture of Elvis Presley.

South London Press, 3 June 2005

In one of two shootings in Brixton, not linked by police, a man was cornered by four men, one of whom pulled a handgun and shot him in the leg.  The victim has since been discharged from hospital after treatment.  In the second attack two men armed with a gun climbed out of a car and fired shots at another car.  There were no reports of injuries.

Shropshire Star, 3 June 2005

Bobby Arnold of Brookside, Telford, has been made subject of a two-year anti-social behaviour order (Asbo).  The court heard of regular patterns of intimidation, abuse and threats and that on one occasion he was found in possession of a replica gun.

Guardian, 3 June 2005

A group of A-level students using three toy guns whilst videoing a film about gangsters for their media studies coursework in an alleyway in Barkingside were confronted by 30 armed police of  SO19, Scotland Yard's firearms unit.  The guns had been purchased at a sweet shop.

Coventry Evening Telegraph, 3 June 2005

Two armed robberies took place in the Holbrooks area of Coventry.  In the first a man armed with a gun forced a security guard to hand over money during a delivery to a building society, in the second three men carrying what was believed to have been a gun robbed an off-licence of cash and cigarettes.  The raids are not connected.  No shots were fired in either incident and police said they did not know whether real of fake guns were used.

BBC, 3 June 2005 *

A man who was shot in the leg near a pub in Wooton, near Bridgnorth, was said to be in a comfortable condition in hospital.  Police believe that a handgun was used.  A man has been jailed for five years for possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition after accidentally shooting himself in the leg (see July 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 2 June 2005

A 13-year-old boy was shot in the left calf in a street in Little Hallingbury near Bishop Stortford.  The victim was taken to hospital where his condition was described as stable.  The shot is believed to have come from an airgun.  Two men have been arrested in connection with the incident.

BBC, 2 June 2005

A 17-year-year old boy was injured after being shot with an airgun as he walked along a road with friends in Norwich.  Police believe the shot may have come from a block of flats.

Journal (Newcastle), 2 June 2005

More than 3500 homes and offices in Murton and Seaham lost their electricity after a high-voltage line was damaged by what was reported to be rifle fire.  This was the third time that damage has been caused in the area: a few days earlier insulators in the Murton area had been shot at and in April 2004 insulators were fired at near Ryhope.

This is Worcestershire, 1 June 2005 *

Police are re-appealing for information after a shooting in April 2005 in which a post office worker was shot in the neck with a handgun outside a Post Office in Lickey.  Shortly after the robbery a car was stolen from a couple at gunpoint and was later found burnt out in Bartley Green.

Mirror, 1 June 2005

A gunman broke into a filling station in Witham, Essex, and waited overnight for staff to arrive when he held the gun to one man's head while forcing his female colleague to give him cash.

Evening Post (Nottingham), 1 June 2005

Two men, one brandishing a gun, demanded cash from a member of staff in a bookmakers in Arnold.  One man got away in a car, the other on a moped.

BBC, 31 May 2005

A man was threatened with a handgun as he left a nightclub in Wellingborough.  Two men approached him before one pointed the gun at him and demanded money.  A phone, jewellery and cash were stolen.

Journal (Newcastle), 30 May 2005

A six-year-old girl was shot with a BB gun as she played on her bike outside her home in Birtley.  The perpetrator was standing only yards from the girl when he fired the weapon.  The pellet skimmed past her temple and only just missed her eye.

BBC, 29 May 2005

Three men have been arrested in Fishponds, Bristol, on suspicion of firearms offences.  Officers, who were tipped off by Wiltshire police, seized a BB handgun from the car in which they were travelling.

PA News, 28 May 2005 *

A man opened fire in the centre of Street, Somerset, at 10.30 in the evening.  Two people were shot and injured.  An hour later the gunman's body was found several miles away at Croscombe.  Another man has been held by police on suspicion of attempted murder. The police say they are examining "a complex series of events" that led up to the shootings.  The dead man has been named locally as Gary Stone who was armed with a shotgun  (PA News, 29 May 2005).  Another man has been charged in connection with the shootings and faces three charges relating to possession of a firearm, and one of assisting an offender (BBC, 15 July 2005).  East Somerset Coroner recorded a verdict of suicide after an inquest into the death of Stone.  He was said to have had a pending court case for assault weighing on his mind at the time of the shootings (BBC, 6 September 2006).

Bexhill Today, 27 May 2005

Police raided a teenager's home after two men reported they had been shot as they passed a group of youths in the street in Little Common.  Two guns, a gas-powered air pistol and another weapon were seized.  Both victims felt a stinging sensation and later found that the pellets had drawn blood.

PA News, 26 May 2005

Actors involved in the filming of the TV series The Bill were reportedly shot at during location filming in a street in Wallington, south London.  It is believed that two youths may have fired an airgun from nearby flats and fled the scene.

Islington Gazette, 26 May 2005

A teenager had to have a ball bearing removed from his backside after a teenage gang shot him in the bottom and stole his keys and £10 from his pocket.  The airgun shooting happened as the victim was walking through an alleyway in Archway.

Enfield Independent, 26 May 2005

A man was shot four times as he walked along a footpath in Enfield Town.  A gunman ran up behind him and shot him before escaping on foot.

BBC, 26 May 2005

A man armed with a black pistol, believed to have been an imitation gun, tried to rob a florist's shop in Ramsgate.   The owner refused to open the till and told the man to leave.  No money was taken.

Avon and Somerset Constabulary, 26 May 2005

An air rifle was fired at a car parked in Whitchurch, causing the rear windscreen to shatter.  Police say that two offenders, in their late teens or early 20s, made off in two separate cars.

BBC, 25 May 2005

Four teenage boys have been arrested for firearms offences after police found they were carrying BB guns in a park area in Sevenoaks.  The boys' weapons were seized by the police who found one of them was modelled on a shotgun.

Shropshire Star, 24 May 2005

Two visitors to the Blists Hill museum in Telford were shot in the legs by airgun pellets fired from a nearby woodland.  It is believed that the shots were deliberately aimed at passers-by.

BBC, 20 May 2005

A man has been arrested after a BB gun was fired at a group of teenagers, aged between 16 and 18, in Old Trafford.  A man has been arrested and questioned on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear.

Hucknall Today, 20 May 2005

An eight-year-old boy was shot twice in the head with a BB gun on a recreation ground in Hucknall.  The boy was left with a bleeding ear on one side of his head and a red mark on the other.  His hair was soaked with blood from his ear.

Biggleswade Chronicle, 20 May 2005

A police officer who stopped a van driver in Potton and asked him to give a breath test had an imitation gun pointed at her.  After he produced the replica handgun the driver jumped back in the van and sped away.   He was caught in St Neots after a pursuit across two counties.  A man is due to appear in court on a number of charges including possession of an imitation firearm with the intention of resisting arrest and possession of an offensive weapon.

Coventry Observer, 19 May 2005

Anthony McLeod was jailed for a total of seven years after facing charges of attempted murder of a man in Coventry in October 2002 and possessing a pistol and live ammunition with intent to endanger life.  He had changed his plea to guilty on the firearm charge at a pre-trial review.

BBC, 18 May 2005 *

Shots were fired through the window of a takeaway in Benchill, Manchester.  The shots were fired from two motorbikes which drove past the takeaway.  Several customers were in the shop at the time, although no-one was injured.

PA News, 17 May 2005

Two police officers were injured when a home-made firearm they had confiscated from a property in Kinson, Bournemouth, went off in their car.

icCoventry, 17 May 2005

Two teenagers threatened a worker in a Coventry bookmakers with a handgun during a raid.  The youths fled empty-handed after the panic alarm was hit.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 17 May 2005

A man was shot in the knee in Denton Burn in what is believed to have been a revenge attack.  The victim is awaiting the results of surgery to find out if he will walk again.

BBC, 17 May 2005

A masked man armed with a gun, believed to be a handgun, abandoned an attempted robbery at an off-licence in Edgeley, Greater Manchester, after he was started by an item falling from a shelf.

BBC, 17 May 2005

Two men were shot outside a pub in the Handsworth area of Birmingham.  One victim was hit in the stomach and is in a critical condition, the second was injured in the leg.  Police believe that the weapon used was a handgun.

This is Nottingham, 16 May 2005

A robber with a handgun hid overnight in a bookmakers in Sneinton  before forcing staff to open the safe at gunpoint the following morning.  He fled with about £600.

PA News, 16 May 2005

A man has been charged following the discovery of items believed to be linked to the manufacture of explosives at a house in Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire.  The police raid led to the recovery of rifles and pistols.

BBC, 16 May 2005

A security guard was shot in the leg during a robbery on a bank in Sutton Coldfield.  The gunman escaped with an accomplice by car.

Sunday Sun, 15 May 2005

Second World War firearms and weapons were stolen from a parked car in Marske.  Although all the weapons had been decommissioned there is uncertainly over whether they could be reactivated.  Among the items stolen was a sten gun.

Bedfordshire on Sunday, 15 May 2005

Staff at a Bedford travel agents were forced to hand over the contents of a safe after one of them had a gun held to her head by an armed robber.

BBC, 15 May 2005 *

A man was in a critical condition after being shot in the stomach during a night out in Manchester.  The shooting took place in Newall Green, half an hour after the victim is believed to have left a local pub.

BBC, 15 May 2005

A customer was shot in the stomach when he tried to stop two armed men robbing a pub in Bow Common Lane, east London.  The victim is critically ill.  The robbers who left empty handed had earlier attempted to steal from another pub.

Shropshire Star, 14 May 2005

Police were called to a bank in Newport after members of the public reported that a man had entered the building brandishing an air rifle.  The police said that no attempt had been made to rob the bank but that a man had been arrested on suspicion of making threats to kill.  He has since been released on bail without charge.

BBC,  14 May 2005 *

A man has been charged in connection with the death of a man who was shot dead outside his home in Bedworth, Warwickshire.  Another two men have been released on police bail.  The victim died from two gunshots to the head.

Marylebone, St John's Wood & Maida Vale Express, 13 May 2005

A high powered airgun was used to shoot a woman as she got out of a taxi in Little Venice.  A few minutes later a pedestrian was wounded by an airgun in Paddington.  The first victim had superficial wounds to her leg.  The pedestrian was shot in the back.  He was rushed to hospital where staff removed the pellet.

Shropshire Star, 13 May 2005

Two men were shot by snipers with air rifles near a school in Madeley, Telford.  A similar airgun attack is reported to have taken place the previous week.

Guardian, 13 May 2005 *

Mark Dyche, described as a gun fanatic, faces life in jail after a jury convicted him of threatening, stalking and ultimately murdering a woman after she had broken off their engagement by shooting her at point-blank range.  The shooting took place near her home in Alkmonton, Derbyshire (see April 2004 Incidents)  After ramming her car off a quiet country road he shot her in the head.  The victim had sent police a list of Dyche's threats.  According to the Derby Evening Telegraph (13 May 2005) Dyche, who held a gun licence, had previously threatened his ex-wife with a gun and a knife.  The murder weapon was a Remington 1100 automatic shotgun.  A police inquiry concluded that a flawed system was used to investigate incidents leading up to the killing.  One detective has been sacked, another officer demoted and four others reprimanded (BBC, 2 November 2006).

Chester Chronicle, 13 May 2005

Paul Newsham was jailed for four months after terrifying families at a hotel in Chester by cocking an imitation silver pistol before returning it to his waistband.  He had initially denied possessing an imitation firearm but changed his plea.  The court was told of 28 previous convictions for offences related to the possession of offensive weapons.

BBC, 13 May 2005

Two men armed with a sawn-off shotgun held up a security van delivering money to a building society in Gillingham.  No shots were fired.  The robbers made off in a car with a substantial sum of money.

This is Worcestershire, 12 May 2005 *

Police alerted to a gun incident in Great Witley found a gas-operated airgun in the boot of a vehicle in a hotel car park.  Terrance Hope had earlier had an airgun and a hunting knife confiscated by the manager and police also seized a replica handgun from the glovebox of another car Hope had been seen driving recklessly.  He was jailed for 13 months, and had already served a 12-month sentence for other firearms offences.

Islington Gazette, 12 May 2005

A woman was shot with an airgun whilst she walked through a park in Highbury.  The pellet ripped through her trousers and hit the back of her thigh.  She was taken to hospital.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 12 May 2005 *

Three men faced firearms charges after their car was stopped by police near Darlington.  They are alleged to have found a handgun and five rounds of ammunition.  A man has appeared in court charged with possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of ammunition without a firearm certificate (Evening Gazette, 1 December 2005).

icCoventry, 11 May 2005

Three armed robbers were being sought after they stole cash and mobile phones from a taxi driver in Warwick.  The driver was responding to a pick-up call.  When he arrived two men got into the taxi and one held a gun to his head.  The second man also had a handgun.

National Newspapers, 10 May 2005

The abduction in Reading of two girls by a group of six men led to the murder of Mary-Ann Leneghan, who was stabbed in the neck, and the shooting of her friend, who was in a serious condition in hospital under police guard.  The girl has now been discharged from hospital.  Six men have been charged with the kidnap of the two girls and the murder of Mary-Ann Leneghan, and one of them is also charged with the rape of her friend.  A seventh man has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon (South London Press, 3 June 2005).

BBC, 10 May 2005 *

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a man was found in a Southampton flat along with a firearm.  Police said the death was believed to be an "isolated incident".  A woman has gone on trial accused of shooting her husband while she danced for him with a shotgun (BBC, 30 March 2006): she was convicted of his murder (see June 2006 Incidents).

This is London, 10 May 2005

Davood Ramezanzadeh was jailed for ten years after he took a bank worker hostage during a hold-up in Haymarket, central London, in June 2002.  He was armed with an imitation gun.

This is London, 10 May 2005

Bobby Phipps, who had walked free from jail in Manchester after a mistake over paperwork, was finally jailed for 18 years after a string of attempted murders and firearms offences.  In February 2004 he had been released from prison on licence, but in May 2004 had tried to carry out a street robbery in Rusholme, south Manchester, whilst armed with a revolver (one victim was hit in the head and a metal fragment had to be removed).  He then tried to carry out another robbery on the same night and in August shot a man in the leg after a dispute.

Shropshire Star, 9 May 2005

Raiders burst into the Telford home of an elderly woman and held her at gunpoint whilst they searched her home.

Yorkshire Post, 6 May 2005 *

Chaudhry Sajad Hussain pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder and one of attempting to pervert the course of justice and was given a sentence of 15 years.  In February 2004 he had ambushed two men in a car while it was sitting at traffic lights in Halifax (see Incidents).  One of the victims ran at Hussain to put him off as he aimed a gun at him.  He received a bullet in his right armpit while the other victim was shot in the thigh.  The attack was in revenge for a fight outside a nightclub.  Hussain failed in an appeal against his conviction (Evening Courier, 15 January 2008).

Manchester Evening News, 6 May 2005

A gunman raided a bookies in Oldham, threatening staff with the gun and demanding cash.  Staff handed over some money before the man ran off.

icSouth London, 6 May 2005

Neale Blackall, who had been sent to prison for five years after police found a prohibited firearm and ammunition at his home in Croydon, had his sentence cut by two years on appeal.  He claimed he had kept the gun for his own protection after being shot and paralysed in a shooting in 1995.  The judge rejected the suggestion that this justified a further cut in the sentence and that self-protection was not a reason for having the gun.

Hampstead and Highgate Express, 6 May 2005

A gunman, who had placed a bet at a bookies in West Hampstead, placed a pistol at the neck of a member of staff and demanded money.  Hundreds of pounds in cash were handed over.  Two other men were involved in the raid.  An hour earlier an armed man held up a female worker at a cheque exchange store in Camden and fled with £1000 in cash.

Yorkshire Post, 5 May 2005

Masked raiders armed with a gun and baseball bats tied up a man in his home in Carlton Miniott, Thirsk, before fleeing with cash.  The victim, who was alone in the house, was beaten with one of the bats when he initially refused to hand of the cash.

Peterborough Today, 5 May 2005

A 15-year-old boy shot another boy in the back in an incident in which the youth was firing airgun pellets at teenagers at Watergall, Bretton.  The boy was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm.

Manchester News, 5 May 2005

Detectives are trying to trace witnesses to sniper-style attack in which a woman was hit in the face, close to her eye, by a pellet fired from an airgun.  She was walking along a street in Wilmslow when she was shot.  The victim was left "very shaken" and was taken to hospital to have the pellet removed from her skull.  Although they may not be linked to the incident, youngsters as young as seven or eight had been seen with an air pistol in the area. 

icSurrey, 4 May 2005

Ryan Marshall was warned that he faced a substantial prison sentence after he was convicted of robbery and possession of an imitation firearm.  He was one of three men appearing in court following a hold up on a Post Office in East Grinstead.  Marshall and a second man Shoeb Karim were brandishing ball-bearing guns when they entered the post office and demanded money in July 2004.

Eastern Daily Press, 4 May 2005

John Higgins and Ricky Rodwell caused an armed police incident in Wisbech Park by playing with an imitation M4A1 carbine and Kalashnikov.  They have been ordered to carry out 65 hours unpaid community work after the incident in March.

BBC, 4 May 2005

Armed police were called to Edward Sheerien School in Barnsley after a youth was spotted firing a BB gun.  Firearms officers confiscated the weapon.  A police spokesman commented "BB guns are seen as toys but it is illegal to take them out in a public place. They can be terrifying."

Sheffield Today, 3 May 2005

Police in Penistone are searching for a ball bearing gun used in an attack on a youngster.  A youth, who fired a plastic ball bearing at the boy's face, has been cautioned.

Sheffield Today, 3 May 2005

A masked teenager who drove through Sheffield pointing a BB gun at schoolchildren and a woman has been sentenced to nine months in a young offenders' institute.  Joe Barker admitted three charges of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear or violence.  His parents have said they had no idea he could be jailed for his "childish prank" and are calling for the sale of BB guns to be made illegal (Sheffield Today, 5 May 2005).

News & Star, 3 May 2005

A Wigton man was found dead in his bedroom with a head wound and a 12-bore shotgun between his legs.  At the inquest the deputy coroner said there was no evidence that the man had been cleaning the gun and the shooting was highly likely to have been a deliberate act.

BBC, 3 May 2005 *

A 12-year-old boy from Conisbrough has died after being shot in the eye while playing with a friend in a house.  In what was being described as a "tragic accident" he was shot with an air rifle.  Two people, a 15-year-old youth and his father, have been charged (see November 2005 Incidents).  The boy, who shot his friend but denied manslaughter by gross negligence, was discharged after the jury failed to reach a verdict (see May 2006 Incidents).

Telegraph, 2 May 2005

Four armed muggers shot a man at point-blank range as they tried to steal a necklace from him outside a fast food outlet in Brixton.

BBC, 1 May 2005 *

A man was shot dead in a car in Wood Green, north London.  It is believed that the victim was in his car when he was surrounded by up to six youths and then shot.  The suspects were seen running away.  Four teenagers have been charged with murder (BBC, 14 May 2005).

AOL News, 1 May 2005 *

A man was in a serious condition after being shot in a nightclub in Wimbledon.  Police have arrested two men, one of whom threatened police officers with a gun prior to his arrest (Telegraph, 2 May 2005).  A man has been given a 12 year jail sentence (see March 2006 Incidents).

AOL News, 1 May 2005 *

A man was shot and killed by the police after officers stopped a car in which he was a passenger in Edgware.  He was seen to be holding a firearm.  An investigation was launched into the shooting by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.  Three guns have been recovered from the car and two other men arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm (Telegraph, 2 May 2005).  In court it was alleged they were in possession of a Colt self-loading pistol and blank and gas-fired convertible weapons with intent to endanger life.  Other charges related to the possession of a blank Rika pistol and a blank key-fob style firearm (This is London, 2 May 2005).  Two men have since been jailed for drugs and firearms offences (see January 2006 Incidents).

Hounslow Guardian, 29 April 2005

Police say they are puzzled by the death of a man who had been found in a car suffering from gunshot wounds to his abdomen.  The car was parked in a street in Hounslow.  Police have not ruled out the possibility of foul play but are also investigating the possibility that the man had shot himself either by accident or on purpose.

This is Local London, 29 April 2005

Police called to the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham found a car with a damaged windscreen, the damage thought to have been caused by a bullet.  Shots were reported to have been fired during a fight between a group of men.  Ten minutes later police were called to South Tottenham  to help a man who had been shot, and although no one was found at the scene a man with a gunshot wound to the leg checked himself into hospital an hour later.

South London Press, 29 April 2005

A man was shot twice on his doorstep in Streatham Hill when he went to answer an early morning knock on the door.

PA News, 29 April 2005

A man has been arrested following an alleged armed robbery at a supermarket in Exeter.  He is reported to have held up a security guard at gunpoint.

Hounslow Guardian, 29 April 2005

Details have been released by police of a robbery involving a security van which took place outside a bank in Chiswick on 7 April.  Two security staff were delivering money to the bank when they were attacked by two males.  The male victim was knocked to the floor and kicked and punched whilst a gun was pointed at him.

Manchester News, 26 April 2005

A gang of youths, thought to be using an airgun, caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage by smashing windows at the front of a pub in Deeplish.  It was the eighth attack on the pub in two years.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 26 April 2005

Armed police were called to South Gosforth after reports that passers-by had been shot at by a gunman from an attic window.  Officers recovered three ball-bearing guns from the flat and two men were questioned on suspicion of causing fear with a firearm.

 

Since January, Northumbria Police have attended 40 incidents involving imitation, blank, replica and BB guns and 84 air weapon incidents.

Liverpool Echo, 25 April 2005

Two men were shot in separate attacks in Liverpool.  One was shot in the thigh in the car park of a pub in Woolton Road, the other was left with shotgun wounds after a late-night argument in Everton.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 25 April 2005

Cheng Lu, one of two Chinese gangsters who attacked a student for his passport, was jailed for 12 years at Newcastle Crown Court for a number of offences including possessing a firearm.

BBC, 25 April 2005

Police are hunting a man who threatened a shop assistant in Reading with a gun during a raid on a mobile phone shop.

Westmorland Gazette, 22 April 2005

Two shotgun-wielding men burst into a house in Lupton, near Kirkby Lonsdale, beat the owner and took a small amount of cash, jewellery and other items from the house.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 22 April 2005

Two teenagers were arrested after they allegedly pointed a gun at passers-by in a park in South Shields.  It is reported that the youths had a ball-bearing gun.  Police confirmed they had deployed a firearms unit and arrested two males.

Eastbourne Today, 22 April 2005

An inquest heard how an asylum seeker killed himself in the car park of Fort Fun in Eastbourne in June 2004.  He sat inside his locked car and then shot himself in the head using a modified air rifle.

Chester Chronicle, 22 April 2005

A teenager who, with three other teenagers and a woman, appeared in court in connection with an incident in which the landlady of a pub in Tiverton was assaulted, was accused of possessing a .22 air rifle with intent to cause fear and violence.

Telegraph, 22 April 2005

A business man was shot and critically injured by burglars at his home outside Low Bradfield, near Sheffield.  His attackers escaped in a car he had bought for his fiancée.  The victim is in intensive care.

BBC, 22 April 2005

An airgun was probably used in an attack on an ambulance in Gloucester which left a hole the size of a 50p piece blown out of a window.  Police described the attack as "very serious".

West Yorkshire Police, 21 April 2005

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of unlawful possession of a section 1 firearm after a rifle was found at an address in the Cross Gates area of Leeds. 

icCoventry, 21 April 2005

Andrew Mercer has been jailed for six years after police, acting on an anonymous tip-off, found a cache of illegal weapons at an office in Coventry city centre.  They included American bolt action rifles, a sawn off shotgun and pistols for firing CS gas.  Twelve firearms in total were found.    All the guns had been stolen from a Banbury gunsmith's shop in November 2004 (see Incidents).  Thirteen other rifles and 24 shotguns were also stolen in that incident.

Enfield Independent, 21 April 2005

A gang of 30 youths, believed to be armed with an airgun and metal bars terrorised pupils at a Ponders End school.  The gang gathered outside the school and staff were forced to end the school day early, lock the doors and contact parents to collect their children.

This is the Lake District, 20 April 2005

Four teenagers went on a ball-bearing gun shooting spree in the centre of Lancaster.  Two 14-year-old girls were hit by ball bearings and a member of staff from a fast food shop was also targeted.  The youths were arrested and the guns confiscated and the culprits given final warnings about their conduct.  The leniency of the police response has been criticised (This is the Lake District, 27 April 2005).

Muswell Hill Journal, 20 April 2005

Two men, one armed with a silver pistol, forced the staff of a Muswell Hill amusement arcade into a room during an armed robbery.

Kilburn Times, 20 April 2005

Police are investigating an incident in which a policeman on foot patrol in Harlesden was threatened with a gun.  The policeman and a police community safety officer had apprehended a car containing three people.  The gun was pointed after passenger got out of the car and fled.

Bexley Times, 20 April 2005

Security staff at Slade Green railway station had to barricade themselves in an office after they were attacked by a group of youths armed with an air rifle.  Four shots were fired, one of which hit a security guard in the thigh.

PA News, 19 April 2005

Six antique replica guns have been stolen during a raid on a guesthouse in Gloucester.

icCoventry, 19 April 2005

Masked men dressed in boiler suits raided a security van at gunpoint at the Corley services on the M6 in Warwickshire.  The raiders escaped with an undisclosed quantity of money.

Evening Standard, 18 April 2005

Singer Mick Hucknall alerted fellow shoppers in a supermarket in Cobham after spotting a teenager with what he believed was a handgun.  Police arrested the boy in a nearby shop on suspicion of possessing an imitation handgun.

icCoventry, 18 April 2005 *

A man has died in hospital two weeks after being shot five times in the body shortly after leaving a pub in Foleshill.  Police believe that a handgun was used in the attack.  Five people have been charged in connection with the death (BBC, 3 November 2005) and were given sentences of 26 years and a minimum of 30 years (BBC, 21 July 2006).

PA News, 18 April 2005 *

A man who was arrested after two police officers were shot as they investigated a murder has died in hospital.   He was found with serious injuries in the Halifax area after going on the run from a pub in Ripponden where the officers were shot.  A woman detective constable was shot in the thigh and her male colleague in the stomach.  The body of the murder victim, who had been shot once in the head, had been found a few miles away on moorland.  The man has been named as Alexander Lawton and he died from a single gunshot wound to the head (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 20 April 2005).  A pistol has been recovered (Leeds Today, 20 April 2005).  A verdict of unlawful killing was recorded at an inquest into the first victim's death.  The weapon used was an World War Two heirloom of Mr Lawton's family.  The inquest into the death of Alexander Lawton heard details of the events which led to the death of Alexander Lawton, the killing of his victim and his shooting of two policemen.  The weapon used was an antique French pistol and had originally been taken from a German soldier by Lawton's grandfather (Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 26 September 2006).

Sheffield Today, 16 April 2005

Niall Lupton aimed an imitation gun at his wife's chest after becoming convinced she was having an affair.  The incident took place at their home in Lincoln.  He admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and was jailed for three years.  In 1994 Lupton was convicted of manslaughter and jailed for two years following the death of a baby.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 16 April 2005

Colin Rymer is facing a ban from his own community in Longbenton after brandishing a shotgun at drinkers in a pub.  He was also supplying drugs in the area.

Evening Post (Nottingham), 15 April 2005

Kieran Staff was convicted of possessing a Brocock replica gun which ended up in a sock stashed under a hedge in his garden in Bulwell.  His DNA, transferred from the gun, was detected on the sock.

BBC, 15 April 2005

Two teenage schoolboys were arrested after a ball-bearing gun was fired towards a teacher and hit a child in a classroom at Magnus Comprehensive School in Newark.  Two boys have now been changed: a 14-year-old with possession of an imitation firearm and criminal damage and a 13-year-old with a firearms offence (BBC, 26 May 2005).  The pupil who fired the gun has been told he may face custody (See September 2005 Incidents).

Wandsworth Guardian, 14 April 2005

A 17-year-old boy appeared in court facing charges of raping a prostitute after sexually assaulting her with the barrel of a handgun.  The incident took place at a brothel in Tooting during a raid by a gang of masked men.  A receptionist was forced to hand over money as a gun was put to her temple and a knife to her throat.

Liverpool Echo, 13 April 2005

A 20-year-old man was shot in the leg outside a sports centre in Eldonian Village, Vauxhall.  The victim and his assailant struggled and fell into a canal.  The gunman swam off.  An 18-year-old has now been charged in connection with shooting (BBC, 20 April 2005)

Cambridge Evening News, 13 April 2005

A mother and her 8-year-old daughter were shocked when an airgun pellet was fired through a window at their home in Haverhill.

Peterborough Today, 12 April 2005

Five youths armed with a crossbow, ball-bearing guns and catapults fired at a bus which was travelling through the Ortons in Peterborough.  Police seized a BB gun.

Liverpool Echo, 12 April 2005

One man died and his friend was fighting for his life after a feud between them ended in one shooting the other before turning the gun on himself.  The victim was shot three times in a shop in Kirkdale.  Less than an hour later the man believed to have attacked him was found critically wounded in a car in Liverpool city centre.  An inquest heard that he was found with a shotgun on his lap and serious head wounds (Liverpool Echo, 14 April 2005).

Edinburgh Evening News, 12 April 2005

Nicola Horlick was attacked by two men on a scooter in South Kensington as she was getting out of her car.  One of the men threatened her with a handgun, demanding she hand over her valuables.  The attacker hit her across the head with the pistol.  The two men fled empty-handed.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 12 April 2005

A man was undergoing surgery to remove shotgun pellets after being shot in Throckley.  The victim's car crashed when it was rammed off the road by the gunman's car.  The gunman got out of the passenger seat and shot the victim.

Evening Standard, 11 April 2005

Armed plainclothes detectives caught two robbers as they attempted to hold up a jeweller's in Richmond.  One of the robbers was confronting staff with a handgun inside the store.

BBC, 11 April 2005

Thieves stole a 7.62mm high-powered rifle from a car parked in the car park of a hotel near Ashbourne.  The rifle was in a locked case.  The car door had been forced open.

Evening Post (Nottingham), 9 April 2005

Two youths attacked a group of teenagers, who were sitting chatting on their bikes in a Hucknall street, by opening fire from a car with a paintball gun and a ball-bearing gun.  One victim was hit on the bottom, another in the stomach.  One of the perpetrators has received an eight-month referral order while the second, Davie Allcock, was given a 12-month community punishment.

East Anglian Daily Times, 9 April 2005

A pensioner died of gunshot wounds after an armed siege at a house in Stowmarket.  Police said that the man was already dead when officers went into the house and that the death is not being treated as suspicious.

BBC, 9 April 2005

A 16-year-old boy is being treated in hospital after he was shot in the face with an airgun.  The boy was in a football pitch area in Sale Moor, Greater Manchester.  He had a pellet removed from his face, near to his eye.

Times & Star, 8 April 2005

A six-year-old Workington girl was hit in the face by a pellet fired from a ball-bearing gun.  A 12-year-old boy has been interviewed by police.

icSurrey, 7 April 2005

Jonathan Harlow, a former soldier, has been jailed for seven years after a police raid found an arsenal of gun at his flat in Redhill.  Harlow bought de-activated guns and ammunition from overseas and converted them back into live weapons and then sold them online on eBay.  Among the guns discovered by police were a fully-loaded pump-action shotgun, a Smith & Wesson handgun, a 9mm automatic pistol and a Second World War rifle.  Harlow also kept weapons at his mother's home in Somerset.

BBC, 7 April 2005

A lorry driver was forced to make an emergency stop after the windscreen of his vehicle was hit by an airgun pellet.  The lorry was on the A249 near Sittingbourne.  A group of youths had been seen near the scene.

Telegraph, 7 April 2005

Tony Kimmance, 18, was ordered to complete a two-year community rehabilitation order after he shot a six-year-old boy in the head with a .22 air rifle as he played in his garden in Clitheroe.  The victim suffered a wound to his skull and has nightmares about the attack.

PA News, 7 April 2005

Government minister David Lammy was at the scene when a 17-year-old was shot on the Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham.  The victim was with a group of friends outside a community centre when he was hit by a single gunshot fired from a car.  Lammy has complained that the police held back the ambulance called to attend the scene and that it was more than 20 minutes before they reached the scene.  The victim underwent an operation in hospital.

Herts Advertiser, 7 April 2005

A gun was apparently used to threaten a man during a street robbery in St Albans.  The thief got away with small change.

Evening Star, 7 April 2005

A handgun was found buried in the back garden of the former home of a convicted drug dealer at Trimley St Mary.  The police are now in possession of the gun. 

Evening Gazette, 7 April 2005

A man who saw a 14-year-old boy with a ball-bearing gun apparently attacked the youngster after telling him and his friend to put their guns down.  The man put the guns in his car.  Police have spoken to a man following the incident in Billingham.

BBC, 7 April 2005

Two shotguns, a rifle, an air rifle and a replica handgun, along with 400 rounds of ammunition have been stolen from a house in Thornaby.  The firearms could be lethal in the wrong hands.

Winsford Chronicle, 6 April 2005

A councillor said he witnessed a group of youths walking down a Winsford street with air rifles which they aimed at passing cars.

Streatham Post, 6 April 2005

A teenage boy caused panic when he walked down Streatham High Road wielding a replica M16 assault rifle.  He is alleged to have fired at a shop window.  A 13-year-old was arrested in connection with the incident.  In a separate incident two youths staged a pretend shoot-out in a street in Dulwich.  The gun was found to be a replica and both youths were arrested and bailed.

Macclesfield Express, 6 April 2005

The landlord of an Upton Priory pub awoke to face a hooded man pointing a shotgun at his face.  The attacker stole thousands of pounds for the safe before ordering the licensee to put his head in the safe and then slamming the door on his skull.

BBC, 6 April 2005

Two boys were shot, one in the face and one in the leg with a ball-bearing gun whilst they were walking along a road in Polesworth, Warwickshire.

South London Press, 5 April 2005 *

A man died after being found slumped in a pool of blood by the roadside in New Cross.  He had been shot and the bullet had pierced his heart.  A man has been charged with murder (News Shopper, 19 April 2005).

BBC, 5 April 2005

A pensioner was shot in the chest by youths outside his house in Telford.  He was hit with pellets several times.  Police believe a BB gun was used.

Evening Post (Nottingham), 4 April 2005

Four masked men, each brandishing a handgun, ran along a street in Sneinton, Nottingham, after a robbery at a betting shop.

BBC, 4 April 2005

A shotgun was fired at a car parked at a pub in Hengrove, Bristol.  The gun was fired by one of three men in another car.

Times & Star, 3 April 2005

A 10-year-old boy was arrested after a pregnant woman was shot in the face with a ball-bearing gun in Workington.  Although she did not suffer serious injuries the victim was badly shaken.

AOL News, 3 April 2005

An 81-year-old man was arrested after an 80-year-old woman was shot in the leg in Eggborough near Goole.

East Anglian Daily Times, 2 April 2005

Matthew Falk was jailed for 12 months after he pointed a loaded air revolver at a policewoman during a drunken rage.  Falk had called the police to say a group of youths were causing a nuisance outside his Clacton home but when two police officers arrived he came out and pointed the weapon at one of them.

South London Press, 1 April 2005

A man was fighting for his life after he was shot in the back in Streatham High Road.  He was shot yards from a sandwich shop that he owned.  The bullet caused massive internal damage but the victim is apparently recovering in hospital (icSouth London, 8 April 2005).

Liverpool Echo, 31 March 2005

In one of a number of attacks on a shop in Anfield, a ball-bearing gun was brandished at staff.

Cambridge News, 31 March 2005

A cashier was held at gunpoint at a filling station on the Linton bypass.  The robber took an undisclosed sum of money.

BBC, 31 March 2005

Six teenagers playing with imitation guns sparked a full-scale security alert at an Army training site at Glenbourne in Aldershot.  All six received cautions for possessing imitation firearms in public.

Stockport Express, 30 March 2005

A 16-year-old caught on CCTV brandishing an imitation 9mm Beretta pistol, while wearing an electronic tag, has been jailed for 12 months.  Police were alerted to the incident by the Stockport town centre CCTV system.

Shropshire Star, 30 March 2005

A man was arrested after an alleged shooting and car chase between Atcham and Shrewsbury.  The suspect was arrested after police fired a Taser stun gun.  Richard Summers later appeared in court charged with nine offences, six relating to the possession of a firearm (including a rifle and 71 rounds of ammunition) (Shropshire Star, 31 March 2005).

Sheffield Today, 30 March 2005

A man driving along a road in Handsworth had a gun pointed at him as two teenagers crossed the road in front of him.  A woman coming out of a medical centre then complained of being shot at by the gang.    A BB gun was confiscated from the teenagers.

Manchester online, 30 March 2005

Fabian Flowers, 19, may have accidentally shot himself as he tried to show friends how the safety catch of a mini "key-fob" gun worked.  He died after he was shot in the head at point-blank range in a Stockport nightclub in February 2004.  The coroner recorded an open verdict.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 29 March 2005

A man went to hospital with a gunshot injury to his right forearm after a shooting in Huddersfield.

Peterborough Today, 24 March 2005

An armed response unit was sent to Eye Green, near Peterborough, when a member of the public reported seeing two youths carrying a gun.  The weapon was later discovered to be a BB gun.  A firearms officer later warned that people who carry BB guns may risk being shot dead by police, if they do not cooperate.

Wilmslow Express, 23 March 2005

A sniper with a BB gun shot a woman in the head whilst she was walking along a road in Wilmslow.  She was recovering after a pellet was removed from her skull.  It is thought that the shooting was by young children unaware of the serious injuries that can result from fired pellets.

This is London, 23 March 2005

Donald Fearon was jailed for life after bursting into the home of an elderly man, assaulting him and robbing him at gunpoint.

Kensington Times, 23 March 2005

Police appealed for witnesses to an incident outside a nightclub in Great Queen Street, off Kingsway.  Shots were fired during an altercation between two groups of males.  A man later attended a London hospital suffering from a gunshot wound.

icCoventry, 23 March 2005

Gary Lee was drunk when he fired an air rifle at two joggers in the Stockingford area of Nuneaton.  He was jailed for 15 months after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

BBC, 21 March 2005 *

A man was shot dead by police after a van that had been driving the wrong way was stopped on the A63 outside Hull.  The man was reported to be armed, though there were differing reports as to the nature of the weapon.  It was later reported that he had failed stop when approaching officers wielding a sword.  An inquest into Simon Murden's death has heard that there were a number of weapons in his bedroom at the family's home in Beverley including two air rifles and a collection of replica weapons including a replica rifle and cap guns (Hull Daily Mail, 19 February 2008).  An inquest has ruled that Simon Murden was justifiably killed (BBC 2 April 2008).

National Newspapers, 21 March 2005

Peter Williams, 19, was found guilty of the murder of jeweller Marian Bates who was shot dead as she shielded her daughter from armed raiders in Arnold, Nottingham on 30 September 2003 (see 2003 incidents).  The suspected gunman, James Brodie, is believed to have been murdered.  Three other men were convicted for other offences relating to the shooting.

Epping Forest Guardian, 20 March 2005

A gunman forced a cleaner to the floor and searched a house in Loughton before fleeing empty handed.

National Newspapers, 19 March 2005

Four men, Marcus Ellis, Rodrigo Simms, Nathan Martin and Michael Gregory have been found guilty following the fatal shooting of Charlene Ellis and Letisha Shakespeare.  The incident, in which two of the victims' friends were injured, occurred in Aston on 1 January 2003.  The men were in a car armed with three weapons, including a Mac 10 submachine gun, and fired 40 bullets.  The intended victim appears to have been a member of rival drug gang.  All four guilty men received long prison sentences.

Eastern Daily Press, 19 March 2005

Andrew McKinnon was convicted of kidnapping a woman at gunpoint, imprisoning her and possessing a firearm.  The incident took place in Beccles in September 2001.

BBC, 19 March 2005 *

Four men have appeared in court over the fatal shooting of a man at a travellers' site in Chobham, Surrey.  Two were charged with possessing ammunition for firearms, two others with possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of unlawful violence.

BBC, 18 March 2005

Police and the Army are investigating reports that a gun was illegally fired inside the Connaught Barracks in Dover.

Barking & Dagenham Post,  11 March 2005

Two men were shot in Upminster in a period of two days.  In one incident a man was shot twice on the street, in the other a man was shot in the leg outside a pub.  The local MP believes that the shootings are highly likely to be drug-related.

BBC, 11 March 2005

Leon Ellison has been jailed for five years for firing a gun disguised as a mobile phone on a Nottingham street.  The gun was loaded with two live rounds.  The weapon, which is fired by pulling a ring and pressing a button, was found nearby.  Ellison pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm.

This is Hertfordshire, 10 March 2005

Daniel Holland was given nine life sentences after admitting nine robberies and asking for another 29 to be taken into account.  He also received 18 months for nine offences of possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.  Some of the robberies took place in Potters Bar and Barnet.

Enfield Independent, 10 March 2005

The paper reported the shooting of an Enfield mother-of-four (see Evening Standard, 2 March 2005) and the fatal shooting of a man two days later.  The man was found dead next to his car after being shot twice in the head in an execution-style killing in Enfield Highway.

Manchester News, 9 March 2005

Sixteen shootings have occurred in south Manchester in a month, according to the police.  In the latest a man was hit in the leg during a drive-by attack in Hulme.  A few days earlier a man was fatally wounded in the chest after an argument at a party in Old Trafford.

Yorkshire Post, 8 March 2005

A man who killed a friend in his flat in Castleford when he fired a powerful air rifle at him, not realising it was loaded, is standing trial charged with manslaughter.  Christopher Brain shot his victim through the eye and the pellet penetrated his brain.  (See November 2004 incidents).  He was sent to a young offenders' institution for three years (BBC, 23 March 2005).

PA News, 8 March 2005

An inquest jury found that a man shot dead by a police officer in Clophill, Bedfordshire, in January 2003 was lawfully killed.  Colin O'Connor had aimed a black revolver at police "like a cowboy" as if to shoot from the hip.

Scarborough Today, 5 March 2005

A man was found dead in a Scarborough house with a gunshot wound to his head.  The body of the man's mother was also found: she had died from natural causes.  Firearms were recovered from the house which used to be a gun shop.

Slough Reporter, 4 March 2005

Reading Crown Court heard how police had found a high calibre pistol, as well as drugs, after two cars were abandoned following a car chase and crash on the M4 near Maidenhead.  Six drug dealers were jailed for a total of 33 years.

icSurrey, 3 March 2005

Rapper Dizzie Rascal was arrested on suspicion of possessing an illegal weapon when police stopped a vehicle in which he was a passenger in Bow, east London.  He was suspected of carrying a pepper spray, which is considered to be a Section 5 firearm.

This is London, 3 March 2005

Two men were badly injured after a shooting at a sports ground in Wembley.  One victim was found in a nearby garden, the other arrived at hospital.

PA News, 3 March 2005

A drunken man pulled out a gun when disputing the price of a can of cider on a train approaching Macclesfield station.  Armed police officers were called to the station and arrested the man.  A plastic gun was found.  Passengers were evacuated, the train was delayed for more than an hour and other services were disrupted.

Peterborough Today, 2 March 2005

Staff at a building society branch in Peterborough were threatened by a man with a gun and forced to hand over cash.  No one was hurt but staff were left shaken.

Hornsey & Crouch End Journal, 2 March 2005

Masked men stole a £95,000 car at gunpoint outside a house in Muswell Hill.  One of three men held up a black handgun to the victim's head.  Thanks to a tracking device the car was found parked and locked up in Tottenham.

Evening Standard, 2 March 2005

A woman who was shot at her home in Enfield was fighting for her life in hospital.  She was being treated under armed guard in a secret location. The victim's lover, Paul Hutley, admitted causing grievous bodily harm and associated firearms charges and has been jailed for seven years.  Neither Hutley nor the victim have given any indication of what went on (Enfield Independent, 21 August 2005).

Sunderland Echo, 1 March 2005

A six-year-old boy almost blinded a 12-year-old girl from Pallion when he shot her in the eye with a ball-bearing gun.  The victim was playing with her friend when the boy aimed the weapon and fired at her face.  The police described it as "an unfortunate accident".

This is Hull, 1 March 2005

Adam David Atkinson of North Hull who held a replica handgun to a shop assistant's head has been banned from the city store.  He received a three-year anti-social behaviour order.  Two years ago he had taken an airgun into school at Anlaby and fired it in a corridor.

Sheffield Today, 1 March 2005

A pensioner was shot in the head as she walked home from a Sheffield bus stop.  The pellet was fired from a ball-bearing gun.  The victim fainted with fear when she felt the blow and saw blood streaming from an inch-long gash.

BBC, 1 March 2005

Part of Nottingham city centre was sealed off  following an armed raid on a betting shop.  The raider pulled a handgun on workers before taking a "significant amount" of money.

News & Star, 27 February 2005 *

A young Royal Navy mechanic who shot and wounded three of his friends with an air rifle admitted three charges of wounding causing grievous bodily harm.  He has been warned he could face prison.  Christopher Hall had been drinking heavily with his friends before they did target shooting in his garden in Cleator Moor.  He apparently shot at them after he discovered that his gun had been cracked.  Christopher Hall was jailed for six months (Whitehaven News, 31 March 2005).

Marylebone, St John's Wood & Maida Vale Express, 25 February 2005

A car driver was mugged at gunpoint by a gang of four men near Royal Oak underground station.  The man and his female passenger were forced to hand over watches, mobile phones and wallets.  The attackers made off by car.

Waltham Forest Guardian, 25 February 2005

A pensioner was gagged and held at gunpoint in his Walthamstow home by two men who posed as buyers for his car.  The victim suffered cuts and bruises. His house and car keys were stolen.

Pendle Today, 25 February 2005

Vandals have caused £10,000 damage to a factory in Barnoldswick.  Fifteen wire-reinforced windows were smashed using an airgun or catapult.

PA News, 25 February 2005

David Gaynor, 19, has been jailed for 25 years for the shooting a father of three in Tottenham in May 2004 (see June 2004 incidents).  His victim is now paralysed after the back of his skull and part of his brain were blown apart by a shot from a sawn-off shotgun: He had been responding to damage to his car caused by another youth, Simeon Szypusz, and got into an argument with a group of youths over who was going to pay for the damage.   Szypusz was also convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to 25 years in jail.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 25 February 2005

Thomas Masserick has appeared at Newcastle Magistrates Court accused of attacking a woman and her four-year-old daughter.  Among the eight charges he faces are two of possessing an airgun while prohibited from doing so for five years.

BBC, 25 February 2005

Leo Bigus was jailed from five years after being caught with a sawn-off shotgun in his garden shed in Nottingham.  Police had earlier found £2000 worth of drugs in his car.

National Newspapers, 24 February 2005 *

A 14-year-old boy, a man and a woman were being questioned by detectives following the murder of a woman and her adopted daughter at their home in Hockliffe, Bedfordshire.  The victims had died from shotgun wounds.  Three people are on trial accused of murder (BBC, 29 November 2005).  A married couple were given life sentences for the murder in January 2006 (see Incidents).

BBC, 24 February 2005

A teenager was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after shots were fired from a car at a group of youths in Preston.  No one was injured, but the police described the shooting as potentially very serious.

Evening Mail (Birmingham), 23 February 2005

Two men are appearing at Birmingham Crown Court charged with the murder of a teenager in Handsworth in September 2004.  The victim was beaten up by three men and fatally shot in the chest.  The bullet was described as a ball-bearing one which had been fired from a range of about two metres and which passed through the organs in his chest and lodged against his spine.

This is Hull, 23 February 2005

A pizza delivery man was on his rounds in Hull when he was attacked by four men, one of whom held a gun to his head.  The robbers escaped with £20 and his car which was later found abandoned.

icSouth London, 23 February 2005 *

A bouncer wrestled a gun from a man who held the loaded weapon to his head in an incident outside a pub in  South Croydon.  A man has been arrested and charged with possession of firearms with intent.  Neil Enright was later sentenced to five years' imprisonment after admitting causing affray and possessing a prohibited weapon, a silver handgun which resembled a 9 mm pistol (icSouth London, 8 July 2005).

Sheffield Today, 22 February 2005

The owner of a bric-a-brac shop in Sheffield tackled a teenage raider who entered his shop and pointed a gun at his head.  The gunman and his accomplice ran out of the shop.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 22 February 2005

Three shots were fired at a church in Huddersfield during an evening service.  The shots, thought to be from a high-powered airgun, broke double-glazed windows.

Evening Star (Ipswich), 22 February 2005

A robber demanded cash as he held staff at gunpoint at a service station in Ipswich.  He made off with the contents of one till.  The man was believed to have been armed with a shotgun.

BBC, 22 February 2005

A man has died in hospital after being repeatedly shot at in a street in Northolt, west London.  A second man was found at a nearby petrol station suffering from a gunshot wound.  A man was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison (see December 2005 Incidents).

BBC, 22 February 2005

Three people suffered injuries after being shot at with airgun pellets in Gloucester.  One man needed treatment in hospital for wounds to his knee and elbow, another was shot in the leg and medical staff have been unable to remove the pellet.  Two 17-year-olds have now been accused of assault and criminal damage (BBC, 9 June 2005).

Journal (Newcastle), 21 February 2005

A man reported to have been armed with a gun at South Tyneside District Hospital was arrested for a public order offence.  Police ended the situation without anyone getting hurt.

BBC, 21 February 2005

A woman cycling along the A435 at Portway near Redditch was fired at from a passing car and injured by a pellet.  She heard a cracking sound as she and a friend were overtaken by a silver coloured Peugeot.

Mirror, 21 February 2005

A boy of 13 was recovering in hospital after being shot in the street with a shotgun as he queued with friends to get into a party in Thornton Heath, south London.  Police say the victim was lucky not to have suffered more serious injury.

icCoventry, 21 February 2005

A couple were both shot in the legs at their home in Foleshill.  Police say the shooting could have arisen from a domestic dispute and are trying to find the couple's son.

Wales on Sunday, 20 February 2005

Three Welshmen were arrested between Hullavington and Sherston in Wiltshire on suspicion of hunting with dogs.  A police spokesman said they are also being investigated as to possible firearms offences relating to a modified air rifle as well as other possible offensive weapons charges.

BBC, 18 February 2005

Otis Matthews was jailed for life for his part in the torture and murder of a drug smuggler at a farm in Tabley, near Knutsford.  The victim was attacked by a masked gang armed with a handgun, machete, industrial staple gun, canes and metal bars.  Two other men had been convicted and jailed in August 2004.

BBC, 18 February 2005

Five men have been arrested on firearms charges after a seven-hour armed police operation at Tantoble, near Stanley, in County Durham.  Two of the men had been seen with what looked like automatic rifles.  An imitation automatic rifle was recovered.

Pendle Today, 18 February 2005

Roger Baldwin discharged an air pistol through his window, which overlooked Colne cricket ground, during a match. A pellet hit the ground near to the bowler, who had started his run up.  He has been given three years' detention. 

PA News, 17 February 2005

Simon Roberts leant out of a car in which he was a passenger and fired at close range at a boy on a bicycle with a .410 double-barrelled shotgun.  The boy was hit in the buttocks and back with hundreds of pellets.  Roberts had pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, wounding with intent and possession of a shotgun without a certificate in October 2004.  The driver, David Johnson, initially denied the charges but changed his plea during the trial  (BBC, 22 February 2005).  The incident, which took place in Didcot (see August 2004 incidents), apparently followed a disagreement over local girls.

icSurrey, 17 February 2005

Rodney Doll was jailed for four years after a Smith & Wesson revolver and ammunition were found at his home in Ashtead.  He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition  Police said they assumed his sole purpose for him possessing the gun was so that it could be used to commit crime.

Cambridge News, 17 February 2005

A man who subjected his father to an ordeal with a knife and an imitation gun has been jailed for 21 months.  Francis Mottershead, who had been jailed in the past for firearms crime, was drinking at the time of the incident which took place at his parents' Cambridge home. 

BBC, 17 February 2005

A 15-year-old boy was arrested after an allegation that a gun was aimed at a traffic warden in Bridlington from the back of a moving car.  A ball-bearing gun was recovered.

BBC, 17 February 2005

An armed response unit was called to the car park of a Northampton pub after a group of youths, one brandishing a handgun, was reported there.  A toy gun was seized.

BBC, 17 February 2005

A woman escaped unharmed after being bundled into a car at gunpoint in Bolton.  She managed to escape in Ainsworth, Bury, after a 20 minutes drive.  Police say they are unsure whether the gun was real or an imitation weapon.

Willesden & Brent Times, 16 February 2005 *

A police dog-handler was shot at when he alarmed a group of youths carrying iron bars and baseball bats at Willesden Junction station.  The shots were fired as the youths fled.  A teenager has now been charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and affray - the shots turned out to be blanks (Life Style Extra, 29 June 2005).

icSouth London, 16 February 2005

Myra Grant threatened to shoot a toddler at a drive-through McDonald's in Thornton Heath whilst attempting, with another man, to rob car passengers in September 2004.  A jury convicted him of robbery.

Greenwich Mercury, 16 February 2005

Police are investigating a shooting in which two men were shot with a shotgun after getting into an argument at a nightclub near the Blackwall Tunnel.

Greenwich Mercury, 16 February 2005

A gun was fired during an assault on a 19-year-old woman as she was walking along a street in Lee.  The assailant got out of a car and attacked the woman in front of friends.  The victim was treated for minor cuts and bruises.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 16 February 2005

Nathan Foster, 14, was banned from the Beechwood estate in Middlesbrough with an extensive Anti-Social Behaviour Order after 60 complaints of anti-social behaviour including incidents with airguns.  The conditions of the ASBO prohibit ownership of firearms or replica firearms.

BBC, 16 February 2005

Rafik Alleyne has been jailed for life after shooting dead a customer in a hairdressers in West Norwood, south London, in April 2003.  He will serve a minimum of 22 years.

BBC, 16 February 2005

Police believe that a single-barrelled shotgun was pointed at a 12-year-old boy as he was walking along a street in Yate.  The driver of a car had stopped to ask for directions before he appeared to point a gun at the boy.

South London Press, 15 February 2005

Two men were shot in the legs when a gunman opened fire on a crowded dance floor in a nightspot on the Old Kent Road.  Several shots were fired.

South London Press, 15 February 2005

Steven Chapman has received a six-month jail sentence after the police found a gun and bullets at his Lambeth home.  The judge apparently ignored sentencing guidelines which call for a minimum five-year jail sentence for firearms offences because of "exceptional circumstances".

Peterborough Today, 15 February 2005

A gunman fled from a store in Whittlesey after being confronted by the manageress.  He had pointed a handgun in the face of a young woman working on the tills.

Cambridge News, 15 February 2005

At least five people have been hit by airgun pellets in a series of shooting incidents in the Barton Road area of Cambridge.

BBC, 15 February 2005

A shooting party, close to the northern boundary of Newcastle Airport, may have driven grey partridges towards the airfield.  In December 2004 a passenger plane with 90 people on board had to take emergency action after being struck by the birds.  The airport operator has since written to the farmer of the adjacent land requesting that shooting activities are not carried out in the vicinity of the airfield.

PA News, 14 February 2005

A man was arrested after reports of a firearm incident on the M5 near Clevedon.  The motorway was closed for 90 minutes.

Eastern Daily Press, 12 February 2005

Thieves have stolen a number of weapons from a unit in Yarmouth Market Place.  The items taken included two paintball guns, seven replica gas-powered guns, a ball-bearing gun and two air pistols.  Norfolk Police warned that "if someone is caught in possession with a weapon such as this, it will be dealt with as a real firearm."

Highbury & Islington Express, 11 February 2005

Ian Rawlings was jailed for 12 years following the shooting of a security guard with an 8 mm pistol during a hold up at a bank in Palmers Green in October 2004 (see Incidents).  An off-duty policeman, Nick Pamboris, tackled Rawlings and wrestled him to the ground.  The judge paid tribute to his bravery.  Rawlings claimed that he thought the gun was a starting pistol and did not fire real bullets.

BBC, 11 February 2005

Police, urging South Yorkshire residents to hand in weapons during a month-long amnesty, reported shooting incidents which resulted in two youngsters being hurt with ball-bearing guns.  A seven-year-old boy was shot in his ear and an 11-year-old girl playing with her dog in her garden was shot at by youths.  Both incidents were in Gresley Road, Sheffield.

Evening Mail (Birmingham), 10 February 2005

Roger Murray was given a 240-hour community punishment order after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm with intent.  He had armed himself with an air rifle with the intention of scaring away hooligans near his home in Sparkhill. 

BBC, 9 February 2005

Two men burst into a pub in Sheffield and fired shots towards the bar.  One man was taken to hospital where his condition was described as stable.

icSouth London, 9 February 2005

Glynis Colquhoun was shot with a police stun gun after appearing at her front door in Upper Norwood with a replica Colt 45.  She was given an 18-month community rehabilitation order.  Colquhoun, who is an amateur Wild West film-maker, also picked up a sword as the police closed in.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 8 February 2005

Thomas Anderson, who hired a hitman to assassinate a rival, was accidentally shot in the groin during the attempt to kill the man in Easington.  He has been jailed for 10 years for conspiracy to murder.  His nephew William "Ike" Anderson admitted two charges of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear and was also found guilty of conspiracy to murder.  He, his father (also found guilty of conspiracy to murder) and the hired gunman, Arthur Pattinson were all jailed for 14 years.

Eastbourne Today, 8 February 2005

Eastbourne Buses will not reinstate evening bus services to the Shinewater estate which were suspended because of attacks on buses, including one in which a teenager shot at a window with an air rifle.

BBC, 7 February 2005

Linda Walker was found guilty of firing a Walther gas-powered pellet pistol up to six times at a gang of youths whom she believed to be responsible for a campaign of vandalism at her home in Urmston, Greater Manchester.  She had denied affray and possession of a firearm with intent to cause unlawful harm, claiming self defence.  There was no direct evidence to link the youths to the incident which resulted in her firing the gun.  A police spokesman said that she had "overstepped the line and attacked a group in an unprovoked disproportionate manner".  She was sentenced to six months in jail for possessing the firearm and one month for affray (Evening Times, 29 March 2005).  It is reported that she is to appeal (BBC, 31 March 2005).

BBC, 7 February 2005 *

A man was fatally shot in the chest on the doorstep of a house in Effingham, Surrey.  A man has admitted manslaughter and been jailed for six years (see February 2007 Incidents).

Guardian, 5 February 2005

A man from Towcester was jailed for two years for buying stun guns and CS gas canisters from a website.  After 2 months the sentence was reduced to 1 year on appeal.

BBC, 5 February 2005

A firefighter was shot at with an air rifle whilst tackling a blaze in Stockwell, south London.  He was hit close to the collarbone but escaped serious injury.  A gang of six youths was being sought.

Marylebone, St John's Wood and Maida Vale Express, 4 February 2005

Daniel Pragolia and Gerald Dawson burst into a family home in Maida Vale wielding a large kitchen knife and a ball-bearing gun.  A family were forced upstairs and tied up with their clothes.   The gun was held to their victims' heads and the men threatened to kill them if money and valuables were not handed over.  The men have been convicted and sentenced to 10 years and 7 years respectively.

Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 4 February 2005

A man armed with a gun threatened staff at a Stratford betting shop before grabbing cash.  No shots were fired.

Express & Star, 4 February 2005

Arron Ellis, 16, twice opened fire with an air rifle on pupils at Wodensborough Technology College in Wednesbury.  He shot and injured five children on a playing field in one attack in November 2004 and hit and injured a boy in December 2004.  He admitted two charges of common assault and asked for four identical offences to be taken into consideration.  He has been given an eight-month detention and training order (Express & Star, 3 March 2005).

Express & Star, 4 February 2005

Gangs firing ball-bearing guns are causing chaos in Cradley.  The gangs are also dealing drugs and carrying our wrecking sprees.  A ball-bearing was shot through a resident's window near the Hightown area.

Manchester News, 4 February 2005

A Wythenshawe schoolboy was shot in the face with an airgun in an unprovoked attack as he waited for the bus home.  The victim has blurred vision in the injured eye.

BBC, 4 February 2005

A raider who claimed he was armed with a gun fled empty-handed from a building society office in Kettering.

icBerkshire, 3 February 2005

A schoolboy on a trip to the theatre in London was hit in the leg with an airgun pellet.  The incident took place during the interval when the pupils and staff were outside on the South Bank.  The pellet was removed in hospital the next day.

Reading Evening Post, 3 February 2005

Armed police arrested a group of teenagers on suspicion of carrying an imitation firearm after they were seen pointing a gun at each other at Reading station.  They were found to be filmmakers working on a school project.  Commuters had told police that somebody in a balaclava had pulled a gun on a boy.  All four pupils were cautioned and issued with a formal reprimand.

Manchester News, 1 February 2005 *

Police marksmen were involved in a car chase across Greater Manchester after a man was shot and bundled into the back of a Range Rover.  Officers were first called to a house near Stalybridge.  The vehicle crashed as it pulled off the M56, and three men were arrested following a chase in which shots may have been fired.  Five men were found guilty of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm and other offences and given long jail sentences (see November 2005 incidents).

Sheffield Today, 1 February 2005

A mother was terrified when she was hit in the face by a youth firing a pellet gun whilst making a phone call in Gleadless Valley.  A gang of around 20 youths had been firing paint bombs at the phone booth before she was shot at.

BBC, 1 February 2005

In the past two months five people in Fareham and Gosport have been hurt by being hit by plastic ball bearings fired from a moving car.  Police believe the attacks are connected and have been carried out by a person or group in a small silver hatchback.

BBC, 1 February 2005

Four shotguns were stolen from the cab of a pick-up truck parked outside a pub in Chop Gate, near Stokesley, North Yorkshire.

BBC, 1 February 2005

A 68-year-old man was shot in the chest with an airgun as he walked past three youths in an alley in Greenhithe, Kent.  He was treated in hospital for a cut but doctors told him he could have died had the pellet hit his heart or lungs (This is Local London, 9 February 2005).

icBerkshire, 1 February 2005

Daniel Holland pleaded guilty to a violent attack in Wokingham and eight other robberies in West London and Buckinghamshire.  During the attack on a Wokingham bookmakers it is thought he may have had a gun.

BBC, 31 January 2005

A man who had been playing football at Christleton Sports Club near Chester was shot by a man wearing a mask.  The man, who had been sent off the pitch, was sitting in his car when he was shot at three times by a passenger in a car.

icCoventry, 28 January 2005

A car was stolen at gunpoint outside a house in Atherstone.  The gunmen demanded wallets and mobile phones before forcing the driver and a passenger out of the car which they then drove away.

icBerkshire, 28 January 2005

Two men, one seen pushing a child's buggy, threatened two members of staff of a jeweller's in Slough with what is believed to be a gun.

Journal (Newcastle), 28 January 2005

Three armed robberies have taken place in a matter of days in South Shields.  Two were on banks (in Hebburn and Jarrow), the third on a food store in Hebburn.  (See also BBC, 19 January 2005).  In the latest a 70-year-old woman was taken hostage by a man who waved a handgun in the faces of staff whilst demanding a large amount of cash.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 27 January 2005

Stuart Ryland, the landlord of a pub in Wallsend, was given a three year jail sentence after he was caught with an arsenal of illegal weapons (a shotgun and two pistols), two magazines and cartridges and a quantity of shotgun ammunition.

Express & Star, 27 January 2005

Two robbers armed with what is believed to have been a handgun stole a car from a man outside his home in Hilton, near Lichfield.  £600 was also stolen in the attack.

Halifax Today, 26 January 2005

Paul Clarkson of Halifax who threatened to kill a takeaway delivery driver was given a two and a half year jail sentence.  He had appeared with an air rifle when the food was delivered and threatened the driver because he was Muslim.  Two more air guns, pellets and a gas canister were found by armed police.  Clarkson had a history of mental problems and had been drinking at the time of the incident.

BBC, 25 January 2005 *

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a fatal shooting in Speke, Merseyside, in December 2004.  The victim was shot on the doorstep of a house.

Manchester News, 24 January 2005

A milkman sorting out crates in Cheadle was shot in the face with an airgun.  The pellet, fired at pointblank range, lodged in his cheek.  Five teenagers produced the pistol and fired without warning.

BBC, 24 January 2005

Nine people were arrested after a police operation involving officers from Croydon, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark in which cars were stopped whose occupants were believed to have firearms.  One was cautioned for possessing a weapon.

BBC, 24 January 2005

A man was due to appear in court charged with the murder of a man whose body was found in the boot of a burnt-out car in Bury.  The victim had been shot through the head.

BBC, 22 January 2005

Thieves armed with a sawn-off shotgun robbed a convenience store in Coventry.

icCoventry, 22 January 2005

Nadeem Khan was sentenced for 16 years for attempted murder and attacking a man with a claw hammer.  His murder victim was shot at in Wyken in August 2003 and was hit several times.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 22 January 2005

Claire Withers walked into an off-licence in South Shields and demanded some vodka.  She was armed with a BB gun.  She pleaded guilty to one charge of attempted robbery and was sentenced to a two-year rehabilitation order.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 22 January 2005

Philip Armstrong was spared a jail sentence after two stand-offs with the police at the family home in Billingham.  In one incident in April 2004 he fired an air rifle from his home in the direction of police.  After considering psychiatric reports the judge gave him a two-year community rehabilitation order.  Affray and possession of a firearm could usually carry an 18-month jail sentence.

South London Press, 21 January 2005

A man fired shots through the window of a pub in Rotherhithe.  Police searching the surrounding area found a bag containing drugs, an airgun and handcuffs.

Highbury and Islington Express, 21 January 2005

A betting shop cashier in Crouch Hill was forced to hand over £750 to a gunman who had posed as a customer.

Hampstead & Highgate Express, 21 January 2005

A woman was held at gunpoint whilst two armed men ransacked her flat in Kilburn.

BBC, 21 January 2005

An escaped prisoner who said he was armed and was then shot at by police during an incident in Brighton has been given a life sentence.  Christopher Maitland had fled a young offenders' institute and wanted to commit "suicide by cop".  He admitted possessing a firearm and was convicted of using a firearm to resist arrest.

BBC, 21 January 2005

A man and a teenager were arrested after a bus was shot at, probably with an airgun, in Stoke-on-Trent.

BBC, 20 January 2005

Peter Evans, a reception officer at Dagenham police station was jailed for five years for firearms offences after ammunition that had been handed into the station was found in his car.  When his home was searched police found several rounds of ammunition and a pistol.

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle), 20 January 2005

A teenager appeared in court charged with threatening a teacher with a fake gun at St Edmund Campion School in Wrekenton.  The boy allegedly pointed the gun at the teacher who was supervising pupils at break time in June 2004.  At a later appearance William Loughran admitted pointing the BB gun (fashioned after a Beretta pistol) (Journal, 30 March 2005).  He was sentenced to carry out 80 hours' community punishment with two years' community rehabilitation and a three-month electronically-monitored curfew (Journal, 27 May 2005).

BBC, 20 January 2005

A man with a handgun threatened staff at a supermarket in Bournemouth during a robbery.  The incident may be linked to a robbery at another supermarket in Boscombe.

BBC, 20 January 2005

A man has been charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice by detectives investigating a fatal shooting in Bradford in September.  The victim had been found slumped in his car.

BBC, 20 January 2005

A man was arrested following reports of a number of people, including a 14-year-old boy and his friend on their way to school, being shot in Telford with an air rifle.

BBC, 19 January 2005

A cashier was threatened with a handgun during an armed robbery in Hebburn, South Tyneside.  The gunman took a bundle of £5 and £10 notes.

BBC, 19 January 2005 *

Andrew Phillips from Old Basford has been charged with several firearms offences after a police investigation into a website called "guns2thugs".  Firearms were being imported from Europe through the post.  The charges follow a police raid in October (see Incidents).  He admitted seven charges of buying and selling weapons and asked for a further 46 similar charges to be considered and was jailed for three years (Telegraph, 29 October 2005).  His sentence was halved on appeal (BBC, 23 February 2006).

BBC, 19 January 2005

Police closed a pub in Benchill, Wythenshawe, after a loaded handgun and drugs were discovered.  Two men were arrested.

icCoventry, 18 January 2005

A commuter driving on the A46 at the Marraway Island was threatened by another motorist who pulled up alongside and pointed a handgun at him through an open window.  An 18-year-old has been arrested and two air pistols recovered by police, one from a car the other from the arrested youth's home.

Eastern Daily Press (Norfolk), 18 January 2005

A robber burst into the post office in Newton Flotman, near Norwich, brandishing a sawn-off shotgun.  The manageress and her mother escaped but the robber took a large amount of money.

PA News, 17 January 2005 *

Police are hunting a gang of four men after a man was shot as he sat in a parked car in Harlesden.  He died of multiple gunshot wounds in hospital.  Three men from north-west London have been charged with murder (BBC, 27 May 2005).  Three men have been jailed for their involvement in the murder (see August 2007 Incidents).

Leeds Today, 17 January 2005

An air rifle was fired from a car at players during a brawl at an amateur Rugby League game in Pontefract.  Chequerfield fans had invaded the pitch during a match with Bradford West Bowling.  The trouble started when members of the crowd chanted racial abuse at a West Bowling player.  The match was abandoned and the club have now been thrown out of the competition (Guardian, 25 January 2005).

BBC, 16 January 2005

Police are investigating the shooting of two men in West Yorkshire.  One man was discovered with gunshot wounds after an incident outside a nightclub in Leeds: he underwent surgery for wounds to his shoulder.  Another man arrived for treatment at a Bradford hospital an hour later.  It is unclear whether the incidents are connected.

AOL News, 15 January 2005 *

A man who was shot in the neck while sitting in a parked car at a busy junction in Reading died a few days later in hospital (Reading Evening Post, 18 January 2005).  The gunman was in another vehicle which drew up alongside the victim's car.  Four people have been questioned by police and released on bail (BBC, 10 February 2005).

BBC, 14 January 2005

A young woman was held up at gunpoint in Sheffield by two men who were trying to steal her handbag.  One of the men produced what looked like a handgun.

BBC, 14 January 2005

Seven teenagers were questioned by police after an imitation firearm was found in their possession in Brighton.  Five boys and two girls were stopped following a call from a member of the public.

BBC, 13 January 2005

A gang robbed a woman at gunpoint in Halewood, Merseyside after forcing their way into a house.  The gang was armed with an air rifle and a handgun.

icCheshire, 13 January 2005

A man walking home from a friend's house in Runcorn during the early morning of New Year's Day had a handgun pointed towards his face by two men in an unprovoked attack.

Cambridge News, 13 January 2005

A masked gunman grabbed more than £200 from an off-licence in Coleridge, Cambridge.  The gunman was carrying a black handgun in his left hand.

Manchester News, 13 January 2005

Nine suspects were arrested after dawn raids in Manchester and Trafford as part of Operation Breakthrough targeted at individuals involved in gun offences.  One firearm and ammunition were seized.  Five men have now been charged (BBC, 15 January 2005).

PA News, 13 January 2005

Four men were injured, three seriously, when a gunman opened fire with a handgun inside a cafe in Perry Barr, Birmingham.  The gunman escaped on a motorcycle with another man.

Derby Evening Telegraph, 12 January 2005

A mother from Morley, Derbyshire, accused of firing a starting pistol at her daughter's boyfriend was cleared after the case had been thrown out of court for lack of evidence.  She had denied possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear and violence.

This is Essex, 11 January 2005 *

Two masked men, one of whom was brandishing a sawn-off shotgun raided a shop in Sible Hedingham and escaped with cash and a bottle of sherry.  They escaped by car which had been stolen in Sudbury the same day.  No one was hurt but a teenage staff member was receiving counselling.

BBC, 11 January 2005

Two men are believed to have fired a gunshot while trying to recover an unpaid debt from a householder in Charminster.  The shot is believed to have come from a handgun.

Eastern Daily Press, 11 January 2005

A married couple walking into Norwich city centre were shot at with an air rifle from a block of flats.  They suffered minor injuries and were left shaken by the experience.

South London Press, 11 January 2005

Clinton Sproul, who held up a chemist's shop in Bermondsey with a fake Walther pistol in May 2003, has been jailed for nine years.  Police had found traces of DNA on the trigger of the gun which was left at the scene.  He was convicted of robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.

PA News, 11 January 2005

An elderly brother and sister were found dead with shotgun wounds in an isolated farmhouse in Owthorpe, near Cotgrave.   Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the inquiry into the shootings.

BBC, 9 January 2005

An air rifle was fired randomly from a block of flats in Borehamwood.  Three people were hit by pellets.  A woman in her 50s has been treated in hospital for a head injury.  The Borehamwood & Elstree Times (January 14 2005) reported that a fourth victim, a man in his 50s, had been shot in the shoulder and found an airgun pellet lodged in his jacket.  They also reported damage to windows and a front door in the area.

Cambridge News, 8 January 2005

A man arrested by police probing the disappearance of a traveller has appeared in court on firearms charges.  Christopher Nudds was accused of possessing a shotgun while prohibited at Litlington.  He was also accused of possessing a single round of .22 calibre ammunition without a certificate.

BBC, 8 January 2005

A shotgun was fired when a man attempted to rob a cash and carry in Strangeways, Manchester.  Nothing was stolen and no-one was hurt.  The gunman escaped in a waiting car.

South London Press, 8 January 2005

A man was robbed of his car by carjackers armed with an automatic pistol in Walworth.  The driver and his friend were ordered from their parked car before the robbers sped off in the car.

South London Press, 7 January 2005

A man was pistol-whipped when a gang of three robbed three men near a fast food outlet in Walworth. 

Staines Guardian, 6 January 2005

A gang of youths sparked a high-level police operation after they were seen carrying a suspected handgun on a train to Shepperton.  A distressed passenger raised the alarm by telephoning the police.  The weapon was a BB gun, and a further two BB guns were recovered from the gang.

BBC, 5 January 2005

A 15-year-old boy was being treated for gunshot wounds.  He was a passenger in a car when he was shot at with a handgun by one of three or four men in another car in Whalley Range, Manchester.

Shropshire Star, 4 January 2005

A coach driver escaped injury when a missile was fired through his windscreen as he left a Telford depot.  It is believed that an air rifle pellet shattered the windscreen.

PA News, 4 January 2005

An Israeli who claimed to have forgotten that he had brought a loaded handgun to Britain whilst on holiday has appeared at Isleworth Crown Court.  The gun was detected when his rucksack was fed through an X-ray machine at Heathrow Airport.

Evening Standard, 4 January 2005

In addition to the incidents in West Norwood, Wandsworth (see below) and Brockley Cross (see December 2004) the paper reports a shooting in Thornton Heath (which may be linked to the West Norwood murder) and another gun murder in Ladbroke Grove, where the victim was shot on a walkway.  Trident detectives are investigating the murders.  A man was also injured after a series of shots were fired in Bloomsbury: he was driven to hospital by his girlfriend.

PA News, 3 January 2005

Two women were shot in the face when a gunman opened fire in a nightclub in Wandsworth.  The two, whom police believe were innocent bystanders, were taken to hospital where they were in a stable condition.

BBC, 2 January 2005

A man was arrested in Rugby on suspicion of making threats to kill.  Police were called to an address following reports that a man, armed with a firearm, had made threats of violence.  A firearm was recovered, but no shots were fired.

BBC, 1 January 2005 *

Police were investigating a shooting in Thornton Heath, south London, which involved the occupants of two or more cars.

BBC, 1 January 2005

A man found shot in a car in West Norwood, south-east London, died half an hour after being discovered by police.  Police believe he may have been shot elsewhere.

---

SCOTLAND

Evening Times, 30 December 2005 *

An armed robber held up a bank at gunpoint in Byres Road in Glasgow's West End.  He threatened a female member of staff before making off with a "four figure sum of money".  A man has been  jailed for 10 years for this and four other robberies (see March 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 25 December 2005

Two men, one of whom was armed with a gun, robbed a newspaper shop in Cleland.  The men escaped with a four-figure sum of money, after threatening two female members of staff.

Evening Telegraph & Post, 23 December 2005

Three teenagers fired a BB gun at youngsters at a primary school in Perth.  Nobody was injured but police say they are taking the incident very seriously.  The incident occurred as pupils played in the school grounds.

icPerthshire, 16 December 2005

A 15-year-old boy took a pot shot at a woman in her garden in Scone with a BB gun.  The boy admitted injuring her by culpably and recklessly discharging a BB pellet gun and striking her head.  The gun was designed to look like an American self-loading Colt pistol which had been sold to one of the boy's friends in a high street shop.

Scotsman, 15 December 2005

Hundreds of pupils at a school in South Queensferry were locked in their classrooms after a man with a gun threatened to commit suicide in a house opposite.  Armed police arrested the man following a two-hour standoff.

Record, 14 December 2005 *

A man suspected of firing shots at police was hit with baton rounds in a siege at his home in West Linton, Peeblesshire.  The police had surrounded the house after reports that a man had been seen with a gun.  A man has appeared in court accused of firing pellets from an air rifle at police officers, with threatening to shoot police officers and being in possession of an air rifle (Peeblesshire News, 12 January 2007).  A special defence of non-insane automatism has been rejected by a sheriff.  Philip Thompson will appeal, with his trial re-scheduled for May 2007 (Borders Today, 15 March 2007).  He has been jailed for at least three years (see October 2007 Incidents).

Evening Times, 14 December 2005

Detectives are hunting a masked pair who abducted a betting shop worker at gunpoint and forced him to open up the bookies in Shettleston, Glasgow.  The men made off with thousands of pounds.

Evening Times, 12 December 2005

A man was gunned down near Bridgeton Cross in Glasgow.  The victim was in hospital but his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.

Evening Times, 9 December 2005

Four friends who were standing together on the street in a housing scheme in Balloch were shot with a shotgun.  All four were rushed to hospital.

Evening Times, 7 December 2005

Armed police swooped on a gunman outside the St Enoch shopping centre in the centre of Glasgow.  A man is likely to appear in court in connection with the incident.

BBC, 7 December 2005

One of two brothers shot in Greenock has died, while the other victim is critically ill in hospital.  A number of shots were fired at the two men.  It is reported that children were on the street at the time of the shooting.  A woman and a man have been arrested over charges arising from the incident (BBC, 21 December 2005).

Press Association, 30 November 2005 *

Following reports of a man carrying a firearm in the centre of Glasgow police used Taser guns during the arrest of a man.  The suspect was taken to hospital for a check-up before being arrested.  A man admitted possession of an imitation firearm at a trial in February 2006 (see Incidents).

Press Association, 29 November 2005

Masked robbers fired a shot when they forced a woman from her car at gunpoint in Pollokshields, Glasgow.  No-one was injured.  The two robbers made off with her car.  The car has since been found abandoned by police in the same area (Evening Times, 2 December 2005).

BBC, 29 November 2005 *

Helen Clarke has admitted a charge of culpably and recklessly discharging a firearm.  She struck a 14-year-old boy in the arm with an air rifle pellet outside her home in Turriff.  She said she only intended to frighten him and his friends away.  She was given 240 hours' community service and three years' probation (Scotsman, 22 December 2005).

Scotsman, 25 November 2005

Ian Ferguson, 20, fired airgun pellets at a window of a Primary School in Gorebridge, Midlothian, after the school had closed.  He was reported to have been bored.  He pled guilty to smashing the window.  Sentence was deferred.

Evening Times, 24 November 2005

A suspected armed robber who was believed to be carrying a gun during a raid on a service station in Newmains was recovering in hospital after police used a stun gun.  It is expected that he will be detained in police custody and later charged.

BBC, 23 November 2005 *

A woman whose father died after receiving serious gunshot wounds in an attack in Rutherglen on 11 November appealed for witnesses to help the police, despite the victim's criminal past.  A 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death (BBC, 3 February 2006).

Evening Times, 21 November 2005 *

A court has heard how two plain clothes police officers were targeted by a teenager with an air rifle.  They had approached a youth swigging from a bottle of beer, which he dropped, but were then confronted by another youth aiming an air rifle at them.  Mario Capuano of Craigend, Glasgow, was on trial accused of assaulting the two officers in September 2004.  He was convicted of pointing the gun at the police officers (Evening Times, 23 November 2005) and jailed for 12 months (BBC, 13 December 2005).

Record, 17 November 2005

David Burns shot his girlfriend in the backside with an air rifle when he went into the garden in Kippen, intending to shoot at tin cans, after arguing with her.  When she went outside to go to work he shot her.  He admitted recklessly discharging the air rifle and causing a pellet to hit his girlfriend "on the body".  He was fined £500.

Times, 29 October 2005

Michael Fendley was jailed for four years for pointing an imitation gun at an employee of a bureau de change in Edinburgh as he robbed him of £300.  He was caught after bursting into tears immediately afterwards and then admitted to a policeman what he had done.

Herald, 27 October 2005 *

Police are investigating a raid at a bank in Muirhead when two men, one believed to be armed threatened the staff and escaped with a sum of money.  Earlier in the month a lone gunman escaped with thousands of pounds after holding up a bank in Milngavie.  A man has been  jailed for 10 years for the Milngavie robbery and four others (see March 2006 Incidents).

Herald, 27 October 2005 *

Two attackers burst into a house in New Farm Loch, near Kilmarnock, and demanded money from two couples before discharging a gun.  No one was injured as a result of the gun being fired although two of the victims received minor injuries during the incident.  A man has appeared in court in relation to the incident (Evening Times, 28 October 2005) and later admitted a number of charges (see April 2006 Incidents).

Evening Times, 27 October 2005

Barry Thomson, who shot and killed one man and injured two others in a shooting in Royston, Glasgow, in October 2004 (see Incidents), was jailed for 18 years.  It had been the third attempt on the victim's life in three years.

Evening Times, 26 October 2005

Thomas Moore admitted having a gun and ammunition without a firearms certificate and breach of the peace after an incident at a Paisley pub in August.  He was jailed for 40 months.  He returned to the pub 30 minutes after being asked to leave with a loaded  Russian-made gun but was bundled out by a customer.

BBC, 21 October 2005

A gun and controlled drugs were found by children playing in a wood near Muirkirk.

Evening Times, 20 October 2005

An armed robber fled empty-handed after the alarm was raised by staff at a petrol station in Erskine.  The man had produced a silver-coloured handgun and demanded money.

Press Association, 18 October 2005

John Hickman, a Royal Marine, has been arrested on suspicion of the theft of two weapons from the Faslane naval base.  The weapons are believed to be an SA80 rifle and a 9mm Browning pistol.  Hickman was detained in Northern Ireland.

BBC, 14 October 2005 *

David Johnston admitted firing an air pistol from his bedroom in Pumpherston, West Lothian, into woods in June 2005.  One shot injured a six-year-old girl.  Even after the child left the scene Johnston continued to shoot and hit a pole next to where a boy was sitting on a swing.  The court heard that he had been drinking earlier in the day.  Sentence was deferred and Johnstone, who has previous convictions for serious assault and possession of offensive weapons, was kept in custody.  He was later sentenced to 20 months in jail (Press Association, 4 November 2005).

Evening Times, 10 October 2005

A father and son were left fighting for their lives after their car was shot at in Drumoyne, Glasgow.  The car crashed after shots hit the car.  A car believed to have been used in the shooting has been found by police.

Edinburgh Evening News, 30 September 2005

A man who was driving his car along the M8 at Charing Cross, in the centre of Glasgow, was terrified when shots were fired from another car and narrowly missed the victim.

Evening Times, 29 September 2005

Graham Curran from East Kilbride who fired an air rifle at friends and attacked his sister with a snooker cue was placed on probation for 18 months after admitting a string of charges.  A doctor said he was a "timid and immature young man" despite the violent offences.

Edinburgh Evening News, 26 September 2005

Two robbers armed with a handgun and a knife threatened two mobile phone shop workers at the store next to Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh.  The robbers escaped with cash, mobile phones and top-up cards with a total value of around £11,000.

Evening Times, 21 September 2005

An armed raider held up staff at a pet shop in Irvine.  He threatened staff with what appeared to be a firearm before making off with a small amount of cash.

Evening Times, 21 September 2005 *

Adam Taylor admitted in court that he had discharged an air rifle to the danger of others in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park.  He was firing repeatedly at trees at 3 am.  A man heard pellets whizzing past his head and spotted a man in a Parka.  The Parka and a semi-automatic air rifle were later found at Taylor's flat.  Taylor was fined £750 (Record, 12 October 2005).

Evening Times, 20 September 2005

Two youths have appeared in court charged with firing an air rifle, hitting four people.  The weapon was fired from a window in Johnstone.

Evening Telegraph & Post, 19 September 2005

A Dundee man was sitting in his living room when the window was hit with what's thought to have been an airgun pellet.  A round hole was left in the window.  A young boy, aged between 9 and 11, was seen in the vicinity with what looked like an airgun.

Sunday Mail, 18 September 2005

A gunman grabbed £25,000 from a sub post office in Bishopbriggs and threatened a female assistant.  The robber was dressed like a construction worker.  In a second incident a woman worker at a collection agency in Bellshill was threatened by a gunman who ran off with a second man when she said she had no cash.  A reward of £5000 has been offered by the Post Office for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the Bishopbriggs robber (Evening Times, 26 September 2005).

Evening Times, 8 September 2005

Three teenagers shot at a five-year-old boy with an airgun as he walked near a Renfrew school with his mother.  Two shots narrowly missed the boy's head.

Edinburgh Evening News, 8 September 2005

Frederick Robertson was sent to prison for 80 days after pleading guilty to shooting an air rifle at the windows of the flats of three neighbours in Edinburgh.  The sheriff criticised prosecutors because of the way Robertson was charged:  he did not regard the maximum possible sentence of 80 days as remotely sufficient for what had been done.

Evening Times, 7 September 2005

A mother-of-two was in her friend's back garden in Kirklandneuk, Renfrew, when she was shot in the head with an airgun.  She described how she fell to her knees after feeling a massive thud on top of her head: there was blood coming from her forehead.

Daily Record, 2 September 2005

Robin McGhie was convicted of recklessly firing a gun and endangering the lives of a family in a caravan. McGhie was hunting rabbits with a rifle on Dalbeattie Golf Course when one of the bullets he fired ripped through the caravan just missing a toddler's head by inches and becoming embedded in the fridge.  A ballistics expert told the court that the gun was a powerful weapon with a range of almost two miles.  He avoided a jail term and was ordered to do 280 hours' community service.

Edinburgh Evening News, 2 September 2005 *

Two men, Marc Webley and James Tant, appeared in court to admit attempting to murder a man in Edinburgh in January.  The victim was hit with one of five bullets that were fired from an automatic pistol by one of his attackers while the other threatened him with a sawn-off shotgun.   He was an inch from death.  Each of the offenders has been jailed for 11 years (BBC, 3 November 2005).

Edinburgh Evening News, 31 August 2005

The Livingston firecrew, who had been attacked when called out to Knightsridge, found what appeared to be a dent from an airgun pellet on the side of their engine.

PA News, 26 August 2005

Two men, one carrying a firearm, threatened staff at a post office in Denny and made of with a large sum of cash.

Evening Times, 23 August 2005

James Lindsay, 18, appeared in court charged with shooting a man in Stevenston, Ayrshire, with an air rifle in July 2005.   He faced a charge of culpable and reckless conduct.

Greenock Telegraph, 22 August 2005 *

A father told the paper how his 8-year-old son had managed to buy a BB gun at a shop in Greenock town centre.  The article mentioned an incident earlier in the year when a girl lost a tooth after being hit with a BB pellet.

PA News, 19 August 2005 *

A man was shot as he answered his door in Kelty, Fife.  Police named Brian Martin as the person they wanted to speak to over the incident.  Martin has now  been jailed for 10 years after pleading guilty to discharging a shotgun (see May 2006 Incidents).

Scotsman, 13 August 2005

Edward Adamson, 19, was told that he faced jail after he was found guilty of randomly shooting and injuring two women with an air rifle.  He had fired the gun from a house in Galashiels.  Pellets had also hit a car and the window of a neighbouring property.

Scotsman, 6 August 2005

The death of two-year-old Andrew Morton was described as 'inevitable' at the trial of Mark Bonini who was accused of murdering the toddler in Easterhouse on 2 March 2005 (see Incidents).  Bonini had fired an airgun from his bedroom window and a pellet had entered Andrew's head at a point behind and above his right ear and carried on straight through, embedding at the front of the brain.  Bonini was found guilty of murder (Reuters, 9 August 2005) and sentenced to spend at least 13 years in jail (Edinburgh Evening News, 30 August 2005).

Scotsman, 5 August 2005

A man accused of trying to shoot dead three members of a rival traveller family at a religious festival in Granton, Edinburgh, was freed after the trial collapsed when witnesses failed to identify him.  He had been charged with attempting to murder three people by repeatedly firing a handgun at them and two other firearms offences.

Evening Times, 28 July 2005

David Wynd, 17, shot a woman with an air rifle as he fired at a phone box in Linwood in November 2004.  The victim felt a sharp pain in her buttock and turned to see a man at the window of a top flat nearby.  Sentence was deferred.

Buchan Observer, 23 July 2005

A boy was drenched in blood after he was shot in the head in a Peterhead street which his family say has become a "shooting range" in the last year.  An airgun shot had been fired from an upstairs window.

Edinburgh Evening News, 22 July 2005

A motorist had to swerve and mount a pavement after snipers as young as ten fired an airgun at the windscreen of her car, leaving two holes in the car.  The incident, which occurred in Livingston, could have caused a serious road accident.  The victim described how she realised a pair of boys were pointing what looked like guns at passing vehicles.

Evening Times, 21 July 2005

A 10-year-old boy was shot in the face with an airgun as he played in a friend's garden in Knightswood, Glasgow.

Evening Times, 30 June 2005

Christopher Reddin, 19, has been fined £4000 after firing an air pistol at a school bus with 70 children on board in Bellshill.  The pellet smashed a window.  Reddin was in a car at the time and laughed as he drove off.  He is reported to have said that he "just wanted to scare someone on the bus".

Evening Times, 20 June 2005 *

A teenage boy suffered head injuries after being shot three times with an airgun.  He had been playing football in a street in Roystonhill, Glasgow.  He was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment to remove a pellet embedded in his head.  John Toal appeared in court charged with attempted murder and a breach of the Firearms Act (Evening Times, 7 December 2005) but the jury found that the charges were not proven and he was cleared (Evening Times, 13 December 2005).

icWest Lothian, 17 June 2005

Police were again warning parents about the dangers of letting children buy imitation guns after they seized a toy rifle from a 15-year-old who had purchased it from a stall at Bathgate Market.  It was an imitation replica of a Heckler and Koch G36C automatic rifle.

PA News, 12 June 2005

A man was killed when he was gunned down in an antiques showroom in the Yorkhill area of Glasgow.  Police believe the victim could have know his killer.

icWest Lothian, 10 June 2005

Three police officers have been given special awards for their courage after facing a man who threatened them with a loaded air rifle.  The incident happened after the police received an anonymous call about bottles being thrown from a window in Craigshill, Livingston.  When the officers arrived they saw a man carrying an air rifle which, after requests were made for him to drop the weapon, he pointed towards them.  At one point he made as if to fire.  The officers eventually used CS spray on the gunman.

Evening Times, 8 June 2005

Two 13-year-old boys have been detained by police over an incident in Dunfermline in which three boys aged 8 and 10 were allegedly struck by plastic pellets from a ball-bearing gun.

Mirror, 1 June 2005

Hans Becker, from Germany, was charged with contravening the Firearms Act and held in prison for eight days after being caught with a revolver in his luggage at Prestwick Airport.  He claimed to have forgotten the revolver was in his bag when he came in to Britain by ferry.  He was released on bail after diplomatic moves.

Mirror, 1 June 2005

A teenager has been charged after a 14-year-old boy was hit in the face with an airgun pellet during an incident in wood in Alloa.  Surgeons removed a pellet from just a centimetre away from the victim's left eye.

Edinburgh Evening News, 31 May 2005

Two shotguns were stolen after a farmer's car was broken into at a farm in Breich.  Although the guns were not loaded police are warning that they are dangerous weapons.  The guns, valued at £500 each, are a 12-bore Rizzin and a 12-bore Lambert shotgun.

Evening Times, 24 May 2005

James Myres chased after two paramedics who had come to treat him at his Glasgow flat.  He was holding what the paramedics believed was an air rifle after earlier spotting the weapon in his bedroom.  Myres pleaded guilty to three breach of the peace charges.

icDumfries, 17 May 2005

The body of a man, missing from Strathaven since January, was found with gunshot wounds in a remote building refuse site.

BBC, 16 May 2005

A woman jogger is thought to have been shot in the head by an airgun pellet, according to police.  The woman was running in Armadale when she was struck behind the right ear.  It is believed the shot came from a car.

BBC, 15 May 2005

A man threatened a shop cashier with a plastic gun during an incident at a shopping mall in Edinburgh.  He entered the shop and pointed the gun at the cashier before demanding money.  He made off with £250.

icDunbartonshire, 11 May 2005

Andrew Foy walked into the Vale of Leven Hospital with an airgun in a bid to be readmitted to a psychiatric ward.  He apparently did not threaten anyone or brandish the gun.  Foy was fined £150.

Evening Times, 11 May 2005

A vandal armed with an airgun went on a wrecking spree, shooting at a string of glass bus shelters.  In all 25 bus stops were damaged across the south side of Glasgow.

BBC, 2 May 2005

Two men were detained after an alert involving a man feared to be armed with a handgun inside a medical centre in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh.  Tests were being carried out on a weapon to establish if it is a real firearm.  It proved to be a gas-powered air pistol (Edinburgh Evening News, 3 May 2005).

BBC, 22 April 2005 *

Police are investigating two shootings in the west of Scotland.  A man died after being found with serious injuries in a garden in the Garthamlock area of Glasgow.  A gangland feud was being blamed.  In the second incident a man was shot and seriously injured in Airdrie.  A man has been found guilty of the Garthamlock murder (see February 2006 Incidents).

BBC, 20 April 2005

Stephen Mackay has been jailed for three years for threatening a woman with a replica gun and for having a sawn-off shotgun.  He threatened the woman with a realistic replica of a Smith and Wesson handgun when he called at her door in Stornaway and demanded cash, drink and drugs.  The shotgun was found by police searching his parents' house.

PA News, 14 April 2005

Police investigating the murder of Alistair Wilson in November 2004 have given details of the gun used to shoot him on the doorstep of his house in Nairn (see Incidents).  The small semi-automatic Schmeisser handgun was produced in the 1920s by a German company, Haenel Waffen, and fired a Czech  .25 calibre bullet.  Around 24 people contacted the police about the gun after the details were released.

Daily Record, 14 April 2005

Andrew Drummond shot a 17-year-old in the leg with an air pistol whilst she was at a bus stop in Auchinleck.  Drummond was given 18 months' probation and 100 hours' community service.

Daily Record, 9 April 2005

Sean Potter, 18, admitted reckless discharge of an air rifle after a 12-year-old boy was shot while playing near his home in Armadale.  The victim faces surgery to have his left eye removed.  Potter was ordered to serve 250 hours' community service, three years' probation to pay £750 compensation to the victim.

BBC, 7 April 2005 *

Another young Scottish child has been shot in the head by an airgun.  Tyler Scott was injured whilst playing with friends in the Muirhouse area of Edinburgh.  A single pellet was lodged in his head and he is to undergo surgery.  A 14-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the shooting (Daily Record, 9 April 2005).   A 15-year-old boy admitted culpably and recklessly discharging the air rifle (see September 2006 Incidents).

Evening Times, 6 April 2005

A schoolboy of 15 held an air pistol to a nine-year-old girl's head and ordered her to undress.  In court Graeme Linnen admitted dragging the girl into bushes at a park in Strathaven and pointing the gun to her head.

Evening Telegraph and Post (Dundee), 31 March 2005

Police are investigating an alleged incident at Lawside Academy in Dundee which involved a pellet gun and has led to the exclusion of two pupils.

BBC, 21 March 2005

Kevin Summers of Hamilton was jailed for more than three years after being caught with drugs and a stun gun.  He pleaded guilty.

Scotsman, 16 March 2005

The owner of a newsagent's in Mayfield, Midlothian, threw crates of bread rolls at a gunman who tried to hold up the shop.  The gunman fled.

Grampian TV, 10 March 2005

A police inquiry has been launched after a possible airgun attack on a fire crew in Dundee as they answered an emergency call out.  The windscreen of their engine was hit and shards of glass shot onto the back seat.

BBC, 8 March 2005

Christopher McKenna admitted presenting and aiming an imitation firearm at police officers and placing them in a state of fear for their personal safety.  The police had been called to a disturbance at a block of flats in Ruchazie in September 2004.  McKenna was brandishing the gun which he initially refused to lay down.  The gun was found to have one ball bearing in the mechanism.

News of the World, 6 March 2005

Edward Farrow shot his ex-wife in the back of the thigh with an airgun after a row at his Ayr home.  He has been sentenced to 150 hours' community service.

Edinburgh Evening News, 5 March 2005

A robbery at an Edinburgh bank may have been the work of a serial bank robber who is believed to have struck three times already in the city.  In the latest incident an man carrying a handgun burst into the bank. Terrified staff were forced to hand over hundreds of pounds in cash.

Scottish Newspapers and Television, 3-6 March 2005 *

Two-year-old Andrew Morton has died two days after being hit in the head with an airgun pellet near his home in Craigend, Easterhouse, Glasgow.  A firefighter in the area was also struck by a pellet and it is thought that the shot that hit the boy was aimed from a flat at the firefighters.  A 27-year-old man, Mark Bonini, has been arrested and charged with his murder.  He also faces charges of firing an air weapon at a woman, street light and windows and assaulting the firefighter by firing an airgun which hit him on the body and leg  (See Comment).  Bonini was sentenced to a minimum of 13 years in jail for murder (see August 2005 Incidents).

Evening Times, 28 February 2005

An armed robber stole hundreds of pounds from a petrol station in Woodlands Road, Glasgow.  He threatened staff with a weapon thought to be a gun.

icWest Lothian, 18 February 2005

Two men, one armed with a knife and the other with what appeared to be a gun, robbed a bookmakers in Rutherglen making off with a four-figure sum.

BBC, 18 February 2005

A man who went into an Edinburgh bank and demanded cash after claiming to be armed with a handgun may also have been responsible for a robbery at a nearby building society earlier in the month (BBC, 7 February 2005).  The bank teller activated a security screen and the man "calmly" walked out of the branch.

Edinburgh Evening News, 11 February 2005

Robert Amos fired a gun after threatening his ex-girlfriend at a house in Gorebridge in October 2004.  The gun was a blank-firing pistol.  Amos, who had a history of mental health problems, was jailed for 30 months.

Herald, 8 February 2005

A man was shot dead on his doorstep in Pollok, Glasgow.  The victim, who had served a jail sentence for manslaughter, was shot three times in an attack that bore all the hallmarks of a gangland shooting.

BBC, 7 February 2005

Two armed robberies took place in Edinburgh.  In one in the city's Hanover Street a man walked into a building society branch and threatened staff with a handgun.  In the other incident in Gilmerton a man threatened an employee at a bookmakers with a gun.  Thousands of pounds were stolen in both robberies.

Scotsman, 27 January 2005

David Collins was jailed for five years after his family had tipped off the authorities about his gun collection.  They had become frightened when they heard him test-firing weapons and making threats against potential targets.  Among the weapons recovered from Collins house in Milton, Easter Ross, were revolvers, a sawn-off air rifle, a predator rifle and a deactivated sawn-off shotgun.  He had bought the guns by mail order and modified them.  The conversions he carried out meant they should have had firearms certificates.

icPerthshire, 20 January 2005

A man who was shot in the head in his home in Shettleston, Glasgow, was in a critical condition in hospital.

BBC, 14 January 2005

A man was seriously injured by a police marksman  in New Gorbals, Glasgow.  Accounts suggest the man went down on one knee at the time as though about to shoot officers who had been following him from Bridgeton.  The injured man has now been charged with firearms offences (PA News, 18 January 2005).

Evening Times, 13 January 2005

David Johnstone has been charged with brandishing an air rifle at a woman at a house in Kilmarnock.

---

WALES

icNorth Wales, 21 December 2005

Robert Jones pleaded guilty to affray after he used an airgun to frighten youngsters near his home in Llandudno.  There had been problems in the vicinity in the past but there was no suggestion that the boys he attempted to frighten were the cause of past problems.

Wales on Sunday, 18 December 2005

Following a tip-off from a passing motorist, a man was arrested in Ystradgyniais on suspicion of possessing a firearm in a public place. 

South Wales Echo, 14 December 2005

A suspected gunman sparked a five-hour armed siege after threatening to shoot passers-by from his home in Roath.  It is believed that the man had called police with the threat.  The suspect was arrested.

Daily Post, 14 December 2005

Darren Davidson, 18, smuggled a novelty gun he bought on holiday in Majorca through airport security.  He was caught on CCTV camera waving the imitation gun in Buckley town centre.  He claimed it was a joke but admitted possessing an imitation firearm.  Magistrates imposed 40 hours unpaid work, with £55 costs, but Davidson was told he could have faced 10 years in prison.

Sun, 5 December 2005 *

Richard Parker-Morgan, a farmer from Shirenewton near Chepstow, apparently shot his wife with a humane killer before phoning the police and then turning the device on himself.  He survived and is critically ill in hospital, but his wife was killed.  He was under arrest on suspicion of murder but died three days later.  A coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing against Mrs Parker-Morgan and said Mr Parker-Morgan had killed himself (BBC, 29 June 2006).

BBC, 28 November 2005

A man and a woman were arrested after two people were shot with an airgun on a busy street in Swansea.  A man was wounded in the head and a woman suffered a bruised arm.  Police searched a flat above the street and recovered an air pistol and pellets.

BBC, 22 November 2005

Paul Davies shot a 14-year-old girl with an airgun pellet outside his house in Adamsdown, Cardiff.  He had fired a warning shot into the air after a group of teenagers had goaded him, and his second shot hit the girl as she was trying to retrieve her shoes.  He received an 11 month suspended jail sentence and was ordered to pay his victim £1000.

South Wales Echo, 17 November 2005

A gunman threatened five people with a sawn-off shotgun during a 90-minute rampage across Cardiff.  It began at a house in Penylan, then there was an incident in Roath, where two people were threatened at a cashpoint, after which a chip shop was held up in Whitchurch.  Although police did not confirm that the robberies were linked only one description of a suspect was issued.  A man has appeared in court charged with possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, robbery with a firearm and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence (South Wales Echo, 24 November 2005).

BBC, 16 November 2005

A gang of youths wielding what may have been a gun threatened a woman walking through the centre of Cross Keys.

South Wales Echo, 8 November 2005

Andrew King terrified a woman motorist on the M4 when he pointed a replica handgun at her.  Three weeks later he aimed the gun at another motorist near Caerphilly.  A court heard that King had taken the Beretta air pistol to work in Didcot to shoot rats.  Police recovered two replica guns from King's home together with 600 ball bearings.  He was jailed for two years.

South Wales Echo, 26 October 2005

David Rogers who committed an offence involving an air rifle over four years ago was finally sentenced to an 18 month jail sentence for domestic violence.  He had waved the gun at the mother of his two children in Barry Island in March 2001 but had fled the country to escape sentence.

This is London, 19 October 2005

In a second incident in a week another soldier lost a firearm.  An SA80 assault rifle went missing during an exercise in the Brecon Beacons.

South Wales Echo, 13 October 2005

Anthony Townsend, who had called police after a World War II pistol was stolen during a  break-in at his home in Llanrumney, was arrested himself.  He admitted possessing an unlicensed firearm and was sentenced to two years' prison, suspended for two years.  The judge said he was worried that "a lethal piece of kit may be in circulation somewhere.  Possession of such a weapon, even in these circumstances [Townsend had been given the gun by his soldier father who took it from a German officer], is extremely serious".

BBC, 10 October 2005

A man was arrested after armed police surrounded a house in Ely, Cardiff, after a man was reported shooting an air rifle from a bedroom window.

BBC, 9 October 2005 *

A rifle was found on the foreshore of the River Severn at Rogiet near Newport.  The gun's owner has disappeared from home and was last seen on 25 September.  Derek Upton's body was found in November and a coroner later concluded that he had killed himself by shooting himself in the head while depressed (BBC, 19 January 2006).

Shropshire Star, 5 October 2005

A man was arrested after police raided a flat in Chirk.  A handgun was retrieved.  Police acted after a man was attacked and robbed in an alley close to where the arrest took place.

South Wales Echo, 30 September 2005 *

A man has been arrested in connection with an armed raid at a betting shop in Cardiff.  A worker had been threatened by a handgun-wielding robber who escaped with £670 in cash and sped off in a stolen car.

Daily Post, 29 September 2005 *

Four duck shooters on the Dee marshes were ordered to lay down their guns by a police helicopter pilot after an armed police response unit had been scrambled to the scene.  The incident has prompted the British Association of Shooting and Conservation (BASC) to issue guidance to police telling them how to distinguish game shooters.

Evening Leader (North Wales), c.27 September 2005 *

A thirty-year-old was jailed for 10 months after an incident in which he was ordered to the ground by armed police.  He had been drinking, was wearing camouflage clothing and was carrying a new air rifle in a street in Llay, near Wrexham.  He refused to drop the gun when surrounded by police.  He claimed he was going to shoot rabbits.

Evening Leader (North Wales), 27 September 2005 *

Robet Fernandez of Broughton was jailed for three years after a court hear how he adapted an air pistol to make it more powerful and thus convert it into an illegal firearm.  He had waved the weapon in a public place, but it was claimed that he had converted the weapon with the intention of killing himself.  Police were alerted after he went with the gun to the home of his estranged wife and said that he was planning to commit suicide.   He had considerable engineering knowledge through his work at a car plant and it took him a couple of hours to convert the gun.  The sentence was reduced from the maximum of five years because of the contents of a psychiatric report.

Daily Post, 14 September 2005

A 13-year-old boy appeared in court for carrying a plastic silver gun, an imitation Beretta-style pistol which cost a pound.  He admitted having the gun in a public place and stealing a bottle of vodka in Llandudno.  He was placed under supervision and given a curfew and ordered to pay prosecution costs.

Western Mail, 17 August 2005

Armed police confronted a gunman at a house in Grangetown, Cardiff, where witnesses described men fighting in the street with knives.  Two men were in custody after the incident.

BBC, 9 August 2005

A charity catering for blind and visually impaired people is to close a resource centre in Ebbw Vale for lack of funds.  In May 2004 the charity had to pay for CCTV after a roof window was shot at with an air rifle.  This was one of a number of acts of vandalism.

BBC, 3 August 2005

Kevin Catherall who punched a teenage girl and later shot her brother with an air rifle was jailed for 20 months after he admitted common assault causing actual bodily harm.  The brother suffered mouth injuries after being shot at Catherall's flat in Buckley.

BBC, 28 July 2005

Four teenagers have been charged after three men and two women were shot with an airgun in the Pontcanna district of Cardiff.  In an unlinked incident a motorist was shot in the head with an airgun in the Leckwith area.

South Wales Echo, 28 July 2005

A teenage boy and girl were caught putting together a replica rifle on a street corner in Pentre, Rhondda.  The gun looked exactly like the semi-automatic rifle issued to armed police officers.  In another incident a teenager was spotted carrying a replica gun in the same area two days earlier.

Mirror, 12 July 2005

Peter Murdle, 19, shot a boy in the back with an airgun which he took from his car after the boy had squirted him with a water pistol.  Murdle of Rumney was given 120 hour community service and ordered to pay £300 compensation.  The judge said he had "seriously considered" jail.

BBC, 7 July 2005 *

The body of a man who had been shot was found in the grounds of his home at Llanfyllin, near Welshpool.  Although a woman was arrested she was released without charge and police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the death.  A verdict of suicide was recorded at an inquest (BBC, 10 February 2006).

BBC, 22 June 2005

A man was being treated in hospital after a shooting in Cwmrhydceirw, Swansea, which may have followed a car chase.  Four men have been arrested in connection with the incident.

Daily Post, 17 June 2005

Armed police were called in and the force helicopter scrambled to track down a man who had been seen firing an air rifle.  He was shooting rabbits near the law courts in Mold and was arrested in the car park of a supermarket.  Peter David Jones was fined £100 and his air rifle was destroyed.

BBC, 8 June 2005

Two brothers, aged 12 and 10, from Newport have been placed under Asbos for five years.  Among the forty-four incidents recorded in 14 months was shooting at people with an airgun.

Western Mail, 7 June 2005

A 19-year-old man was shot in the leg in Butetown, Cardiff.  Police were uncertain of the circumstances of the incident.  The victim was taken to hospital but later released.

BBC, 7 June 2005

A primary school playground had to be evacuated after shots were fired from an air rifle, possibly aimed at rabbits, in a nearby garden.  The incident took place in Fairwater, Cardiff.  A 17-year-old was questioned by police and an air rifle recovered.

Western Mail, 28 May 2005

A 12-year-old boy was attacked by three teenagers who fired pellets at him from a replica gun and then threw a stone.  The victim, who needed to go to hospital for checks, was returning home from school in Clase, Swansea.

South Wales Echo, 17 May 2005

A robber emptied the safe of a snooker hall in Roath, Cardiff, after claiming to have a gun and threatening the manageress.

BBC, 23 April 2005

David Richards, a collector of World War II memorabilia, has been jailed for four years for  possession of a prohibited firearm, a Webley Mark Four .445 revolver, which at one time he had hung on a wall.  Police had also found a semi-automatic air rifle, which he was banned from owning owing to a previous jail sentence.  The guns were found at the home of his parents in Johnstown, Wrexham.

Guardian, 22 April 2005

A barman described how a teenager whom he had asked to stop playing a gaming machine at a club in Ammanford, south Wales, pointed what appeared to be a Colt 45 at him.  The teenager, Jay Devereux, was convicted of possessing an imitation gun with intent.

BBC, 11 April 2005

A security guard was shot and a member of the public injured during an armed robbery outside a bank in a main shopping street in Newport.  Police say the injured guard, who was shot in the leg, could easily have been killed.  The gang of three robbers stole a number of security boxes.  Four men from Birmingham have appeared in court (see April 2006 Incidents).

Wrexham Evening Leader, 6 April 2005

A teacher speaking at the NASUWT conference told of a past incident at a Wrexham school in which two pupils had fired pistols loaded with hard plastic pellets at each other while he was teaching.

icWales, 24 March 2005

A haul of weapons, including a German SS handgun were stolen from a house in Llanrumney, Cardiff.  The handgun is fully operational and was stolen with live ammunition in it.

Daily Post, 15 March 2005

An airgun was fired at the bedroom window of a nursing home in Llangollen: three elderly residents were sleeping in the room.  It is believed that the culprits were shooting ducks in the nearby canal.

Times, 5 March 2005

A man was jailed for two years and nine months for firing an air rifle at a couple who were arguing in the street near his home in Cardiff Bay where he was hosting a party. Both his victims were hit by pellets.

South Wales Echo, 2 March 2005

A sniper targeted four bus passengers, including two children, waiting at a bus stop in Pentrebane, Cardiff.  When police arrived they were seen to confiscate an air rifle but witnesses were surprised that no one was arrested.  It is believed that the shots came from a block of flats.

icWales, 1 March 2005

Police recovered a replica handgun (Kimar model 92 8mm automatic blank self-loading pistol) from the River Taff in Cardiff.  They suspect that the gun may have been used for some sort of crime before being abandoned.

Daily Post, 25 February 2005

Marcus Duvall, who was found walking through St Asaph with a shotgun and live cartridges, has been jailed for three years.  He had threatened to put a bullet through the head of one man.  He was drunk at the time of the incident.

Daily Post, 21 February 2005

An armed robber held a gun to the head of a shop assistant in a grocery store in Lon St Ffraid, Trearddur Bay, Anglesey.  He let off a single shot with his handgun when he entered the shop before threatening to kill the woman as he demanded cash.

Daily Post, 17 February 2005

Armed police surrounded a house in Llandudno Junction as a man armed with a gun threatened to shoot himself.  The man, believed to have mental health problems, was arrested.

Western Mail, 27 January 2005

Armed police sealed off streets on the outskirts of Swansea and were searching for a handgun in response to a shooting in Llansamlet in which a man was injured in the leg.  The victim underwent surgery and was said to be in a stable condition.  Three gunshots were heard.

BBC, 15 January 2005

Three firearms (a revolver, a shotgun and a rifle) and a quantity of what police believe to be drugs were seized during a series of raids in Rhos near Wrexham.  Police were seeking two local men in connection with the seizures.

BBC, 7 January 2005

A man has been remanded in custody charged with attempted murder and firearm offences after a pensioner was shot at her home in Chepstow.  The victim suffered minor chest wounds.

---

INCIDENTS INVOLVING ANIMALS

BBC, 16 December 2005

Two swans at a country park near Tiverton have been shot in an air rifle attack.  One bird was hit twice and was found dead by a member of the public.  The other was seen in distress but escaped capture by RSPCA officers.

Sutton Guardian, 16 December 2005

Two children in Sutton have been left devastated by the death of their kitten which was shot with an air weapon.  The cat was violently sick when it arrived back at his owner's home.  It had been shot twice in the abdomen.

Bromley Times, 15 December 2005

Brian Evans of Cudham was ordered to pay £600 and given a 12-month conditional discharge for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after admitting shooting the dog of a neighbouring farmer with an air rifle.  The dog died from blood loss after a pellet went through muscles, kidney and colon and then an artery of the spleen and pancreas.  The air rifle was 50 per cent overpowered, unbeknown to Evans or the dealer who had sold him the gun.

News & Star, 10 December 2005

An eight-month-old cat was shot in the face with an air weapon near Egremont.  It later died of its injuries.

Eastbourne Today, 8 December 2005

An Eastbourne pensioner discovered her pet cat died after being shot in the head with an airgun pellet.  She did not know her car had died until three days after the shooting which must have been carried out at close range.

Yorkshire Post, 2 December 2005

The RSPCA has launched an appeal for information after a swan was shot twice in the head with an airgun in Barnsley.  X-rays revealed that the bird was lucky to be alive.  The pellets were shot from directly above its head, meaning somebody stood over it and close to it before they repeatedly fired.

BBC, 30 November 2005

A peregrine falcon, which is a protected species, was found badly wounded by a passer-by in Taunton after being shot.  She had shotgun pellets in her wing and needed ongoing treatment.  The peregrine is afforded the highest degree of legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

icSurrey Online, 23 November 2005

A cat owner fears youths intentionally shot at his pet in Dormansland.  The cat limped home and when he took her for an x-ray it was revealed that she had been shot with an air gun.  Her leg had broken and she had 12 fragments of bone.  The vets bills have now totalled £1000.

BBC, 21 November 2005

Concerns have been expressed about the way in which Scotland's leading fish farm operator is carrying out the shooting of seals near one its sites at Kyle of Lochalsh.  There was evidence that seals were not being shot cleanly, with animals left to die of their wounds.

BBC, 14 November 2005

A Letchworth resident is devastated by the death of her cat who had to be put down after he was shot with an air rifle.  She is scared a child could be next.

BBC, 14 November 2005

Vets had to remove the leg of a cat after it was shot with a shotgun pellet in St Ives, Cornwall.  The incident is being investigated by police as an offence of cruelty to animals.

Yorkshire Post, 11 November 2005

Five swans were shot dead in a Chesterfield park in what has been described by animal welfare bosses as a callous air rifle attack.

icCoventry, 9 November 2005

Police, working with the RSPCA, are appealing for witnesses to an incident which left a pet cat from Bedworth badly injured after being shot, apparently with an air rifle.

Barking & Dagenham Post, 9 November 2005

A cat that had been missing for two days finally limped to his home in Dagenham with one of his back legs horrifically injured.  During an operation vets found an airgun pellet which had shattered the bone.  The vets told the newspaper that airgun wounds in animals were not uncommon.

icWales, 9 November 2005

Four swans have been shot dead on a stream in Rumney, Cardiff.  One of the birds had been shot five times with pellets from two different high-powered air rifles.

The Comet, 3 November 2005

A woman whose cat was shot with an airgun in Stevenage has appealed to police to find the gunman who shot her pet as she fears a child could become a victim next.  X-rays showed that the cat had a pellet lodged in its intestine and returned home with a £700 vet's bill for its owner.

BBC, 3 November 2005

A man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting and injuring a cat with an air rifle in South Wigston last month.  The cat lost an eye because of the resulting injuries.

Herts Advertiser, 27 October 2005

The owners of a cat in Harpenden were horrified to discover that their injured pet had a pellet from an air rifle lodged in its skull. 

Leeds Today, 24 October 2005

A young swan which lived on the Aire-Calder canal in Leeds has been shot dead.  An air rifle pellet was fired through its neck and in the windpipe.

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 18 October 2005

A cat has been hit twice in the last 14 months by powerful air rifle shots, miraculously escaping death both times.  In August 2004 he need emergency surgery to remove a half-inch metal pellet from his stomach: his spleen was damaged.  This month the cat from Highburton was shot again and the pellet cannot be removed and will stay lodged in his lumbar muscle.

This is Local London, 13 October 2005

A kitten was shot with an airgun and left with a broken jaw.  Its owners from West Wickham have spent more than £2000 for treatment - a pellet was lodged inside the kitten's head.

BBC, 7 October 2005

RSPCA inspectors were called to a garden in Southmead, Bristol, where an injured black cat had been found.  The cat had been left paralysed after being shot with an air rifle and had to be put down.

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 5 October 2005

A cat was killed with an air rifle in Kirklevington and had to be put down.  It had been shot at close range.  Although vets rebuilt her shattered leg the cat suffered a relapse after three weeks.

Hertfordshire Mercury News, 30 September 2005

A cygnet was shot in the head with an airgun in Hertford.  The bird was found bleeding on the River Lee by a member of the public.  Vets found that the bird had another pellet within an infected wound, a legacy of another airgun attack.

Buckingham Today, 29 September 2005

Vets feared that a cat would not be able to feed himself and would have to be put down after its jawbone had to be removed after a suspected air rifle attack in Tingewick.

BBC, 17 September 2005

A pet cat has died days after it was found with a wound to the head after she had been shot with an air weapon.  The cat was discovered by its owners in Stafford.

Biggleswade Today, 12 September 2005

A cat underwent gruelling surgery after being shot in an airgun attack in Haynes.  A pellet shattered his teeth and was found lodged his spine.

Peterborough Today, 22 August 2005

A dog has been shot twice in Yaxley, Peterborough, with what her owner believes were BB guns.  Bonny's owner first thought that the blood in which the dog was covered was from a scratch, but she suffered a second wound a few days later. 

icBrimingham, 17 August 2005

A duck which had survived having a screwdriver embedded in its side for more than a year was found shot dead at Whittleford Pool, Nuneaton.  A male swan had been found dead at a nearby pond after being targeted with a .22 air rifle.

Chichester Observer, 15 August 2005

A cat was left in agony with a fractured leg after it was shot with an airgun in Chichester.

Peterborough Today, 11 August 2005

A cat owner found her cat crying in pain outside the back door in Mewburn, North Bretton, after being shot with an air rifle.  Blood was running out of the cat's back leg and she now has to hobble around with a metal plate in it.  The owner had often seen teenagers playing with airguns in the street.

BBC, 11 August 2005

A swan which had been badly hurt in an airgun attack on the Forth and Clyde Canal near the Falkirk wheel was released back into the wild.  The swan's wing was permanently damaged and she will never fly again but it is hoped that she will live out her life reunited with her mate and cygnets.

Cambridge Evening News, 4 August 2005

A pet cat was left fighting for his life after being shot at close range with an airgun in Abbey, Cambridge.  An x-ray revealed he had a pellet in his left kidney.

King's Lynn Today, 5 July 2005

A Siamese cat from Foulden may have to have a leg amputated after he was shot with an air rifle.  A pellet punctured the cat's chest, going through nerves before ricocheting off a rib.

Hoddesdon and Broxbourne Mercury, 24 June 2005

A pet cat was shot with an air rifle on a Hoddesdon housing estate, and residents fear that children could also be at risk.  A metal pellet was found embedded in the cat's leg bone.

Blackpool Today, 24 June 2005

Five ducks were shot with an airgun when they congregated around a garden pond in Thornton.  The house where the attack took place is currently empty and those responsible could be charged with trespass with a firearm.  Four ducks were found dead, the fifth died after being rescued.

This is Local London, 20 June 2005

A woman warned pet owners to keep their cats in at night after her own cat was shot in the spine with an airgun in Hanwell.  The cat's hind legs and front-right paw are now paralysed.  The cat may have to be put down.

icWales, 16 June 2005

The RSPCA has appealed to airgun owners to stop shooting animals after a nesting swan was killed on the banks of the river Ely, near Ely Bridge.  An X-ray revealed it had been shot eight times.

Evening Post (Nottingham), 15 June 2005

Two of a family's cats were left injured after an airgun attack in Stapleford. One had a pellet in its chest and the other had a shattered hip.

Daily Post, 15 June 2005

Animal welfare officers were investigating an airgun shooting which left two pigeons and a jackdaw dead and dying in Llanfairfechan.  An animal collection officer said "It is illegal to cause animals unnecessary suffering".

Evening Star, 14 June 2005

A cat was shot in the spine with an airgun leaving her to drag herself across the road to safety using just her front legs.  It is likely the cat will have to be put down.  This was the second time a cat had been targeted in Ipswich in as many weeks.

Evening Times, 8 June 2005

A farmer found nine six-week-old lambs shot dead in a field in Cardross.  Each had been shot once behind the left ear with a .22 rifle.

icSurrey, 7 June 2005

An air rifle attack resulted in two swans being shot in the neck after the perpetrators stole their eggs.  The attack took place at River Gardens, Carshalton, where the pair had nested.  The pellets had missed the swans' heads by inches.

BBC, 7 June 2005

Four cats have been shot, one of them twice, on a housing estate in Wootton Bassett.  One of the cats is being rehomed because its owners are worried it will be targeted again by the gunman.

BBC, 2 June 2005

A pet dog has died after being hit by a pellet from an air weapon in the garden of its home in Wellingborough.  The dog's owner returned home to find her pet injured.  It later died after she had taken it to the vets.

BBC, 1 June 2005

A goose and gosling found dead beside a pond in Tredegar are believed to have been shot.  An RSPCA spokesman said "There has been a spate of these attacks and there does seem to be a slight trend involving air rifles injuring and killing animals".

Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 25 May 2005

A family pet looks likely to lose its eye after it was shot with an air rifle.  The cat was attacked in Crosland Moor.  He was discovered to have been attacked when he returned home whit his eyeball was hanging out and his eye was pouring with blood.  The pellet had penetrated his eye and lodged in his jaw.

Shropshire Star, 24 May 2005

A member of the public reported seeing two youths firing an air rifle at ducks on a pond in Dawley, Telford.

Peterborough Today, 2 May 2005

A swan and two of her unhatched eggs were shot with an air rifle in an attack in Eye Green Nature Reserve at Eye.  The swan died after she was shot through the neck.  The remaining four eggs will now be unable to hatch.  The attack was described as calculated and deliberate by an RSPCA inspector.

This is Local London, 1 May 2005

A Winchmore Hill vet has warned pet owners to be on the look-out for youths taking pot shots at pets after a spate of airgun attacks on cats.  The vet operated on two cats within hours of each other: both were found with pellet wounds.

Daily Star, 27 April 2005 *

A cat had to be put down after being shot with an airgun.  He was left crying in pain with a shattered spine after the attack in the centre of Bournemouth, Dorset.

News & Star, 27 April 2005

James McCleod has been fined £200 for taking potshots at rabbits with an air rifle from the window of a car at How Mill, Brampton.

BBC, 25 April 2005

Three badgers have been found shot dead on land in the Riby area of North Lincolnshire.  Badgers are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and the Protection of Badgers Act 1992.

Hucknall Today, 22 April 2005

A cat was hit in the face with a airgun pellet only yards from her home in Bulwell.  The pellet hit her on the bridge of the nose and lodged near her brain.  The cat was lucky to survive.

AOL News, 21 April 2005

The bodies of ten newborn lambs and a ewe were found shot dead in a field at Horton-cum-Studley, Oxfordshire.  The attack followed a similar incident a fortnight earlier when more than a dozen lambs were found shot on the same farm.

Northwich Chronicle, 20 April 2005

A cat, injured by an air rifle, was discovered bleeding by her owner after returning from a field in Norley.  A pellet was found in the cat's stomach: the pellet had entered her mouth and she had swallowed it.

BBC Newsround, 20 April 2005

A buzzard was found wounded with an air rifle pellet in a field of cabbages at Coombe Bissett in Wiltshire, unable to move to get food.  The bird was taken to animal hospital where he is making a slow recovery.

BBC, 12 April 2005

The number of birds and other animals being injured in airgun attacks in Scotland has risen sharply according to the SSPCA.  Attacks on a fox and swans are among the latest airgun incidents.  Airgun pellets, particularly pointed ones, can prove lethal according to the charity's inspectors.

Evening Telegraph and Post (Dundee), 5 April 2005

A cat was shot twice with an air rifle in Dundee.  The owner was anxiously waiting to see if the family cat will recover after if was struck by pellets, one of which lodged close to his spine.

Devon 24, 31 March 2005

A cat was shot and seriously wounded with an airgun at near point blank range.  It was the latest of four incidents in the same road in Budleigh Salterton.

Newquay Voice, 30 March 2005

A family cat returned to its Newquay home with its leg hanging off and four air rifle pellets in its head.  The leg was amputated, and pellets removed for its head but one other pellet could not be removed and the cat may also lose an eye.

Epping Forest Guardian, 19 March 2005

A cat which was shot with an airgun in Waltham Abbey had to be put to sleep after three months of treatment for damage to abdomen, spleen, liver, pancreas and other internal organs.  He was shot with a single pellet at close range.  His owners support more restrictions on who can access airguns.

BBC, 3 March 2005

In an airgun attack in Delabole, Cornwall, a kitten was shot as young children played with it in their garden.  The cat is recovering after the pellet was removed by a vet.  A police spokesman said that "Delabole does have problem with air weapons, particularly among young people".

The RSPCA has received reports of more than 1,100 airgun-related injures to animals in England and Wales in the last six months (Reading Evening Post, 11 February)

Evening Gazette (Middlesbrough), 28 February 2005

A cat needed emergency treatment after being hit by an airgun attacker in Thornaby.  The incident followed a recent attack on a local phone box.  The report included descriptions of other recent airgun attacks in the Teesside area (Darlington and Redcar) in which young people had been the victims.

Buchan Observer, 24 February 2005

A cat was lucky to survive after being injured by a shot from a pellet gun in Mintlaw.  The cat's owner believes he must have been shot from a considerable distance.

Reading Evening Post, 11 February 2005

Rupert, a tabby cat, whose owner lives in Whitley, was shot in the leg with an airgun.  He suffered a deep cut and bruising and is now too scared to leave the house.

Shropshire Star, 7 February 2005

A family's pet dog was shot and killed as it played in the back garden of their home in Shrewsbury.  It was shot in the heart with an airgun pellet.

Yorkshire Post, 20 January 2005

An 18-year-old tabby cat was almost certainly shot dead with a ball-bearing gun, according to his owner, after he was found with a gaping wound in his left side.  It is believed that teenagers who had been hanging around the area in Rotherham may be responsible.

PA News, 10 January 2005

Vets saved the life of a cat shot with an airgun and left hanging by one leg from railings in Plymouth.  Airgun pellets were found in his left shoulder.

Macclesfield Express, 5 January 2005

A tiny pedigree dog from Bollington was almost blinded when it was shot at with an air rifle for the second time in a month.