Gun Incident Summary - January 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were nine fatal shootings reported during January, four of them apparent homicides which took place in:
- Edinburgh - the male victim may have been murdered as part of a gang war
- Isle of Wight - a man was shot dead in Wellow: the victim's wife, a clay-pigeon shooting enthusiast, has been charged with murder
- Merseyside - a man was found shot dead in a street in Fazakerley
- Worcestershire - the victim was the son of a sub-postmaster in Fairfield where both men were shot during an attempted robbery: four people have been charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted robbery
The full details of two other fatal shootings have not been revealed:
- Lincolnshire - a man died after receiving a shotgun injury in Gayton-le-Marsh: a woman was arrested and bailed until March
- Teesside - a man died from shotgun wounds in Stockton: a man was arrested on suspicion of firearm offences
Three other men appear to have taken their own lives in shooting incidents in Gleadless (Sheffield), where a man had barricaded himself into a flat, at a park in Rivington (Lancashire) and in a field in Brewood (Staffordshire), close to a property where a woman had been shot and injured.
Shooting incidents that resulted in injury occurred in:
- Humberside (1) - a man suffered a stomach wound in a shooting incident in Hull - nine people have been arrested and three have been charged with violent disorder
- Merseyside (3) - one man was shot in the leg in a targeted attack in Speke, another was shot outside a nightclub in the centre of Liverpool and a third male victim was hit in the face with shotgun pellets in St Helens
- South London (2) - a man walking his dog was shot in the leg in Clapham (the dog was also shot and injured) and another man was shot in the leg in Camberwell
- South Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the leg in Sharrow (Sheffield)
- Staffordshire (1) - a woman was shot twice at a house in Brewood, where police discovered the body of her partner and a gun in a neighbouring field (see above)
- West Midlands (3) - two men were shot in the leg in separate incidents in Dudley and West Bromwich, and another victim was shot in the hand and shoulder in Hockley
- West Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the bottom in Bradford
- Worcestershire (1) - the father of the man fatally shot during an attempted robbery on a post office in Fairfield (see above) was injured by a shot in the leg
A man was seriously injured after he was shot by the police during an incident at a house in Brighouse (West Yorkshire). Another man was is a serious condition after he was shot by a police officer in Palmers Green (north London) during an pre-planned operation during which the police had stopped two cars.

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - The number of reports of robberies and attempted robberies involving men armed with guns suggests they are on the increase. More types of premises were targeted. In one of three incidents in which shots were fired, at a post office in Fairfield (Worcestershire), one man was killed and his father seriously injured. No one was injured in the other two incidents: two police officers came across an armed raid on two security guards delivering cash to a building society in Kings Heath (Birmingham) and during a raid on a shop in North Kensington (west London). In the majority of incidents no weapon was fired, and quite often the perpetrators fled empty-handed when challenged. It seems likely that in many instances the weapon was a replica firearm. Nevertheless, the possibility that the weapon being brandished could be lethal and loaded means that any realistic-looking gun, real or imitation, will always be a threat.
In addition to the raid in Kings Heath (see above), security guards were also targeted in Bramley (Leeds) and Clacton (Essex)
A man was arrested in connection with three armed robberies in Darlington (County Durham) including one outside a bank and one on a post office. There were other armed raids on:
- Banks in Headington (Oxford) (the staff did not believe the gun was genuine) and Gloucester (two people have been arrested), and a cash handling centre in Beaumont Leys (Leicester)
- A Car Wash in Harrogate (North Yorkshire)
- A Cinema in Sapley (Huntingdon)
- Bookmakers in Brighton (a ball-bearing gun was found and may have been connected with the raid), Gilmerton (Edinburgh), Hamilton (South Lanarkshire), Ingol (Lancashire), Oldham (Greater Manchester) (a man put a gun against a woman's face and pulled the trigger) and Shrewsbury (Shropshire)
- Petrol stations in Middlesbrough (the gunman was believed to be just 16 years old) and Spaldwick (Cambridgeshire)
- Post Offices in Elwick (Teesside), Harrogate (North Yorkshire) and Stanton Harcourt (Oxfordshire) (a man and a woman have been arrested), as well as the fatal attack in Fairfield (Worcestershire) (see above)
- A Pub in Sherwood (Nottingham)
- Shops in Bootle (Liverpool), Cippenham (Berkshire), Gorton (Manchester) and North Kensington (west London) (two robberies in one of which shots were fired)
- A Travel Agents in Atherton (Greater Manchester)
A man was struck on the head with a small handgun during a robbery at a house in Stoneleigh (Surrey).
A car was stolen at gunpoint in a street in Ladbroke Grove (west London).
There were attempted robberies on drivers in Alfreton (Derbyshire) and Blackburn (Lancashire) (the police believe the robbers were after the takings from a shop).
There was a street robbery in Paisley (Renfrewshire) which may have been linked to a later incident in Bridge of Weir.

Other Incidents - Two men were charged after a gun was fired during a disturbance in Leeds. On Merseyside police were called after three shots were fired at an empty car in Crosby and shots were fired at a property in Birkenhead. Gunshots were also fired at a house in Sarisbury Green (Hampshire).
A suspected burglar escaped from a prison van when two men with a shotgun held up the van in Feltham (west London): he was recaptured a few days later.
A teenager has been charged with possessing an automatic firearm and ammunition after a street fight in Aston (Birmingham). A man forced his way into a house in Whitehaven (Cumbria) and threatened the occupant with a firearm which was retrieved by police. Four men were arrested and a firearm recovered after an altercation at a pub in Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire).
Two young girls had a firearm pointed at them by two young men as they were walking in Letham (Angus).
A suspected gunman was arrested after armed police were called to flats in Southampton. Police arrested two people at a house in Toothill (Wiltshire) after investigating calls about a firearm. A man was arrested in Didcot (Oxfordshire) on suspicion of making threats to kill and there were allegations that the man had firearms in the house. Four people were arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm after a siege at a flat in Blackpool.
Two men were charged with grievous bodily harm, robbery and possession of a firearm after an incident in Weymouth (Dorset) in which a woman was stabbed.
Two men were arrested in Scotland in connection with a drugs and firearm investigation in Lancashire. A man from Whitley (Berkshire) has been accused of possessing a shotgun, cocaine and cannabis.

Gun Thefts and Recoveries - A number of shotguns and airguns were reported stolen:
- Three shotguns together with boxes of ammunition were stolen from a house in Seven Sisters (Neath, South Wales): a man has been arrested
- Three shotguns were stolen during a burglary in Middleton Cheney (Northamptonshire)
- Four shotguns were stolen, along with a sports car and other items, during a break-in at a house in Rolleston (Nottinghamshire)
- A shotgun was stolen during a burglary in Snelland (Lincolnshire)
- Air rifles were stolen from a property in Metherington (Lincolnshire), a car in Bethersden (Kent) and a garage in Wynyard (County Durham).
A shotgun was recovered from undergrowth in Wingate (County Durham).
A machine gun, pistol and ammunition were found during a police raid on a house in Wythenshawe (Greater Manchester): one man has been charged.
Police found a handgun at a property in Thornbury (Gloucestershire) where a cannabis factory was discovered in the roof. A ball-bearing gun was recovered from one of seven properties raided by police in High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) during an operation aimed at combating drugs and organised crime.
Stun guns have been recovered by police in a number of drug-related raids. One was among items seized from a house in Edinburgh where counterfeit material was also found, another was recovered in Cleckheaton (West Yorkshire) and one was found during a series of raids in Hartlepool.
The Metropolitan Police reported that a month-long crackdown on the carrying of weapons in London netted five guns and led to 50 arrests.

Airguns - During January victims were targeted with airguns in:
- Middlesbrough - a 17-year-old walking in the street was hit in the hand and had to have a pellet removed in hospital
- Swansea - a man claimed he was struck in the knee by a pellet as he was walking along a street
- Truro (Cornwall) - a 14-year-old was shot in the arm: it was believed that the gun responsible was given as a Christmas present
- Wellingborough (Northamptonshire) - a man and a woman were both hit with airgun pellets in the same area of the town
A man was arrested after armed police were called to an apartment block in Hatherleigh (Devon) where a man, believed to be armed with an airgun, had been making threats.
A man who confronted youths in Smethwick (West Midlands) over airgun pellets being fired in the area later had a gun pulled on him.
A man pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court for allegedly being in possession of an air pistol in Turnford (Hertfordshire).
An airgun was fired a number of times at a van in Dorking (Surrey). Six bus shelters have been vandalised, probably with airguns, in Whitburn (County Durham). Residents in Fulwood (Preston) are concerned about a cycle route because the area is already affected by troublemaking: this has included an air rifle being shot through the window of a home.

Imitation Guns - Two more young people were injured with imitation guns, a 12-year-old boy hit with pellets from a BB gun in Airdrie (North Lanarkshire) and a 14-year-old girl who needed hospital treatment after she was shot with a ball-bearing gun in Bolton (her handbag was stolen during the incident).
A group of teenagers may have been threatened by another teenager with a ball-bearing gun in North Finchley (north London).
A man was charged with false imprisonment, possessing an imitation firearm and threats to commit criminal damage after a siege at a house in Wigan.
A 15-year-old from Burghfield Common (Reading) has been charged with possessing a firearm (a "BB air weapon") as well as beating up five people and intimidating witnesses. Police seized a CO2-powered ball-bearing gun after an incident in Crawley (Sussex) and a 17-year-old was charged. Armed police went to a college campus in Chippenham (Wiltshire) and detained another 17-year-old who had concealed an imitation gun in his trousers: he was cautioned.

Incidents Involving Animals - More animals and birds were reported to have become victims in shooting incidents during the month.
Cats were shot with air rifles or ball-bearing guns in Aberdeenshire, Buckinghamshire, County Durham, Hampshire, North London, Oxfordshire (where another of the owner's cats had been injured in an airgun shooting in December 2008), Somerset and South Yorkshire (two separate incidents). A dog was shot with an air rifle in Somerset at a location close to where a cat was also shot.
Two horses were shot in the eye in Leatherhead (Surrey) and one of them has had to be put down.
An animal welfare group has called for an investigation into the alleged shooting of a seal during its breeding season near Kyle of Lochalsh (Ross-shire). In another incident in Scotland a deer, which had been a tourist attraction in Glencoe (Argyll), had to be put down after being shot with an air rifle.
Ducks in Chalfont St Peter (Buckinghamshire) and Greatham Village (Hartlepool) were shot dead with airguns, swans were targeted in the Black Country, Wombwell (South Yorkshire) and in Shepperton and Chertsey (Surrey). Several coots were also found shot in Chertsey. Seagulls and a pigeon have been the target of airgun attacks in Pevensey Bay (East Sussex).
A man was given a suspended 12-week prison sentence for encouraging his son to shoot a wood pigeon with a high velocity air rifle in their garden in Tettenhall (Wolverhampton).

Convictions - A man was found guilty of killing a teenage girl at a party in Tottenham (north London) and has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years. Another man, who pleaded guilty to murdering a man who was shot at a pub in Wolverhampton, has been jailed for 23 years. A man described as a "gun fanatic", who killed his mother by shooting her several times in the head with a handgun and also shot dead their four dogs at the family home in Hamworthy (Dorset), has been jailed for a minimum of 10 years.
Another man was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder after opening fire at police officers in Manor House (north London) and has been jailed for 20 years.
A man who had already been jailed for threatening two policemen with a shotgun has been convicted of trying to kill a man in Cardonald (Glasgow).
Three men who carried out a series of armed raids in Sheffield and shot one victim in the foot with a shotgun have been jailed for a total of almost fifty years.
A man was jailed for 15 years after robbing security guards in Sittingbourne (Kent) - he had denied robbery, possessing a firearm, false imprisonment and concealing criminal property. Five men and two women have been given sentences ranging from 3 years to 21 years for their various roles in a series of armed robberies on banks, security guards and stores in Loughton (Essex) and South Woodford, Romford and Harold Hill (London) in which staff were threatened with a firearm.
Two men have been sentenced to three years and three years and nine months after admitting possessing firearms - they were arrested following an incident in Norwich when two loaded shotguns were recovered after a shots were fired in the street. A teenager has been given an indeterminate sentence after he was caught with a converted blank-firing pistol loaded with ten bullets in Handsworth Wood (Birmingham).
A man was jailed for six years after he admitted keeping a stolen army sub-machine gun and ammunition at a flat in Glasgow - he has been given an additional four years in jail.
A 17-year-old from Merseyside has admitted possession of a shotgun, a handgun and ammunition - he was filmed assembling a shotgun for a BBC Panorama programme. Another teenager from Merseyside caught who was caught with a sawn-off shotgun and cocaine at his home in Huyton has received a six year jail sentence. A 14-year-old boy has been given an 18-month detention and training order for storing a Baikal semi-automatic pistol, silencers and ammunition at his home in New Cross (south east London).
A photographer from Rainham (Kent) was given a suspended jail sentence after he admitted having an illegal Colt 45 - the judge said he accepted that his intent (to use the gun as a prop) was not malevolent and that he did not know possession was illegal but it is hard to understand how anyone would not know that ownership of a handgun is illegal in Great Britain.
Three men were convicted of possessing a stun gun:
- A lorry driver from Leith who claimed to have bought the weapon for self defence against criminals
- A man from Stockbridge Village (Merseyside) who admitted possessing a prohibited weapon and was given a suspended 50-week prison sentence
- A man arrested after a fight in a bar in Leigh (Greater Manchester) who was found to have a stun gun and has been jailed for 14 weeks after pleading guilty to theft, possessing an illegal weapon and breaching his bail

Airguns (Court Cases) - There have been a number of cases in which men have used airguns to threaten others including, in two instances, their own children
- A man threatened to blow up his home in Tredworth (Gloucester) and pointed an air rifle at his own son has been jailed for eight months after he admitted having an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
- A man from Bradford pointed an air rifle at his teenage daughter and has been given a suspended one-year prison sentence.
- A man who brandished an airgun at a paramedic following a suicide bid at his home in Dagenham (east London) and then stole and crashed an ambulance has been jailed for three years.
- A man who threatened a traffic warden with an airgun in Hove (Sussex) pleaded guilty to affray and was fined £200 and ordered to pay £300 compensation.
A serving soldier who caused a major alert when he opened fire with an air rifle across the River Ayr near to where families were picnicking has admitted causing a breach of the peace.
A man who roamed the streets of Cleator (Cumbria) armed with an air pistol and stun gun whilst banned from ever owning guns has been sent to prison for three-and-a-half years.
A man who pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly discharging a firearm after he allowed an air rifle to be fired at targets in his garden in Lerwick (Shetland) has been fined and ordered to forfeit his rifle.
A man from Tamworth (Staffordshire) who bought a lethal, high-powered air rifle from a car boot sale in order to "shoot rats" whilst he was fishing has been jailed for nine months after he admitted possessing an illegal firearm.
A man from Alkrington (Greater Manchester) who had collected a number of guns, two of which were prohibited air weapons, was given a five year sentence after pleading guilty to possessing two unlicensed illegal firearms and a further 12 month sentence to run concurrently for having an imitation firearm with him in a public place.

Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - There was more evidence of the use of imitation guns in armed robberies:
- A member of an organised gang responsible for robberies in Leeds and Manchester has been jailed for 12 years for robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.
- Two men were jailed for 10 years and 7 years after denying armed robbery in Westbury-on-Trym (Bristol) and possession of an imitation firearm.
- A man was given a 12 year jail after admitting to 20 robberies on various premises in Greater Manchester and London during which he had been armed with a ball-bearing gun.
- Two men who were among a gang of seven who forced their way into a house in Huyton (Merseyside) and terrorised three children at gunpoint have been convicted of attempted robbery, robbery and possessing an imitation firearm and have been jailed for six-and-a-half and nine years.
- A man has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after robbing a post office in Thorpe St Andrew (Norwich) whilst armed with an imitation gun.
A suicidal man who terrified passers-by in Cippenham (Berkshire) by thrusting a replica handgun in their faces has been jailed for two years and nine months.
Two men who took pot shots at youths with BB guns in Adwick (South Yorkshire) have each been ordered to carry out 140 hours of community work.
A 19-year-old has admitted affray and possessing an imitation firearm in public after he had been seen in a car in Wrexham holding what looked like a gun.