FEBRUARY 2007 - SUMMARY

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In our last summary (for January 2007) we highlighted the disturbingly high level of involvement of young people as perpetrators of gun crime.  This month's events in south London were a shocking reminder that young people are too often also the victims of gun crime, including the most brutal.  Considerable attention was given to the fatal shootings of the three teenagers in Streatham, Peckham and Clapham, and what followed was a flood of media and political opinion about the level of gun crime in Britain and its causes.  The Government's response was to organise a summit, chaired by the Prime Minister.  Following the summit the Government announced a 3-point plan to tackle gun crime, which focussed on crime in inner cities and its link with gangs and drugs.

In view of the circumstances that led up to the summit this focus was not surprising.  However, as the following summary of all the gun incidents from February shows, there are other types of gun crime which impact on the lives of a much wider section of the public across the country.  Although the consequences of some of these crimes might be viewed as less serious than those occurring in inner cities, the effects on the victims should never be underestimated.  Measures should be in place to tackle these crimes too.  It is essential, therefore, that in its attempts to deal with the problem of gangs and guns the Government does not take its eye off the ball and ignore these other aspects of gun crime and their causes.  For example, crimes involving imitation guns occur all over Britain and the problems caused are not restricted to urban teenage gangs.  Airguns may not be seen as a major problem within gangs but there are hundreds of victims every year some of whom, often young boys, suffer serious and sometimes fatal injuries.  If through an emphasis, however understandable, on one particular and topical concern, there is a failure to deal with all types of gun crime, this would send out completely the wrong message.  Misuse of any gun is totally unacceptable wherever or however it occurs, as the following summary shows.

• Gun Deaths and Injuries - Six people were killed in deliberate shootings during February, five in London, and the young age of three of the victims, all in their mid-teens, brought gun crime back into the headlines.

• A 16-year-old was shot dead at an ice rink in Streatham, a 15-year-old was shot in the bedroom of his home in Peckham and another 15-year-old in his home in Clapham North.

• In a second shooting in a Peckham home one man was killed and another seriously injured.  Another victim was shot dead in a car in Hackney, east London.

• A man was shot in the head in a park in Horton Bank Top in Bradford and died later in hospital.

• A man died after he was shot in the face with his own rifle in Stanley (Derbyshire) in what appears to have been an accident.

• Three men were injured in two separate shootings in Harlesden (north west London).  In Manchester a teenager was shot in the back in an incident in Moss Side, where two men were injured in another incident later in the month, and two men were injured when their car was fired at in Longsight.  A man was recovering in hospital after being shot in St Ann's (Nottingham).  A man was shot in the arm at a house in Burgess Hill (Sussex).  A man was shot and injured in the leg in an incident in Sheffield.

• Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - The weapon used in many of these incidents is often described as being or looking like a handgun, but if the weapon is not recovered and identified there is always a possibility that it was actually an imitation gun.

• There was a further spate of armed raids on shops around the country.  There were robberies or attempted robberies in St Peter's Bridge (Staffordshire), Reading (a 19-year-old has been charged over five robberies in the town), Allerton (Bradford), Littlemoor (Chesterfield), Leeds (two corner shops), Sholling (Hampshire), Kilmarnock and Rhu (Dunbartonshire).  Bookmakers was targeted by armed men in Bracknell (Berkshire) and Bulwell (Nottinghamshire).  A man fled empty handed after a robbery on a financial services office in Glasgow, but nearly £1m of jewellery was stolen in another raid in the centre of the city.  A gang raided a bingo hall in Famley (Leeds) where shots were fired.  A petrol station in Haydock (Merseyside) was robbed by a youth, thought to be aged between 15 and 17, armed with a handgun.  Post offices were raided by robbers armed with handguns in Craigmillar (Edinburgh) and Church (Accrington) (the robber was believed to be aged 16).

• CCTV photos were released of a raid on a shop in Merridale (Wolverhampton) in December 2006 in which a shotgun was aimed at a shop worker.

• A security guard was robbed outside a supermarket in Kilmarnock.  A cash box was stolen from a security guard by two armed robbers in Wanstead, east London.  Another cash box was stolen by an armed man during a cash delivery in Borehamwood (Hertfordshire).

• In two incidents in Battersea (south London), which may be linked, two people in a house were assaulted and property stolen and a couple walking in the street were robbed of their credit cards: in both cases a gang of five or six young men were involved.

• A puppy was stolen from a house in Peckham (south London) by a gang of four armed men.  A 15-year-old girl was robbed of cash when a gunman came to a caravan in Rushton (Northamptonshire).  In Stretford (Greater Manchester) two boys, aged 12 and 14, were attacked by four men, one of whom had a gun and stole a PSP console and a mobile phone.

• Two taxi drivers were robbed by armed men in separate incidents in Sheffield (Arbourthorne and Burngreave).  In one of the attacks the driver was left with a pellet in his head after being shot with an airgun (see below).

• Two men, later arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs, were abducted by three men, armed with a shotgun, from a pub car park in Whitnash (Warwickshire).

• Other Incidents - Damage was done to a house in Shirecliffe (South Yorkshire) when someone opened fire on the property with a shotgun.  Shops in Dovecot (Merseyside) were also damaged in another shotgun attack.

• A teenager aimed a gun at other youths in a fast food restaurant in south west London and fired one shot.  See Imitation Gun Incidents below for another incident in which children were targeted in a fast food restaurant.

• A gunshot was heard following a fight between youths in Chadwell Heath (east London).  Two shots were fired in a Blackburn alleyway: one of them passed through the boot of a car.

• A man was arrested after brandishing a shotgun at a salvage yard in Baxenden (Lancashire).

• Detectives were searching for a gunman thought to have been stabbed during a fight between criminal gangs in Burnley.

• Armed response units were sent to a nightclub in Liverpool after reports that someone had a handgun: no weapon was found.

• Police recovered a handgun and ammunition during a raid in Edinburgh when £100,000 cocaine was found: a 17-year-old was arrested.

• Four people in Urmston (Cheshire) were arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm.  Four people were arrested in Nelson (Lancashire) on suspicion of being involved in gun crime.

• Smuggling, Thefts and Losses - Two British men and a Lithuanian have been convicted for their involvement in smuggling handguns from eastern Europe.  One of the British men was jailed for ten and a half years, the other will be sentenced later, and the Lithuanian has been jailed for seven years.

• A dangerous firearm and ammunition were stolen from a house near Leven (Fife)

• A number of air weapons were stolen during a robbery at a house in Wilton (West Yorkshire).

• Convictions (see also Smuggling, Imitation Guns and Airgun Incidents) - The four teenagers responsible for the death of a woman at a christening in Peckham were given long jail sentences (see December 2006 Incidents for details).  One 18-year-old was given a 30 year sentence for murder, the other three received minimum sentences of eight years detention for manslaughter and robbery.

• A man who admitted the manslaughter of a man shot dead on a doorstep in Effingham (Surrey) has been jailed for 6 years.

• A man was convicted of attempted murder after he shot a doorman at a Widnes club because he was asked to remove his hood: he will serve a minimum of 20 years in prison.

• Another men was convicted of attempted murder and jailed for a minimum of 15 years after randomly shooting two people in Islington and Finsbury Park (north London): he attempted to shoot a third victim.

• Two people, a woman and her ex-boyfriend, were given life sentences after being convicted for the murder of the woman's former husband who was shot at Bramcote (Nottinghamshire) in 2003.

• A man who used a double barrel shotgun to shoot an old friend whom he met by chance when he was going to shoot ducks in Ince (Wigan) has been jailed for at least five years.

• Airguns - This month we heard from a correspondent whose teenage son is a tetraplegic as a result of being shot with an air rifle by another teenager in August 2005 (see Details).  Sadly the catalogue of incidents involving the reckless or wilful misuse of airguns, especially by youths, continued in February.

• A Sheffield taxi driver has been left with an airgun pellet in his head after being attacked in Arbourthorne.

• A 12-year-old boy was taken to hospital after an airgun attack in Workington.  A 14-year-old girl also required hospital treatment after being shot in the leg with an air rifle in a field near Barnsley.  A pupil at a school in Archway, north London, was hit in the eye socket with an air pistol fired by another pupil.

• A 14-year-old was arrested for five offences including possession of an air pistol after a group of youths stole from a supermarket in Ham (south west London).

• Three teenagers were arrested after pointing an unloaded airgun at a driver on the A41 in north London.  Two youngsters are being sought after stones and pellets were fired at vehicles on the A14 in Ipswich: one youth was spotted with a gun just before a driver's windscreen was cracked.

• At least 20 homes have been damaged in Stockton as a result of attacks by youths with airguns.  Two cash machines in Portsmouth were riddled with holes after being shot at with an airgun.  A travel agents and three other premises in Warwick with hit by pellets, possibly fired by an airgun.

• A car was apparently hit in Eckington (Derbyshire) when a gang attacked four men who were travelling in the vehicle.

• An air rifle was confiscated from a youth by police in Waltham Abbey (Essex) after reports that he was aiming the gun at a road.  A bus passenger was arrested in Bishop Auckland (County Durham) after being found by the driver asleep and holding an air rifle.

• A 13-year-old boy who was responsible for the death of 12-year-old Mitchel Picken, whom he shot with an air rifle in Stockton Brook (Staffordshire), was acquitted of manslaughter.

• A footballer who ended the career of a former colleague when he shot him in the eye with an airgun in Durham in 2002 has reached a settlement with him.  Although described as a "freak shooting accident" there have been too many incidents of this type.  The circumstances are too familiar and avoidable to continue describing them as freak accidents.

• An 18-year-old was given a suspended nine-month prison term and a community punishment after shooting his girlfriend in the face in Bolton-on-Dearne (South Yorkshire): she had asked him to 'pretend to shoot me'.  A 20-year-old was sent to a young offender institution for nine months after admitting possessing a .22 air rifle which was used to shoot at members of the public in Lupset (West Yorkshire): a 16-year-old girl and a man pushing his child in a pushchair were hit.

• A man who caused an armed siege at his home in Melksham (Wiltshire) whilst brandishing an air pistol has been given a 36 week suspended jail sentence.

• A man found with two airguns, ammunition and a silencer at Kenfig Hill, Glamorgan, was given a 12-month suspended sentence and ordered to do 250 hours of community work.

• Imitation Guns - A number of youngsters were targeted with imitation guns and an Oxford man was convicted for blinding a 13-year-old in an attack with a ball-bearing gun.

• Two 11-year-olds were hit with pellets from a gun fired by one of a group of children whilst they were queuing in McDonalds in Dundee: another 11-year-old was later charged.

• A 17-year-old was shot with a ball-bearing gun in Blackburn during an attack by a gang of up to 20 men.

• A 16-year-old boy was taken to hospital after being hit on the head with a BB gun when two teenagers tried to rob him and a group of friends in a playground in Fulwood (Preston): a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old have been charged.

• A man was taken into custody after firing a starting pistol at a group of teenagers in Sunderland.  A man was charged with possession of an imitation firearm after he chased children in the street in Darwen (Lancashire).

• Five people were arrested after reports of a weapon being fired from a car in Middlesbrough: a BB gun and two paintball guns were recovered.

• Armed police went to two incidents in Bermondsey and Surrey Quays (south east London) involving youths with imitation guns: in one, five boys, aged 10 to 13, were arrested.

•  A man in Axminster was arrested after reports of a man with a firearm: what is believed to have been a ball-bearing gun was recovered.

• Five people were taken into custody in Felixstowe after a number of weapons, including three BB guns, were seized by police: four were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery.

• A man who admitted shooting a 13-year-old with a BB gun in Greater Leys (Oxford) has been told he faces a jail sentence: the boy has lost the sight of one eye as a result of the shooting.

• A man from Whitehaven (Cumbria) threatened his mother in her home by holding a ball-bearing gun to her head: sentencing has been deferred.

• A number of people were convicted for robberies in which imitation guns were used.  Two men face long jail terms for a robbery at a Dundee pub where one of the men had presented an imitation gun.  A 13-year-old has been detained for four years in a young offender institution for a series of offences in West Norwood (south London) in which he used an imitation gun.  A man was jailed following a robbery at a shop in Shirley (south London) in which he was armed with imitation guns.  A post office manager and a former employee were jailed after a fake robbery involving a toy gun was staged at the post office in Grangetown (Cardiff).  An 18-year-old used a ball-bearing gun to rob a petrol station on the A14 in Northamptonshire (he has received 46 months detention).

• A man was jailed for six years after an incident in which he brandished a ball-bearing gun at police in Rugeley (Staffordshire).  Another man was given a 14 month sentence after an incident in Middlesbrough in which he pointed one of two handguns, apparently imitations, at a police officer.

• Incidents Involving Animals - Reports from around the country, including one from a correspondent to GCN, show that attacks on cats with air rifles are still occurring with a sickening frequency.  Even if the pet survives the attacks inevitably lead to distress for the animal and expense and upset for the owners.

 

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