Gun Incident Summary

MARCH 2007 - SUMMARY

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The fatal shootings last month of three teenagers in south London prompted a wave of discussion about gun crime in the UK and its link with teenage gangs. We commented in the February summary that, following its promise of increased measures to deal with these crimes, we hoped that the Government would not dilute its efforts to tackle other types of gun crime. This month's incidents and convictions have shown yet again that much of the gun crime most likely to affect members of the public involves airguns, which have been used to target people and pets and to cause damage to property, and imitation guns. Indeed March saw a disturbing number of incidents in which imitation guns were fired at pupils at schools reflecting the total disregard that some youths and, it must be said, their parents still have for the real dangers posed by such weapons.

Gun Deaths and Injuries - Four people were fatally injured in shooting incidents during March, three in London (one in Harlesden, west London, and two in Abbey Wood, south east London). The other victim was a taxi driver in Pitsmoor (Sheffield).

Two fatal shootings from earlier in the year were also reported. The inquest opened into the death in January of a woman in Lowfield Heath (Surrey) who was shot dead with a shotgun in her home: her husband has been arrested. A man appeared in court charged with the murder of a man who was shot dead near Halifax in February.

A policeman was shot by a youth in Peckham (south London) but escaped unhurt.

In a second shooting in Harlesden (west London) a man was seriously injured after being hit a number of times in the car park of a club: he may have been left paralysed. A gunman pulled out a firearm during a fight outside another London nightclub (in Forest Gate, east London) and shot a man from a distance of less than 4 ft - a man was arrested. A 21-year-old student was shot and injured at a hip hop concert at Loughborough University.

There were a number of serious shootings in or outside pubs. A man was shot a number of times with a shotgun as he stood outside a pub in Clermiston (Edinburgh): a man has been charged with attempted murder. Another victim of a pub shooting was injured in the leg in an incident in Bloxwich (West Midlands), and two men also suffered injuries to their legs when they were shot at a pub in Leicester. In another pub shooting in Nechells (Birmingham) three men were injured, one critically.

A man suffered leg injuries when he was shot at a house in Padgate (Warrington) in what police believe was a targeted attack, while another was shot in the leg at a house party in Brackenhall (Huddersfield). A man was shot in the hand in a street in Hillfields (Coventry).

A 16-year-old was arrested in connection with the shooting of another teenager in Croxteth (Merseyside): a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old will also appear before magistrates charged with firearms offences. A 17-year-old boy was shot in the foot in Camberwell Road (south east London).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - A woman who had been awarded a record divorce payout was tied up and robbed of £300,000 worth of jewellery at gunpoint in an armed raid on her home in Sevenoaks (Kent). Tobacco was stolen from a house in Penhill (Swindon) by a gunman who entered the house demanding money.

A dog was shot during an armed raid on a farm in Quornford (Staffordshire) in which two men were tied up and £3000 stolen.

A security guard was robbed by two armed men in a raid in South Woodford (north east London) and another security guard was targeted by one man who stole a case of money at Little Sutton (Cheshire). Two armed raiders robbed a bank in the West End of Glasgow.

A teenage assistant manager was threatened during a robbery in a store in Jarrow (Tyneside). A shop in Burtonwood (near Warrington) was raided by two men who pushed a gun into the back of a 15-year-old girl. Two men attempted to rob a store in Farnborough (Hampshire) and one man robbed a shop in Ashford (Kent).

Two armed robbers raided a service station near Bristol.

A man attempted to rob a Chinese takeaway waving a gun in New Bradwell (Buckinghamshire) but left empty handed. A man robbed a fast food restaurant in Portsmouth of £1,500 - the police are investigating whether this may be linked to two similar recent robberies in the city.

Five schoolgirls were involved in an attempted carjacking near Maxwell Park on the south side of Glasgow but were able to escape by driving away.

Other Incidents - A 15-year-old was shot with a Taser gun by armed police during a raid on a property in Moss Side (Manchester) - another man was detained in the raid and charged in connection with a shooting in Rusholme. Eight people were arrested after police raids on 21 other properties in the Manchester area as part of an ongoing crackdown on gun crime.

A man was arrested in Bexhill (Sussex) after police used a Taser gun following reports that a gun had allegedly been pulled on a motorist. A man was arrested in Worthing (Sussex) after a report that he was waving a gun in the street. A 17-year-old was arrested after allegedly waving a handgun at motorists in Guisborough (Teesside).

A man was arrested and a firearm recovered after shots were fired in Shelton (Derby).

Eight shots were fired at a house in Longsight (Greater Manchester). A gun was also fired at a house in Gorton (Greater Manchester) and a bullet shot through a window - a couple and three young children were inside. Damage was caused to a house in West Bowling (Bradford) when a firearm was discharged.

A 14-year-old and a 15-year-old were arrested after a gun was recovered from a house in Great Barr (West Midlands). An 18-year-old was charged after a gun was found at a hostel in Croydon.

Police are looking for a man captured on CCTV who was believed to be carrying a gun in Luton after two windows of a pub were broken.

A vehicle parked in a driveway in Weybourne (Surrey) was damaged when a gun was fired into the back of it.

A man was arrested after he dropped a gun in a pub in Renfrew.

There were unconfirmed reports of a firearm being used during a domestic incident in Kidderminster. A shotgun and another gun were recovered by police following a disturbance in Huddersfield.

Smuggling, Gun Finds, Thefts and Losses - One of two men convicted of possessing prohibited weaponry (18 converted gas pistols, 18 silencers) and ammunition without a licence was found hanged in prison before he was sentenced. The other man, said to be at the heart of smuggling the weapons from Eastern Europe, had been given a ten and a half year sentence (see May 2006 Incidents).

Twenty guns, described as imitation ball-bearing guns, were stolen from a shop in Cannock. The guns are reported to be for use in airsoft, and it will be interesting to see whether one of the shop owners proves to be correct in saying that the guns were unlikely to be used for illegal purposes but were more likely to be sold back into the airsoft community.

Police recovered a cache of weapons and ammunition from a park in Merseyside after a tip-off from local residents. In a separate incident police found a shotgun and ammunition at a house in Kirkby and arrested a woman. A substantial quantity of illegal firearms was found by police during a raid on a Denbighshire farm in which cannabis plants were also recovered (two people were arrested).

Ammunition including shotgun cartridges, bullets and several artillery shells was found at a recycling facility in Peterborough.

Doncaster police appealed for information after a shotgun (needing a licence) and two air rifles were stolen from Askern.

Convictions (see also Imitation Guns and Airgun Incidents) - A man will serve a minimum of 30 years for the murder of a man who was fatally wounded in a car in Streatham, south London, in January 2006. His accomplice received a 12-year-sentence for manslaughter.

Four men were convicted for offences relating to death of a man at a nightclub in Dewsbury (West Yorkshire). One was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years another admitted murder and was sentenced to 18 years.

An 18-year-old was found guilty of murdering a man in Canning Town (east London) last year. The court heard that the weapon used to kill his victim was probably a converted self-loading blank firing pistol.

A petrol station cashier in Hooley (Surrey) survived a shooting when a man attempted to rob him but was left with a bullet in his head. The gunman was found guilty of attempted murder. Sentencing was adjourned. Two men were sentenced to at least 11 years and at least 5 years after pleading guilty following their arrest for an attempted robbery on a security van delivering cash to a petrol station in Sidcup (Kent).

A man admitted affray and possessing a firearm without a certificate and was given an 11 month suspended jail sentence after threatening a woman with a 12-bore shotgun after his sheep and lambs had been attacked by out of control dogs in Haslingden (Lancashire).

A Devon man has been jailed for 5 years for possession of a prohibited revolver and possession of a sports rifle without a licence. A man was Glasgow was also jailed for 5 years after a prohibited pistol had been found at his house.

A Hartlepool man who was banned from owning firearms was caught with a shotgun and ammunition and pleaded guilty to a number of offences.

Airguns - Two refuse workers were fired on by a man armed with an airgun in Kettering (Northants). A man was arrested in Shrewsbury after allegedly shooting at people with an air rifle.

Two teenage boys fired two shots from an airgun at an elderly man in Warndon (Worcester).

A youth, possibly armed with an air rifle, caused thousands of pounds worth of damage in Welham Green (Hertfordshire): cars and windows were damaged.

A shoplifter was found to have an air pistol stuffed in his sock when he was arrested at Marble Arch for the theft of a scarf.

Convictions - A 17-year-old from Dunfermline who shot a young woman with an air rifle causing her to lose the sight of one eye, admitted culpably and recklessly firing the gun. A 21-year-old man from Muirhouse (Edinburgh) was ordered to do 240 hours of community service after hitting a pregnant woman when he fired an air rifle from his bedroom window.

A man who fired an airgun through a letter box in Barrow, hitting a woman in the hand, was given a 30 month prison sentence.

A man admitted pulling an airgun out of a bag during a raid on an Edinburgh shop.

A 19-year-old received an 18 month custodial sentence and a 14-year-old a two year supervision order after they had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage as they drove through Hampshire and Wiltshire firing a semi-automatic airgun out of the car window.

A man from Bevendean (Brighton) took pot shots at a neighbour's chimney and peppered the cover with 17 shots: he admitted criminal damage and possessing cannabis resin and ecstasy but denied possessing a firearm. A Huntingdon man admitted criminal damage after taking potshots at a neighbour's satellite dish.

A court heard how a teenager who brutally stabbed two of his friends to death owned an airgun and enjoyed killing animals with it.

Imitation Guns - In spite of measures in the Violent Crime Reduction Act which will ban the sale of imitations guns there is still plenty of evidence that these weapons remain too readily available. In particular there were a worrying number of instances in which they are being used in incidents at schools.

Seventeen primary school children in Rugeley (Staffordshire) were hit when three 12-year-olds opened fire with BB guns. Three schoolgirls were hit by BB gun pellets whilst walking to a class at a school in Falkirk: three pupils have been suspended and two youths will be the subject of a report to the Children's Reporter. A ball-bearing gun was fired at a school in Didsbury (south Manchester): one 13-year-old pupil has been excluded. A black market in imitation firearms has been uncovered at a Brighton school after a boy fired a gun in a classroom: a 12-year-old pupil is believed to have brought in four BB guns and a number of pupils have been suspended.

A 19-year-old had to be taken to hospital after being shot in the stomach with what was apparently a BB gun by a group of younger children in Trentham (Staffordshire).

A 15-year-old was caught with a BB gun at a school in Methil (Fife) and was immediately banned.

A 16-year-old was disarmed of an imitation gun by police in the centre of Andover (Hampshire).

A driver stopped during an operation in Acton (west London) had an extremely life-like imitation shotgun in his car and was arrested. Another man was arrested in Bromley (south west London) charged with possession of an imitation firearm after reports of a man armed with a gun following a domestic incident.

Armed police were called to the centre of Reigate (Surrey) after reports of a man with a gun, but it appears that students were filming: police warned of the dangers of having imitation firearms in a public place.

A church in Northenden (Greater Manchester) has come under fire from youths with ball-bearing guns.

TA soldiers from York University used a plastic airgun in the filming a mock terror execution that was placed on YouTube. A Galashiels man has been traced after another video was placed on YouTube showing men in balaclavas firing guns: imitation guns were recovered.

Imitation Guns - Convictions - Each month there are a number of reports of convictions of offenders who have used imitation guns. Many of the incidents were serious offences which contribute significantly to the level of gun crime in Britain.

A man who admitted assaulting a 12-year-old boy by shooting him with a ball-bearing gun in Stenhousemuir (Stirlingshire), amongst other offences, was sentenced to 250 hours community service.

Two 17-year-olds will serve at least four and a half years in detention following a series of attacks on streets in the Birmingham area in which three victims were shot at point blank range with BB guns.

A man who robbed betting shops in Trafford Park and Old Trafford admitted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm. A 20-year-old has been sent to a young offenders institution for four and a half years after a robbery at a shop in Gorleston (Norfolk) in which he used a ball-bearing gun.

Another offender was given an indefinite sentence after using an imitation gun during a street robbery on an 18-year-old victim close to North Shields Metro station on Tyneside.

A man who confronted three schoolgirls in South Wales and threatened other children was jailed for two and a half years after admitting robbery offences and possessing an imitation gun with intent to cause fear of violence.

A 21-year-old who fired shots from an imitation gun outside his old school in Purley (Surrey) was given a five year jail term - he had later been found in possession of a sawn-off shotgun as well as the imitation gun.

A man held a doctor and two nurses at gunpoint in a hospital in Birmingham whilst armed with an imitation gun and will be sentenced next month.

A 14-year-old was given three years detention following two hold ups on shops in Pontypool in which he used a ball-bearing gun. Two teenagers were convicted after holding up a shop in Barking (east London) whilst armed with a loaded ball-bearing gun (sentences of five and a half and four years). A 19-year-old was sentenced to two-and-a-half years after he and others attempted to hold up a bookmaker's in Chelmsley Wood (Birmingham): one of the men was armed with an imitation gun.

A man who claimed that he had only pointed an imitation gun at the staff of a Chinese takeaway in Blackpool for a bet has been given a two years community order.

A man was jailed for 18 month after threatening a woman with a paintball gun in a road rage incident in Bracknell (Berkshire).

A man found with three imitation guns and a machete following a domestic incident in Redditch (Worcestershire) was ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work.

Incidents Involving Animals - There was more evidence that airguns are being misused to shoot pets, especially cats. Incidents involving cats, some of which proved fatal, were reported from localities around the country: Cheshire (Runcorn - an 18-year-old was arrested), Cumbria (Workington), Gloucestershire (Stow, Cheltenham), Kent (Chatham) and central Scotland (Bishopbriggs, Stenhousemuir). A dog was shot with an airgun whilst walking with her owner in Denholm in the Scottish Borders.

Swans and other birds are still being targeted by killers armed with airguns. This month there were reports of swans being shot dead in Northamptonshire (Wellingborough) and Teesside and of a mallard duck that died after being badly injured at Nuneaton.

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