Gun Incident Summary - August 2009

The death of 5-year-old Jonathan Cooke, shot in what has been described as a tragic accident at the home of family friends, has once again drawn attention to the lethality of airguns. The shooting of Jonathan was not an intentional act, but during August, as in every other month, a number of other victims, many of them also young, appear to have been deliberately targeted with air weapons. Some were lucky to have escaped with only minor injuries.

Gun Control Network continues to question why air weapons are being treated as if they are distinct from other guns. Their different mechanism of firing should not determine how their ownership and use are controlled. As lethal weapons, which it is clear many airguns are, they should be subject to the same legislation that controls the use of other guns, in other words there should be a registration system so that ownership is restricted to those with a legitimate reason to use them. Sadly more and more people, and animals, are paying for the consequences of allowing too many of these weapons to get into the wrong hands.

Gun Deaths and Injuries - GCN is aware of four fatal shooting incidents during August:
- There were two homicides. One occurred in south London in Rotherhithe (the victim died in hospital - three men have been arrested) and the other in Sheffield where the victim was found shot dead at the wheel of his crashed car in Parson Cross (three men have been arrested)
- A 5-year-old boy died after being shot with an air rifle in the grounds of the house where he was staying in Fovant (Wiltshire)
- A farmer died in Southwick (Wiltshire), apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
A number of victims were injured in shooting attacks - in most cases the victim's condition was not thought to be life-threatening. The incidents occurred in:
- Greater Manchester (1) - a woman was shot in the shoulder in Barton (a man has been charged with attempted murder)
- Merseyside (3) - a man was shot in his home in Huyton, a teenager abducted in Huyton was found with gunshot wound to his leg in Stockbridge Village and a third male victim was shot in the leg, probably in Bootle
- North London (5) - a man was shot in the head during a street robbery in Finsbury Park, another victim was shot in Tottenham, and three people, including one woman, received gunshot wounds during a shooting at a nightclub in Muswell Hill
- Northumberland (1) - two men entered a house and shot a man in Darras Hall (one man has been arrested)
- Sheffield (1) - a man was shot in the right arm
- South London (2) - a man was injured in Lewisham and another was shot outside a nightclub in Southwark after a man was fatally injured by a car
- West Midlands (4) - two men were injured in a shooting incident in Coventry (a teenager was arrested) and another two victims sustained gunshot wounds in Erdington
- West Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the leg in Chapeltown (Leeds)
Two police officers were injured in a shooting incident near Waterloo station (central London) (a man has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and possession of a loaded firearm).
A man from Dearham (Cumbria) was in a serious condition after a shooting, though police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
A bus driver was shot with a bolt gun in Henbury (Bristol).
At least eleven people, including another five-year old child and three teenagers, were injured when they were shot at with airguns and BB guns:
- A teenager was shot in the head with an air rifle as she walked in a park in Darlington - the pellet narrowly missed her eye socket.
- Police are trying to trace a woman who reported that she had been shot with an air rifle while walking through a park in Tamworth (Staffordshire).
- A young woman was shot with an air rifle as she waited near a taxi rank in Mansfield (Nottinghamshire). In a second incident in the area a teenager was shot, probably with an air rifle, in Mansfield Woodhouse and had a pellet lodged close to his kidney.
- A teenager who was shot in the leg with an airgun whilst walking on a trail in Weymouth (Dorset) needed hospital treatment.
- A man was shot in the leg with an air rifle and then beaten unconscious as he walked home with his wife at Liversedge (West Yorkshire).
- A cyclist was shot with an air rifle whilst riding in Titsey (Surrey).
- A five-year-old girl was shot in the head with an air rifle in Workington (Cumbria).
- A man was shot in the face with an airgun as he was boarding up a window in Burnley (Lancashire).
- A young woman was shot in the neck by an airgun sniper in Woburn Sands (Bedfordshire).
- A roofer was struck in the head by a pellet, believed to have been fired from a BB gun, as he worked in Cambridge.

Armed Robberies - There were robberies and attempted robberies allegedly involving guns at Banks, a Bureau de Change and Post Offices in Bilton (Warwickshire) (a man was charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm after this and another robbery at a shop - see below), Brighton (Sussex), Coventry, Salfords (Surrey) and Woodford Green (Essex), Jewellers in Banbury (Oxfordshire), Colchester (Essex), Harrogate (North Yorkshire) (two people including a 14-year-old boy have been arrested), Lutterworth (Leicestershire) and Mayfair (central London) (shots were fired after the robbery - two men have been charged), Other Shops in Bilton (Warwickshire) (see above), Chellaston (Derby), Haywards Heath (West Sussex), Kings Sutton (Northamptonshire), Kingswood (Bristol), Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), Portswood (Hampshire) (a teenager has appeared in court), Thornhill (Southampton) (a teenage woman has been charged), Tonbridge (Kent) and Wickford (Essex), a Tanning Saloon in Morden (south London), a Petrol Station in Felbridge (Surrey), Pubs in Alvaston (Derby) (a man was later arrested) and Withington (Greater Manchester) (a gang held a gun to a boy's head) and a Restaurant in Bracklesham (West Sussex). One man was detained for misuse of drugs and a firearms offence and another for an alleged robbery after a robbery at a pharmacy in Hamilton (South Lanarkshire).
Security guards stopped a robbery by two armed men in Dargate (Kent) by locking themselves into a room. Other security men were attacked during a robbery at a bank in Flint (North Wales).
There were armed robberies involving guns at Homes in Beccles (Suffolk) (two men were armed with handguns and a stun-type device), Kempston (Bedfordshire) (the owners were subjected to two robberies, one involving a gun, during the same night) and Witney (Oxfordshire) (the theft was from living quarters above a fast food shop).
A Car was stolen from a couple in Denton (Greater Manchester) after an attacker fired a stun gun at the owner. Two men believed to be armed with a gun stole items from people sitting in a car in Gloucester.
A man was shot and injured during a Street Robbery in Finsbury Park (north London) in which his mobile phones and car keys were stolen. A woman was robbed and hit with a gun outside her flat in Dalston (east London).
A man has been charged with two counts of robbery after a raid at a bar in Didsbury (Greater Manchester) last month.

Other Incidents - Shots were fired:
- at a car in Moss Side (Greater Manchester) (an 18-year-old was charged with two counts of attempted murder)
- in two incidents in Merseyside, in Knowsley and in Old Swan, where a garage was damaged
- at properties in Milnrow and in Broughton (Lancashire)
- during a fight in Winsford (Cheshire) (seven men were arrested)
- by a moped rider at a man in Luton (Bedfordshire).
- during an incident in Stanley (County Durham) (a man is being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder and a shotgun was recovered)
Three men were arrested after men in a car were reportedly threatening people with a gun in Oldham (Greater Manchester).
Three men brandishing a gun and a baseball bat threatened a woman in a flat in Westcliff (Essex).
A man was arrested on suspicion of firearm offences after properties were searched in Preston (Lancashire).
A man has been charged with possessing a loaded revolver in a pub in Whitby (North Yorkshire).
A gun was allegedly pulled during a street disturbance in Halifax (West Yorkshire).
A gun was discovered in a garden in Hillsborough (Sheffield) by police chasing a possible burglary suspect.
Dog walkers in Ifield (Sussex) have been disturbed by gunfire and men wielding rifles.
A teenager from Aberdeen has been accused of attacking three men with a taser gun.
Six men arrested on suspicion of carrying a gun in Southend (Essex) were released without charge.

Airguns and Imitation Guns - Besides the fatal shooting and those in which eleven other victims were injured (see above) there were many more incidents involving airguns and imitation guns.
A teenager was hit with the butt of an air rifle during an attack by a teenage gang outside Halifax (West Yorkshire).
An airgun pellet fired at a pensioner in Derby narrowly missed his head. Staff at a supermarket in Workington (Cumbria) were targeted with pellets from an air rifle. An air rifle was fired in a petrol station store in Chingford (north east London) - the gunman fled the scene.
A 13-year-old had a BB gun fired at him in a Lincolnshire village (one pellet hit the tyre of his bike). Two teenagers were arrested in Calne (Wiltshire) on suspicion of firing a BB gun at two men.
A man was charged with having a loaded firearm (a gas-operated handgun) and with damaging a window at his ex-partner's home in Haddenham (Cambridgeshire).
A pizza delivery driver was threatened with a replica handgun in Mickleover (Derby). Children playing in Houghton (Cumbria) have been threatened by youths with air rifles.
Following other incidents involving air weapons and imitation guns:
- a 14-year-old and a man have been charged with trespassing on land with a firearm and firing an air weapon on farmland in Aspatria (Cumbria)
- two men had their weapon seized after they fired an air rifle in a park in South Woodford (north east London)
- one of four people detained after a fracas in Barrow (Cumbria) was arrested for possession of an air rifle
- a man was given a police caution after being seen with an air rifle in Whitburn (Sunderland), and a second man was later arrested
- a man from Witney (Oxfordshire) was arrested and charged with a number of offences including possession of an imitation firearm in a public place
- teenagers in Huntingdonshire who were playing in a public space with two airsoft guns, described by a police spokesman as "two of the most realistic imitation I have seen", had the weapons seized
- three teenagers with a toy gun apologised after sparking a police search when they were spotted wielding a gun in a car in Minster (Kent)
- two youths with BB guns sticking out of their pockets sparked an armed response in Benwick (Cambridgeshire)
Among the Armed Robberies listed above an airgun and an imitation gun are known to have been used at a shop in Tonbridge (Kent) and at a bank and a shop in Bilton (Warwickshire). The large number of convictions for use of an imitation firearm in a robbery (see below) suggests that these will not have been the only armed robberies committed with imitation weapons during August. A man has been charged with a number of thefts, in two of which (in Hackney and Barnet, London) he is reported to have used a replica firearm.
During a roadshow highlighting the dangers posed by trespassing and vandalism on the railway Network Rail revealed that the window of a train driven by a Leicestershire driver was shattered by an air rifle pellet.
Windows of homes were damaged with an airgun in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire) and with a BB gun in Haverhill (Suffolk).
An air pistol was recovered by police in Sunderland after a pursuit following an alleged break-in.
A group of men hunting with an air rifle near Warton (Lancashire) caused a major police operation.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts - Two men, one of them a serving soldier, were arrested over the theft of handguns from Ministry of Defence property in Wiltshire - eleven guns were recovered in High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire).
A number of arrests were made after police recovered firearms and ammunition:
- A man was charged after a loaded firearm with the appearance of a pen was recovered in Rusholme (Greater Manchester).
- A teenager was arrested after a firearm and ammunition were found in a garden in Old Swan (Liverpool).
- Two men were arrested and one of them was charged after a firearm and ammunition were found in Loughborough (Leicestershire).
- A handgun was recovered and eight men arrested on suspicion of firearms offences when police stopped two cars in Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire).
- A sub-machine gun and a sawn-off shotgun were found under a bed in a flat in Burmantofts (Leeds) - a man has been arrested.
- Ammunition was found during a police drugs raid in Reading (Berkshire) (one of two men arrested has been held for a firearms offence).
Two firearms, a pistol and a key fob-style gun were found in a bag discovered on grassland in Preston (Lancashire).
Four BB guns, apparently in a window display, were taken from a shop in Saundersfoot (Pembrokeshire).
In the second such incident in Scotland in two months paintball guns were taken during a break-in at an adventure centre in Kirkintilloch (East Dunbartonshire).

Incidents Involving Animals - Shooting attacks on cats continued apparently unabated during August, and there were reports from Anglesey, Angus, Berwickshire, Bolton, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Clackmannanshire, Cumbria, Essex, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (two incidents), South London and Sussex. Most of these attacks involved airguns. Four youths were arrested after a number of cat shootings with air rifles in Milford Haven (Pembrokeshire).
A dog had to be put down after being shot with an air rifle in Bramley (West Yorkshire).
A man from Moffat (Dumfriesshire) who trapped and shot four badgers illegally received a record fine.
Convictions - Four gang members have been jailed for life (minimum sentences of 20 to 30 years) for the murder of a teenager who was shot in Burngreave (Sheffield).
A man was jailed for life after being found guilty of attempted murder - he shot at four men in Brixton (south London).
A man who shot at police in Ladbroke Grove (west London) has admitted two robberies and using a firearm to resist arrest. Another man who hit a police patrol car with shotgun pellets in Highgate (north London) has been given an minimum term of 5 years imprisonment after admitting a number of offences.
A drunk teenager who fired a sawn-off shotgun at a moving car in Woking (Surrey) was given a 5 year custodial sentence.
A man admitted three charges including carrying a firearm with intent to commit an offence of robbery after robberies at premises in Brighouse (West Yorkshire). An ex-police officer was jailed for 42 months after a robbery at a betting shop in Ilford (east London).
A man who held an empty gun to a taxi driver's head during a robbery in Leyland (Lancashire) also pleaded guilty to rape and has been given an indefinite jail sentence.
A man who held a stun gun to a baby's back during a burglary in Efford (Plymouth) has been sentenced to a total of 7½ years.
A number of men were convicted for possession of firearms or ammunition:
- One who had a modified blank-firing revolver stashed in his bedroom in Fulwood (Preston) admitted possession of a prohibited weapon.
- An offender from Norwood (south London) admitted money-laundering, drug offences, possessing a shotgun without a licence and shortening a shotgun and has been jailed for 16 years.
- A man has been jailed for 3½ years after admitting possessing a sawn-off shotgun without a certificate - the gun was found hidden in a shed in Northampton.
- A man has been jailed for 12 years after a revolver containing four bullets was found under a car in Erith (Kent).
- A teenager who kept a pistol in a safe at his home in Wolverhampton has been given a 5½ year custodial sentence.
An ex-soldier from Jarrow (Tyneside) who tried to buy a .50 calibre rifle from the USA over the internet was given a suspended 36-week jail sentence after the weapon was intercepted by British Customs.
A man from Aberdeen who bought a stun gun over the internet has been warned he could face a jail sentence.
A gun owner from Stranraer (Wigtownshire) admitted three breaches of the Firearm Act and one of the Explosives Act after leaving a gun, a gun part, ammunition and gunpowder lying about his flat and has been fined £7500.
A man from Blairgowrie (Perthshire) who removed a shotgun from his father's house without informing the police was fined £400 for breaching firearms regulations.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - Four men were jailed for their roles in the torture, abduction and murder of a man in Bradford - they were armed with an imitation gun when they broken into the victim's house.
There were convictions for three men who injured others with airguns and imitation guns:
- A man whose wife encouraged him to take potshots with an airgun at children in Tipton (West Midlands) has been jailed for 3½ years and his wife for 2 years.
- An 18-year-old pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and admitted having a loaded firearm in a public place without lawful reason after a man was shot in the knee with an airgun in Whitehaven (Cumbria).
- A man who fired a BB gun at another man's eye in Basildon (Essex) was convicted of assault and possessing an imitation gun in a public place and jailed for 2½ years.
The following list highlights the frequent use of imitation guns in robberies:
- A man was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after admitting a number of robberies and attempted robberies and three counts of possessing an imitation firearm - in one raid in Brighton he was cuffed with his own imitation weapon.
- A man who was drunk attempted to rob a shopkeeper in Burslem (Staffordshire) after he picked up a toy gun - he was given a 2½ year sentence.
- A man has pleaded guilty to two robberies in Watford (Hertfordshire) and Stanmore (north west London) during which he was armed with an imitation firearm - he faces a substantial jail sentence.
- A man from Melksham (Wiltshire) has admitted actual bodily harm and a firearm offence after he attempted to commit a robbery with an imitation firearm and knife.
- Two men who terrorised staff at a jewellers in Newcastle with an imitation firearm and then attempted a similar raid in Windsor (Berkshire) have been jailed for 11 and 7 years.
- Two teenagers who carried out a series of attacks and robberies with an imitation gun in the Nottingham area were given sentences of 7½ years and 9 years.
- A man who committed two armed robberies in Darlington using an imitation handgun has been jailed for 9 years.
- A man has been found guilty after attempting to rob an off licence in Leyland (Lancashire) armed with an imitation firearm.
- A man has admitted robbing a petrol station Newport and possessing an imitation firearm.
- A man who admitted a number of charges including robbery after threatening four victims in London Colney (Hertfordshire) with a gas-powered pellet gun has been jailed for 6½ years.
- A man was jailed for 4 years after admitting robbery and possessing an imitation firearm - he raided a shop in Blurton (Staffordshire) armed with a BB gun.
- Two men who attacked and robbed a couple at their home in Weymouth (Dorset) whilst armed with an imitation handgun and a knife have been jailed for 7 and 6 years.
- After admitting 18 offences, including two armed raids in Exeter, in which he used a BB gun, a man has been jailed for 13 years.
- A man pleaded guilty to robbery and possessing an imitation firearm with intent to commit robbery following a hold up at a jewellers in York and has been jailed for 8 years.
- A man was jailed for five years after confessing to a robbery at a shop in Doncaster (South Yorkshire) when he was armed with a fake gun.
- A man who used a blank-firing revolver in robberies in Bradford and Manningham (West Yorkshire) eight years ago has been jailed for nearly 7 years.
- Another offender who pointed an imitation pistol at a security guard in Bournemouth (Dorset) has been jailed for 6 years.
Similarly, there was plenty of evidence from court cases of how frequently imitation guns are being used to threaten victims:
- A teenager who was drunk when he went on the rampage armed with imitation handgun in Leighton Buzzard pleaded guilty to a number of offences.
- A man from Ribbleton (Preston) who admitted threatening a rival with a BB gun and riding a stolen motorbike unlawfully was sentenced to 26 months in a young offenders institution.
- Three teenagers who kidnapped a youth and put an imitation firearm in his mouth in an incident in Sinfin (Derby) have admitted the offences and been sentenced to three to 3½ years.
- A teenager who threatened a policeman with an imitation gun in Bewbush (West Sussex) has been given a 12-month detention and training order.
- Another teenager from Birkenhead who threatened a woman with a gas-powered pistol and demanded cash he thought he was owed has been sent to a young offenders institute for 3 years.
- A man from Southend (Essex) admitted a sexual attack on a schoolgirl and one count of possessing an imitation firearm.
- A teenager who assaulted a man and threatened him with an imitation gun in Plymouth has been sent to a young offenders' institution for 4 years.
- Another teenager returned to the college in Bristol from which she had been expelled and pointed a BB gun at a security guard - she has been jailed for 6 months.
- A couple from Kilmarnock (Ayrshire) confronted guests at a neighbour's Hogmanay party with air weapons have admitted a number of offences - both pleaded guilty to having a firearm with intent.
An offender has been jailed for 5 years after being found in possession of an air pistol in Rossendale (Lancashire) - he was also convicted of handling a stolen motor vehicle.
A man with a previous conviction for having a haul of weapons, including firearms, was found with a loaded gas-powered airgun and shotgun cartridges at his house in Newcastle and has been given a 12 month sentence after admitting firearms offences.
Another man who admitted possessing an air weapon and ammunition when prohibited from doing so at his home in Vange (Essex) has been jailed for 2 years.
A man has been admonished for having an air pistol on him without reasonable excuse in Hawick (Roxburghshire).
A teenager who hid two airguns and an imitation firearm before setting up camp in a park in Northampton has been told he was facing a possible custodial sentence.
A man from St Helens (Merseyside) was given a 12-month community order for carrying an air weapon in a public place.
A rat catcher was a 12-month conditional discharge and has had to forfeit two airguns after being spotted by police in Darlington with the weapons.
A man who admitted shooting an air rifle on the common in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) was cleared of the charge of possessing a loaded air weapon in a public place.