-
Airguns - There were a number of serious incidents
involving airguns in October. The incidents in
Scotland will certainly add
further weight to the arguments for tight restrictions on
airguns proposed by the Scottish Government. The
Convictions list reflects the serious nature of many of the
offences involving air weapons.
-
A man had to undergo emergency surgery after
being hit with an airgun pellet whilst walking in Erskine
(Renfrewshire). In another attack in Scotland a woman
was seriously injured when she was hit in the leg as she
returned home in Townhead (Glasgow).
-
A man who attacked a 13-year-old
boy in a Greenock park threatened to shoot him with an air
rifle if he told anyone.
-
A sniper has been taking
potshots at homes and businesses in Greenock, Port Glasgow and
Gourock.
-
A van was hit with an air rifle
pellet in Dundee.
-
A 19-year-old from Portland
(Dorset) fears she could lose her sight after being shot in
the eye with an air rifle pellet which was left embedded in
her head.
-
In Hampshire a woman was hit on
the leg after two teenagers shot at her in Ringwood and an
elderly man was hurt when he fell in fright when his window
was hit with airgun pellets in Petersfield.
-
Three people were hit by air
rifle snipers when they stepped outside from a party in
Kilburn (north London).
-
An air rifle pellet is thought
to have punched a hole through the roof of a car as a woman
drove through an estate in Caerphilly (South Wales).
-
In a series of attacks in
Suffolk (Orford, Felixstowe and Ipswich) cars and property
were damaged and a man was hit: three people aged 18 to 21
have been bailed in connection with the incidents.
-
An air weapon was found by
police after two men threatened another at the station in
Newton Abbot (Devon).
-
Airguns - Convictions - Two teenagers were found guilty of
the murder of a man in Cottingham (Humberside) who had been
battered with a cricket bat and shot a number of times with an
air rifle.
-
A man was given a seven year
jail sentence after attempting to rob a petrol station in
Cheltenham whilst carrying an airgun.
-
A soldier who used an airgun to
take pot shots at passers-by from his bedroom window in Long
Eaton (Derbyshire) (one woman was hit) was given a lenient 26
week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
-
In Scotland an 18-year-old was jailed for
nine months after pointing an air pistol at a student in a bar
in St Andrews. A man was jailed for at least years for
firing an airgun at police in West Linton, and another man has been ordered to be
tagged after admitting firing an air rifle from a building
site in Galashiels.
-
A man who opened
fire on his neighbour's window with an air rifle in
Weston-super-Mare has been warned he could face a prison
sentence.
-
A man received a five month
suspended prison sentence after firing an air rifle at
neighbours in a boundary dispute in Worcestershire.
-
A 15-year-old girl has been
given a 12-month referral order for her part in an attack in
Northwich (Cheshire) during which an air rifle was fired at a
15-year-old boy.
-
Two men with previous convictions were in trouble after being
found with air weapons when prohibited. An air rifle was
found at the home of a Paignton man. A man from Burnley
was given a conditional discharge after being found with an
air pistol.
-
Imitation Guns - Attacks in which people were hit with
shots from imitation guns happened in West Derby (Merseyside)
where a pensioner was hit leaving a party, Brixington (Devon) where BB
pellets caused visible injuries to youngsters and Briton Ferry (South
Wales) where a
12-year-old boy fired a BB gun at a schoolgirl.
-
A 13-year-old fired a BB gun at
three primary school children in Heaton (Tyneside).
-
A ball-bearing gun was used
in an attack involving teenagers in Glasgow's south side.
A man has appeared in court accused of brandishing an
imitation gun in Greenock.
-
The window of a coach was shot
out in Liverpool, probably with a ball-bearing gun.
-
The windows of a house in
Hainault (Essex) were hit with steel pellets from BB guns, one
of a number of incidents reported in the area.
-
Three incidents involving
ball-bearing or toy guns were reported in Tonge Moor and Great
Lever in Lancashire: in one a community support officer feared
for her life.
-
A man was arrested in Stamford
(Lincolnshire) after three imitation guns were found in a car,
and an 18-year-old faces firearms charges after a ball-bearing
gun was discovered in his car after it crashed in Bolton.
-
Imitation Guns - Convictions - Two men and a woman have
been given long jail sentences (11 years and 9 years) for
three robberies in South London in which they threatened
victims with a replica silver pistol.
-
A man who pointed an imitation
rifle at road diggers in Slough was ordered to do community service for
12 months. Another man who fired a ball-bearing gun into
the air in Exmouth during a row pleaded guilty to possessing
an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence:
sentencing was adjourned.
-
A 16-year-old pleaded guilty to
being in possession of an imitation firearm at Wrexham bus
station.
