OCTOBER 2008 - SUMMARY

> Click here for pdf version (includes full list of incidents)

See the Full List of Incidents

• Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were five shooting attacks reported in October which resulted in a victim's death

  • Three men were murdered in London, in Bermondsey and Kennington in south London and near Brent Cross in north London

  • One of two men shot in the centre of Glasgow died of his wounds - this was the first gun homicide in Scotland since August 2007

  • A man was shot dead at his house in Ditton (Kent)

• A man was shot dead by police in Harold Hill (east London) following a domestic dispute: three firearms were recovered by officers at the scene.

• There were a number of other fatal shooting incidents in which there were apparently no suspicious circumstances:

  • A farmer from Hurstpierpoint (Surrey) died from shotgun injuries

  • A 16-year-old student died of a shotgun wound at home in Longstock (Hampshire)

  • A man apparently shot himself and died in a hospital ward in Northampton

  • A second 16-year-old died of a shotgun wound at a kennels in Paulerspury (Northamptonshire)

• Two other victims died following incidents in which firearms were brandished:

  • A man was found dead after a gunman burst into offices at an industrial park in Pontypool (South Wales): it is thought the gunman was armed with a handgun but this was not fired.

  • A man in his eighties died, apparently of natural causes, two days after he was threatened by armed robbers at his home in Cookham Dean (Berkshire)

• Shooting incidents that resulted in injury occurred in:

  • Birmingham - a man suffered a broken leg when he was shot in Ladywood and another victim was shot in Handsworth

  • Glasgow - as well as the double shooting in the city centre in which one man died and another was seriously injured (see above), a man was shot in the face and stomach in the Calton area

  • Merseyside - a number of victims were injured in incidents in Netherley, Fazakerley, Everton and Halewood

  • Surrey - a man apparently attempted suicide by shooting himself in the face with a shotgun in Englefield Green (Surrey): he remained in a critical condition.

• Other shooting incidents involving Airguns and Imitation Guns also resulted in injury, and these are listed below.

• Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - There were robberies and attempted robberies by men apparently armed with guns on a building society branch in Ruddington (Nottingham), bookmakers in Carlton (Nottingham), Crawley (Sussex) and Glasgow, a post office in Kings Langley (Hertfordshire), a filling station in Pudsey (West Yorkshire), a store in Ruskington (Lincolnshire), a hair salon in Reddish (Greater Manchester) and a takeaway in Bournemouth.  There were six armed robberies at premises in Stockport over a period of 10 days: the same men are believed to be responsible for them all.  An armed robber stole more than £5000 worth of items from a business in West Kensington (west London).

• Security guards were robbed at building society branches in Kidderminster (Worcestershire) and Bournemouth (Dorset) and in Knightswood and Shawlands (both in Glasgow).  Robbers brandishing a pistol tried to rip a cashpoint out of a wall at a shop in Ancoats (Greater Manchester).

• A bus driver was held up at gunpoint and his takings stolen in Runcorn (Cheshire).  Two taxi drivers in Slough and Britwell in Berkshire were robbed in the space of two days.

• A teenager with a gun robbed a woman of her handbag in a street in Walker (Tyneside).

• Youths returned £250 stolen from a pastor in an armed robbery in New Cross (south London).

• Armed robbers threatened to shoot a man outside his home in Heaton (Bolton) if he did not hand over his car keys.  A driver was threatened with a sawn-off shotgun in Tottenham (north London).  A 15-year-old was left terrified after being threatened by a man with a gun in a car park in Kettering (Northamptonshire). 

• A couple were robbed in their home in Stanley (County Durham) by two men, one of whom was armed with a gun: a 16-year-old has been arrested.  Robbers threatened a pensioner and his son at a home in Cookham Dean (Berkshire) and stole property: the father died 48 hours later apparently of natural causes (see above).  Two gunman threatened a man with a handgun in a flat in Ribbleton (Preston).

• See below for other incidents in which an Imitation Gun is known to have been used.

• Other Incidents - A shotgun was fired at a pub in Salford while drinkers were inside.  A gunman has targeted a house in Cumbernauld (North Lanarkshire).  Shots have been fired at a museum in Montrose (Angus) and there is speculation that the weapon might be a converted air rifle.

• A rifle was recovered after an incident in Okehampton (Devon) when four people were arrested by armed police.

• A man was arrested after someone was seen walking through Cotham (Bristol) with a gun.

• Gun Smuggling, Finds and Losses - In Greater Manchester a man has been charged with several firearms offences in connection with one of the largest gun smuggling operations in the UK.  A woman and a teenage boy have been charged with possession of a firearm after being arrested in Levenshulme.  A man has also been charged with possession of a firearm after police seized a key fob gun in Dukinfield.

• A former firearms dealer has had his licence revoked after more than 400 shotguns and rifles were seized by police from a house in Headington (Oxfordshire): he was held on suspicion of possession of a prohibited weapon and released on bail.

• Four men were arrested after drugs, cash, a firearm and ammunition were seized by police at an address in Bradford.

• A haul of bullets and shotgun cartridges were found by police in Huyton (Merseyside).  Police in South Yorkshire recovered two air rifles and a ball bearing gun in an operation focused on the movement of stolen scrap.

• Officers from the UK Border Agency at Stansted Airport found two realistic "airsoft" rifles inside a consignment labelled as plastic toys from Hong Kong: they had been bought by a 17-year-old boy online.

• A sawn-off shotgun was found in a pond in Partridge Green (Sussex).

• Four 12 bore shotguns were stolen from a home in Holmewood (Derbyshire).  A shotgun and around 200 ammunition cartridges were stolen from a car in Bildeston (Suffolk).

• Airguns - There was a further spate of incidents in which airguns were fired at members of the public.  This month's victims included:

  • Scouts at a camp in Devoran (Cornwall) who were repeatedly shot at with what is thought to have been an air rifle

  • A teenage boy hit in the shoulder with an air rifle pellet in Burnham-on-Sea (Somerset)

  • Two men and a 12-year-old boy hit by air rifle pellets in Lowestoft (Suffolk)

  • A 10-year-old boy hit in the head after being targeted by teenagers in Bartley Green (Birmingham)

  • Two schoolgirls waiting by tennis courts at a school in Bournemouth, one of whom was injured

  • A golfer shot with an air rifle during an ongoing campaign of vandalism and violence at a golf club in Hounslow (west London)

  • A teenage cyclist hit with what is believed to have been an airgun pellet in Oswestry (Shropshire)

  • A woman who suffered bruising after an airgun attack from a car in Brandon (Suffolk)

  • A woman walking her dogs in Stourport-on-Severn (Worcestershire) hit with an airgun pellet

  • A teenage paperboy who was shot at with an air weapon by a gang of youths in Peterborough

  • Young people fired at whilst working in a park in Dawdon (County Durham)

  • A woman shot with an airgun whilst she was sitting outside a bar in Bristol

  • A binman shot in the neck as he collected rubbish in Cardiff: two men were arrested on suspicion of possessing an air rifle

  • A woman needed medical attention after being hit in the face with an airgun pellet in Paisley (Renfrewshire)

  • A man shot in a drive-by shooting in Partick (Glasgow)

• A jogger believes an air rifle pellet missed him by inches as he crossed a path in Askham Richard, near York: he says he tripped over cans in a road which had been set up as shooting targets.

• Bus drivers in Barnstaple (Devon) have warned that they might refuse to work on one service because of fears that a roadside sniper is targeting buses.  A car was hit in an airgun attack in Haverhill (Suffolk).

• In Devon a man was arrested in Tavistock after he had stormed off from a psychiatric unit and was believed to be in possession of an air rifle.  A man was charged with various offences after an airgun was allegedly fired in Uffculme.

• A window was hit by an airgun pellet and a pigeon was killed at neighbouring houses in Bournemouth.  An airgun was fired at a window in Wildmill (Glamorgan), shattering glass.

• A man is being sought after being seen firing an air rifle at street lights and windows in Mytholmroyd and Luddenden Foot in West Yorkshire.  In Paisley (Renfrewshire) a man was arrested for firing an air rifle from premises, and staff at a restaurant were threatened by two males carrying an air weapon.

• Police Responses to Airgun and Imitation Gun Incidents - There have been a number of instances this month in which victims or their parents have complained about the inadequacy of some police responses to incidents involving airguns and imitation guns.  The impact of such incidents on victims cannot be underestimated and they merit appropriate and urgent attention.  Those who have complained during October have included:

  • The family of a boy hit in the head outside the family home in Bartley Green (Birmingham) who are angry that police let the attackers walk away after issuing a caution

  • The parent of a schoolgirl who was targeted with an airgun in Bournemouth

  • A jogger who claims he was shot at with an air rifle in Askham Richard (North Yorkshire) says the police failed to speak to him about the incident and took the word of the men with rifles

  • A family who witnessed a pigeon being killed with an airgun in their garden in Bournemouth

  • A father whose son was shot at by youths in Peterborough

  • A woman whose home was attacked by yobs firing a ball bearing gun in Stretford - an officer only came to see her after she reported a third incident

•  

• Imitation Guns - A number of people were hit by shots from imitation guns:

  • A woman was shot in the knee with a ball-bearing gun pellet in Swindon (Wiltshire)

  • A cyclist was hit in the face by ball-bearing gun pellets fired from a car in Weston-super-Mare (Somerset)

  • A man was shot three times with a gas-powered ball-bearing pistol in a racist attack in South Norwood (south London)

  • A nine-year-old girl was shot in the eye with a BB gun near her home in Carfin (North Lanarkshire)

  • A pupil at a school in Crossmyloof (Glasgow) was hit near the eye with a BB gun pellet

  • A teenage boy fired a BB gun at a man standing outside a pub in Bellshill (North Lanarkshire).

• A 12-year-old boy was robbed at gunpoint in Herne Bay (Kent): an imitation handgun was recovered and three suspects arrested.  A man has been charged with robbery using an imitation firearm after an attempt to rob a bank in Blackpool.  A 15-year-old was charged after an attempted robbery at a shop in Bilton (Rugby) when he was armed with a BB gun.

• Ball bearing guns were fired windows of homes in Kingsmead (Staffordshire) and Stretford (Manchester).

• A car being driven by a mother in Pinhoe (Devon) was hit with a ball bearing.

• A number of teenagers have been charged after police swooped on four homes in Widnes (Cheshire) following an alleged incident involving imitation guns in a park in the town.

• A 13-year-old pupil has been expelled from a school in Kettering (Northamptonshire) after he fired several shots from a ball bearing gun around the classroom.

• A man brandishing what may have been an imitation gun chased a 13-year-old boy in Ormesby (Teesside).

• A number of people were arrested or charged for possessing imitation weapons:

  • A male youth has been charged with possession of an imitation gun on a street in Inverness

  • A teenage girl was helping police with their inquiries after they discovered two BB guns in a flat in Banstead (Surrey): a street was closed after she was seen brandishing a handgun

  • A youth filmed by friends pointing a replica AK47 replica rifle at cars in High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) was arrested and the weapon seized

  • A 17-year-old was arrested after allegedly threatening a number of people in Loughborough (Leicestershire) with a replica gun

  • A woman in Paisley was arrested in possession of a replica self-lading pistol

• Incidents Involving Animals - More cats have fallen victim to airgun snipers.  Incidents in which pets were seriously injured, sometimes fatally, were reported from Buckinghamshire, Cheshire, Devon (two reports), Norfolk, South Wales, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Sussex and West Lothian (two cats from the same home have been attacked)

• A cow was found at a farm in Leicestershire with an airgun pellet in the side of its neck: a number of other cows have been the target of attacks, and two boys, aged 11 and 12, have been spoken to by the police.

• A donkey was lucky to survive after being shot with an airgun in Belton (Norfolk).

• A man was fined for killing two protected birds with an airgun while shooting outside his home Aberdeen.

• Two sheep were found dead from gunshot wounds near Grantham (Lincolnshire).

• Convictions - Three men were convicted of the murder of a man who was ambushed and shot as he walked home from a pub in Hartcliffe (Bristol).  A man has been found guilty of the murder of a man who was shot in the neck and leg at a bar in Fulham (west London): he will serve at least 28 years.  Two men have been convicted of the murder of a man who was fatally shot in Brockley (south London).

• A man must serve at least six years after pleading guilty to a number of offences following a shooting in Huyton (Merseyside) in which a man was seriously wounded.  A man has been jailed for six years for possession of a firearm after a shooting in Letchworth Garden City (Hertfordshire).  A man has been found guilty of shooting a man in the leg over a drug debt in Handsworth Wood (West Midlands): he was also convicted of possessing a stun gun and drug offences.

• A man who accidentally shot a teenage girl in the head at a party in Gorton (Manchester) admitted a number of charges including possession of a firearm and possession of an imitation firearm.

• A man has been jailed for at least six years for a number of robbery and firearm offences, including robberies in Feltham and Isleworth (west London).  Four men were convicted over a series of armed robberies across southern England which ended when police shot and killed two other members of the gang in Chandler's Ford (Hampshire).

• A man was jailed for 32 months after keeping his sister and brother-in-law at gunpoint in Alness (Ross-shire).  Another man has been jailed for nine years after being found guilty of staging an armed raid on the home of his sister in Pilton (Edinburgh).

• Sentencing was deferred on a woman who admitted assault repeatedly presenting a handgun or imitation handgun at another woman in Troon (Ayrshire).

• Three men who used a stun gun whilst attacking another man in Newmains (North Lanarkshire) have been jailed for four years and nine months.

• There were a number of convictions of people caught in possession of prohibited firearms:

  • A man and his girlfriend received sentences of eight and five years, respectively, for possession of a sawn-off shotgun in Handsworth (Birmingham)

  • A man has been jailed for five years for possessing a sawn-off shotgun at his caravan in Ryton (Warwickshire)

  • A man was jailed for five-and-a-half years for minding two guns: a loaded pistol had been found under his pillow at a house in Broad Green (Merseyside)

  • Two men were jailed for seven-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to having two loaded pistols in a car outside a pub in Derby

  • A man from Allenton (Derby) has pleaded guilty to a drugs offence and possessing a firearm and ammunition

  • A man has been given a five-and-a-half year sentence after a shotgun was found in the boot of his car in Lydd (Kent)

  • A man pleaded guilty to possessing a shotgun and ammunition in Oldham: he was jailed for five years

  • A man pleaded guilty to a number of firearm offences after guns were found in a car in Wigan

  • Two men were given jail terms of five years and four months after they hid a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun in long grass in Lancaster

  • A man was jailed for five years after being caught with a pistol in Possil Park (Glasgow)

• Airguns (Court Cases) - A coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure at an inquest into the death of a 17-year-old who was shot in the heart with an air rifle in Maesglas (Newport).

• Two men who were armed with an airgun when they attempted to rob a post office in Consett (County Durham) have been given four year jail sentences.

• The list of convictions of many other offenders who were armed with airguns reflects the continuing ease of availability of these weapons to those who would misuse them.

  • A man who threatened to shoot a schoolboy with an airgun in Moortown (Leeds) has been jailed for six months

  • A man arrested by armed police after brandishing an airgun in Copley (West Yorkshire) was given a conditional discharge

  • A man jailed for 20 months for terrifying police officers in Bamber Bridge (Lancashire) with an air pistol failed to win a reduction in his sentence

  • An eight month jail sentence was given at an Ipswich court to a man who attacked his partner and fired shots from an air rifle

  • A man faces a lengthy jail term for threatening a man with an airgun in Gosport (Hampshire)

  • A man who pointed an air rifle at people at a Rochdale hospital has been given an indeterminate jail sentence (minimum of 618 days)

  • A man was jailed for a year after he brandished an air rifle during an argument in Leyland (Lancashire)

  • A man was convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after showing an air pistol to a man at a bus depot in Bures (Suffolk)

  • A 16-year-old has been given 120 hours of community service after firing an air rifle from his attic skylight into the street in Uphall (West Lothian)

  • A teenager has been given 200 hours of community service after threatening to shoot police officers in Penicuik (Midlothian) with an air rifle

  • A man was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service after firing shots from a balcony of a block of flats in Paisley (Renfrewshire)

  • A man was caught with a loaded air weapon in woods in Livingston (West Lothian): sentencing has been deferred

  • A Swindon woman admitted having an air pistol with intent to cause another woman to fear unlawful violence: she has been warned to expect a prison sentence.

• A teenager was told to "keep out of trouble" after shooting his neighbour's garden ornaments with an air rifle in Westerham (Kent).

• Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - A man who fired an imitation Colt revolver through the window of a house in Derby has been given a three-and-a-half year sentence.

• A man from Fareham (Hampshire) who has been convicted of three specimen offences relating to sexual assault on a child had apparently threatened his victim with a ball bearing gun.

• A man was jailed for two years and two months after pleading guilty to assault and possessing an imitation firearm which he used in an attack on a man in Blackpool.

• A man who threatened staff and customers at a charity shop in Bridlington (East Yorkshire) with an imitation gun has been treated for a personality disorder and will be sentenced later.  Two men who raided a number of premises in Bolton whilst armed with imitation guns are awaiting sentencing.  Two 16-year-olds who pleaded guilty robbing a shop in Abington (Northampton) were also armed with an imitation firearm: they have been sentenced to two years and 18 months detention.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.