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2005 - SUMMARIES
JANUARY 2005 - SUMMARY
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The list of gun incidents from January 2005 includes the
following:
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There were a number of fatal shootings, all in urban
areas - Reading, Bury, Harlesden, Ladbroke Grove, West Norwood. Many
of the victims were shot or later discovered in cars. Other serious
shooting incidents resulting in injury were reported in Shettleston in
Glasgow, Llansamlet in Swansea, Chepstow, Wandsworth and Bloomsbury in
London, Leeds, Bradford, Perry Barr and Whalley Range, Manchester, the
victim of the latter being a 15-year-old boy.
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A number of armed raids on banks, bookmakers and shops
were reported across the country, including in the South Shields area (three
raids), Strangeways (Manchester), Coventry, Slough, Crouch Hill (London),
Bournemouth, Boscombe, Newton Flotman (Norfolk) and Coleridge (Cambridge).
Two women were robbed at gunpoint in their homes, one in Kilburn and one in
Merseyside. Another woman was attacked on the street in Sheffield as was a
man walking home in Runcorn. In many cases the nature of the gun used
is not recorded or known though often given as a handgun, but two cases
which came to court in January suggest that at least some of the weapons are
likely to have been imitations. These hold ups, which took place in
Bermondsey and South Shields, were carried out with a fake Walther pistol
and a BB gun respectively.
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Pubs featured in
three of the incidents, a shooting at a Rotherhithe pub, the closure of
a pub in Benchill, Wythenshawe after a loaded handgun and drugs were
discovered and the conviction of a pub landlord in Wallsend for
possession of an illegal arsenal.
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Two men who appeared in court during January for airgun
offences, in Halifax and Billingham respectively, had psychiatric or mental
problems combined with a history of alcohol abuse. Under the
circumstances their ownership of airguns should have been a major concern,
yet the public was put at risk because of the absence of controls over these
weapons .
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Once again there were random incidents involving air
weapons and BB guns with attacks on a milkman in Cheadle, a bus in
Stoke-on-Trent, a coach in Telford and shots fired at pedestrians in
Telford, Norwich and Borehamwood. A motorist on the A46 was threatened
by a teenager in another car who pointed an air pistol at him. A boy
was charged with threatening a teacher at a Tyneside school with a fake gun.
There were also more accounts of horrific injuries to animals caused by the
weapons.
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Every so often the public gets a glimpse of how guns can
become so much of an obsession to an individual that others are put at risk.
In a case that drew parallels with other gun owners, such as Michael Ryan
and Thomas Hamilton, who went on to commit atrocious crimes with their guns,
David Collins of Easter Ross was jailed for five years. He was a loner
who appeared to have no other interest but his guns. Collins had
accumulated an arsenal of weapons by the time his family tipped off the
authorities after they became frightened when they heard him test-firing the
weapons and making threats against potential targets including police, bus
drivers and employees of a local company. He was able to obtain his
weapons by mail order, after which he modified them to make them more
powerful. Mail order represents an inadequately monitored means by
which guns can be sold. GCN hopes that the authorities will look
carefully at the case of David Collins and act to eliminate this dangerous
loophole.
FEBRUARY 2005 - SUMMARY
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-
Fatal shootings - Five
people were killed by guns in four incidents (Hockliffe in Bedfordshire,
Pollok in Glasgow, Northolt in west London and Effingham in Surrey).
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Shotguns - According to national firearms
statistics shotguns are involved in a relatively small proportion of
firearms offences, so the number of incidents reported this month (and also
in December 2004) should cause some concern. These included a double
murder in Hockliffe, the shooting of teenage boy in Thornton Heath, a double
shooting near the Blackwall Tunnel, the arrest of a drug dealer in
Nottingham, an armed raid in Ipswich, an incident in which a gun was pointed
at a boy by a car driver in Yate and another in which a drunk man was
walking in the streets of St Asaph armed with a shotgun. Four men have
been convicted following two shotgun shootings in 2004, one in Tottenham,
which left a father of three paralysed, the other in Didcot in which a
teenage boy was injured.
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Armed raids, kidnap, muggings - Victims were held
at gunpoint during raids or muggings in Royal Oak (west London),
Walthamstow, Lee (south east London), Whittlesey, Stratford-upon-Avon,
Kettering, Sheffield, Glasgow, Rutherglen, Edinburgh, Gilmerton and Lon St
Ffraid. There were two incidents in which people were forced into cars
at gunpoint (Bolton, Stalybridge). The exact weapon used is not always
known and police do not rule out the possibility that imitation weapons were
involved in at least some of the incidents.
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Clubs and pubs - A number of shootings take place
in the vicinity of clubs and pubs. This month there were three
incidents in London: in South Croydon (in which a bouncer wrestled the
weapon from the gunman's hand), near the Blackwall Tunnel and in the Old
Kent Road. There was also a shooting in a Sheffield pub.
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Shooting from vehicles - Each month there are
incidents in which either shots are fired from cars or drivers or passengers
are seen to threaten members of the public with guns. In February
there were incidents reported from Preston, Portway, Yate, Fareham and
Gosport, and Bridlington. The M5 motorway had to be closed near
Clevedon after an apparent firearms incident was reported to police.
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Airgun injuries, sniping and vandalism - There was
a worrying number of incidents in which airguns were targeted at people, a
number of which resulted in injury. Members of the public,
including a number of young people, were hit by airgun pellets in
Gloucester, Stockwell (the victim was a firefighter), London's South Bank,
Portway (near Redditch), Fareham and Gosport, Greenhithe, Cambridge,
Sheffield, Wythenshawe and Gleadless Valley (Sheffield).
Vandalism involving air weapons was reported from Cradley (windows),
Thornaby (a phone box), Eastbourne (buses), Barnoldswick (a factory) and
Huddersfield (a church). A man and a woman who, in separate
incidents in Sparkhill and Urmston, had fired airguns towards people they
thought responsible for vandalism were convicted and told that they had
overstepped the line by using the guns. There were other court cases after
previous incidents in Cleator Moor (three men were hit by their friend
during a drunken target shooting session), Colne (a sniper firing at a
cricket match) and Wednesbury (a youth shooting at school pupils).
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Incidents involving imitation and BB guns - No
month goes by without police armed response teams being called out to
incidents in which people, mostly youths, have been spotted with guns which
turn out to be imitations. This month there were incidents in Reading
and Northampton, and another incident involving a boy pointing a gun from a
car in Bridlington. In Tantoble, County Durham, five men were arrested
following a siege after being seen with an imitation automatic rifle.
A woman was given a rehabilitation order after an incident in which she had
brandished an imitation gun at police in Upper Norwood. Court cases
highlighted the dangerous ways in which these guns have been used: in
Cambridge by a man to threaten his father, in Maida Vale (London) during a
robbery, and in Gorebridge (involving a blank-firing pistol) to threaten an
ex-girlfriend. Two men are currently standing trial for the murder of
a youth in Handsworth in which the victim received a fatal shot to the
chest, the bullet being described as a ball-bearing one.
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Injuries to Animals - The four reported incidents,
which included the horrific killing of a pet dog in its owners' back garden
in Shrewsbury, do not reflect the extent of the misery inflicted by airguns
on animals and their owners. The RSPCA has received reports of more
than 1100 injuries to animals in England and Wales in the six months up to
February. With stricter controls over the ownership and use of
airguns, especially by young people, this toll could be reduced.
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A dangerous legal shooting activity - One report
highlighted how legal shooting activities can indirectly put the lives of
others in danger. The shooting of grey partridges close to the
perimeter of Newcastle Airport was probably the reason for the birds
striking a passenger aircraft which had to take emergency action.
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Thefts -Two thefts of guns were reported in
Stokesley (shotguns) and Yarmouth (air guns and imitations guns).
There is no doubt that these will have increased the pool of legal weapons
that could end up being used in crime.
MARCH 2005 - SUMMARY
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The month's media coverage was dominated by a number of
incidents and cases which made gun crime headline news again. The
death of Glasgow toddler Andrew Morton, shot in the head with an airgun,
brought new calls for tighter controls over airguns, especially from
Scotland. The lethality of airguns was further highlighted by the
conviction of a Yorkshire man who had killed his friend after he had aimed
and shot at him, not knowing the gun was loaded. The convictions and
sentencing of those responsible for the murders of Letisha Shakespeare and
Charlene Ellis in Aston on New Year's Day 2003 and the murder of jeweller
Marian Bates in Arnold, Nottingham in September 2003 resulted in much
discussion about the level of gun crime in Great Britain. Those
responsible were rightly condemned. However, a different attitude
appeared to be adopted towards the jailing of Manchester teacher Linda
Walker who was convicted of shooting an airgun in the street and sentenced
to six months' imprisonment.
The other incidents and cases in March 2005 followed an
all too familiar pattern.
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Gun deaths and injuries - Shooting incidents that
resulted in death or serious injury were reported in Huddersfield, Hulme,
Old Trafford, Scarborough, Kingsway (London), Upminster (two separate
shootings), Enfield (two separate shootings) and Wembley (two men injured).
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Armed hold-ups - Guns were reportedly used in
hold-ups and robberies in Muswell Hill, Loughton, Cambridge, Peterborough,
Nottingham, Mayfield (Midlothian) and Edinburgh.
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Imitation gun alerts - No month goes by without
the need for police to be called to incidents in which people (usually
youths) carrying guns have been spotted in public, often sparking an armed
response. This month there were incidents in Aldershot, Eye Green and
Macclesfield. A Stockport youth was given a jail sentence after being
spotted carrying an imitation gun on CCTV. Two pupils have been
suspended from a Dundee school, apparently after an incident with a pellet
gun.
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Imitation and BB-guns used to threaten and injure
- Sometimes these guns are used in criminal activities, either being used to
threaten or actually being fired. BB-guns were fired at members of the
public in Sheffield (in which a pensioner was shot in the head), Handsworth
and Wilmslow (in which a woman was also shot in the head). A
Sunderland girl was injured when one was fired at her by a child aged 6.
There were reports of imitation guns having been used in hold-ups in Potters
Bar/Barnet, Anfield and Hull and to threaten the police in Ruchazie.
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Airgun snipers - The death of Andrew Morton,
killed by a sniper armed with an airgun, highlighted the lethal nature of
many air weapons. The incident in which he was shot was not a one-off.
In March 2005, as in previous months, others were targeted with airguns.
Airgun incidents were reported from Dundee, Llangollen and Pentrebane, and
there were convictions of men for previous incidents in Stockingford
(Nuneaton), Ayr and Cardiff Bay. In the latter two the victims were
hit by pellets. There were also a number of cases of injuries to pets
reported,
APRIL 2005 - SUMMARY
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Gun deaths and injuries - A number of victims have
died following shooting incidents in April. Deaths were reported in
Foleshill (Coventry), Kirkdale, Halifax, Ripponden, New Cross, Stowmarket
and Garthamlock (Glasgow): some were apparently suicides, of which two
(in Halifax and Kirkdale) followed earlier shootings. Shooting
incidents which resulted in injuries were reported in Tottenham (two
separate incidents), Streatham, Streatham Hill, Eggborough, Low Bradfield
(Sheffield), Merseyside (four separate incidents), Throckley, Airdrie,
Newport (during a hold-up).
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Armed hold-ups - Guns were reportedly used in a
large number of hold-ups and street assaults - in Exeter, Reading, Chiswick,
Muswell Hill, Tooting, South Kensington, Richmond, St Albans, Corley,
Sneinton, Upton Priory, Newport. Armed attacks took place on homes in
Lupton and Low Bradfield.
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Imitation guns - There were further instances of
BB guns and imitation guns being carried and used in public places, usually
by youths. Pedestrians were targeted in South Gosforth and South
Shields and a bus attacked in Peterborough. Police were alerted after
other incidents in Streatham, Dulwich and Cobham. BB guns were fired
and hit victims in Workington (two incidents - one of the victims was a girl
aged 6, the other was a pregnant woman), Telford (the victim was a
pensioner), Lancaster (the victims were teenage girls), Newark (in a school
classroom, the victim was a pupil) and Polesworth (the victims were two
boys). After court cases a number of men were convicted for possessing
imitation guns and using them to threaten (Lincoln, Stornaway, Ammanford)
and for attacking a group of teenagers (Hucknall). A Bulwell man was
convicted for possession of a Brocock replica gun.
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Airgun attacks and vandalism - Another young
Scottish boy became an airgun victim when he was shot in the head in
Muirhouse (Edinburgh), and another boy was injured after an airgun attack in
which he was shot in the face in Sale Moor, Manchester. Members of the
public were threatened with airguns in Ponders End (schoolchildren and
staff), Slade Green (station security staff), Winsford (car drivers),
Tiverton in Cheshire (a pub landlady) and Sittingbourne (a lorry driver on
the A249). Damage was caused by airguns to a pub in
Deeplish and a pellet was fired through the window of a house in Haverhill.
One man was convicted for shooting a teenage girl in Auchinleck, another for
shooting a 12-year-old boy in Armadale, and a third after shooting a
6-year-old boy in the head in Clitheroe. A teenager appeared in court
after attacking a girl whilst pointing an air pistol to her head
(Strathaven). A Clacton man was jailed after pointing a loaded airgun
at a police officer. It is still difficult to reconcile all of
these reports with the suggestion by some that no further controls over
airguns are necessary.
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Gun attacks on animals - The number of reported
incidents is even longer than usual for April, with a number of different
species targeted (rabbits, badgers, cats, lambs, buzzard, foxes, swans).
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reported a
sharp rise in airgun attacks on birds and animals.
MAY 2005 - SUMMARY
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-
Gun deaths and injuries - May 2005 began with the
news that a man had been shot dead by police officers after the car in which
he was travelling was stopped in Edgware: two other men in the car were
arrested on firearms charges. At the end of the month a man shot and
injured two people in the village of Street in Somerset before killing
himself with his shotgun. Other shooting deaths were reported from
Southampton, Wood Green, Wigton and Strathaven. The girl who was
kidnapped at the same time as the murdered Reading teenager Marie-Ann
Leneghan survived after being shot in the head. Shooting incidents
that resulted in serious injury also occurred in Enfield Town, Denton Burn, Handsworth,
Brixton and Wimbledon and injuries were also sustained by victims during
raids in Sutton Coldfield and Bow Common Lane in East London.
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Armed hold-ups - Guns were reportedly used in a
number of hold-ups and street assaults - in Coventry, Warwick, Sneinton, Sutton Coldfield,
Wellingborough, Bedford, West Hampstead, Camden, East London, Gillingham,
Roath, Edgeley, Oldham, Carlton Miniott and Telford, the latter two
involving raids on homes. As noted above shots were fired and injuries
sustained in at least two of the incidents.
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Imitation guns - It is possible that the weapons
used in at least some of armed hold-ups listed above were imitation guns.
Unless the weapon is subsequently found it is often impossible to know
whether a real or fake gun has been used. However, there are instances
in which an imitation gun is known to have been used, including in an
attempted robbery in Ramsgate and a robbery in Edinburgh. Following
four trials men have been convicted of carrying out crimes with imitation
guns in London, East Grinstead, Chester and Sheffield. In another
incident, which began in Potton, a van driver threatened a police officer
with a replica handgun.
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The carrying and use of BB guns continues to cause
significant problems and a number of victims have been fired at and hit.
There is no sign yet that the measures in the Government's anti-social
behaviour act, which were supposed to have curbed the appearance of BB guns
on the street, have had much effect. Guns were fired at victims in
incidents reported from Birtley (where a 6-year-old girl was hit), Hucknall
(a 8-year-old boy hit), Penistone (a youngster hit in the face), Old
Trafford (teenagers targeted) and Clase in Swansea (12-year-old boy
attacked). Police were called to other incidents involving BB guns in
Fishponds, Sevenoaks, Barnsley (to a school) and Wisbech Park.
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Airgun attacks and vandalism - As with imitation
guns there is no indication that the new anti-social behaviour legislation
has diminished the number of incidents in which members of the public are
attacked with airguns. Reports of victims being hit by shots from
airguns during May came from all over the country: Little Common in
East Sussex (the alleged perpetrator was a teenager), Archway and Highbury
(North London), Little Venice and Paddington (Central London), Telford
(three separate attacks), Watergall near Peterborough (the victim and
perpetrator were both boys), Wilmslow and Armadale. Other instances in
which people, property or cars were apparently targeted by airgun snipers
were reported from Wallington (South London), Whitchurch and Glasgow.
Men carrying airguns caused alerts in Newport, at an Edinburgh clinic and at
the Vale of Leven Hospital, and a Glasgow man pleaded guilty to chasing
paramedics whilst armed with an air rifle.
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Gun fanatic - Mark Dyche, described by the press
as a gun fanatic, was convicted of threatening, stalking and murdering a
woman after she had broken off their engagement. It appears that in
spite of all the threats, a list of which had been sent to the police, Dyche
had been able to hold a gun licence.
JUNE 2005 - SUMMARY
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-
Gun Deaths and Injuries - Fatal shooting incidents
occurred in Crayford and Yorkhill (Glasgow). A victim has also died
several months after being shot in Dagenham (his death is now being treated
as murder). Three men have been charged with the murder of a man in
Nottingham in March. Victims were injured in a number of shooting
incidents in London: Streatham (during a raid), Elephant & Castle
(outside a club), New Cross Road (victim found in a crashed car), Brixton
(two incidents) and Archway (victim shot from a scooter). Other
incidents which resulted in injuries took place in Robertsbridge,
Fallowfield (Manchester), Nottingham, Wooton (Shropshire), Swansea and Butetown, In Manchester a woman bystander was injured when a
gunman apparently accidentally dropped his weapon outside a jewellery shop.
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Armed Hold-ups - This month the number of reported
armed hold-ups appears to have risen. A man was seriously injured
during a raid on a roofing business in Streatham and there were armed raids
on betting shops in Arnold, Warwick and Islington,
on security guards at a building society in Holbrooks (Coventry), on shops
in Holbrooks, Wokingham and Earley, a sandwich bar in Camden Town, on
filling stations in Witham and near Bicester, on a dog racing stadium in
Harlow, as well as street robberies in Caterham (two separate incidents) and
Ealing (in which a dog was taken), an attack on a taxi in Willenhall
(Coventry) and armed abductions in Stockport and Neasden. There were
also armed attacks on homes in South Woodham Ferrers and Purley. Seven
gunpoint robberies were reported to have taken place in a single park in
Wembley. Shots were fired in a street in Highfields (Leicester) and at
revellers at a wedding reception in
Timworth (Bury St Edmunds). A gun, possibly a blank-firing weapon, was
fired on the doorstep of a house in Bradley Mills (Huddersfield).
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Imitation Guns - Youngsters are still
not heeding messages about the dangers of carrying imitation guns (including
BB guns) in public. Incidents were reported from Woodhatch (Surrey), Loughborough,
Burnley (two incidents), Sunderland, Barkingside (involving students filming
an A-level project) and three in Blackpool, in one of which a bus driver was
shot in the face. In Fenny Stratford a drunken man fired an imitation
gun in a pub car park. In view of the public concern about this type
of incident it is difficult to have any sympathy with the Salisbury parent
who complained that the police had threatened to arrest his son for using a
cap gun in the street or with the traders in Bathgate Market who sold an
imitation automatic rifle to a 15-year-old.
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In yet another incident at a school, a pupil in Carlisle
was shot in the head with an imitation gun. Three boys were struck
with plastic pellets fired by two teenagers in Dunfermline. In Stoke
(Bromsgrove) a 12-year-old was reported to have been shot with one, a
teenager was shot at a bus stop in Solihull and a man attacked in an
Isleworth street. A pellet gun was used by a driver in Oswestry to
threaten two men, BB guns were fired at RSPCA inspectors at Appleby Horse
Fair, a man brandished one at door staff at a Peterborough nightclub, a
youth threatened a teenager in Sheffield, a Cambridge man was remanded after
holding his landlord captive whilst armed with one, and a man has been
charged with smashing car windows using one. A restaurant window in West
Didsbury was damaged after a shot from a BB gun was fired through it
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The following cases came to court in June. A man
was convicted of rape - he terrorised his victim with a black plastic toy
gun. A man was convicted of robbing two Shropshire post offices whilst
armed with an imitation gun. A man was jailed after threatening to
shoot a 12-year-old girl in Kentish Town: he was armed with a replica gun.
A Norwich man has been made homeless after being convicted for causing alarm
in the city centre by waving an imitation gun, and an Oxford man, who
although he had his sentence reduced, failed to have his conviction for
waving a toy gun at two youths overturned.
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Injuries from Airguns
- There were a number of incidents in which victims were hit by airgun
pellets. These included an attack on a firefighter in Borehamwood and
a workman in West Rainton, but the majority of the reported attacks were on
young people. In Leigh a 12-year-old girl required surgery after being
hit in the back of the head, in Wortley a teenage girl victim required
hospital treatment for two days, in Little Hallingbury a 13-year-old boy was
hit in the leg, in Norwich a 17-year-old victim was hit whilst walking in
the street, in Roystonhill in Glasgow the victim was a teenage boy playing
football and in Alloa the 14-year-old victim was hit in the face.
In the majority of cases the perpetrators appear to have been youths.
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Following a trial two men have been jailed after their
nephew was hit and seriously injured during a lamping expedition with air
rifles in Castleford in September 2004.
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Airgun Attacks and Vandalism - Airgun attacks were
also responsible for damage to vehicles and property, each one of which
caused alarm but could also have caused injury. Cars were targeted in
the Huntingdon/Hartford
area and in Grove Hill (Middlesbrough), buses were hit in Islington and
Orton Goldhay (Peterborough) (the latter attack has prompted CCTV cameras to
be installed on buses), and a Bellshill youth was fined after he had fired
at a school bus "to scare someone". Airguns have also damaged church
windows in Coventry. The reckless disregard for the safety of others was
demonstrated by the firing of an airgun next to a school in Fairwater,
Cardiff, and a man has been fined after causing alarm by firing an air rifle
at rabbits in Mold. Police officers were commended for their courage
in facing a man who threatened them with a loaded air rifle in Livingstone.
Two brothers aged 12 and 10 from Newport were placed under Asbos for
offences including shooting at people with airguns.
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Animals - This month there was another sickening
list of incidents in which pets and other animals had been shot with
airguns: many were killed. Cats are a frequent target, but the list
also included a dog who was killed in its own back garden and a number of
birds including ducks, swans, pigeons, a jackdaw and a goose and its
gosling. In another incident a farmer found nine six-week-old lambs shot
dead with a rifle.
JULY 2005 - SUMMARY
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We were unable to undertake as detailed a survey of gun
incidents as usual during July 2005.
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Gun Deaths and Injuries - During a month in which
the news was dominated by acts of terrorism, the most widely reported and
discussed shooting incident was the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, shot
by police at Stockwell underground station. A man, alleged to be
armed, was also shot dead by police at a house in Stocksfield (Tyneside).
A man was found shot dead in the grounds of his home near Welshpool, but
police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with his
death. Another man, found at a house in Willoughby (Lincolnshire),
died of gunshot wounds, and although another injured man was found by the
police he was not arrested and no one else was sought in connection with the
incident. The body of a man who had been shot in the head was
found in Epping Forest (Essex). A man and a woman were injured outside
a nightclub in Wolverhampton and a teenager was shot at a rap concert in
Kentish Town (North London). A man was shot in the leg by burglars at
his home in Basford (Nottingham) and a teenager was shot at his home in
Addiscombe (Surrey). Two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted
murder after a gun was fired in Solihull (west Midlands).
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Armed Sieges -
There were gun sieges in Currock (Carlisle), after which a man was arrested,
and in Upton-upon-Severn (Worcestershire), when a man barricaded himself
into a pub with a shotgun for six hours.
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Imitation Guns - There were two incidents in Pentre (Rhondda) in
which teenagers were spotted with guns which turned out to be imitations,
two incidents in Camden (North London) involving schoolchildren with
imitation guns and another incident in Camden in which a BB gun was
apparently used in a robbery. The town centre of Cannock
(Staffordshire) had to be sealed off because a man was brandishing a gun,
believed to be a BB gun. Three people were warned after being spotted
with a blank-firing pistol in March (Lincolnshire) and a man was arrested
after allegedly threatening a neighbour with a BB gun in Camborne
(Cornwall). Police held an 11-year-old boy for 3 hours after he
brandished an imitation gun in a school playground in Sheerness.
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A man who threatened to shoot his wife with what was
believed to have been a sawn-off shotgun was convicted of possession of an
imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence (sentenced to three
years in jail). Another man was jailed for eight years after using an
imitation gun during a rape in Norwich. Two youths spotted playing
with a BB gun in Colliers Wood (south London) were fined.
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Airgun Attacks - Innocent members of the public
were hit by airgun pellets in incidents in Pontcanna and Leckwith (both in
Cardiff), Knightswood (Glasgow - the victim was a 10-year-old boy),
Peterhead (another boy was the victim), Bishop's Stortford (an 11-year-old
girl was hit). In two other incidents motorists were targeted and had
to swerve after their car windows were hit: the incidents occurred in
Livingston (West Lothian) and at Downham (Norfolk).
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A teenager was convicted of shooting a boy in the back in
an incident in Rumney (he received a 120 community service order), another
of shooting a woman in Linwood (sentence deferred), and a man who shot at a
group of teenagers from a Lincoln flat was bound over to keep the peace.
AUGUST 2005 - SUMMARY
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We were unable to undertake as detailed a survey of gun
incidents as usual during August 2005.
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Armed Hold-Ups - There were armed raids on a shop
in a Manchester shopping centre, a charity shop in Peterborough (the
robber left empty handed), on banks in Muswell Hill (north London), Denny
(central Scotland) and Great Barr (two people were shot and injured - see
above) and on a petrol station in Croydon. A cab driver in Langley
Green (Surrey) had his taxi taken by armed men, although the vehicle was
later returned. In Norwich a man was robbed of his mobile at gunpoint
- it was later suggested that the weapon was an imitation weapon.
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Convictions (see also Imitation Guns and Air Rifles) -
A number of men received long jail sentences for offences involving guns: a
man who shot dead a two-year-old in Easterhouse (Glasgow) with an airgun and
was found guilty of murder (13 years), three men involved in the murder of a
gangster who was shot with an automatic rifle outside a gym in Hoddesdon
(minimum sentences of 30 years and 25 years, and 5 years), two men who
carried out a violent kidnap in south London (20 years and 17 years), a
convicted killer who carried out eight armed raids in south London and the
Home Counties during the three years after his release (eight life terms -
in each raid he had brandished an imitation gun), a man who shot a policeman
in the legs in Bromley (22 years), a man who held a pistol to a young
mother's eye in east London (10 years - the weapon was an imitation gun), a
man who pistol whipped a father in front of his family in south London (3
years - the weapon was a blank-firing handgun) and a student who kept a
double-barrelled sawn-off shotgun under his bed in Northampton (five years).
-
Imitation Guns - The majority of the reported incidents involved
young people, as victims or perpetrators. Incidents involving BB guns
were reported in which a 12-year-old girl was shot and injured by her
sister's boyfriend in Hartlepool (the offender was sentenced to three weeks
imprisonment), two boys aged 11 and 9 were shot in Scarborough and a
12-year-old boy was hit in a park in Millom. A teenager caused alarm
when he waved a BB gun at shoppers in Knutsford and two 17-year-olds were
arrested after firing a BB gun from a car in Norwich. It was reported
that the weapon used in a street robbery in Norwich was also an imitation
gun. A shooting spree involving airsoft guns resulted in widespread
damage to cars in Somerset. Two young boys, one aged 10 the other 14,
received anti-social behaviour orders for causing problems to neighbours
including using BB guns (Kirkdale, Merseyside and Norwich).
-
Three of the men given long jail sentences (see above)
were reported to have used imitation guns in their crimes, an aggravated
burglary in east London, a series of raids on bookmakers in south London and
the Home Counties and an attack on a father in south London.
-
Airgun Attacks - The conviction for murder and
sentencing of Mark Bonini who killed Glasgow toddler Andrew Morton with an
airgun shot (see above) reflects both the dangerousness of air weapons and
the seriousness with which airgun crime should be treated. Incidents
involving airguns were reported from Ludlow (a woman was reported to have
been shot) and Cannock Chase hospital where a man was brandishing an air
pistol in a patients' waiting area. The Livingston firecrew found what
appeared to be a dent caused by an air rifle in the side of their engine
after it had been attacked during a call-out. In Peterborough an air
rifle was found when armed police surrounded a flat where they also came
across suspected stolen goods. Police had to issue a warning to airgun
owners after reports of a gun being fired from the a house in Comberton
(Cambridge) into a neighbouring property.
-
A man received a 20-month jail sentence after he had shot
a man with an air rifle in Buckley (north Wales) (his victim suffered mouth
injuries), another was told he faced a possible jail sentence after randomly
shooting and injuring two women in Galashiels and another was in court
charged with shooting a man with an air rifle in Stevenston (Ayrshire).
SEPTEMBER 2005 - SUMMARY
>
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-
Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were a number of
fatal shooting incidents reported in September. Police shot dead
an armed man in Ashton-under-Lyne and another man shot himself after being
confronted by armed police on the M1 in Nottinghamshire. Another man
killed himself in a Knightsbridge store after shooting dead a shop
assistant. Two shooting deaths were reported in Chorlton, Manchester,
a man was found shot dead in Rochdale and another was killed during a fracas
in Birmingham. Other victims received serious gunshot wounds in incidents
around London - Greenwich, Dalston, Homerton, Islington and Archway. A
jeweller in Horsham was lucky not to have been seriously injured or killed
when his mobile phone absorbed the impact of a shot.
-
Armed Hold-Ups - A number of armed hold-ups and
raids occurred this month. These took place on shops in Edinburgh,
Chester, Coventry, Horsham (see above), Irvine, Leigh (when two children
were threatened) and Solihull, on a building society in Thatcham, on a sub
post office in Bishopbriggs, on a collection agency in Bellshill, in a
church in Ashton-in-Makerfield, on petrol stations in Nottingham and
Cheylesmore (Coventry), on offices in Barking and on a bus in Holloway.
A man was held at gunpoint and robbed after being tricked into buying a car
in Tottenham and a gunman attempted to rob three men in separate incidents
in Golders Green. Vehicles were stolen or hijacked by armed men in
Hemel Hempstead and Cotham (Bristol) and homes raided in Pendleton
(Salford) and Wilmslow.
-
Imitation Guns - There were more incidents
involving BB guns and other imitation weapons, often being used by children
or teenagers. On Merseyside there were incidents at two schools
(Gateacre and Netherton) and a 10-year-old was shot in Speke. A
14-year-old who fired a BB gun and hit another pupil in a Newark school
earlier this year was told he faces custody. A mother claimed to have
been threatened with an imitation gun in Lache Park, and two incidents in
Sheffield involving youths were reported by South Yorkshire Police.
Youngsters continue to ignore the dangers of carrying imitation guns in
public - a 10-year-old was arrested in Smallfield after brandishing one at
school and a 13-year-old appeared in court after carrying an imitation
pistol in Llandudno. A man believed to be carrying an imitation gun
was arrested near Sevenoaks. Police released a picture of an imitation
sub-machine gun used in a raid in Bournemouth. A man was charged with
possessing an imitation gun with intent to cause fear and violence in
Greenbank, another was found guilty of pointing an imitation handgun at
children in a car in Todmorden and one of a gang of youths was found guilty
of firing a BB gun at a bus driver in Poringland. Long jail sentences
were given to two men for robbing a supermarket and threatening staff with
an imitation gun in Hatfield Heath and to a man caught in Thornton Heath
caught armed with a converted blank-firing pistol. One of two
15-year-olds who committed 35 offences involving theft from other children
waved an imitation gun during one attack.
-
Airgun Attacks - Airgun attacks occurred in many
locations around Great Britain. A number of victims were hit including
a woman in a retail park in Telford, a woman in a Renfrew garden and a
teenager climbing a ladder in Leigh. Shots were fired at a
passing car in Exhall and at a 5-year-old boy in Renfrew. The bedroom
window of a 1-year-old girl was hit in Heavily, a Dundee man was sitting in
his living room when the window was hit and a pensioner in Barton has been
targeted by youngsters firing at his windows. A pensioner caused
a gun scare with an air pistol at his flat in Blyth and a man fired twenty
shots with an air rifle in a street in Kingsthorpe. Men appeared in
court after airgun incidents in Carlisle, East Kilbride, Edinburgh,
Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park, Johnstone and Workington. All the reported
attacks on animals in September involved air weapons.
OCTOBER 2005 - SUMMARY
>
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-
Gun Deaths and Injuries - Two fatal shootings were
reported, one occurring in Newtown the day after serious disturbances in a
neighbouring area of Birmingham, the other in Oxfordshire where the victim
was discovered in a car. Other serious shooting incidents which
resulted in injury occurred in Drumoyne (Glasgow), Brixton Hill (London),
Sheepridge (Huddersfield) on two separate occasions involving injuries to
four men, Throckley (Tyneside), Handsworth (Birmingham) and Harpurhey
(Manchester). In another incident in which shots were fired a man was
stabbed during an attempt to steal his car at Dordon (West Midlands).
-
Armed Hold-Ups - There were a large number of
armed raids reported during October. These took place on bookmakers in
Britwell (Berkshire), shops in Southend and Stansted Mountfitchet (both in
Essex) and Ingol (Preston), a restaurant in Newcastle, a post office in
Hooley (Surrey), a pub in Radford (Nottingham), a petrol station in Erskine
(Scotland) and banks in Muirhead and Milngavie (central Scotland).
There was also a report of a gang of youths armed with weapons, which
included guns, committing a series of street robberies in Heston and
Hounslow (West London) and armed raids on homes in Wallington (Surrey),
Harlow (Essex) and New Farm Loch (Ayrshire).
-
Gun Finds - Guns
were recovered by police in a number of raids, but there were other
instances in which members of the public found guns. An arsenal of
weapons was found under a child's bed during a police raid in Elephant &
Castle (South London) and guns were retrieved by police in raids on
addresses in New Cross (South East London - drugs were also seized), Lister
Hills (Bradford) and in Chirk (North Wales). Police arrested fourteen
people in Wolverhampton suspected to be connected with drug dealing and gun
crime. A link between guns and drugs was also evident when children
discovered a gun with controlled drugs near Muirkirk (Scotland). A
loaded handgun was found by an electrician in a cupboard on an estate in
Brixton (South London). A rifle was found on the foreshore of the
River Severn in South Wales after the owner went missing.
-
Convictions (see also Imitation Guns and Air Rifles) -
A number of high profile cases ended in convictions for serious gun crimes.
The men responsible for the murder of 14-year-old Danielle Beccan in
Nottingham last year were sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in jail.
A member of So Solid Crew was sentenced to a minimum of thirty years for the
murder of a man in Tooting (South London) and a man who shot and killed a
man in Royston (Glasgow) was jailed for 18 years. Long jail sentences
were also given to offenders convicted for crimes in Sheffield (burglary
with a revolver - 8 years), outside the Barbican Centre in London (a woman
was wounded when a gang started shooting at another group of men - 12 years
for the gunman) and in Clifton, Nottingham (robbery, theft and possession of
a firearm with intent - 7 years). A man who kept a sawn-off shotgun he
had found in a wheelie bin in Washington also received a jail sentence (1
year).
-
Imitation Guns - Once again there were many incidents
with BB guns and other imitation weapons, and, although it was not always
the case, children
or teenagers were often involved as perpetrators or victims. During
the recent disturbances in the Lozells area of Birmingham a police officer
was shot with a ball-bearing gun. A man threatened police in Cheshire,
a man was held after a one-hour police operation in Swaffham and a man was
arrested after armed police were called to a house in Spalding. A
woman was questioned after attempting to board a plane at Newquay with a
fake handgun in her luggage. A 13-year-old was arrested after a gun
was fired at a Crewkerne school, injuring another pupil, while one of two
teenage boys was injured when they were approached by youths carrying a BB
gun in Carlisle. Two young children were shot with a BB gun in
Workington. Problems with youths armed with BB guns were reported from
Carlisle, Winsford and Islington (the boy was seen showing off a gun outside
a secondary school) and two incidents were reported in Hatfield. Young
children have been cautioned after being seen in public with imitation guns
in Chapeltown (Leeds) and a church rector was concerned after seeing youths
showing off guns in a churchyard at Dereham, Norfolk.
-
A number of people were convicted for offences involving imitation guns.
Men were jailed for incidents involving imitation guns that took place in
Sweeney, Shropshire (road rage - 21 months), Bradford (robbery and attempted
robbery - 13 years), Colne (firing at passers-by from a car - 16 months) and
Edinburgh (robbery - 4 years). Three teenage girls received sentences
of four and five years in jail after committing robberies in Croydon.
A youth received an antisocial behaviour order after firing a BB gun through
a letter box in Broadfield (Surrey).
-
Airgun Attacks - Airguns continue to be used in
incidents which leave members of the public frightened and injured. A
woman was shot in the head in Sheffield, a student hit in the face whilst
walking in West Herrington (Sunderland) and two women pedestrians were
targeted in Cambridge. There was an incident in Ely (Cardiff) in which
a man was seen at a bedroom window with an air rifle. Schoolchildren
were left horrified after they saw a blood-soaked man armed with an air
rifle in Iver Heath and a Nuneaton school had to be closed after the
caretaker was shot. Youths fired an airgun at a front door in
Borehamwood and shattered a kitchen window in Eccleshill (Bradford).
NOVEMBER 2005 - SUMMARY
>
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-
Gun Deaths and Injuries - There was considerable
shock at the fatal shooting of WPC Sharon Beshenivsky who was killed by a
gunman
whilst answering a call to an armed raid on a travel agents in Bradford.
Her colleague, WPC Teresa Milburn, was also shot and seriously injured. Other fatal shooting
incidents occurred in Chingford, Rutherglen and Leeds. A
17-year-old died from shotgun wounds at his Newton Hall home, though foul
play was ruled out in this instance.
-
A number of shooting incidents resulted in injuries, many
of them serious. A number of people were injured in shootings in the
Greater London area: five men were shot in a house in Walthamstow, a man was
shot outside his Bexley home, eight people were targeted in a shooting and
stabbing incident in Bethnal Green, two young men were shot in Hackney, a
girl was injured when a shot was fired through a letter box in Walworth and
four men were hurt during an incident in Plaistow though none was actually
shot. In Sheffield a man and his wife were shot when they were
attacked in their car, a man was shot whilst walking in the street and a man
was shot on his doorstep. In the North West another victim was shot on his
doorstep in Huyton, a man was injured during a number of related incidents
in the Wigan area and two victims were injured during a raid on a Liverpool hotel.
In the West Midlands a man was seriously injured in a shooting in West
Bromwich and a shop assistant shot during an armed robbery in Sparkbrook.
-
Shots Fired at Police Officers - In addition to
the shooting of the two women police officers in Bradford (see above) shots
were fired at police officers in incidents in Huddersfield, Telford, Newtown
(Manchester) and Harpenden. In the Huddersfield incident one of the
two officers was hurt by flying glass from the car windscreen and in the
Harpenden incident the officer was shot in the arm.
-
Armed Hold-Ups - There were armed raids on a hotel
in Liverpool, in which two staff were shot, on stores in Bristol (in both Frenchay
and St George), Bridgnorth (in which a victim was stabbed), West Bromwich (in which a shop assistant was shot),
Castle Donnington and Dudley, on a post office in
Narborough (Norfolk), on two banks in Lancashire (Haslingden, Coppull) and at a number
of properties in Cardiff (all involving one suspect). A lorry driver was kidnapped at gunpoint at
a service station on the M62 and a woman had her car stolen at gunpoint in
Pollokshields, Glasgow. An armed man was shot with a Taser gun by
police when he raided a service station in Newmains. An armed street
robbery took place in Muswell Hill and attacks on householders in Cressing
(Essex), involving a Taser gun, and Hertford. Assaults and threats
were made during a number of armed attacks reported in Wythenshawe,
Manchester.
-
Other Incidents - Two teenagers threatened a
farmer with a handgun after he accused them of trespassing at
Sandford-upon-Thames, a gang of youths threatened a woman in Cross Keys, a
man was shot at in a suspected gangland-style hit in Dulwich (the victim
failed to come forward), a man was charged after he waved a gun at a charity
lunch in Bath and a man and a woman were charged with firearms and drug
offences after a raid on a pub in Bristol. A man was arrested after
police used Taser guns following reports of a man carrying a firearm in the
centre of Glasgow.
-
Convictions (see also Imitation Guns and Air Rifles) -
Jail sentences were given to a number of men convicted of various offences
involving firearms: for the fatal shooting of a robbery victim in Dagenham
(two men sentenced to 18 years, two to 6 years), for murder of his
girlfriend whilst driving on the M1 (at least 25 years), for injuring a
shopkeeper during a robbery in Peckham (10 years), for firearm possession
and drug offences in Ilford (9 years), for the shooting and kidnapping of a
man in Tameside (three men sentenced to 17,13 and 12 years), for possession
of a prohibited firearm (a sawn-off shotgun) in South Bents (Sunderland) (5
years), for wounding with intent in Woolwich (sentencing deferred
until December), for armed robbery and possession of a loaded firearm in
Potters Bar (life sentence) and for threatening his girlfriend with a
sawn-off shotgun in Aspatria (at least two years, eight months). A
licensed gun owner was given a two year sentence after shooting his wife's
car with a shotgun in Surrey and a retired policeman jailed for two months
after a gun was found in his luggage at Luton Airport.
-
Shotguns - It appears that a higher number of the
incidents and court cases involving shotguns were reported in November.
In six of the cases listed above (those involving incidents in Dagenham,
Peckham, South Bents, Woolwich, Aspatria and Surrey) the weapon concerned
was a shotgun. Armed raids and assaults in Wythenshawe, Coppull,
Haslingden, Bristol, Cardiff and at an M62 service station were committed
with shotguns. A youth died at his home in Newton Hall from shotgun
injuries. Two of the incidents involving animals were also the result
of shotgun attacks (on a cat in St Ives, Cornwall, and on a protected
peregrine falcon in Taunton).
-
Imitation Guns - Among the victims shot or threatened with imitation
guns, including BB guns, were a boy who was shot at a birthday party in
Eastbourne, a boy who was hit in the head by a 9-year-old in Osmondthorpe,
Leeds and a receptionist at Chase Farm Hospital who was held at gunpoint by
a patient armed with a replica gun. Armed police were called to an
incident in Thornton Heath involving a teenager armed with a BB gun.
-
A man was sentenced to six years in youth custody for an
attempted hotel robbery in Blackpool when he was armed with an imitation
firearm, another man was jailed for two years after terrifying motorists
with a replica gun on the M4. Another man appeared in court after
kidnapping a woman in Oldham armed with an axe and an imitation gun. A
van driver has been told he could face jail after being found guilty of
brandishing an imitation gun at a traffic warden in Reigate.
-
Airgun Attacks - Airgun incidents were reported
from Swansea (two people were injured by shots fired from a flat), Oxford
(one man was shot in the head) and Tyldesley (Leigh) (a fire engine was
targeted).
-
A man and a youth have been charged in relation to the
death of a 12-year-old boy, shot with an air rifle in Conisbrough in May
2005. A Newcastle man convicted of a string of offences, a number of
them against his girlfriend, had caused significant damage at their flat
with an airgun and had also held it to the nose of his girlfriend's young
daughter. An ex-convict was convicted after threatening a gang with an
air pistol in Nelson. A man who shot his girlfriend with an air rifle
in Kippen, Stirlingshire, was fined, a youth was convicted of pointing an
air rifle at police in Craigend, Glasgow, a man pled guilty to shooting at
the windows of a primary school in Gorebridge and a woman admitted a charge
of culpably and recklessly discharging a firearm after hitting a
14-year-old boy in the arm. Another man was given a suspended jail
sentence after hitting a 14-year-old girl with an airgun pellet in Adamstown
(Cardiff). A community order was given to a Kenilworth man for
possession of a loaded air weapon.
-
There have been many reports of airgun injuries, a number
of them fatal, to animals and birds, especially cats and swans.
-
A number of convictions for airgun offences were
reported. One man with a previous conviction and banned from keeping
firearms had been spotted with an air rifle (Keswick - six months jail), a
Hastings man had fired at two gardeners (18 month community rehabilitation),
a man from Pumpherston (West Lothian) fired an air pistol from his bedroom
window and injured a young girl (sentence deferred), a Mansfield man shot
his neighbour in the leg (120 hours community service), two drunken men had
fired an air rifle in the centre of Cheltenham (one years jail), a man had
shot two girls from his bedroom window in Lupset (Yorkshire) (120 community
punishment) and a man had used an air rifle in an act of domestic violence
(Barry Island - 18 months jail).
-
Pets have again been targeted with airguns with many
reports especially of injuries to cats in October.
DECEMBER 2005 - SUMMARY
>
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-
Gun Deaths and Injuries - Gunshot injuries were
responsible for the deaths of men in Grimsby, Dewsbury (another victim was
injured in this incident), Old Trafford (Manchester) (during a raid at an
off-licence) and Greenock (the victim's brother was injured in the
shooting). A woman was found shot dead at a house in Audley
(Staffordshire). A farmer's wife was killed when her husband shot her
with a humane killer in Shirenewton (near Chepstow) before shooting himself
- he survived but was critically ill. A man shot his girlfriend dead
with a shotgun and then killed himself in a field in Woodsetts (South
Yorkshire). The police shot dead a man at his home in Meir
(Stoke-on-Trent) after he was seen wielding a firearm, reported to have been
a shotgun, and a sword.
-
A man was injured in the legs when he was shot in his car
in Wembley, another was shot after a car crash in Heckmondwike (West
Yorkshire), four people were arrested after a man was shot in Chapeltown
(Leeds) and a man was shot in the stomach in a Basingstoke bar. Nine
people were arrested after a shooting in Harpurhey (Greater Manchester)
after a disturbance outside a nightclub. A biker shot at two men, one
of whom was injured, in Ladbroke Grove (London). In Scotland four
friends were shot with a shotgun in Balloch and a man was injured in a
shooting near Bridgeton Cross in Glasgow. Two beaters were shot after
a misunderstanding with shooters during a pheasant shoot in Devon.
-
Armed Police Officers - There were a number of
incidents in December to which armed police officers were called.
There were serious consequences in a number of these. A man was shot
dead in Meir (Stoke-on-Trent) and another was shot in the arm as police
tried to arrest him during a robbery on a supermarket in Peckham.
Police reportedly shot a man as he fled from a house in Fulham: the man was
wanted for a string of crimes including robbery. A man suspected of
firing shots at police in West Linton (Peeblesshire) was hit by baton rounds
fired by police.
-
Motorists were left horrified at witnessing what appeared
to be arrests made at gunpoint on a main road outside Hertford: these turned
out to be part of a training exercise.
-
Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - A shop worker lost
his life during an armed raid on an off licence in Old Trafford
(Manchester). There were other armed raids involving guns on shops in
Perham Down (Wiltshire), Tiptree (Essex), Bedford, in the Bournemouth area
(where five armed robberies have been linked) and Cleland (North
Lanarkshire), on a bank in Glasgow, on a building society in Taporley
(Cheshire), on a betting shop in Shettleston (Glasgow), on a football club
in Bristol, on post offices in Newburn (Tyneside) and Great Thurlow
(Suffolk) (one worker suffered a cut after being struck by the butt of a
sawn-off shotgun) and on security vans outside a shop in Ashby de la Zouch
and a bank in Harpenden. Gunmen demanded that a man leaving a post
office in Millfield (Peterborough) hand over cash. A girl had a gun
held to her face and her mobile phone stolen by two youths in New Eltham.
A gang of armed raiders forced their way into a home in Warwickshire and
stole cash. A gunman who forced a woman to drive him to Bristol Temple
Meads station at gunpoint is being hunted on suspicion of armed robbery.
In a shocking incident in Spalding an 11-year-old boy was sexually assaulted
by a man at gunpoint.
-
Other Incidents - Three people were arrested after
a weapon had reportedly fired in Cuxton (Kent) and a man was arrested after
reports of shotgun fire in Manninford Bohune (Wiltshire). A gun was
fired from a moving car in Hulme (Manchester) and a raider who attempted to
break into a pub in Norbury (South London) fired a shot at the building.
Police arrested two people after an incident in Workington and a man is due
to appear in court after a gunman blasted the windows of a house in Merstham
(Surrey). A gunman was arrested outside the St Enoch shopping centre
in the centre of Glasgow. In South Wales another man was arrested on
suspicion of possessing a firearm in a public place in Ystradgyniais and a
five-hour armed siege was sparked by a suspected gunman in Roath.
-
Hundreds of school pupils in South Queensferry were
locked in their classrooms after a man with a gun threatened to commit
suicide in a house opposite.
-
A man opened fire with a gun after disturbing two
intruders at his house in Walpole St Andrew (West Norfolk).
-
Convictions (see also Imitation Guns and Air Rifles) -
Damien Hanson, convicted of the widely reported murder by stabbing of a
financier and the attempted murder of his wife in Chelsea, was carrying a
handgun at the time of the crime. Jail sentences were given to a
number of men convicted of gun crime: to a man who granted a gunman
permission to execute a victim in Northolt (North West London) (25 years),
to a man for the torture and shooting of a teenager in Burnham
(Buckinghamshire) (another man has already been given a life sentence for
the murder and the inquiry continues), to six men who killed a doorman in
Birmingham (minimum of 30 years) and to a man who dug up a shotgun from his
garden in Orpington and shot and injured a visitor in the leg (12 years).
A man faces a possible life sentence after being caught with a sub-machine
gun and three pistols in Clapham (surprisingly he was given bail until
sentencing in February).
-
Imitation and Converted Guns - Yet again the majority of the
incidents involve juveniles, frequently as the victims, but there are still
a number of incidents in which adults have used imitation guns. Three
teenagers have been arrested after BB guns were fired at junior school
children in Maltby (South Yorkshire) and in what appears to be a similar
incident three teenagers fired at youngsters at a primary school in Perth.
A man was arrested after threatening youths with an imitation gun in Sandy
(Bedfordshire), a boy pointed a BB gun at a bus driver in Liverpool and a
12-year-old girl was arrested after using a BB gun to shoot a man in
Macclesfield,
-
A Croydon man was jailed for five and a half years for
possessing a converted Glock handgun he claimed he had bought to commit
suicide (police believe he was involved in drugs crime) and a terrorist who
was found with a blank firing gun converted to shoot live rounds was
convicted under the Terrorism Act (sentencing adjourned). A BB gun had
been used by two of three men who were jailed after a series of crimes
committed in Wakefield and Darlington. A 15-year-old admitted taking a
pot shot with a BB gun and hitting a woman in her garden in Scone
(Perthshire) and an 18-year-old was convicted of possessing an imitation
firearm after waving it in Buckley town centre (North Wales). A
15-year-old has been banned by an ASBO from shops in Elmbridge (Hull) after
firing a BB gun at a security camera
-
Airgun Incidents - The windscreen of a van was
cracked by air rifle fire whilst it was being driven in Welton (Somerset),
four teenagers were arrested after a number of people were shot with an air
rifle in Dogsthorpe (Peterborough), a man was arrested after being seen
brandishing an air rifle in Lincoln and youths attacked a bus with an airgun
as it passed through Gainford (Teesdale),
-
There should be no doubt that airguns can be lethal.
A coroner's court was told how a New Addington man had killed himself with
an air rifle he kept in the loft, and an appeal court heard how a man had
shot his wife in the head and neck with an air rifle in Cockermouth in a bid
to murder her. A boy was said to have been "extremely lucky" after he
was shot in the head as he "played" with an airgun with a friend in
Billingham.
-
In the first of two cases from Norfolk a man who admitted
possessing an air rifle intending to cause fear and violence after firing
the gun twelve times at two people, one a paramedic, in Mulbarton, was given
a two and a half year jail sentence. In the second a teenager who
threatened bouncers with an air rifle in Dereham was given 18 months youth
custody. A man pleaded guilty to affray after he used an airgun to
frighten youngsters in Llandudno.
-
Air weapons were again reported to have killed or injured
a number of animals including swans and cats. A man from Cudham (Kent)
was given a conditional discharge and a fine after admitting shooting a dog
with an air rifle.
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