December 2009 Incidents

Three of the domestic shootings described above took place during December and resulted in the deaths of three women and a child. The one other homicide victim was a man who was shot dead during a robbery. Overall, however, there
were fewer incidents reported this month that resulted in gunshot injuries, although the incidence of robberies involving guns appeared to have increased.

Gun Deaths and Injuries -

There were nine shooting fatalities during December, six of them occurring in domestic incidents in which four female
victims died, one of them a child. Five of the deaths were probable homicides:

A man died after being shot during a robbery in Longsight (Manchester) -a number of men were arrested.

Two women were shot dead in Brabourne Leas (Kent) and Rochford (Essex), apparently by their husbands who used shotguns and then apparently committed suicide, one by shooting himself and the other by drowning. In another murder-suicide in Aldershot (Hampshire) a woman and her 4-year-old daughter were killed by her ex-partner who was also the father of the child - the man shot himself with what is believed to have been a handgun.

There were two other probable suicides involving firearms, one near Eastbourne (East Sussex) and the other in Cricklade (Wiltshire).

Inquests into the deaths earlier this year of two other men who died from shotgun wounds concluded that their injuries were self-inflicted - an open verdict was recorded for a man found dead in Dorchester (Dorset), suicide in the case of a man found in Wootton (Lincolnshire). Another inquest heard how a man had taken his own life at a farm in Whitestone (Devon) using a bolt gun.

Ten other victims were injured in shooting attacks:

Cambridgeshire (1) - a man was injured in a shotgun attack at a nightclub in St Neots (a man has been charged with attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to cause an offence) Kent (1) - a man was critically injured after a hit-and-run incident in Maidstone which left another man dead - the injured man was hit by the vehicle but also suffered gunshot wounds (a woman has been charged
with murder and two other men arrested) London (4) - two men were shot in a shotgun attack in Ladbroke Grove, a
man was badly injured when he was shot at a nightclub in Farringdon, and a man who entered hospital with a wound to the shoulder is believed to have been shot in Walthamstow. Merseyside (1) - a man was shot in the leg after being approached by two men in a street in Huyton
Suffolk (1) - a man was shot at a club in Ipswich, probably with a handgun West Midlands (2) - a man and a woman were injured in a double shooting in Wood End (Coventry)

Five people were injured in airgun shootings:

A railway repair man was hit in the wrist when shots were fired at a group of workers in Middleton (West Yorkshire) A man was apparently shot in Ellacombe (Devon) Two men were shot in Greater Manchester, one as he was collecting money for charity in a street in Cadishead and the other as he used a cash machine in Whalley Range, where a man was later arrested. A resident was shot when he went to investigate someone firing an air weapon in a street in Workington (Cumbria)

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults

A man was fatally injured during a robbery outside a money exchange firm in Longsight (Manchester) (see above). This month there was a spate of armed robberies and attempted robberies allegedly involving guns, particularly at bookmakers and shops. It seems likely that many of the weapons, especially those described as handguns, were
imitations. The incidents occurred at:

Banks, Building Societies and Post Offices in Balham (south London), Cheadle (Cheshire) (involving a sawn-off shotgun), Islington Green (north London) (the man responsible is believed to have raided a number of
other banks in London and Essex since September; no weapon has been seen), Northampton (handgun; a man has been questioned about this and two other robberies in Northampton and Wellingborough), Rayleigh (Essex) and Smethwick (West Midlands) (no weapon seen) Bookmakers in Bothwell (South Lanarkshire), Burnham (Berkshire) (handgun), Leeds (handgun), Slough (Berkshire) (two separate premises; one involved a handgun), Sunderland (handgun), Swindon (Wiltshire) (two separate premises; after the first raid three men were charged with
conspiracy to steal and possessing an imitation firearm; a handgun was seen in the second raid), Walker (Tyneside) (handgun) and Wigan (two separate premises; handgun reported in one of the raids) Cafés and Restaurants in the Bluewater shopping centre (Kent), Colchester (Essex) (a man who was armed with an airgun was charged) and Knott End (Lancashire) (handgun) Car Dealership in Dunston (Tyneside) (handgun) Offices in Leamington Spa (Warwickshire) (handgun) and Moortown (Leeds) (handgun) Petrol Stations in Eastleigh (Hampshire), Fenay Bridge (West Yorkshire), Hebburn (Tyneside) (handgun) and Worthing (West Sussex) (a shot was fired) Shops in Canvey (Essex) (handgun), Clydebank (West Dunbartonshire), Duston (Northampton) (handgun), Kidsgrove (Staffordshire) (shotgun, hammer) (two people have been arrested), Liverpool, Llysfaen (North Wales) (handgun, knife), Milton Keynes (a blank-firing gun was fired), Monsall (Manchester) (shotgun, pistol and machetes), Tantobie (County Durham) (handgun), Tooting (south London), Walsall (handgun, crowbar), Wigan (sawn-off shotgun), Wolverhampton and Worthing (West Sussex) (believed to have involved a BB gun). A shotgun may also have been used to break a window during a robbery at a jewellers in Birkenhead (The
Wirral) Warehouse in Philadelphia (County Durham) (handgun, metal bar). There were armed robberies at Homes in Bournemouth (Dorset) (two different properties), Chorlton (Greater Manchester) (there were a number of incidents in the area - a 15-year-old has been arrested), Kirby (Merseyside) (a car wasstolen), Pickmere (Cheshire) (three men armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a handgun) and Portslade (East Sussex) (the weapon was a BB gun and a man was arrested)

A pensioner who was visiting a Hospital in Liverpool was attacked by a man believed to be carrying a gun who demanded money. There was an attempted robbery during a cash delivery at a Bus Depot in Wigan (one man was hit on the head with a shotgun, two men were later arrested). A
Delivery Van driver was robbed in Newcastle upon Tyne and a Bus Driver in Billingham (Teesside). A man has been accused of a firearms offence and making off without payment following an incident in which a Taxi Driver was allegedly threatened with a gun in Consett (County Durham).
A man was dragged off the street and into a car at gunpoint in West Hampstead (north west London) and forced to withdraw money from two cash machines.

Other Incidents - Shots were fired during a number of other incidents: Cheshire - the windows of a family's car were smashed by an apparent shot fired in Warrington
Greater Manchester - shots were fired and a bullet casing found in Whalley Range. London - a man on a motorcycle fired at a group of people outside a club in Finsbury, and a shot was fired during an incident in Norwood in which a
man had his ear bitten. Merseyside - A shot was fired at a property in Croxteth, two cars were found damaged in Norris Green after residents reported hearing gunshots
and shots were heard in a street in Belle Vale (a man was arrested). West Midlands - two windows were smashed at separate premises in Coventry. West Yorkshire - shots, believed to come from a shotgun, were fired from a vehicle in Manningham (Bradford) damaging parked vehicles
Worcestershire - A firearm was discharged in Redditch - one man has been arrested. A man from Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) has been accused of threatening to shoot his elder daughter with a shotgun. Two men were arrested on suspicion of assault and having a shotgun and baseball bat after police found a man with the weapons at a car crash in Basildon (Essex). After a second incident in a hospital this month (see Armed Robberies above) a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence - he was seen with a rifle at a hospital in Crumpsall (Greater Manchester).

A number of other people were charged with possession of firearms:

Two men from south London appeared in court charged with possession of three firearms, possession of a handgun with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Four teenagers have been charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life after a firearm was discovered in a
vehicle in Kensington (Liverpool). A man was charged with possessing a firearm after being arrested outside the home of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair in central London. Three men were arrested and a loaded revolver was seized in a police
operation in Tottenham Hale (north London). Following a number of incidents, including one in which a gun was said to have been displayed, a pub in Easton (Bristol) was shut down.

There were other incidents in which guns were reported to have been seen but no firearms were recovered:
Police found a cannabis factory in Addiscombe (south London) after a gun was reported to have been seen there (one man was arrested). A man gave himself up after a siege at a property in Blackpool (Lancashire). Streets in Newton Abbot (Devon) and Bishopbriggs (East Dunbartonshire) were closed after reports of men being seen with a firearm.

Firefighters had to deal with exploding ammunition when a fire at a house in Carsluith (Wigtownshire) penetrated a metal gun cabinet.

Airguns and Imitation Guns

Besides those incidents which resulted in injury (see above) the following also involved airguns and imitation weapons.
Shots were fired from an airgun at a vehicle in Halifax (West Yorkshire) causing damage to the windscreen. A man faced charges after he allegedly threatened to shoot police officers with an air rifle in Castlebay (Outer Hebrides). Another man was charged after a police officer was threatened with a blank-firing pistol in Trafford (Greater Manchester). Staff at a kebab van in Otterbourne (Hampshire) were threatened with an air rifle. Much of the village of Abbots Bromley(Staffordshire) was brought to a halt after reports of a man waving a gun later found to be an imitation handgun - three
juveniles were arrested. In another incident which caused an armed police response two teenagers pointed a BB gun out of a window in Hastings (East Sussex) - they were arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm in a public place.

Imitation guns and airguns were probably used in many of the Armed Robberies (see above) and this was so for robberies from Colchester (Essex), Portslade (East Sussex), Milton Keynes, Swindon (Wiltshire) and Worthing (West
Sussex)

Windows were damaged, probably by shots fired from airguns in incidents in Minera (Clywd) (at a church), South Shields (Tyneside) (at the home of an elderly couple) and Winsford (Cheshire).

A pupil accused of shooting a fellow student with a ball-bearing gun at a school in Kerry (Powys) has had to be invited back to school after police dismissed the case for lack of evidence.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts

Guns were found during searches in which drugs were recovered in Swansea (an airgun), northern Scotland (a replica handgun) and Port Glasgow (Renfrewshire) (a revolver). In other police raids guns were recovered in Gravesend (a shotgun), Leeds (an M-16 assault rifle - three people were arrested), Leicestershire (in Hinckley and
Bosworth; air rifles and an imitation firearm) and Manchester (two blank-firing handguns).

A number of air weapons, including a replica AK47 rifle, were taken from a parked car in Dalkeith (Midlothian), a thief stole a pick-up truck containing shotgun cartridges and jewellery in Kirby Muxloe (Leicestershire), shotguns were among items taken from two farms in Cambridgeshire and two air rifles were among goods stolen from a farm in Kington (Worcestershire).

Incidents Involving Animals

Compared with recent months there were fewer incidents involving animals and birds reported during December. A number of cats were, however, targeted with airguns and pellet guns in London (in Newham, Putney and South Tottenham), one cat was injured in Warrington (Cheshire) and two cats were shot in an airgun attack in Kirkcaldy (Fife). Five men were arrested and a number of guns seized during a crackdown on poaching in Sussex. Three men were arrested on suspicion of poaching when a routine police patrol in Penkridge (Staffordshire) stopped their van which was found to contain three dead deer and a modified air rifle. A red kite was shot and injured near Braco (Perthshire). A heron was shot and badly injured by two airgun pellets in Haversham (Buckinghamshire).

Convictions

Three men were convicted of the fatal shooting of a man and the attempted murder of his father during a robbery at a post office in Fairfield (Worcestershire) - all three were sentenced to a minimum of 34 years. A man found guilty of murdering a man who was shot dead in Newtown
(Birmingham) will serve a minimum of 25 years. Two men were each sentenced to 35 years in jail after an attack in New Cross (south London) in which a teenager was run down and then shot with a shotgun and stabbed - the victim remains in a coma. A man has admitted a shooting at a pub in Greenwich (south east London) in which two people were injured - he pleaded guilty to a number of charges including two counts of wounding with intent. A man from Forest Gate (east London) who shot off his victim's thumb when he opened fire with a shotgun has been convicted of attempted murder, assault and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. Another man who shot a rival outside a restaurant in Wolverhampton was jailed for 12 years and his accomplice for 6 years. A man who shot at two men in Coventry has been found guilty of their attempted murder and been jailed for 11 years. Three men have been found guilty for their part in the torture, robbery and rape of a couple in Clapham (south London) during which a gun was held to the head of a woman - two of the men have each been jailed for 9 years, the other will be sentenced later. A man who forced two officers from their police van at gunpoint in Peterborough and then hijacked another vehicle was given a 14 year sentence after pleading guilty to eight charges. A teenager who held a handgun to the head of a drinker outside a pub in Manchester and threatened to shoot him pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violence and was jailed for a minimum of 3 years. Seven men and one woman have been jailed for a total of more than 57 years, some for firearms offences, for their roles in a drugs gang responsible for shooting incidents in Huyton (Merseyside). Two men who were part of a cocaine-smuggling gang have been convicted of firearms offences - they were responsible for preparing to rob a series of cash vans in Hertfordshire.

The following convictions involved offences with shotguns:

Three men have been jailed for between 3 and 11½ years for kidnap, false imprisonment and possessing a firearm with intent after their victim was kidnapped in Birmingham and threatened with a shotgun. A man who terrorised his lover at her house in Rossington, South Yorkshire, whilst armed with a sawn-off shotgun was given an 18-month
community order. A man who was armed with a shotgun has been given a 12-year jail sentence after attempting to rob a filling station in Blaydon (Tyneside). Three men have been jailed for between 4 years and 8 years for their part
in raids on post offices and bookmakers in Wingate, Trimdon Station and Elwick (County Durham) in which one man was armed with a sawn-off shotgun. A man who hid a sawn-off shotgun at his home in Northampton after he found it in his brother's garden has been jailed for 5 years. A man who had a sawn-off shotgun and cartridges outside Middlesbrough flat where police discovered drugs was jailed for 3 years after pleading guilty to possessing a shotgun without a certificate.
A man whose photograph, in which he posed with a sawn-off shotgun, was found on his son's phone admitted illegal possession of the gun and was jailed for 5 years. A man who took a shotgun to a field in Wootton (Bedfordshire) intending to kill himself after assaulting his wife pleaded guilty to assault causing actual bodily harm and having a shotgun in a public place - he was given a suspended 46 week prison sentence and 100 hours unpaid work together with a fine.

There were a number of convictions for possessing illegal firearms:

Two gang members were convicted of possessing a Mac-10 machine pistol found by police in Aston (Birmingham). A man from Luton (Bedfordshire) has been given a 5 year prison sentence after admitting possessing a pistol which he had been asked to keep in return for £300 but then lost. A teenage woman pleaded guilty to possessing a handgun she had been asked to look after at her flat in Beckenham (south east London) and was sentenced to 3 years detention. Another woman was sentenced to 5 years after police found two pistols, a sawn-off shotgun, a silencer and ammunition at her home in Isleworth (west London). A man caught in Harrow (north west London) with a modified imitation handgun loaded with three bullets has been found guilty and jailed for 6½ years. A man from South Shields was jailed for 9 years after cocaine, cash and a loaded pistol were found at his home. A 19-year-old pleaded guilty to possessing a 9mm pistol and ammunition found at his home in Derby - he was sentenced to 2 years and 9 months,
a lesser sentence because he had been a key witness in a murder trial. A man described as a passionate gun collector was jailed for 5 years after pleading guilty to nine firearm offences - he had more than 50 guns at his cottage in Heywood (Greater Manchester) some of which were unlicensed. A man who was banned from owning a firearm as a result of a previous offence but was found with a rifle at his home in Kentish Town (north London) has been jailed for 5 years. A man from Blyth (Northumberland) was given a conditional discharge after he told the police he had a .22 round in his pocket in a bid to get help to kick a drug
habit - he was banned from having guns and ammunition as a result of a previous conviction.

The following cases involved stun guns:

Three students caught with a Taser gun in a Swansea nightclub were each fined £50. A man was jailed for 12 months for a number of offences including having a prohibited stun gun which was found during a police search of his property in Althorpe (Lincolnshire). A man has pleaded guilty to possessing a stun gun, which was found in his
car in Wellingborough (Northamptonshire), and has been given a suspended 40 week prison sentence and 120 hours community service. A man from Walcot (Wiltshire) has been jailed for 3 years and 10 months after a stun gun and cocaine were found in a car.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases)

A teenager who has been convicted of murdering his girlfriend at their flat in Arbroath (Angus) was also found guilty of pointing an airgun at two men and pulling the trigger. A 16-year-old youth who shot and injured a woman on a night out in Mansfield (Nottinghamshire) claimed he was aiming at flower pots with an air rifle he had been given as a gift - he was given a 12-month community order and ordered to pay compensation to the victim who has suffered long-term injuries. A man who fired an air rifle at a teenager while he was high on drink and drugs in Lye (West Midlands) has been jailed for 5 years - the victim may lose sight of one
eye. A man from Lye (West Midlands) who attacked his love rival and his mother whilst armed with an imitation handgun has been jailed for 8 years - his brother and another man who were involved in the attack and were armed with a
hammer and a baseball bat were jailed for 6 and 5½ years.
A man who was waving an airgun outside a home in Middlesbrough where he threatened to kill his ex-partner has been jailed for 3 years after admitting affray and possessing ammunition without a firearm certificate (police had also found 68 rounds of .22 ammunition)

There were other incidents in which airguns and imitation guns were used to cause fear:

A man pleaded guilty of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear during an incident at Gatwick Airport - the weapon was reported to be an imitation. A man who brandished a loaded air pistol at a police officer in Sunderland
admitted possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear and has been given a suspended 36 week jail sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work. A man who armed himself with a ball bearing pistol for a meeting with two people in Swindon (Wiltshire) has been given a suspended 51 week sentence and 150 hours community service, and his teenage friend who owned the gun admitted a firearms offence and was given a suspended 40 weeks sentences and 130 hours community service. A woman was given a 12-month supervision order after threatening two other women with her husband's air rifle in Bretton (Peterborough). A man who pointed an air pistol at his step-son in East Ham (east London) and threatened to kill him has been jailed for 15 months. A teenager who fired shots from an air rifle in Inverurie (Aberdeenshire) put people in danger and has admitted a charge of culpably and recklessly discharging an airgun. Two teenagers have admitted repeatedly firing a ball-bearing gun in a play park in Oldmeldrum (Aberdeen). A man pleaded guilty to committing a breach of the peace by discharging an air pistol causing fear and alarm in Edinburgh - he was sentenced to 200 hours community service. A teenager who fired a ball-bearing gun at a fellow motorist in Peterlee (County Durham) pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing a firearm with intent to cause a fear of violence. A man mugged two homeless people in Leicester whilst armed with an airgun and awaits sentence.

There were a number of convictions for robberies and attempted robberies in which the offender(s) was armed with an imitation firearm or airgun. The incidents occurred: at shops, banks and post offices in Bilton (Warwickshire) (a man pleaded guilty to two charges of robbery and possessing an imitation firearm and was jailed for 10 year), Castle Bromwich (West Midlands) (one man was found guilty of attempted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm, and another man pleaded to guilty to both charges), Johnstone (Renfrewshire) (a teenager was armed with a BB gun and a hatchet), Rochdale (Greater Manchester) (a 17-year-old has been sentenced to an
8-month detention and training order) and Southampton (a teenage woman has been jailed for 5 years after a number of incidents involving an air pistol) Ataa bookmakers in Hull (a man was been jailed for 5 years) at bars or restaurants in Paisley (a man committed two robberies using a replica revolver and has been jailed for 4 years) and West Didsbury
(Greater Manchester) (a man who admitted possessing an imitation firearm has been jailed for 7½ years) at a service station in Southampton (a man was jailed for 6 years and
received a 2 year extended licence) on security guards in two robberies in Shawlands (Glasgow) (a man has been jailed for 6 years and 5 months) and one in Newmains (Lanarkshire) (an airgun was used - the getaway driver has admitted his involvement) in a street robbery in Portsmouth (two men have been jailed for 6 years and 5 years after they attempted to rob a man whilst armed with an imitation firearm) on a taxi driver in Winson Green (Birmingham) (the offender has pleaded guilty to two charges of robbery and one of possessing an imitation firearm) A 17-year-old who aimed a "toy" AK47 gun at passers-by in Paignton (Devon)
has been given "suitable advice" about his conduct and given an £80 fine. A man who had been drinking when he was seen with an air rifle on a playing field in Newmarket (Suffolk) pleaded guilty to having an unloaded air weapon in a public place and has been given a 12-month community order including 40 hours unpaid work. A father and his son have been jailed for 7½ and 8 years after being found with
drugs and an air rifle at their home in Gateshead (Tyneside).
One man was jailed for 10 months and another fined £250 after air rifles, including two which would have needed firearms certificates, were found by police at a house in Eaton Socon (Cambridgeshire). A man has admitted possessing an air rifle in Pershore (Worcestershire) when
prohibited because of a previous jail sentence. Two men who robbed a teenager of his air rifle in Eston (Teesside) were jailed for 3 years and 2½ years and a 14-year-old was given a 12-month referral order. A physiotherapist from Sunderland was given a caution by the Health Professional
Council after he encouraged a road accident victim to fire an air pistol.

NOVEMBER 2009 - SUMMARY

Gun Deaths and Injuries

There were two fatal shooting incidents in November. Both victims were male, one shot dead in a street in Kennington (south London) and the other at a nightclub in Bilston (West Midlands) (another person was shot and injured, three men have been held in connection with this murder).

Fifteen other victims were injured in shooting attacks in:

o Greater Manchester (1) - a man was shot four times in the legs in anattack at a house in Bury (four men have been arrested)
o London (3) - two people, one aged 15, were injured in separate shootings in De Beauvoir, and a man was shot when his motorbike was stolen at his home in Kingsbury
o Merseyside (3) - a man was shot in the back in Fazakerley, another victim was shot in the leg in Tuebrook, and a man was injured in a shotgun attack in Belle Vale
o Nottinghamshire (2) - a man was shot in the leg in Rise Park, and another received injuries to his legs, buttocks and lower back in a probable shotgun attack in Highbury Vale
o Scotland (1) - a man was shot in the leg in a drive-by shooting in Uplawmoor (East Renfrewshire)
o South Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the head in Wombwell (eight people were arrested and bailed and one man has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent)
o West Midlands (1) - a man was shot and injured in the double shooting in Bilston which resulted in one fatality (see above)
o West Yorkshire (3) - three men were shot in two separate incidents in Bradford, one at a nightclub involving a shotgun (one man has been arrested) and the other outside a curry house .

A man armed with a BB gun was injured in the arm when he was shot by a police marksman in a supermarket in Canterbury (Kent) - he has since been charged with the murder of a woman who was found strangled and with possessing a gun with intent to cause fear of violence.

Two men were injured during an organised shoot near Dunning (Perthshire) when a shotgun was accidentally discharged.

At least seven other people, including three teenagers, were injured in shootings with BB guns or airguns:

o Cambridgeshire - a man was shot with an air rifle whilst walking along a street in Easton Socon
o Gloucestershire - a 13-year-old boy was shot twice in Cheltenham with a BB gun (two other teenagers were arrested)
o Merseyside - a man was shot in the stomach with an air pistol in Southport
o Norfolk - an elderly woman was shot in the head with an airgun at a car boot sale at Costessey - two men, believed to be a stallholder and a would-be purchaser, were arrested
o Somerset - a 13-year-old boy was hit in the leg with what was believed to be a BB gun pellet in Clevedon
o South Yorkshire - a taxi driver was shot with an airgun in his cab in Highfield (Sheffield)
o Wales - an 18-year-old girl was shot with a pellet gun on a fairground ride in Llan Ffestiniog (Gwynedd)

A man from Invergowrie (Angus) has appeared in court to face allegations that he repeatedly shot his wife and two children with a BB gun over a period of three years.

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults

As Gun Control Network has frequently highlighted, many of the weapons used in these crimes are likely to be imitations, as is often apparent from the subsequent charges (see below). Although many weapons are described as handguns this can be solely on the basis of their appearance, and many of them will be blankfiring pistols, BB guns or air pistols.

There were robberies and attempted robberies allegedly involving guns at :-

An Amusement Arcade in Walton (Essex) (two men were armed with a shotgun);

Banks and Post Offices in Southport (Merseyside) (a man has admitted this robbery, in which an imitation firearm was used, and a number of other robberies at banks from nine years ago), Tring (Hertfordshire) (toy gun), Preston (Lancashire) (handgun), Uddingston (North Lanarkshire) and Manningham (Bradford) (handgun); Bookmakers in Woodside (Glasgow), Gossops Green (Sussex) (imitation revolver), Northampton (shotgun), Bradford (handgun), Worthing (West Sussex) (pistol), Blakenhall (West Midlands) (revolver) and Slough (Berkshire); Offices in Burnage (Manchester) and Gloucester; Pubs and Restaurants in Brixton and Clapham (south London) (the raids are believed to be linked), Gravesend (Kent) (handgun), Braintree (Essex) (handgun) and Liverpool;

Shops in Bishop's Cleeve (Gloucestershire), Hamilton (Lanarkshire) (one man might have been responsible for two robberies), Lockwood (West Yorkshire) (a 15-year-old has been arrested), Fairweather Green (Bradford) (handgun), Tooting and Streatham (both in south London), Lees (Greater Manchester) (handgun) and Westy (Cheshire) (handgun); and at a Travel Agents in Muswell Hill (north London).

In two House Robberies in Greater Manchester four masked men armed with a stun gun, knife and axe stole items from a home in Blackley and another gang
handcuffed and threatened a couple in Salford (eight people have been arrested). A Security Man was robbed of a cash box at gunpoint in Stanford-le-Hope (Essex) A gunman stole a Motorbike at the home of its owner in Kingsbury (north west London) - the victim was shot in the leg (see above). A Van was stopped near Heathrow Airport (London) and stolen by a gang of armed robbers armed with a stun gun - the van was found abandoned and its contents taken.

In two Street Robberies, a man had his laptop stolen by a man armed with a ball-bearing gun at a bus stop in Long Eaton (Derbyshire), and a couple were robbed at gunpoint whilst walking to a dance class in Quarry Bank (West Midlands).

Other Incidents

Shots were fired during a number of other incidents:

o Bristol - two shots were fired from a shotgun during a raid on a building in Bishopsworth (Bristol) (a man was arrested)
o County Durham - shots were fired at a house and a car with a shotgun in Consett (two men have been arrested)
o Lincolnshire - a firearm was discharged during an armed break-in in Grimsby (four men have been charged with aggravated burglary and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life)
o Merseyside - windows of a house were shot out in West Derby, shots were fired in a street in Huyton (a man has been charged with possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition), homes were shot at in Page Moss, and a car was damaged by shots fired from another vehicle at a busy road junction
o London - shots were fired at a shop in Finsbury Park, a café in Holloway, outside a pub in Hackney, and from a car in Lower Clapton
o Shropshire - a firearm was discharged during an incident in Hollinswood (Telford) (three men were being questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder)

A man has been accused of possessing a shotgun at his home in Weston-super-Mare, with intent to cause a debt collector violence. A youth pointed a handgun at an 11-year-old boy in Southsea (Hampshire). Two men were arrested in Bideford (Devon) after police received reports that two men had been threatened with a gun. A man has been charged with possession of an illegal firearm after a gun was thrown from a car in Scarisbrick (Merseyside). A man from Blackwood (Gwent) has been charged with possessing an improvised muzzle-loading gun as well as explosive materials and a terrorist document.

There were also incidents in which a gun was reported but no weapon found:

o A college in Enfield (north London) was evacuated and five people arrested after a student was reported to have a gun
o A man was arrested after armed police surrounded a flat in Ross-on-Wye (Herefordshire)
o A gun is alleged to have been produced during a brawl at an amateur football match in Speke (Liverpool)
o A man who claimed to have firearms was arrested at a house in Millfield (Peterborough) A stun gun was found at the scene of a disturbance in East Ham (east London).

Airguns and Imitation Guns

Besides those incidents which resulted in injury (see above) there were further incidents involving airguns and imitation weapons. As noted above they were probably used in many of the armed robberies, and this was certainly so for those in Southport (Merseyside), Long Eaton (Derbyshire) and Gossops Green (Sussex).

Four men have been charged with conspiracy to rob, possession of an imitation firearm in a public place, possession of a prohibited weapon (a stun gun) and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence after an incident in Hadleigh (Essex). A man was charged with two counts of having an imitation firearm with intention to commit crime following robberies at a petrol station and bookmakers in Bedford in October.

Guns were fired at vehicles in the following incidents:

o a car was peppered with air weapon pellets in Ulverston (Cumbria)
o a number of vehicles were targeted around Haughley (Suffolk) with a paintball gun
o a bus was hit and three windows shattered in Lincoln when it was attacked with a gas-powered BB gun
o a taxi was shot with an air rifle as the driver dropped off a fare in Stannington (Sheffield)

The following were damaged probably by shots fired from airguns:

o a pub window in Eye (Cambridgeshire) - there has been other damage in the locality
o a window at a pensioner's house in Oldham(Lancashire)
o windows at a library in Winsford (Cheshire)
o windows and outside lights in Rastrick (West Yorkshire)

Two people were threatened with a gun, reported to have been an airgun, at their home in Hatfield (Hertfordshire) (a man has been arrested). A man from Milford Haven (Pembrokeshire) has been charged with possession of an imitation firearm - he is alleged to have assaulted a woman and caused her to believe that unlawful violence would be used against another.

It has been reported that youths have used a ball-bearing gun to fire at younger children in Wyke (West Yorkshire). A group of youths threatened to shoot an
ambulance crew with BB guns whilst they were responding to a call in Bolton (Lancashire). A man armed with an air rifle chased youths who were throwing eggs at passing cars in Stourport (Worcestershire). A man brandishing a suspected imitation firearm chased another man through streets in Stamford Hill (north London). Two men were arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an imitation
firearm after they were allegedly seen with a gun in Leeds. A man was charged with possession of an imitation firearm after being seen with a handgun in
Grantham (Lincolnshire). One of two men arrested following a shotgun attack in Consett (County Durham)
(see above) has been charged with two other offences after an air weapon was found at his home.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts

Guns were found during searches in which drugs were also recovered in Kearsley (Lancashire) (a sawn-off shotgun and a handgun) (a man and a woman were arrested), Pennywell and South Hylton (Sunderland) (two air weapons) (two women and a man were arrested), West Norfolk (a man was charged with possession of a shotgun without a licence), Warrington (Cheshire) (a stun gun), various addresses in Lancashire (imitation firearm), Halton Moor (Leeds) (a number of air weapons and shotgun cartridges),
Manningham (Bradford) (a handgun), and various addresses on Merseyside (a shotgun). Merseyside Police reported recovering 8 handguns, 5 shotguns and 1 rifle plus many rounds of ammunition during the last month in Norris Green, Croxteth and Huyton. A gun was among items confiscated by police investigating
counterfeiting at a market in Hull. A decommission AK47 rifle was found by police during raids in Bradford (a man was arrested).

Customs officials found eight handguns and 200 rounds of ammunition in a lorry arriving at Dover (Kent) (a man has been charged with attempted smuggling). A gun and ammunition were discovered by a member of the public in Knightswood (Glasgow).

There were thefts of guns reported from:-

Annan (Dumfriesshire) (shotguns and ammunition), Hayling Island (Hampshire) (a replica assault rifle), Hadlow Down (Sussex) (2 shotguns, 2 air rifles), Streatham (south London) (a licensed shotgun was taken after its owner left it on his garden wall and was not aware of its loss for 7 hours), Penarth (South Glamorgan) (an air rifle), and Beechingstoke (Wiltshire) (a shotgun).

A man has been accused of stealing shotguns and other items from a property in Chesterfield (Derbyshire) earlier this year.

Incidents Involving Animals

More cats were the target of airgun attacks reported during November. These occurred in Bristol (two cats have been shot), Cheshire, County Durham, Dorset, Dumfriesshire, Essex, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Nottingham, Plymouth, and Surrey. Another cat from Walsall (West Midlands) was shot twice with a pellet gun.

Two swans died after being shot with airgun pellets at a country park in Sunderland and another swan was shot dead at a nature reserve at Beighton Marsh (Sheffield).

Two men could be facing jail for shooting nine protected kittiwakes with an air rifle at Marsden (Tyne & Wear) - they pleaded guilty to the intentional killing of wild birds.

Convictions

A man was given a minimum twenty year sentence after being found guilty of murdering a woman in Bury St Edmonds (Suffolk) by shooting her with a bolt gun. Bolt guns are used for the routine stunning of livestock and are no longer subject to firearms legislation. The offender worked in a slaughterhouse.

A man convicted of a fatal shooting in East Ham in 2001 will serve a minimum of 33 years. Two men, one a teenager, whose victim was shot four times in Wolverhampton, were found guilty of attempted murder (sentencing was adjourned). Two teenagers were sent to a young offenders' institute for 4½ and 3½ years for
being part of a gang who attacked and shot a man in Croxteth (Liverpool). A man who injured two people with a reactivated pistol in a shooting in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire) has admitted two offences of unlawful wounding and possessing a gun and ammunition with intent to cause fear of violence and has been told he will face many years behind bars.

A father and son have pleaded guilty to conspiring to kidnap after they took a woman and her child hostage for 24 hours - they were reported to have been armed with a handgun and at least two shotguns when they broke into the victims' house in Skipton (North Yorkshire). A man has pleaded guilty to an armed robbery at a service station in St Albans (Hertfordshire) in which he used a gun. Two men who committed a string of robberies including one on a bookmakers in Gipsy Hill (south London) in which staff believed they had a gun have been jailed for 11 years and 10 years 6
months.

A gang of men have been convicted of drug and firearms offences - an arsenal of weapons had been found at a flat belonging to one of them in Highridge Green (Bristol). A teenager caught with a firearm and ammunition whilst dealing drugs in Stonebridge Estate (north west London) has been found guilty of firearms and drug offences. A man from Hayling Island(Hampshire) found with a gun, CS gas and cocaine has been jailed for six years for various drug offences and two counts of possession of a firearm.

A man caught with a loaded gun at a railway station in Abbey Wood (south east London) was found guilty of possessing a firearm with ammunition with intent to
endanger life and jailed for 9 years. A man from north west London who persuaded a woman to stash two loaded guns failed in his appeal to reduce his 7 year sentence for possession of a prohibited firearm and two counts of possessing ammunition without a certificate.
A man who tried to sell a loaded gun which looked like a pen in Rusholme (Greater Manchester) pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and ammunition and was jailed for 5 years. Two men seen to exchange a bag containing a gun in Small Heath (Birmingham) were jailed for 6½ and 6 years after pleading guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon, a silencer and ammunition.

A man who manufactured homemade guns and made and stockpiled nail and ball bearing bombs at his home in Batley (West Yorkshire) has admitted a number of
offences including three counts of manufacturing prohibited weapons, four counts of possession of prohibited weapons and one of possession of ammunition without certificate - he is awaiting sentence. A man was jailed for 4½ years after being found guilty of possessing an illegal gun at his home in High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire). Two men, one aged 17, who held guns for a drugs gang in Kensington (Liverpool) were given 8 and 3 year sentences. An ex-police officer from Pocklington (East Yorkshire) has
admitted conspiracy to launder money and possession of a weapon (a semiautomatic pistol) and ammunition.
A man who had a rifle without a certificate at his home in Bristol and had tried to purchase a stun gun from the USA has been given an 8 month sentence and a 150 hour community work order.

A number of men have been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing for offences involving shotguns:

o Two men involved with a gang who raided a bank in Wigan (Lancashire) in which the raiders were armed with shotguns have been jailed.
o A man who threatened a shopkeeper in Gateshead (Tyneside) with a sawn-off shotgun during an attempted robbery has been found guilty.
o A teenager who shot at parked vehicles in Lostwithiel (Cornwall) with a shotgun has been sent to a young offenders' institution for 16 months.
o Two men have been jailed for 15 and 12 years for a robbery at the home of a couple in Rugby and possession of a firearm.
o A man found with a shotgun hidden in a wardrobe at his parents' home in Wigan (Lancashire) has been jailed for 2 years.
o A man from Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire) who was caught in a police drugs operation has been jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to a drug offences and possessing a shotgun without a certificate.
o A man has admitted possessing a pump action smooth bore shotgun with a short barrel found on a boat in anchored at Brixham (Devon).
o A man admitted possessing a shotgun without a licence and drugs offences after a raid in Middlesbrough.
o A man from Leeds who admitted a number of offences including selling a shotgun has been jailed for 8 years.
o A man who was jailed for 5 years after a shotgun had been found in his bedsit in Penrith (Cumbria) has failed to have his sentence cut on appeal.
o A man found with a broken down shotgun and revolver at his home in St Ann's (Nottingham) was jailed for 5 years for drug offences and storing firearms.
o An ex-soldier who found a sawn-off shotgun in a bin liner in his garden in Merstham (Surrey) and then handed it to the police was found guilty of possessing a firearm - the jury was told that his apparently honest intent was irrelevant.
o A man who stole shotguns from a house in Shefford (Bedfordshire) pleaded guilty to two burglaries and asked for 14 similar offences to be taken into consideration and was jailed for a total of 4 years and 9
months. A man who threatened to get a shotgun and shoot people in Harleston (Norfolk) has admitted threatening behaviour and other offences including handling a stolen air rifle and been given a suspended 12 month prison sentence and a 12 month supervision order. A man who threatened to buy a gun and shoot three members of the community council in Selkirk has been jailed for 16 months for breach of the peace. A man who twice broke into the same house in Willersley (Herefordshire) and stole ammunition and an antique gun has been given a 12-month suspended jail
sentence and was ordered to pay compensation to the owner.

The following cases involved stun guns:
o A man from Torquay has pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon (a non-working stun gun in the form of a torch) and possessing drugs and was given a 12-month community order
o A man and a woman were given 5½ years in jail and a 12 month suspended sentence for drug offences and possessing a prohibited weapon at their home in Hartlepool
o A woman found with drugs and a stun gun at her home in Clayton-le- Moors (Lancashire) has been jailed for four years

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases)

A man who admitted possessing an air rifle with intent to cause fear of violence after he pointed it at two men in Grimsby was jailed for 70 weeks. Two men who wielded an imitation firearm to help kidnap a student in
Loughborough (Leicestershire) have failed to have their sentences of 11 and 11½ years reduced on appeal. A man who brandished a blank-firing revolver in a nightclub in Southport (Merseyside) was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment after pleading guilty. Another offender who brandished a replica gun at a fast food outlet in St Budeaux (Plymouth) has been banned from every takeaway in the city and put under curfew. A man has admitted affray and possession of a firearm without a certificate after an incident in Blyth (Nottinghamshire) following which the police found four air weapons which needed certificates at the man's home in Harworth - he was given a suspended 6 month prison sentence.

A man seen with an air rifle when he barricaded himself inside his home in Blackpool (Lancashire) has admitted affray and given a suspended 8 month prison sentence and 18 months supervision. A man who confronted two youths with an airsoft replica rifle in a street in Blackhall (Edinburgh) has admitted having a firearm in his possession and been fined £367. A teenager was found guilty of two counts of ABH following incidents at a camp near Strangways (Wiltshire) in which a replica assault rifle was fired and two other teenagers were shot, although the jury failed to reach a verdict on a firearms charge - he was jailed for 2½ years. A teenager from Scarborough (North Yorkshire) who sold an imitation firearm to undercover police and explained how to modify it to fire live ammunition has been sent to an institution for young offenders for 8 months. A man jailed for 10 years and 8 months for blackmail, possession of an imitation firearm and possession of a heroin with intent to supply who went to the home of his victim in Whitehaven (Cumbria) with a gun has failed to have his sentence reduced.

There were a number of convictions for robberies and attempted robberies in which the offenders were armed with imitation firearms, including airguns:

o A man was jailed for 9 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to rob and possession of an imitation firearm with intent after carrying out a string of robberies in Dorset and Surrey
o Banks - a man was jailed for 7 years and 9 months after attempting to rob a bank in Redcar (Teesside) whilst armed with a toy handgun; another man who carried out a robbery at a bank in Southport (Merseyside) armed with an imitation firearm has also admitted a number of previous robberies and attempted robberies at banks.
o Bookmakers - a man found to have an air pistol and a gas-powered ball bearing gun has admitted robbery at a bookies in Leeds and possessing an imitation handgun and been jailed for 4 years; a man was jailed for 6 years after holding up a bookmakers in Cambridge with an imitation pistol
o Shops and Post Offices - a man who was armed with a BB gun has been jailed for 2 years for a robbery in Inverness; two men who forced another man to carry out a robbery with an imitation pistol in Meir Heath
(Staffordshire) had their sentences increased on appeal, the sentence of the robber was unchanged at 18 months.
o Music Festival - an 18-year-old has admitted robbery and possessing a firearm with intent to cause violence after threatening a woman with an airgun and stealing her handbag near Silloth (Cumbria)
o Streets - a 13-year-old boy who pointed a ball-bearing gun in the face of a man in Derby has been given an 8-month detention and training order after pleading guilty to two counts of robbery and one count of theft, witness intimidation and possession of an imitation firearm with intent; a 15-year-old from Whyteleafe (Surrey) who shoved an air pistol in his
victim's face during a robbery has been given a 12 month detention and training order; a man who used a ball-bearing gun when he attempted to rob a man in Chapel St Leonards (Lincolnshire) has admitted attempted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm and been jailed for 5 years; an 18-year-old armed with a BB gun who held up a taxi driver in Hartlepool has admitted robbery and possessing an imitation firearm and been sent to an institution for young offender for 3 years. Two men who fired an air rifle in a garden in Clitheroe (Lancashire) and damaged neighbouring property have been fined £50 each and one was ordered to pay compensation.

A man who took a loaded air rifle into woods in Weston-super-Mare (Somerset) has been given a 12 months community order and must complete 100 hours of
unpaid work. A man who was banned from possessing a firearm as a result of a previous conviction but was found with an air rifle at his home in Hemlington (Teesside) was given a 52 week suspended jail sentence with supervision and a Thinking Skills programme. A man who tried to take an air pistol on a plane at Edinburgh Airport has been fined £1,000.
Two men who simulated a drive-by shooting by driving around Burgess Hill (West Sussex) with part of a pressure washer sticking out of the window like a rifle have admitted a charge of affray - they now face a jail sentence.

OCTOBER 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries

There were three fatal shooting incidents reported in October. Two of them were homicides, both of which occurred in London - the victims were killed in Tottenham and Clapton, and police are investigating whether the deaths are linked by gang rivalry. A pensioner was found shot dead in Brighouse - his death was not being treated as suspicious.

Eleven other victims were injured in shooting attacks:

Cheshire (1) - a man had to have a finger amputated after a shooting in Runcorn. Greater Manchester (1) - a man was shot in both legs, probably with a shotgun, in Swinton. Kent (1) - a man was shot in the stomach during a suspected road rage incident in Alkham. London (5) - a man was in a critical condition after being shot in Feltham, and four teenagers were victims of other incidents in which one of six teenagers targeted in a drive-by shooting in Mitcham was hit in the leg (this incident probably occurred at the end of September). A 15-year-old boy sustained serious injuries in Clapham (a man has been questioned by police), another was seriously injured in Stockwell and a 16-year-old was shot in Kilburn. Merseyside (2) - a teenager was shot in the shoulder in Dovecot (four people have been arrested), and a man was seriously injured in a shooting outside a pub in Kirkby. West Midlands (1) - a man was shot in an apparent targeted attack in Longford near Coventry. A man was shot by police marksmen in Holloway (north London) after police were called following reports of gunshots. A man was attacked with a stun gun and then stabbed in the neck at a property in Tottenham (north London).

At least 15 other people, including a disproportionate number of youngsters, were injured in shootings with BB guns and airguns:

Cheshire - a man was shot in the eye with an air rifle pellet while he was walking near Knutsford. Cumbria - a man was shot with a ball-bearing gun in a street in
Carlisle. Derbyshire - a 12-year-old boy was shot in the face with a BB gun by a group of youths in Ilkeston
Devon - a youth was hit in the wrist when an air rifle sniper shot at him as he was driving in Plymouth.
Hertfordshire - a 12-year-old boy who arrived at a care centre in Hemel Hempstead had been shot in the head with an air rifle at a friends' house. Lancashire - three police officers were hit by air rifle pellets fired by
a teenager from his home in Heysham, and an 8-year-old was hit with a pellet from a BB gun in Blackburn (one 14-year-old boy has been fined and another given a Youth Referral Form)

Scotland - a woman was allegedly shot in the face with an airgun in Montrose (Angus) (a man was arrested), and a 15-year-old girl has been partially blinded after she and a friend were shot with a BB gun in Dundee (a 13-year-old boy has been charged)

Somerset - a taxi driver in Weston-super-Mare sustained an injury to his finger when he was hit by an airgun pellet West Midlands - a man was shot in the arm in a one of a number of shooting incidents in Bloxwich, probably involving an air rifle - other people including an 8-year-old girl were apparently targetted
but the shots missed them (see also Airguns and Imitation Guns below). West Sussex - a man was shot in the back of the head with an airgun whilst walking in Worthing. A BB gun was one of three weapons brandished by a man who attacked a man outside a pub in Crumpsall (Manchester).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults

There were robberies and attempted robberies allegedly involving guns at Banks, Building Societies and Post Offices in Redcar (Teesside) (a man was charged with attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm), Ouston (County Durham) (a handgun was used), South Croydon (south London) (handgun),
Newbury Park (east London), Sketty (Swansea) (handgun), Foleshill (Coventry) and Plymouth (probably involving an airgun), a Bookmakers in Armley (West Yorkshire) (handgun), Cafes and Restaurants in Swindon (Wiltshire) and Edinburgh (handgun), a Club in Kirkby (Merseyside) (shotgun), Petrol Stations in Oxford (plastic gun) and Leicester, Shops in Wembley (north west London), Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire), Normanton (Derby), Longfield (south London) (toy gun), Selby (North Yorkshire) (one man has been charged), Wood Green (north London) and Worthing (West Sussex).

In an incident in West Hampstead (north west London) a man attempted to steal a moped and pointed a gun at its rider but the weapon failed to fire when he pulled the trigger - the man was arrested later along with a second suspect - three guns and a quantity of diamonds were recovered.

There were Carjackings in which guns were probably involved in Luton (Bedfordshire) (a man was arrested and two firearms recovered), Reddish (Greater Manchester) and from a petrol station near Thame (Oxfordshire) (four men have been arrested).

Money was stolen from a car in Cradley Heath (Birmingham) by two men with a shotgun. A man had a gun held to his head during a robbery at a house in
Houghton-le-Spring (Country Durham) by a gang armed with a sword, stun gun and shotgun. A teenager was robbed of his phone and wallet in a street in Chippenham (Wiltshire) (two people have been arrested and charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm). A man is to be charged with
possession of a shotgun with intent to cause fear of violence as well as other charges including robbing one woman of a handbag in St Albans (Hertfordshire). A man who attempted to rob a woman in Maryhill (Glasgow) threatened her with a stun gun but fled empty-handed.

A number of arrests were made following earlier robberies:

A suspect was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery and possession of an imitation firearm following recent armed robberies in Brent and Harrow (north west London). Two men were arrested in Bromley (south London) and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and the unlawful possession of a
firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence. A man was charged with attempted robbery and possession of a firearm at a bookmakers in Newton-le-Willows (Merseyside) in September. Police have named a man in connection with a robbery at a games
store in Jarrow (Tyneside) earlier this year in which staff were threatened with a shotgun. A woman described a gunpoint robbery at her home in Colwyn Bay (Clwyd) and CCTV images were released from a robbery at a store in Trafford (Greater Manchester) involving two men with a handgun - both robberies took place in August.

Other Incidents

Shots were fired during a number of other incidents:

A policeman had a gun held to his head after he chased and cornered a youth who had shot at him in Hackney (east London). A weapon, believed to be a shotgun, was fired at a bus in Bradford damaging windows. Two youths in Mitcham (south London) fired shots from motor scooters smashing car windows. A car was shot at in Toxteth (Liverpool) and was later found
abandoned. Two men were arrested, one on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, after a pistol was used to fire a blank in South Tyneside. A motorcyclist fired a shotgun at a house in Salford (Greater Manchester). Shots were fired at a house in Brent (north west London). Two men and a woman were arrested in Bedford following reports
of a shooting. A man was arrested after unconfirmed reports of gunfire in Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands). A firearm is thought to have been discharged during a burglary in Frizinghall (Bradford)
A group of men who began firing shotguns in a field in Epping (Essex) gave concern to local residents. Shots were heard in the vicinity of a hospital in Bordesley Green (Birmingham). A gang with a gun who made threats to kill someone in Cambridge were arrested after a police chase to Leicestershire. A man has been transferred into the care of mental health professionals after he was seen wielding a handgun in Trottiscliffe (Kent). A man has been reported to the procurator fiscal after a firearms incident on farmland in Aberdeenshire. A man was arrested on suspicion of
possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence at a stately home near Cannock (Staffordshire). Armed police swooped on a street in York after a youth was reported to have been seen pointing a shotgun at a member of the public - a youth
was arrested but not charged. A man has denied possessing a pistol without a certificate after the gun,
ammunition and a silencer were discovered in an abandoned car in Far Cotton (Northampton). A teenager was charged with possession of a firearm and ammunition after a loaded handgun was found in a car in Gorton (Greater Manchester). A man from Minchinhampton (Gloucestershire) has appeared in court andpleaded not guilty to charges relating to the possession of a number of firearms. A man has been charged with illegal possession of a sawn-off shotgun found alongside licensed firearms on a boat moored in Brixham (Devon). A man has pleaded not guilty to possessing an altered firearm after he was alleged to have had a sawn-off shotgun in Chiseldon (Wiltshire). A man from Sowerby Bridge (West Yorkshire) has been charged after a stun gun was found at his house.

A gang of young men armed with paintball guns have been taking potshots at prostitutes in Leicester.

A 15-year-old has been arrested in Wandswort (south London) for storing ammunition at home.

Airguns and Imitation Guns

Besides those incidents which resulted in injury (see above) there were many other incidents involving airguns and imitation weapons. They were probably used in many of the armed robberies, and this was apparently the case in robberies in Redcar (Teesside), Brent and Harrow (north west London) Chippenham (Wiltshire), Longfield (south London), Plymouth and Oxford.

Three men appeared in court charged with robbery after carjackings in the Black Country - one of the men denied three charges of possessing an imitation firearm.

Three teenage boys have been charged with possessing an imitation firearm in connection with an incident in which a boy was thrown into a skip in Birmingham. Two men were arrested in Bilsborrow (Lancashire) after a man reported he was shot at with an air rifle. There were reports that an airgun had been fired at two men in separate incidents in Ivybridge (Devon) (an air weapon has been handed to police).

A man was arrested after firing an air rifle at a fence in a car park in Gloucester. Five teenagers were arrested and an air rifle recovered after fears that a gunman was on the loose in Beeston (West Yorkshire). A man was chased by armed police officers at Tottenham Court Road station (central London) after being seen with what is believed was a gaspowered pellet gun.

The following acts of vandalism involved airguns and BB guns:

A pensioner in Leith fears a gang who have left him a prisoner in his home may have started firing airguns at his home, and a woman in Northampton has been left terrified after having the window of her living room shot at.

A ball bearing gun has been fired through the window of a family home in Burbage (Leicestershire).

A car was damaged in one of several shooting incidents in Bloxwich (West Midlands) believed to have involved an air rifle and in which at least one person was hit (see Gun Deaths and Injuries above).

Parked cars were damaged by shots fired from an airgun
in Leyland (Lancashire) (a man has been arrested). Four buses were damaged when an air rifle was fired at them in Basildon (Essex). Houses and cars were shot at with an air rifle in Ormsgill (Cumbria) (two teenagers were detained). Cars and businesses were damaged in Longridge (Lancashire) by youths with BB guns and catapults. A burger van window was shattered by a shot from an airgun or BB gun in Leigh Sinton (Worcestershire). A man seen with a gun in a car park in Sittingbourne (Kent) was arrested for possession of an imitation firearm. A woman was released without charge after police raided a house in York and found a suspected firearm, a ball-bearing gun - a man remained in custody. The Metropolitan Police are investigating a video apparently featuring a police officer allowing himself to be shot with an air pistol.

Other Gun Recoveries and Thefts

Guns were found during searches in which drugs were also recovered in Dewsbury (West Yorkshire) (a stun
gun), Lincoln (a high-powered airgun), South Elmsall (West Yorkshire (an air rifle), Devizes (an air rifle and an imitation handgun), Speke (Liverpool) (a handgun was found), Lowestoft (Suffolk) (a stun gun; a
paintball gun), Bensham (Tyneside) (two blank-firing handguns), Surrey (stun gun).

A number of weapons were found during raids in London which targeted gang violence

two pistols were discovered in Tower Hamlets, and a
shotgun, pistol and ammunition in Islington. In another find in Islington a firearm, stun gun and other weapons were recovered and a man wanted for armed robbery in Liverpool was arrested.

Another man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a section 1 firearm after a pistol was found under a patio in Hunslet (West Yorkshire). Seven firearms and ammunition have been recovered from gardens in Old
Swan and Kirkby (Merseyside) (one man has been charged and three other people were arrested). Two men and a woman were arrested after a shotgun was recovered from a house in Washington (County Durham).

An imitation gun was recovered by police investigating sex trafficking during an operation in Manor Park (east London). Two ball-bearing guns found in a churchyard in Nafferton (West Yorkshire) were destroyed by police.

Air weapons and a BB gun were found during searches in the Swansea area and elsewhere in South Wales for a man who had escaped after being sentenced for a firearm offence.

A rifle was stolen from a house in Bedworth(Warwickshire) armed police had surrounded the property after reports of a burglar with a gun.

Incidents Involving Animals

More animals and birds suffered as a result of shooting incidents reported during October, some of which were
fatal.

Cats and dogs were the victims of airgun and pellet gun attacks in Angus, Bedfordshire, Bradford, Derby, East London, Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, Morayshire, Norfolk, Northampton, Northamptonshire, North Yorkshire, Oxfordshire and Worcestershire.

A cat was shot with a shotgun in East Lothian. Two stags were shot and killed with a high-powered rifle in Somerset.

Airguns were probably responsible for the death of a prize pigeon in Sandhurst (Berkshire) and a protected barn owl in Pershore (Worcestershire).

A swan rescued because of other injuries from a river in Cambridgeshire was found to have an airgun pellet in its chest.

Convictions

Three trials that followed fatal shootings were concluded in October:

A 16-year-old was found guilty of murder after he set off a train of events which led to the death of a man in Shepherd's Bush (west London) - another man who was cleared of murder was jailed for 10 years for possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. One man, aged 19, pleaded guilty and another was found guilty of the murder of a 15-year-old who was shot dead in a park in Derby. A man was acquitted of manslaughter and two women of other charges relating to the fatal shooting of a woman in High Wycombe
(Buckinghamshire) in 2004. One man has been jailed for 8 years for firing a gun during fights between
two gangs in Sutton (south London) - police recovered a sawn-off shotgun. A man who fired an illegal gas gun in King's Lynn (Norfolk) has been jailed for a month.

A number of men were convicted of offences relating to armed robberies and burglaries involving guns. The majority of the cases involved imitation firearms (see below). In the other cases:

A man pleaded guilty and his brother was found guilty of an armed robbery at a post office in Briton Ferry (West Glamorgan) in which they were armed with a pistol and a sword. A number of men have been sentenced during the last two months for a robbery outside a bank in Bradford when what looked like a
handgun was pointed at a security guard - the sentences ranged from 3½ years to 14 years (some of the men had been involved in other raids)

Another person has been jailed for participating in the £53 million robbery at a security depot in Tonbridge (Kent) in 2006 - he admitted conspiracy to kidnap and possessing a firearm and received an 18 year sentence. Two men arrested in Southampton have been sentenced to a minimum of 10 years in jail for aggravated burglary and possessing a stun gun and a shotgun.

There were a number of other convictions for possession of firearms:

Three men have admitted conspiracy to possess firearms and explosives and drug offences during a trial in which a fourth man has denied the same charges - various firearms are alleged to have been found at the latter's flat in Bristol. A man who admitted possession of a shotgun and an explosive detonator, found during searches at properties in Dalton and Crosland Moor (West Yorkshire), has been jailed for 3 years and 9
months. A man from Stretford (Greater Manchester) was given a 5 year jail sentence after admitting possessing a self-loading pistol and ammunition. Another man, from Dyfatty (Swansea), who was also given a 5
year sentence for possessing a shotgun and breaching the terms of his licence absconded minutes later. Four men cleared of involvement in a shooting incident in
Cambridge were, however, jailed for 15, 10, 3½ and 3½ years after being found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm - the two men who received the longer sentences were also guilty of drug offences. Another four men were jailed for between 5 and 10 years for supplying illegal drugs - during the operation which led to their conviction police found machine guns, shotguns, rifles, handguns and ammunition during raids on properties in Glasgow, Paisley and Clydebank.

Three men have been found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after a pistol was found in a car in Burnage (Greater Manchester). A girl who was 16 at the time of the offence has pleaded guilty to possessing a pistol in her handbag in Brunswick (Manchester) - she was keeping the weapon for her 19-year-old boyfriend who has also pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm. A man who had a pistol and cartridges in his car in Southend
(Essex) has been jailed for 5 years after admitting a number of offences including possession of a firearm.
A drug dealer from Baddeley Green (Stoke-on-Trent) has been given a 5 year sentence after a rifle and ammunition were found in his van. A man who was caught with a handgun in Parkhead (Glasgow) has
been jailed for 5 years and 2 months after admitting three firearms charges. Another man caught with a handgun in Hermiston Gate (Edinburgh) has been given a life sentence. A 17-year-old was jailed for 3 years for possession of a shotgun found hidden in his home in Southampton.

A number of men have been sentenced for offences involving stun guns in:

Aberdeen - a 16-year-old has been sent to a young offenders' institution for 2½ years after a stun gun attack which left the victim disfigured. Chatteris (Cambridgeshire) - a man admitted possessing a stun
gun, a knife and class C drugs at his home and was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. Derby a man was given a suspended 17-week prison sentence. Inverness a man was also found with drugs and has been ordered to carry out 300 hours of community service. Musselburgh (Midlothian) the offender was sentenced to 200 hours' community service after being caught with a stun gun. Oxford a 19-year-old has been banned from going out at weekends after he brandished a stun gun he found on the ground
at two men. Pontyclun (Mid Glamorgan) a man found with a stun gun when police were called to a pub has received a suspended 26-week prison sentence. Portmead (Swansea) a man admitted possession of a prohibited weapon. Winchester (Hampshire) - the offender broke into a flat and attacked the occupant, hitting him with a stun gun and has been jailed for 3½ years. Wincham (Cheshire) the offender was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for a year, after also admitting cultivation and possession of cannabis.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases)

A teenager who wounded his ex-girlfriend with an air rifle, shooting her in the leg during an attack at his home in New Haw (Surrey), has been sent to a young offenders' institution for 2 years. A man who admitted firing a BB gun at a 15-year-old girl in Milnathort (Kinross-shire), injuring her leg, has been ordered to pay compensation and to attend a 3-month rehabilitation course. A man from Linlithgow (West Lothian) who threatened his ex-wife's husband with an imitation gun has pleaded guilty to breach of the peace and to breaching the Firearms Act and been jailed for nearly 3 years. A man has admitted causing a 13-year-old to believe that an imitation firearm would be used against him in Aberdeen.

There were a number of convictions for robberies and attempted robberies in which the offender was armed with an imitation firearm.

The incidents occurred: at shops and post offices in the West Midlands - four men, including two teenagers, were given custodial sentences of between 4½ years and 6 years and 3 months. During a mugging in Redditch (Worcestershire) when cash, drugs and a mobile phone were taken - a man was jailed for 2½ years. During a robbery at a house - the offender from Welham Green (Hertfordshire) had his sentence reduced to 5 years on appeal. During a street robbery in Haverhill (Suffolk) - the victim was aged 13, the gunman was an older teenager and was sent to a young
offenders' institution for 2½ years, his accomplice was jailed for 3 years and 4 months. During a string of robberies across Yorkshire including one on a taxi
driver in Scarborough - the offender has had his sentence reduced to 8½ years but must remain on an "extended licence" for 5 year on release. At a shop in South Shields - the robber has been jailed indefinitely
and will serve a minimum of 5 years. At a pharmacy in Ayr - the robber used his son's toy gun and has
been jailed for 6 years. At a shop in Portswood (Southampton) - two men were jailed for 3 and 4 years after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to rob and possession of an imitation firearm with intent. On a bus in Erdington (Birmingham) where three of four robberies and attempted robberies on teenagers were perpetrated by a man with an imitation firearm who was been jailed for 5½ years - the other robbery took place in Sutton Coldfield. At bookmakers in north west London - two men were caught after an attempted robbery in Kingsbury and have been given 6 and 3 year sentences.

carjackings in the Black Country

One person has admitted his involvement in one of three robberies, two other men are still on trial. During a hold-up near Silk Mills (Somerset) - a woman has been
given a 24-month supervision order and required to undergo drug rehabilitation
.

A man who pointed an air rifle at door staff at a pub in Ealing (west London) was given a suspended 8-month jail sentence and was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. A man who committed a burglary was found to have a spring-loaded air weapon in his caravan in Mile Cross (Norfolk) - he was jailed for two years
and nine months. A man who had an air rifle at his home in Sunderland whilst prohibited was given a suspended 36 week prison sentence with supervision and programme requirements. A man from Neath who admitted drug offences pleaded guilty to unrelated
firearms offences involving the unlawful possession of three airguns. A man caught with an airgun, cannabis and drug paraphernalia in a car in Sible Hedingham (Essex) has been given a suspended 16-week prison
sentence for each of two offences. A man caught with an air pistol in his van in Turnford (Hertfordshire) has
been given a 12-month community order. A man from Lymm (Cheshire) who had an air pistol in his pocket as he stood outside another man's home with a chainsaw running was given 80 hours community service. Another man who pleaded guilty to having a loaded air weapon in a public place in Sprowston (Norfolk) was given a 12 months community order. A man who showed off an air pistol at a party in Colchester (Essex) pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm in a public place and was given a suspended 28-week prison sentence and a supervision order. A woman who disposed of an air rifle for her boyfriend after he brandished it in the street in Trowbridge (Wiltshire) was given a two year conditional discharge after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice - firearms charges against her boyfriend were dropped. A man who walked into a police station in Southend (Essex) with a toy gun
has been ordered to seek mental health treatment after pleading guilty to possession of an imitation weapon with intent. Another man who took a toy gun into a hospital in Whitehaven (Cumbria) admitted threatening
behaviour and was conditionally discharged for 6 months. A 14-year-old was cautioned after being caught with a replica gun in Ordsall (Greater Manchester). Another 14-year-old caught waving a BB
gun in a street in Preston (Lancashire) has pleaded guilty. A man has admitted possession of a BB gun in a public place and possession of an air rifle in Brynmawr (Gwent).

SEPTEMBER 2009

For the second month running and for the third time this year a boy has been killed after being shot with an air weapon. The death of the 10-year-old from Swansea was described as another "tragic accident" but provided another awful reminder of the lethality of airguns. Yet these weapons continue to be treated in a way which is far too casual for something so dangerous. They are not being stored properly, they are not being kept out of the hands of unsupervised youngsters and they are not being kept away from those who would use them to cause harm. It is a situation which makes it too easy for a group of teenagers to fire an air rifle at a group of toddlers at a birthday party, as happened in Melton Mowbray this month, for a mother and her baby to be showered with glass on a bus in Milton Keynes, for three other people to be randomly targeted by airgun snipers and for attacks on family pets and protected birds to continue to occur all too frequently.

Gun Deaths and Injuries

There were eight fatal shooting incidents in September. All of the victims were male. Six of the shootings were apparent homicides which occurred in:

Bedfordshire - a man was shot in a street in Luton (a 17-year-old has been charged with murder). Derbyshire - a taxi driver found dead in the boot of his vehicle had been beaten and shot (a man has been charged with murder). Greater Manchester - a man was shot on his doorstep in Oldham (two brothers have been charged with murder). London - a man was shot dead at a house in West Norwood (south London), and another victim died after being shot in the street in Hackney (east London) (two teenagers have been accused of murder). West Yorkshire - a man was shot dead in a lay-by in Clayton West (Huddersfield) (one man has been arrested).

A man apparently shot and killed himself with a revolver after walking into a pub in Fazakerley (Liverpool).

A 10-year-old from Swansea died when he was shot with an airgun, reported to be his father's air pistol, whilst playing with another boy.

An inquest heard how a woman from Malvern (Worcestershire) purchased an air rifle the day before she shot herself dead with the weapon at her home in May - a verdict of suicide was recorded.

A number of other victims were injured in shooting attacks. These occurred mostly in London and the West Midlands, and the number of incidents in South London, particularly in the Wandsworth area, and Birmingham must be of particular concern.

Berkshire (1) - a man was shot four times at a mobile home park in Crowthorne (a man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder). Glasgow (2) - a man was seriously injured and his partner sustained minor injuries in a shooting in Pollok in which the victim's dog was killed. North London (7) - five teenagers suffered gunshot wounds in an incident in Tottenham (five people including one of the victims were detained), and two men, one a teenager, were shot in separate incidents in the same street in Leyton. South London (9) - a man was shot twice in the leg in Roehampton, two men were shot in Battersea in possibly linked incidents (five youths have been arrested), a man was shot in the shoulder in Southfields, another victim was shot in the leg in Tooting, two teenage boys, aged 15 and 16, were shot with a shotgun in Wandsworth (the younger boy was in a serious condition after being hit in the back), a shop worker was critically injured when he was shot during a robbery in Croydon (two men and a woman have been arrested) and a teenager was shot and injured in Wandsworth. West Midlands (8) - a man was shot in a street in Birmingham (two men have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder), a teenager was hit in the leg in Small Heath, two men were shot at a private party in Balsall Heath, two others were injured in a shooting in Aston, a 16-year-old was shot in the neck in Bell Green (Coventry) and a man was shot in the leg at a club in Brierley Hill

One man was shot and seriously injured by police marksmen during an operation in Haslington (Lancashire) - a number of different guns are reported to have been fired during the incident (three men have been arrested).

A man from Exeter shot himself in the chest with his rifle as he was putting it back in its cabinet after returning from hunting.

At least 14 other people, many of them children or teenagers and some female, were injured in shootings with BB guns or airguns:

A girl was allegedly shot with an air rifle in Whitchurch (Shropshire) (a man has been arrested), a man was shot in the stomach with an air rifle whilst attending a party in Torquay (Devon), three toddlers at a birthday party in Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire) were targeted with an air rifle as they played on a trampoline (four teenagers were arrested), a 17-year-old was shot in the stomach with an airgun in Corby (Northamptonshire) and a mother and her baby were showered with glass when a bus was shot at with an airgun in Milton Keynes.

A man was shot with a BB gun outside a nightclub in Crystal Palace (south London), a woman walking her dog in Cheltenham (Gloucestershire) is believed to have been hit with a ball-bearing gun pellet, children playing in a park in Blackpool (Lancashire) were shot at by six youths with ball bearing guns (one boy was injured; three youths were given youth referral orders and a number of guns were confiscated), a 10-year-old boy was assaulted with a BB gun by older youths in Gloucester, an 11-year-old boy was shot in the face with a pellet gun at a school in Wembley (north west London) and a 16-year-old shot at with a BB gun, beaten and pistol whipped by other teenagers in Billericay (Essex).

A teenage girl attacked in Chiswick (west London) may have been injured with an imitation firearm (an 18-year-old have been charged with GBH with intent and possession of an imitation firearm to cause fear and violence).

A female travel agent was shot in the arm with a stun gun during a robbery in Ashton (Greater Manchester).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - There were robberies and attempted robberies allegedly involving guns at Banks and Post Offices in Melbourne (Derby) and Staple Tye (Essex), Bookmakers in Bury (Greater Manchester) (a shotgun was used), Hornsey (north London) and Bradford, a Petrol Station in Bilston (West Midlands) (a handgun), Pubs, Restaurants and Cafés in Horton Cross (Somerset), Chadderton (Greater Manchester) (a handgun), Cheshunt (Hertfordshire) and West Vale (West Yorkshire) (an airgun), Shops in Benton (Tyneside) (a shotgun; two men have been charged), Burnley (Lancashire) (a shotgun; two people were arrested), Sandiacre (Derbyshire) (a stun gun), Hoole (Chester) (an imitation firearm), Kettering (Northamptonshire) (one man was hit with the barrel of a shotgun; two men were being questioned), Northampton (a handgun), Croydon (a shop worker was shot and critically injured - see above) and Hurst Green (Surrey) (a shotgun was fired) and a Travel Agents in Ashton (Greater Manchester) (a stun gun; a woman was injured - see above).

Security men were robbed of cash at a petrol station in Braidwood (Lanarkshire), in Battersea (south London; shots were fired) and Kempston (Bedfordshire) (a shotgun was used).

A robber who threatened his landlady in Hove (Sussex) before escaping with £200 in cash was charged with five other robberies in Sussex, on premises in Brighton, Haywards Heath and Crawley - a replica handgun was found by police.

A car was stolen from a woman in Buttershaw (Bradford) by a man with a handgun. A taxi driver was robbed and injured and threatened with what is believed to have been a firearm in Walker (Tyneside). A youngster had a gun held to his head in Hollinwood (Greater Manchester) by teenagers who demanded his bike. A burger van trader had a cash card and cash stolen and his van trashed by four robbers with a gun in Nottingham.

A man was arrested after a number of thefts in streets in Wood Green (north London) - he was charged with eight counts of robbery and attempted robbery and seven counts of possessing an imitation firearm. Two men armed with a stun gun stole a wallet from a man on a canal towpath in Long Eaton (Derbyshire). A man was robbed of his phone and cash in Whitby (North Yorkshire) by two men armed with what is believed to have been a handgun.

A teenager was charged with robbery after a handbag was stolen at a music festival near Aspatria (Cumbria) - he is reported to have brandished a replica firearm.
A man has been accused of brandishing an imitation handgun and robbing a security van in Ilford (east London) in June this year.

Other Incidents - Shots were fired during a number of other incidents:

Bedfordshire - a gunman fired a shot outside a club in Luton. Birmingham - a road was closed in Bordesley after shots were fired. Cheshire - a gun was fired in a street in Winsford. Essex - a man has charged with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life after gunshots were head in a car park in Southend (a handgun was recovered). Leicester - two men were charged with attempted murder after shots were fired
o London - a car was damaged in a street in Gants Hill, another car was damaged on an estate in Tulse Hill and a front door was hit by shotgun pellets in Battersea. Merseyside - shots were fired at four people in a car in Everton, and three shots were fired at a house in West Derby. Scotland - the front door of a house in Dalkeith (Midlothian) was shot at during the night, probably with a shotgun. Somerset - a shotgun was fired through the letterbox at a home near Brushford. West Yorkshire - shots were fired at the occupant of a vehicle in Birkby, and a shotgun was fired from a car in West Bowling (Bradford), shattering a window in another vehicle. Battersea (south London) a man tried to shoot a gun from the back of a motorbike.

• A woman was threatened with a shotgun by two men who smashed into her home in Droylsden (Greater Manchester).

• Three men from Birmingham were charged after police found a loaded sawn-off shotgun in a car. A man from Plymouth has been accused of a number of offences involving a number of different guns including a shotgun, a handgun and stun gun. Following an incident in Ayr a man was charged with possession of a firearm and a woman faces other charges. A man from Ribbleton (Lancashire) has been charged with possessing a handgun and possessing a gun when prohibited from doing so. A man from Golders Green (north London) faces a charge of possessing a prohibited firearm and ammunition as well as other charges after police searched thousands of safety deposit boxes. Seven men were arrested in a series of raids in Huyton (Merseyside) as part of a crackdown on gun crime.

North Wales Police mounted a search after reports of men being seen with guns in a nature reserve in Conwy. A teenager from Blackbird Leys (Oxford) was arrested after brandishing a stun gun.

Airguns and Imitation Guns - Besides those incidents which resulted in injury (see above) there were many other incidents involving airguns and imitation weapons. They were probably used in many of the armed robberies and this was certainly so in at least six robberies allegedly carried out by the same man in Sussex, the theft of a handbag in Cumbria, seven street robberies allegedly committed by one man in Wood Green (north London), in a security van hold up in Ilford (east London) and robberies at a pub in West Vale (West Yorkshire) and a shop in Hoole (Cheshire). The frequent use of imitation firearms in armed robberies is also apparent from media reports of court cases (see below).

• A 16-year-old was arrested following a siege at a house in Marshchapel (Lincolnshire) - an air weapon and knife were recovered.

• In Mansfield (Nottinghamshire) a man was charged with possession of a BB gun with intent to cause fear of violence.

• In Bellsbank (Ayrshire) armed police were called to an incident in which three teenagers had a plastic BB gun.

• A 19-year-old was arrested and a BB gun seized after a man was seen wielding a handgun at a bowling alley in Ipswich.

• More than 40 people had to be evacuated from a building in Swindon (Wiltshire) - a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm, allegedly a replica, in a public place

• Two men were arrested in Walton (Surrey), one for affray and possession of a ball bearing gun after what is believed to have been a drinking session

• Two teenagers were charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after a brawl in Chorley (Lancashire)

• One of two brothers involved in a fight in Bristol in July has been charged with possession of an imitation handgun

• A 16-year-old was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after two youths were seen pointing pistols at motorists in York

• Seven teenagers were arrested after they filmed YouTube videos of themselves with an imitation gun in Wood Green and Hornsey (north London).

• A woman forced to flee her home in Scotstoun (Glasgow) discovered weapons, including an airgun, belonging to her neighbours in a communal cupboard.

The following acts of vandalism were carried out with airguns and BB guns:

Airguns were probably used to damage a school bus in Cardiff, two cars driving along the same road in Warfield (Berkshire), three cars whose drivers reported damage in Oswaldtwistle (Lancashire), other cars in Sheringham and North Walsham (Norfolk) and in Halifax (West Yorkshire), the Coastwatch station in Felixstowe (Suffolk), the windows of a charity base in Scunthorpe (Humberside) and a care home window in Bridlington (East Yorkshire)

Windows were shattered at a home in Dorking (Surrey) possibly as a result of an attack with a BB gun, the window of a home in Bishop's Cleeve (Gloucestershire) was smashed with a BB gun pellet and another house window was damaged in Almondbury (West Yorkshire) by a BB gun or air weapon

Five teenagers were arrested in Walmer (Kent) when a paintball gun was fired at cars and houses.

A 15-year-old has been cautioned for possession of an imitation firearm in Whitley (Berkshire). A man was charged with possessing an air weapon in a public place after being seen carrying the weapon in Polegate (East Sussex).

A ball bearing gun was among items confiscated from away fans at a football match in Oxford.

Imitation guns were confiscated by police from two shops and a market stall in Burnley.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts - Guns were found during searches in which drugs were recovered in Lower Caversham (Berkshire) (a blank-firing pistol) and Cardonald (Glasgow).

A gun was recovered during a series of raids in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire aimed at organised crime, and police found a cache of air weapons during a raid in Houston (Renfrewshire).

A shotgun and cartridges were stolen from a home in Rhyl (Clwyd), and three shotguns were among items stolen from a house in Chinnor (Oxfordshire).

An air rifle was stolen from a flat in Leamington Spa (Warwickshire) by men who threatened the owner with the gun, an air pistol was stolen from the boot of a car in Bolton (Lancashire) and a .22 air rifle was stolen from a car in Meltham (West Yorkshire).

Incidents Involving Animals - More animals and birds suffered as a result of shooting incidents reported during September, some of which were fatal. Cats fell victim to a number of airgun and pellet gun attacks, this month in Derbyshire, Essex (two incidents), Lincolnshire (two incidents), Suffolk, Surrey and Swansea

There were reports from Cheshire and the West Midlands of swans and geese being shot. A rare kestrel was shot with a BB gun in Tyneside and a protected peregrine falcon was found wounded following a shotgun attack in North Yorkshire.

Convictions - A man has been found guilty of murder following the death of his partner who was shot at "point blank" range at their home in Thorne (South Yorkshire) with the killer's legally-owned shotgun - he will serve a minimum of 21 years. A man has pleaded guilty to murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life - he shot and killed a man with a revolver in Mottingham (south London). A man who shot dead a teenager in Walworth (south London) was found guilty of murder and will serve at least 32 years.

A man has been jailed indefinitely for an attack on a 15-year-old girl and a robbery in which he was armed with a gun and a knife - both crimes took place in Kingsbury (north west London).

A teenager, one of eight men responsible for serious violence and disorder in Leeds, was given a 12 year sentence for various offences including possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear and violence and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Three men were found guilty of their involvement in a gunpoint kidnapping of two shopworkers who were falsely imprisoned in Plumstead (south east London) - three others had already pleaded guilty.

One of two men responsible for an armed robbery at a home in Torquay during which three men were tied up at gunpoint and stamps stolen has been found guilty and jailed for at least 10 years.

A man thought to have been armed with a gun when he robbed a betting shop in Brighton has been jailed for 4 years. A man has admitted robbery and possession of a gun following a robbery at a store in Tilehurst (Berkshire).

An 18-year-old from Timperley (Cheshire) was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to possessing a sawn-off shotgun and other charges. A 19-year-old woman was sentenced to two years for hiding a revolver for a man at her home in Cricklewood (north west London).

An ex-Scotland international under-19 shooter from Longniddry (East Lothian) was jailed for nearly 4 years after pleading guilty to 8 charges relating to the purchase of prohibited weapons over the internet.

Four teenagers from Parson Cross (Sheffield) have been jailed for between 2 and 4½ years after displaying weapons including shotguns on social networking sites.

A man from Newport (Gwent) was given a conditional discharge after pleading guilty to possession of rimfire ammunition.

Four men were given sentences of between six and eight years for a series of raids on stores in the West Midlands in which they were armed with a stun gun, hammers and knives. A man who used a stun gun to beat his victim during a street robbery in Glasgow has been jailed for 5½ years. An Oxford woman who pleaded guilty to managing brothels received a further 18 months sentence for possession of a stun gun and a knife.

A police officer who shot a civilian worker during a training exercise in Kidlington (Oxfordshire) pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety rules. Thames Valley Police who had also pleaded guilty were fined £40,000.

Gun Factories (Convictions) - There were two more examples in September of how the easy availability of replica weapons has provided a supply of real guns for criminal use. A man who bought up replica firearms and starting pistols and converted them in his home in Huyton (Merseyside), and was described as a "dealer in death" by the judge, was jailed for 20 years after pleading guilty to a number of charges of conspiring to supply guns and ammunition - other members of the gang were convicted and three have been sentenced to between 30 months and 7 years. Another man, an ex-soldier who used skills he acquired in the Royal Artillery to convert replica guns into real weapons in factories in Essex and Bath, pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, converting imitation firearms into real guns and possessing or manufacturing prohibited ammunitions - the weapons he converted were supplied to street gangs in Liverpool, Manchester and the West Midlands and have been linked to 28 incidents including one alleged murder.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - Three men were cleared of firearms charges following the death of a teenage girl who was shot in the eye with an airgun pellet at a party in Bury - they were cleared of possessing a firearm without a licence because the .22 airgun did not require one.

A man who shot a postman in Barrhead (Renfrewshire) with an air pistol has been jailed for 3 years and 9 months. Another man has admitted assaulting and injuring a young teenager by firing a BB gun at him in Cumnock (Ayrshire).

A 19-year-old from Leeswood (Clwyd) who held an air rifle to the head of a man has admitted possessing his father's gun with intent to cause fear of violence and received 2 years youth custody. An offender who drunkenly pointed an air rifle at his partner's chest at their home in Worcester was given a 16 week suspended custodial sentence and ordered to carry out 60 hours unpaid work. Another man who had been drinking heavily has admitted brandishing an airgun at a police officer during an incident in Tenterden (Kent) - he pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and two other offences. A man who waved a toy gun at police in Melton Mowbray admitted affray and possession of an imitation firearm and was given a suspended 15-week jail sentence.

A man who called paramedics to his home in Worthing (Sussex) and pointed a gun at them was found guilty of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and jailed for 4 years.

A man involved in a siege at his house in Cresswell (Northumberland) threatened to kill himself and suffered superficial wounds from a .22 air rifle - he admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear and was jailed for 21 months. Another man who pointed an air rifle at himself during a siege at a house in Kilmacolm (Renfrewshire) has pleaded guilty to various offences. A man was stopped from hurting himself by two police officers when he walked into a police station in Woodford (Essex) armed with an airgun and a kitchen knife - he was found guilty of possessing an air weapon and possessing a knife.

A woman arrested in Glasgow with a toy gun has admitted possession of an imitation firearm and possessing such an item with intent to commit assault - she had travelled over 200 miles with the apparent intention to attack her husband.

A man who sparked a gun scare when he was seen with an air pistol on a train and in a taxi in Airdrie (Lanarkshire) has been jailed for 16 months after admitting two charges of possessing a firearm with intent to cause someone to believe that unlawful violence might be used. Another man from Burton (Staffordshire) admitting possessing an imitation handgun with intent to cause three men to fear that unlawful violence would take place.

There were a number of convictions for robberies and attempted robberies in which the offender(s) was armed with an imitation firearm. The incidents occurred at shops and post offices in Dundonald (Ayrshire) (the man admitted presenting an imitation firearm), Bearwood (Dorset) (a man has been jailed for 3 years) and in Brislington (Bristol) when a store supervisor was shot in the back with a gas-powered air pistol (a man has been convicted and jailed for 10 years). At bookmakers in north west London (two men were sentenced to 3 years and 18 months) and in north London and Hertfordshire (two brothers have been jailed for 6 years). At homes in Hartlepool (one of the men who pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and possession of an imitation firearm was armed with a fake submachine gun), Crewe (Cheshire) (five men pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and possession of an imitation firearm) and Doncaster in which one of three men brandished an imitation firearm (he was given a 39 month sentence)

More incidents occurred In Pinner (north west London) where motorists were targeted (a man has been sentenced to 6 years in a detention centre). In Birmingham where the offenders' brother-in-law was pistol-whipped and his taxi taken (two men were jailed for 8 years. In a robbery in Woking (Surrey) in which the victim was ambushed after the placement of fake car adverts on the internet (two men have been jailed for 7 and 6 years)

A man who walked into a pharmacy in Paisley (Renfrewshire) with a fake gun whilst "out of it" has been jailed for 10 months.

A 16-year-old has admitted breaching his curfew order, possession of a fake gun (an imitation handgun) and assaulting a police officer in Sunderland.

A man and a woman caught with an imitation firearm and cannabis plants at their home in Little Downham (Cambridgeshire) were given suspended prison sentences and community service.

Two teenagers who were firing an air rifle on wasteland in Hartlepool admitted having a weapon in a public place and were fined £65 each. A man arrested in Weston-super-Mare (Somerset) was given a suspended 12-week prison sentence after pleading guilty to possessing an air rifle in a public place.

AUGUST 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries

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.

Infer Trust is concerned that air weapons are being treated as if they are distinct from other guns. Many individuals, victims, families and organisations believe that 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 believe these guns should be subject to the same legislation that controls the use of other guns, ie a registration system so that ownership is restricted to those with a legitimate reason to use them. It is clear that sadly more and more people, and animals, are paying for the consequences of the widespread misuse of air weapons.

Gun Deaths and Injuries

Infer Trust 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.

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.
o 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.

JULY 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries

There were eight shooting deaths reported in July, of which six were homicides:

A man died in what was described as a gang-related shooting in Broomhall (Sheffield) (three other men were injured and four men have been charged with conspiracy to murder).

There were two fatal shootings in Greater Manchester - a shop worker was shot dead in Winton (two men have been charged with murder) and another victim was shot and killed in a car park in Chadderton.

There were also two fatal shootings in south London - a football manager died when he was shot several times at a playing field in West Wickham (one man has been arrested) and a man died in hospital after being found injured in a car in New Cross.

A pub landlord died when he was shot after breaking up a row in Bilston (West Midlands) (seven people have been charged with murdering the victim).

A man's body was found in Potterhanworth (Lincolnshire) after his ex-partner's daughter had been shot in the leg - the man died of gunshot wounds and a shotgun was found close the body.

A post-mortem showed that an elderly man whose body was found in Allestree (Derby) had died as a result of a single gunshot wound - police are not treating the death as suspicious.

A number of other victims sustained shooting injuries - in most cases the victim's condition was not thought to be life-threatening. The incidents occurred in:

Birmingham (4) - two men suffered injuries when they were shot in the street in Handsworth, a man was shot in the stomach at his house in Edgbaston and another victim was shot in the leg in Willenhall

Bristol (1) - a man was injured in the leg during a shooting outside a pub

Greater Manchester (2) - two men were injured in shootings in Rochdale (one man has been charged with attempted murder)

Lincolnshire (1) - a teenage girl was shot in the leg in an incident linked to the discovery of a man's body in Potterhanworth (see above)

North London (4) - two teenagers were shot on an estate in St John's Wood (a third teenager was pistol whipped), and two men were shot, one by armed police, in Leyton (a man has been arrested and a loaded firearm recovered)

Merseyside (4) - a man was hit by one of four shots fired in Dovecot, another victim was shot in the legs in Toxteth and two victims were shot in Croxteth in separate incidents, one was hit in the arm (a teenager has been arrested) and the other, a teenager, was shot in the leg (four teenagers and a man have been arrested and a firearm recovered)

Sheffield (3) - three men were shot and injured, one seriously, in the incident in which a fourth man died (see above)

South London (4) - one man was shot at a kebab shop in Woodside Green and three men have been shot in Clapham on two separate occasions

Sunderland (1) - a man was shot in the back at his home

Sixteen other victims were shot with airguns and BB guns (see below).

Armed Robberies

There were robberies and attempted robberies allegedly involving guns at Banks, Building Societies and Post Offices in Bristol, Rowley Regis (West Midlands) (a customer was injured in the leg), Hyde (Greater Manchester) (a security guard foiled the raiders), Ewell (Surrey) and Thorney Wood (Nottingham) (a shotgun was fired), Bookmakers in Luton (Bedfordshire) and Cambridge (three premises were targeted in four days), Shops in Southampton (two men were arrested), Cowes (Isle of Wight) (two men have been charged), Dukinfield (Greater Manchester) and Nottingham, a Bar in Withington (Manchester) and Social Clubs in South Bank (Teesside) and Gipton (Leeds). Some of the incidents are known to have involved imitation guns (see below).

Two security guards were robbed of cash at a petrol station in Newmains (North Lanarkshire), armed robbers stole cash from two security workers in Lenton (Nottingham), a cashbox was seized from a security guard in Bournemouth (Dorset) and another guard was robbed of cash in Maidstone (Kent).

There were armed robberies involving guns at homes in Hackenthorpe (Sheffield) and Derby and in a garden in Streatham (south London). Two men armed with a gun stole a car in Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands). A taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint in Hartlepool - a ball-bearing gun was found at the scene and a teenager charged. A delivery driver was robbed of cash in New Ash Green (Kent).

Other Incidents

A man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder after a shot was fired outside a pub in Beswick (Greater Manchester). In Huyton (Merseyside) two men were shot at from a passing car and in an incident later in the month a parked car was hit by a bullet when shots were fired. Two men have been charged with possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life after shots were fired from a handgun by occupants of a car in Preston (Lancashire).
Two teenagers were arrested after reports that someone had discharged weapons from a vehicle in Ilketshall St Andrew (Suffolk) (the incident may be linked the theft of shotguns from a house in Rumburgh (see below)).

A group of Norwegian crop circle enthusiasts were shot at near Devizes (Wiltshire) (a man was arrested).
A firearm was discharged during an altercation in Basingstoke (Hampshire). In Lostwithiel (Cornwall) four teenagers were arrested after three cars were damaged - a shotgun was found in a hedge. A man was arrested and charged after being disabled by police with a Taser gun after being seen with a handgun at Gatwick Airport. Two men ditched a stolen car containing a loaded gun in Nine Ashes (Essex). A man was arrested in Worthing (Sussex) after reports he had a gun in what was described as a domestic incident.

There were other suspected firearms incidents in Tonypandy (Mid Glamorgan) (three men have been arrested) and Cropwell Bishop (Nottinghamshire (one man was arrested).

Airguns and Imitation Guns

At least sixteen people were injured by being shot with airguns and BB guns in July:

A man found with superficial injuries in Norris Green (Liverpool) is believed to have been shot with an airgun. A man was shot in the head with an airgun pellet in Sunderland - a pellet had to be removed from his skull. In London there were four apparent airgun shootings - a victim was hit in the shoulder in Norbury (south London), another suffered minor injuries when he was shot in the head in Soho, a teenager received a puncture wound to his chest in Bromley and a 12-year-old girl was shot by two boys with an airgun or BB gun in Streatham. A dog walker was shot with an airgun pellet in Weymouth (Dorset).

In Scotland a teenager had to undergo surgery after being shot in the chest with an airgun in Dundee (a 16-year-old was arrested and charged), and a woman was shot with an airgun pellet whilst she was walking in Ardcroy (Inverness-shire).

A man was shot twice with a pellet gun attack in York - the perpetrator may have been seen later firing the gun at a hotel in the city.

A 12-year-old boy was shot in the arm when another boy fired a BB gun at him in Beverley (East Yorkshire). A teenager suffered head and knee injuries after being shot with a BB gun in Barnstaple (Devon) (four men were arrested). Two boys were shot with a BB gun in a drive-by shooting in Kettering (Northamptonshire). Two people were hit with BB gun pellets in Cirencester (Gloucestershire) (two teenagers have been arrested). Two other children sustained air rifle injuries. A 5-year-old girl was shot in the neck with an air rifle while playing at home in Muirhouse (North Lanarkshire). A 15-year-old shot himself in the hand with an air rifle on a farm in Melksham (Wiltshire). A driver was forced to duck when an airgun was fired from an oncoming vehicle in Hartford (Cambridgeshire).

Following other incidents involving air weapons and imitation guns:

A man has been charged with possession of an air weapon and intent to cause fear and violence after an incident in Hertford. A 15-year-old was arrested in Bletchley (Buckinghamshire) where a BB gun was recovered. A man from Burton (Staffordshire) is to appear in court charged with possession of an imitation gun and a rice flail. A man was arrested and received a caution after a BB gun was fired through a window in Yarmouth (Norfolk). A man appeared in court after reports that a man was threatening and harassing another man with an airgun in Ealing (west London). Armed police subdued a naked man with a Taser after he was reported to be running around with a fake gun in Stanmore (north west London). A man sparked an armed police alert in Hillsborough (Sheffield) and was charged with possessing an imitation gun with intent to cause fear of violence. A man who was abusive to staff at a store in Andover (Hampshire) whilst brandishing a BB gun was arrested on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm. A man was arrested after a replica gun was fired in front of two police community support officers in Allenton (Derby). A man with a BB gun sparked an armed police raid in Romford (Essex) - he was arrested but released without charge.

Police in Darlington have condemned the "indiscriminate" use of air weapons after being called out to more than 90 incidents since January.

Among the Armed Robberies listed above imitation guns were used at a shop in Southampton, a jewellers in Cowes (Isle of Wight) and an attack on a taxi driver in Hartlepool. Damage has been caused by air weapons to property in Edenbridge (Kent), where shop signs have been shot, Caister (Norfolk) where windows of a housing estate have been targeted, Kelbrook (Lancashire) where a window was shattered (in this case it is suspected that it may have been accidental) and Doncaster where a 90-year-old's house has been targeted. An airgun may also have been used when a pellet was fired through a window in Largs (Ayrshire).

Police recovered two air rifles after a gun was seen lying in the back seat of a car by a shopper in Diss (Norfolk). A stall holder at a marker in Cardiff was told to remove two deactivated guns from open sale. A lead pellet has been found in the skull of a man shot with a BB gun in Lancaster in 2008 and he says he will sue the local NHS trust - the perpetrator had previously been given a 12 month custodial sentence.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts

More guns were found during police drugs raids in Derby (a loaded handgun was discovered, four people were arrested and a teenager has been charged), Highbridge (Somerset) (a man was arrested and charged with a firearm offence after a high-powered air rifle was recovered), Anchorsholme (Lancashire) (four people have been arrested after two stun guns were found), Sittingbourne (Kent) (two people were arrested after a stun gun was seized) and Hartlepool (an air rifle and air pistol were among a haul of weapons found - three people were arrested). A man was arrested and drugs and a weapon were found after someone was seen in a street in Skegness (Lincolnshire) with a handgun.

A man from Nelson (Lancashire) has been charged with a number of offences including possessing a prohibited firearm after the weapon was found at his home. A man from Mawsley (Northamptonshire) has been charged with firearms offences after a pistol, silencer and ammunition were found in a car earlier in the year. A 13-year-old girl was questioned after a machine gun, later shown to be a replica, was found in her bedroom in Croydon (south London) - two teenagers have been arrested

There were thefts of shotguns from houses in Didsbury (Greater Manchester), Stocksfield (Northumberland) (two rifles were also stolen), Fishtoft (Lincolnshire) and Rumburgh (Suffolk) (the theft may be linked to an incident in which two teenagers were arrested in Ilketshall St Andrew - see above). Air weapons were stolen from a caravan in East Calder (West Lothian) and a home in Stowlangtoft (Suffolk). Thieves took paintball guns from a centre in Farr (Highlands).

Incidents Involving Animals

Many newspapers publicised the warning from the RSPCA about the likelihood of airgun attacks on animals during the summer and included accounts of recent incidents. However, warnings alone will not enough. These continue to go unheeded and more action is essential to prevent those responsible for targeting animals from getting hold of their guns. There was further evidence of the scale of the problem with the incidents reported in July.

Airgun attacks on cats, some of which did not survive, were reported from Bradford, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Oxfordshire (two incidents), Lancashire, Leicestershire, London, Midlothian, South Wales, West Midlands (two incidents) and West Sussex. Following a similar incident in the county last month there was another shotgun attack on a cat in Norfolk.

A dog died after being shot with an air rifle in Berkshire, and a second dog was targeted with an air weapon in Pembrokeshire.

There were also attacks on birds. Two swans were shot dead in Cheshire and another was attacked in the West Midlands. Three pigeons were shot dead in Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire), probably with an airgun.

Convictions - Murder trials in which the victim was shot were concluded:

Two men were convicted of the murder of a man in Netherley, Merseyside, and given 36 year and 28 year sentences - one of the men was also convicted of the attempted murder of a man who was shot in Coventry. Two men were convicted of the murder of a man in Harlesden (north west London) and both have been given minimum sentences of 20 years. A man who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend's father and injured her mother at their home in Porth Kea (Cornwall) has pleaded guilty to murder and will serve at least 25 years. A man who killed a teenager in Paisley in a drive-by shooting was found guilty of murder and also of attempting to murder a second man who was the intended victim of the attack. A man who fired five shots at and injured a love rival in Norwood (south London) must serve at least 15 years in jail. A man who supplied a gun to his father who then shot himself dead in a Northampton hospital has admitted six firearms offences.

A number of men were sentenced for possession of firearms or ammunition:

A man from Dukinfield (Greater Manchester) who had a loaded key ring gun which fires .22 bullets has pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm, a CS spray and drugs. A man has been sent to a Young Offenders Institution after police found a shotgun, pistol and ammunition at his home in Leeds. A man from Neath who sold a shotgun, which he held without a certificate, to his son's friend has been jailed for two months. The purchaser, who claimed he thought he was buying an air rifle, was given a 12-month community order and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. A man who claimed to have a machine gun and a pistol at his home in Coton (Cambridgeshire) for work he undertook for the Ministry of Defence was given a 16-month prison sentence, half of which will be served under licence. A man was sentenced to 11 years after an assault and firearms offences - police found a pistol in a car which they had followed through Leicester. A man is awaiting sentence after police found a shotgun during searches on houses in Dalton and Crosland (West Yorkshire). A gang of five men was jailed for between five years and seven years for having a firearm in a street in Pimlico (central London). A man was fined £2000 for possessing ammunition at his home in Duston (Northampton). A man who carried out an attack with a stun gun, claimed to have been an electric cattle prod, in Dilton Marsh (Wiltshire) has been jailed for 21 months.

Other men were sentenced for possession of stun guns:

A man caught with a stun gun and a CS gas canister at his home in Marston Green (West Midlands) was jailed for 15 months after pleading guilty - he also admitted drug charges. A man found with a stun gun at his flat in Devonport (Plymouth) has been given 200 hours of unpaid community work - he too admitted drug offences. A six month suspended sentence was given to a man from Middlesbrough after a stun gun and drugs were found at his previous address. Two men have been told to prepare for possible prison sentences after they took a stun gun to a nightclub in Northampton. A man was given a 12 month jail sentence after a stun gun he bought over the internet was found at his home in Port Glasgow (Renfrewshire).

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases)

There were convictions of a number of people who injured others with airguns and imitation guns:

Two 18-year-olds were jailed (for four and a half years and for nine months) for an attack on another man in Barton (Oxford) which resulted in life changing injuries. A man from Stanley (Perthshire) who shot a boy with an air weapon was jailed for nine months. A man who fired an airgun recklessly and shot a young woman as she left a party in Stockton (Teesside) received a 16 month prison sentence. A man who left his teenage victim with a ball-bearing gun pellet in his neck after a shooting at a bus stop in Baildon (West Yorkshire) has been jailed for three years. A man who shot a 14-year-old, one of a group of youths playing in the street in Glascote (Staffordshire), with his airgun has been jailed for 30 months. A man was given a five year jail sentence for shooting a teenager with an air pistol in Leyland (Lancashire) - the victim lost an eye. A woman who ruined a model's career when she shot him with an airgun in Dagenham (east London) has been given a nine month suspended sentence and ordered to pay compensation - her husband was also given a suspended jail sentence and a two year supervision order.

There was plenty of evidence from court cases of the further use of imitation guns during robberies:

Following two separate incidents in Norfolk one man has been jailed for five and a half years after threatening a shop assistant in New Buckenham with an airgun during a robbery, and another admitted possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit a robbery after he attempted to rob a store in Norwich whilst armed with a BB gun. A 15-year-old was armed with an air rifle when he stole chips from another youth in Chester-le-Street (County Durham) - he has been ordered to wear an electronic tag for the next three months. A man who stole a car at gunpoint, he had a BB gun, in Little Hadham (Hertfordshire) was jailed for three years. A man has admitted aggravated burglary, possessing a bladed article and carrying an imitation firearm in Barnsley (South Yorkshire) and been jailed for six years and ten months. Two men who robbed a building society branch and a store in Harrogate (North Yorkshire) using an imitation firearm were each sentenced to six years imprisonment. A man who attempted to rob a cinema in Huntingdon whilst armed with an imitation gun has been given four years in prison with two years extended licence. Two men who robbed a store in Waterloo (Merseyside) have pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm (a ball bearing gun) - one of the men received a two year sentence, the other who admitted a total of 13 robberies with an imitation gun was sentenced to four years imprisonment. One of three men who robbed a jewellers in Reading and had pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence has lost his appeal against the length of the sentence he was given (six years imprisonment).

Others faced charges of using airguns and imitations guns to threaten:

A man who terrified a friend by holding an imitation pistol to his head at a bedsit in Worcester has been jailed for 18 months. A man who threatened his teenage sister with an air pistol in Irvine (Ayrshire) when she refused to give him money is awaiting jail. A man from Seaham (County Durham) who threatened another man with a metal bar and an air weapon has been jailed for 10 months. One of three men involved in an incident in Warwick, who pointed an air rifle out of his flat window at the other two, has been given a six-month suspended sentence and 180 hours of unpaid work. Two men who fired BB gun pellets at pedestrians from a car in Norwich have been warned they could be jailed after pleading guilty to having an imitation firearm in a public place. A teenager and another man have been warned they face jail after a man and a woman were threatened with an imitation gun in Penhill (Wiltshire). A man has admitted brandishing a fake handgun to resist arrest in Shoebury (Essex). A man who had an imitation revolver on a cycle track in Lancashire was given a 12-month community order and 100 hours unpaid work. A man was jailed for three years for blackmailing three brothers and threatening them with an imitation firearm in Middleton (Greater Manchester). A former soldier admitted firing an air rifle into a car in Borough Green (Kent) in which his ex-girlfriend was sitting and has been given a two-and-a-half year sentence - his current girlfriend was convicted of the same charges, possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and damaging property, and awaits sentence. A man admitted possessing an imitation firearm (a plastic toy gun) in a public place following an incident involving armed police in Shirley (Southampton). Another man has admitted a breach of the peace and placing people in a state of fear and alarm after brandishing a toy gun outside a bookmakers in Hamilton (Lanarkshire).

There were two more cases in which men had been drinking at the time they committed an offence with an air weapon .

A man has been jailed for three years after he shocked bystanders by walking down a street in Loughborough (Leicestershire) pointing his air rifle, and a second man was jailed for two years for firing an airgun at a car in Billingham (Teesside).

A former firearms officer who has pleaded guilty to blackmail used a replica handgun during the attempt. A Banbury (Oxfordshire) man was jailed for 10 weeks after admitting possession of an air weapon and ammunition when prohibited. A man from Tideswell (Derbyshire) who admitted two offences of possessing an air rifle without a firearms certificate and other offences was given a two-year conditional discharge for the gun offences. A man from East Bowling (Bradford) who was jailed for stealing received an additional six months imprisonment for illegally possessing an air rifle at his home. A man who was involved in the theft of four air rifles and other items from a home in Bridlington (East Yorkshire) has been given a 12-month community order and 200-hours unpaid work - another man who pleaded guilty has failed to appear in court for sentencing. A shoplifter who stole a BB gun in Sidmouth (Devon) was fine £80 by the police.

Charges of possession of an imitation firearm do not always relate to actual guns. This month two men admitted charges for having:

A can of deodorant covered with a sock during a robbery at a building society in Bexhill (Sussex)

A tow bar in a plastic bag when he challenged a clamper in London

JUNE 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries

Two shooting deaths were reported in June. The only apparent homicide occurred in Fulham (west London): the man's death may be linked to an earlier fatal shooting in London in May 2009.

A man's body was found with gunshot wounds in woodland in Winkfield (Berkshire), but there do not appear to be any suspicious circumstances: the body was that of a man who had earlier disappeared from home with two of his shotguns.

There were a number of other shooting incidents in which victims sustained injuries, but these were fewer than in May. The incidents occurred in:

County Durham (1) - a man was shot with a shotgun during one of two related incidents in South Moor (two men face charges of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger lives)

Edinburgh (1) - a man was shot with a shotgun as he returned home from walking his dog

Greater Manchester (2) - a man was shot in the stomach in Fallowfield and another victim was shot in the leg with a shotgun in Gorton

London (2) - two people, one a teenage boy, were injured when a gunman armed with pistols opened fire in a restaurant in St John's Wood

Merseyside (1) - a man was shot with a shotgun in a targeted attack in Croxteth (a 15-year-old has been accused of attempted kidnapping)

West Midlands (2) - two people were injured in an incident in Aston

West of Scotland (3) - a man was shot twice at a bus shelter in Renfrew, and a young woman and a teenage boy were both shot during an incident in the Tollcross area of Glasgow.

A man was accidentally shot with a shotgun while hunting rabbits in Lower Lyde (Herefordshire).

Another victim was hurt when he was hit with a gun during a robbery at a shop in Preston (Lancashire) (see below).

There were other victims who were shot with pellets from airguns and BB guns (see below).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults

There were robberies and attempted robberies which were alleged to have involved guns at Bookmakers in Leeds and Kingsbury (north west London) (shots were fired at police during a subsequent chase and two men were arrested), a Fast Food Outlet in Paisley (Renfrewshire), a Pub in Worcester and at Shops in Tetbury (Gloucestershire) (where the alleged gunman was disturbed), Preston (Lancashire) (two robberies, in one an assistant was hit with the butt of a gun and in the other a shopkeeper was hurt grappling with a robber armed with an air rifle), Leeds and Leicester.

Two security guards were robbed of cash outside a bank in Airdrie (North Lanarkshire).

Two men armed with a black handgun carried out two robberies in Chorlton (Greater Manchester), one at a cashpoint when a gold necklace was stolen and one on a car driver from whom they stole a mobile phone.

Two men armed with a sawn-off shotgun stole a holdall of cash from another car driver in Dewsbury (West Yorkshire).

A man took a police van at gunpoint in Peterborough and later hijacked another car - a man has been charged. Two men armed with a sawn-off shotgun and a hammer threatened a woman in Hale (Cheshire) and stole her car.

A man was hit on the head after five men broke into his house in Hilton (Shropshire) - the men left empty handed but a shot, probably from a shotgun, was fired.

A man was robbed of cash and a mobile phone at his home in Walthamstow (north east London) by robbers armed with what was believed to be a handgun.

Three other incidents involving imitation guns are summarised below.

Other Incidents

A member of the public was shot at during an apparent abduction of another man in High Blantyre (Lanarkshire).

There were reports of shots being fired in a street in Lozells (Birmingham).

A shot was fired at an empty wedding car in Skipton (North Yorkshire).

Four men and two women were arrested following reports of a gunshot in Norwich.

A man threatened to shoot a woman police officer in Werneth (Greater Manchester).

A man has been charged after allegedly brandishing a shotgun at Great Witley (Worcestershire).

Airguns and Imitation Guns - There were more victims of shootings with airguns and BB guns:

Two teenagers were hit with airgun pellets in separate incidents on the same street in Derby.

A member of the public claimed he had been hit by an airgun pellet whilst walking in woods in Stroud (Gloucestershire).

An 11-year-old boy from Darwen (Lancashire) was shot at point-blank range with a ball bearing gun and may have suffered permanent eye damage - the weapon had been bought by another boy's father the day before the incident.

Two anglers were shot with airguns, one in Fornham St Martin (Suffolk) and the other in Bellshill (Lanarkshire).

A teenage woman was awaiting surgery after being shot at a party in Doncaster (South Yorkshire) - her injury may have been from an airgun pellet.

One man was shot in the face with a BB gun in one of a spate of incidents in Leigh-on-Sea and Southend (Essex) - five people were arrested (see below).

A golfer was shot in the leg with an air rifle on a course in Aberdeen.

There were further incidents in which others were targeted but not hit by airgun and BB gun snipers:

A boy in his garden in Harnham (Wiltshire) was shot at with a BB gun by an older boy.

Two members of a cricket team in Hucknall (Nottinghamshire) were fired at with a BB gun.

Residents of Old Town (Swindon, Wiltshire) reported being shot at by two young men, probably armed with an imitation firearm.

A firefighter had to duck out of the way when a gang shot at him in Chadderton (Greater Manchester).

A number of arrests were made following other incidents involving air weapons and imitation guns:

A man was arrested after reports that shots had been fired from a window of a home in Broomlands (Ayrshire) - an air rifle was allegedly recovered from the scene.

A man was charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, having an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence and making threats to kill after a police officer was threatened in Wisbech (Cambridgeshire).

A man was arrested following an incident at a house in Riverside (Cardiff) when armed police surrounded the house and an airgun was retrieved.

A man was charged with possession of an air weapon with intent and various other offences following an altercation in Rugby.

A teenager was arrested and charged with possessing an imitation firearm and having a loaded air weapon in a public place after armed police were called to a street in Chippenham (Wiltshire).

After violence erupted at the horse fair in Appleby (Cumbria) police seized 127 ball bearing guns.

Imitation guns were known to have been used in three robberies and attempted robberies:

A man was arrested on suspicion of robbery and possession of an imitation firearm, believed to be a ball-bearing gun, after an incident in Whalley Range (Greater Manchester)

A teenager appeared in court in Fleetwood (Lancashire) accused to using an imitation firearm to stage a robbery

In Leigh-on-Sea (Essex) a mobile phone was stolen, in one of a spate of incidents in Leigh and Southend in which members of the public were threatened with a BB gun

An 11-year-old brought two ball-bearing guns into a school in Mirfield (West Yorkshire). Another boy was reprimanded after firing pellets from a BB gun in school toilets in Enfield (north London).

A woman is living in fear after a BB gun was fired at a window of her home in Consett (County Durham).

Damage was caused when an airgun pellet was shot at one of the windows of the village hall in Paganhill (Gloucestershire).

A man shot out the windows of a car with an air rifle in Southport (Merseyside).

Three windows were shot out at a primary school in Aberdeen, and a window has been smashed with an airgun shot at a school in Haverfordwest (Pembrokeshire).

Police in Rhoose (South Glamorgan) have issued reminders of firearms laws after people were seen to be carrying airguns in the area. Similar warnings were given by police in Wiltshire after reports of shots at Wellhead Drove and of air weapons being used in the area.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts

More guns were found during police drugs raids in Healey (West Yorkshire) (a ball-bearing gun was seized), Luton (Bedfordshire) (four people were arrested after a handgun and ammunition were recovered), Hartlepool (a man has been accused of possessing a stun gun), Middlesbrough (where a shotgun was found) and Cambridgeshire (at Buckden, Eaton Socon and Histon).

A gun was recovered during raids in Leeds and 35 people charged with various offences including firearms offences. Five guns were found during a series of raids in London as part of an operation targeted at suspected youth gang members.

An AK-47 rifle and ammunition were found by police at an empty property in Whalley Range (Greater Manchester).

Guns were stolen from a car in Dunton Bassett (Leicestershire) (an air rifle was taken) and a property in Little Lever (Greater Manchester) (two rifles and two shotguns were stolen).

Incidents Involving Animals

June was a particularly bad month for gun attacks on cats: We are aware of at least 25 incidents.

There were airgun attacks on cats in Aberdeen, Berkshire, Cornwall (three attacks), County Durham, Cumbria (two cats shot in possibly linked incidents), Dorset, Edinburgh, Hertfordshire (three separate attacks), Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (two separate incidents), Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey and West Lothian. There were also three incidents of shotgun attacks, in Norwich, Derby and Guisborough (Teesside).

Cats are not the only victims. A dog was shot twice with an air rifle in Bradford. A fox had to be put down after being shot with an airgun in Croydon and left to die

Birds were also targeted by airgun snipers. There were reports of gulls being shot in Inverness and Exmouth (Devon). A family of swans was killed, probably as a result of an airgun attack in Gateshead. Another swan was shot with an airgun in Sutton Stop (Warwickshire) but survived. Seven pigeons and a number of ducks have been shot in Stoke-on-Trent.

Convictions

Four men face life sentences for murder after fatal shootings, two for an attack in Streatham (south London), one for murdering a man in Wythenshawe (Greater Manchester) and one after being found guilty of fatally shooting a man in Limehouse (east London).

Four men were found guilty of various offences in relation to an incident in South Kirkby (West Yorkshire) in which a man was shot with a shotgun though they were found not guilty of attempted murder.

A man who fired shot from a revolver in a street in Normanton (Derby) has been jailed for seven years.

An army colour sergeant who threatened another soldier with a loaded AK-47 assault rifle in barracks in Camberley (Surrey) has been jailed for six years.

A man believed to be a collector of antique firearms is awaiting sentence after pleading guilty to nine counts of possessing firearms and ammunition without a licence after he shot up his own house in Walsall (West Midlands) whilst he was drunk.

Offenders have been found guilty or admitted possession of firearms during robberies:

A man was sentenced to 10 years after a robbery at a bookmakers in Bletchley (Buckinghamshire).

A man admitted 15 charges including robberies at a bookmakers in Hoole (Cheshire) and an off licence in Ormskirk (Lancashire)

A teenager has admitted his involvement, with others, in an armed robbery in Shawlands (Glasgow).

A number of men from Greater Manchester, Leeds, Huddersfield and London were given lengthy sentences for possessing firearms and ammunition for their roles in the attempted trade in illegal guns.

A man who ran an illegal ammunition factory in his house in Rochdale (Greater Manchester) has been jailed for three years.

A man who had a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition, as well as stolen goods, at his home in Cambridge has been given a two year jail sentence.

A man from Sandyhills (Glasgow) who armed himself with a handgun and 28 rounds of ammunition has been jailed for five years and three months.

A man caught with a sawn-off shotgun and cartridges at his workshop in Halifax (West Yorkshire) has admitted possessing a firearm and been jailed for five years.

There were convictions for a number of men for possession of stun guns:

A drug dealer from Edgbaston who had one at home was jailed for four-and-a-half years.

A shopkeeper from Willington (County Durham) who kept one in his shop was given a one-year suspended jail sentence and a curfew order.

A man from Norwich who bought one on an online auction site admitted possessing the weapon and other offences was given a suspended 80-day jail sentence.

A man from Duns (Berwickshire) who ordered a stun gun and pepper spray from Germany admitted contravening the firearms act.

Another man from Edinburgh who ordered three stun guns from the US pleaded guilty to buying prohibited weapons and was ordered to server 150 days of an unexpired sentence and had another 32 months added.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases)

A man whose 18-month-old son was fatally injured by a shot from his airgun fired by another child in his garden in Washwood Heath (Birmingham) has pleaded guilty to causing the death of his son and been given a conditional discharge.

A teenager who shot and injured a boy on a moped in Colchester (Essex) has admitted charges of actual bodily harm and possessing a firearm with the threat to cause violence and criminal damage has been sent to a young offenders' institution for nine months.

A man from Sutton (Nottinghamshire) has pleaded guilty to having an air rifle with intent to cause another to believe violence would be used against a third person at his workplace - sentencing was deferred.

Another man who threatened two teenagers with a loaded air pistol in Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire) has admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to endanger and was given an Asbo and a suspended custodial sentence.

There was further evidence that imitation guns are being used during robberies. Convictions followed robberies and attempted robberies in:

Birmingham - a man, one of three who robbed a jewellers, has been sentenced to six years for robbery and nine years for possessing an imitation firearm.

Tyneside - a man who pointed a ball-bearing gun at the head of a man during a raid on a bookmakers in Wrekenton has been jailed for five years.

Oxfordshire - a man who carried out raids on a home in Beckley, a petrol station in Marston and a store in Wheatley and threatened his victims with an imitation firearm has received a six-and-a-half year jail sentence.
Wiltshire - a teenager who was drunk (see below) when he tried to rob a store in Staverton whilst armed with an air pistol has admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Cardiff - a man has been jailed for five years for a robbery in which he said he had used a replica weapon

A teenager from Earlswood (Surrey) who fired an air rifle out of his window could face custody - he was found guilty of breaching his ASBO.

An ex-prison officer from Ripley Castle (North Yorkshire) carried out a number of offences against a woman he met whilst she was a prisoner, including holding an air rifle to her face and threatening to shoot her, and has been given a suspended 16-month prison sentence.

A man caught with a ball-bearing gun and a knife after he had been seen abusing a newsvendor in Newcastle upon Tyne has been given a suspended 8-week prison sentence and an electronic curfew.

A man who kept a banned firearm (a converted air rifle) hidden in an outbuilding at his home in Spalding (Lincolnshire) was given a suspended 51 week prison sentence and given a community punishment.

The ease of availability of airguns increases the likelihood of their misuse, especially by those who have been drinking. A number of those convicted of airgun offences in June were drunk at the time of the offence and included:

A man caught wearing camouflage clothing and aiming an unloaded air rifle at a pub in Merry Hill (Wolverhampton) and has been given a six month suspended jail sentence

A man from Sheffield who carried out a racist attack at a friend's house and was jailed for three years and eight months

A man who fired air rifle pellets into the wall, floor and sofa of the home he shares with his girlfriend and daughter in Darlington - he was given a 9-month suspended sentence)

A man who pointed an air rifle in a car park in Haverhill (Suffolk) - he has been warned he could face a jail sentence

A teenager who pointed an air rifle at a police officer in Caerphilly pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and was given an 18 months sentence in an institute for young offenders

A man who waved a BB gun around a filling station in Minster (Kent) accepted a caution for possessing an imitation firearm in a public place following an armed police hunt.

A man from Pinner (north west London) accused of threatening an escort with a plastic handgun was found not guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear still faces a charge of affray.

May 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries - Seven people, all males, died in shooting incidents during May

Four of the deaths were apparent homicides: two of the victims were shot in south London (Wandsworth, West Croydon), a teenager was killed in Stretford (Greater Manchester - one man remained in custody in connection with the shooting) and another victim died in Nottingham. The fatal shootings in Greater Manchester and Nottingham were the first in those areas for 16 months and nearly 3 years, respectively.

Police reported that a firearm was involved in the death of a man in a car park in Horley (Surrey) but that there were no suspicious circumstances.

Two people died after being shot by police marksmen in incidents in Fernhurst (Sussex) and Shildon (County Durham). In the Fernhurst incident the man was a firearms certificate holder and member of a local rifle club who apparently fired a gun four times at police officers. In the Shildon incident a crossbow was apparently fired. In a third incident police shot and injured a man apparently seen in possession of a firearm at the railway station in Carfin (North Lanarkshire).

There was a worrying increase this month in the reported number of other people who sustained gunshot injuries in incidents.

These occurred in:

Bedfordshire (3) - following two shootings in Luton last month there were three further incidents in which men were shot and injured in the town during May
Berkshire (1) - a man was in a critical condition after a targeted attack in Slough
Cambridgeshire (1) - a man was injured in the hand by a single shot outside a store in Peterborough
County Durham (2) - two men were seriously injured in shooting incidents in Stanley (two men have been held on suspicion of attempted murder)
Greater Manchester (1) - a man admitted himself to hospital with chest wounds after a shooting in Haughton Green
London (4) - a man suffered minor injuries in a street fight outside Manor House tube station, another spent 11 days in hospital after being shot in Leytonstone, a teenager was shot in the leg in a shooting in Stonebridge and police found a man with a shotgun wound in Hackney
Merseyside (5) - four men were injured in three possibly related incidents at pubs in West Derby (one man has been arrested), and a woman was shot in the leg at a house in Greenbank
West Midlands (4) - a man was shot outside a gym in Highgate (Birmingham), two others were shot, one in the chest and one in the back, in an incident in Handsworth (Birmingham) (two men have been arrested), and another victim was shot with a shotgun fired from a car in Stoke Aldermoor (Coventry)
West Yorkshire (1) - a man was in a stable condition after he was shot in Moortown (Leeds)

A woman was accidentally shot by her husband near Woodbridge (Suffolk) when the shotgun he was carrying went off as he stumbled.

Non-gunshot injuries were sustained by victims in other incidents involving men apparently armed with guns in Guildford (Surrey, where two victims were attacked with an iron bar and a gun) and in two incidents in Warwickshire, the first in Rugby where a security guard was injured during an attempted robbery at a garden centre and the other in Bulkington where a man suffered head injuries from a crowbar during a car theft.

Other victims were injured as a result of being shot with airguns and BB guns (see below)

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults

Security guards were threatened with what appeared to be firearms during a robbery in Cumbernauld.

A man is wanted in connection with five robberies involving a handgun which happened on buses in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands)

A taxi driver had a pistol pressed to his head during an attempted robbery in Heywood (Greater Manchester).

A woman was threatened with a handgun by a mugger in Vange (Essex), but the man ran off empty-handed.

Two youths armed with an airgun robbed two victims in Jericho (Oxford).

A gang of girls armed with a ball-bearing gun tried to rob a woman near Hyde Park in London - a 16-year-old girl has been charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Guns were involved in car thefts in Bulkington (Warwickshire) (the victim was hit on the head with a crowbar and the assailants threatened to shoot him) and Winson Green (Birmingham) (a gang of youths armed with a shotgun threatened motorists at temporary traffic lights and stole a car).

There were other robberies and attempted robberies which were alleged to have involved guns at:

A Bank - in Gillingham (Kent) in which the robber may have been armed with an imitation gun

Betting Shops - in Glasgow, Duddingston Park South (Edinburgh) and North Ormesby (Middlesbrough)

A Garden Centre - near Rugby (Warwickshire) (a security guard was hit during an attempted robbery by five men armed with a crowbar and possibly two handguns) (see above)

A Food Outlet - in Knaresborough (North Yorkshire)

A Petrol station - in Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire)

Shops - in Ayr (where an airgun was used), South Shields (Tyneside), Staverton (Wiltshire) (three men were arrested after an attempted robbery involving an airgun), Flint Hill (Country Durham) and Wednesfield (West Midlands) (two teenagers have been arrested)

Other Incidents

Shots were fired at houses in two separate incidents in Merseyside (in Allerton and Huyton).

A man has claimed that two gunmen on motorbikes aimed a gun at him as he was driving in Southport (Merseyside).

A teenager who appeared to fire a gun caused a cyclist to fall off his bicycle in Milton Keynes - police have not established whether the weapon was real or an imitation.

Police recovered a shotgun and an air rifle from an address in Weymouth (Dorset) after a woman fled a flat with her baby claiming her husband had made threats to kill her - a man was arrested.

A 15-year-old was arrested after he was found in possession of a sawn-off shotgun in South Norwood (south London).

A 16-year-old was arrested in Huyton (Merseyside) on suspicion of being in possession of a fully loaded, pump-action shotgun.

An 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of firearms offence after one of two men acting suspiciously was seen to throw a handgun in Longsight (Manchester).

Two men, one of whom holds a current firearms certificate, were arrested after reports of a man being threatened in an incident involving firearms in Frampton (Dorset). A man was to be questioned about suspected firearms offences after being arrested in Albrighton (Shropshire).

A drunken man was arrested at home after he had threatened to fetch a shotgun when he was stopped from taking his shopping because he could not afford to pay for it.

A man and a woman were arrested in relation to firearms offences in Bedworth (Warwickshire).

Airguns and Imitation Guns

More victims were hit with pellets fired from airguns and BB guns:

A cyclist was shot in the leg with an airgun pellet as he cycled along a canal towpath in Warwickshire.

A woman filling her car with petrol in Bulwell (Nottinghamshire) was shot with an air rifle - her stomach was punctured.

An 8-year-old girl was shot in the eye with a BB gun whilst she played in a park in Worceste.

A teenager suffered minor injuries when he was shot with an airgun in Oxford.

A man was shot in the face with what has been described as a BB gun when he was walking near Basingstoke (Hampshire).

A golfer was shot on the hip with an air rifle while playing in Sinfin (Derby), and in Sinfin Moor a 15-year-old boy was hit twice in the leg.

A victim received minor injuries after being shot with an air rifle in East Ham (east London).

A delivery van driver was shot in the leg with an air rifle in Atherton (Lancashire) (three people were being questioned by police).

A postman was shot with an airgun in Barrhead (East Renfrewshire) which has lead to mail deliveries to the street where it happened being halted.

A teenager was shot in the face as he was examining an airgun at an address in Bulkington (Warwickshire).

An airgun was fired towards a man as he walked in Dufftown (Moray).

Airguns and imitation guns were probably used in at least five of the robberies and attempted robberies in May (see above):

A man threatened staff at a store in Ayr with what appeared to be an airgun.

An airgun was used in an attempted robbery on a shop in Staverton (Wiltshire).

Two youths armed with an airgun robbed two people in Jericho (Oxford).

A gang of girls armed with a ball-bearing gun attempted to rob a woman in London.

It was reported that a man who stole cash from a bank in Gillingham (Kent) may have been armed with an imitation gun.

Police had to deal with a number of other incidents involving airguns and imitation guns:

A man was to be charged with possessing an imitation firearm and criminal damage after an incident at a pub in Flint.

Armed police surrounded a group of youths in Dogsthorpe (Peterborough) after a gun had been spotted in a garden - the weapon turned out to be an air rifle.

A man armed with a BB gun and knife was arrested in Tenterden (Kent) on suspicion of possessing an imitation firearm, possessing a bladed article and assaulting police.

A man was being questioned after a man carrying a gun was challenged by a security guard in the grounds of a hotel in Bishopton (Renfrewshire) - an air rifle was discovered by police in a van.

A woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon after a couple walking home in Henley-on-Thames (Oxfordshire) were confronted with a woman with a gun, believed to be a BB gun.

Firefighters were apparently prevented from putting put out a fire at a house in Kettering (Northamptonshire) by a man wielding an axe and what appeared to be an air rifle - a man has been charged with a suspected arson attack.

Workmen resurfacing a road at Llanerfyl (Powys) have been threatened by a motorist who said he would use an air rifle to shoot them.

A car door was damaged when an airgun was fired at a passing car in Llanymynech (Powys). A stretch limousine was shot at with an airgun in Hendon (Sunderland), and an airgun pellet was fired at a bus in Southwater (West Sussex).

Windows of shops on an estate in Ipswich have been shattered, probably with a BB gun. An air rifle pellet was fired through a kitchen window in Pinehurst (Swindon). Someone armed with an air rifle has been smashing windows and deflating tyres in the village of Ashton (Cornwall). Two men are on bail after they allegedly used an air rifle to shatter a window at a home in the centre of Barrow (Cumbria).

A speed camera was fired at with an airgun at Leverton (Lincolnshire). In one of a number of incidences of vehicle damage in Honicknowle (Plymouth) dents were caused to a car by a ball-bearing gun.

A 14-year-old was charged after an incident at a school in Aberdeen involving a replica weapon.

Travellers camped in Sidmouth (Devon) have been "frightening" local residents who have seen them brandish an air rifle.

An air rifle was among weapons seized by police in an operation in which nine people were arrested at stations in Wimbledon and Morden (south London).

Guns Recoveries and Thefts

More guns were found during police raids in which drugs were also recovered:

A man was arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and possessing a firearm in Keighley (West Yorkshire).

A stun gun was among stolen goods and other items, including drugs, recovered following a series of raids in south-east London: a WPC was among seven people arrested.

A stun gun was found with heroin during a raid in Hartlepool: three men and a woman were arrested.

A man was charged with possession of firearms with intent to cause fear of violence and another was being questioned after police recovered a firearm, cash and a substance thought to be cocaine in Luton (Bedfordshire).

Three handguns, cash and drugs were seized by police following a series of raids in Blackburn, Oswaldtwistle and Accrington (Lancashire) - a teenager was among those arrested and has been charged with drug and firearm offences.

Two men were charged with a string of drug and firearms offences after a discovery at a home in Laindon (Essex).

A man and a woman in Whitely (Berkshire) have been charged with cultivating cannabis at their home and handling stolen goods including an air rifle.

A man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson and possession of a firearm after a number of incidents in Sefton (Merseyside) - police had recovered a handgun, silencer and three magazines.

A large haul of weapons, possibly from a dumped collection, was recovered from a river near St Cyrus (Aberdeenshire).

An air pistol and pellets were stolen from an unlocked garage in Skegness (Lincolnshire). Twenty paintball guns and explosives were stolen from a company in Harewood Forest (Hampshire).

Incidents Involving Animals

More and more owners are being left distraught after their pets have been shot and injured, sometimes fatally, with airguns. There is no indication whatsoever that this widespread problem is being taken seriously enough. It is obvious that far too many air weapons are in the hands of those who continue to misuse them.

This month cats were shot with airguns in incidents reported in Clywd, Derby, Devon, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Hampshire (two separate incidents), Hull (two separate incidents), Lancashire (one of a number of recent incidents in the area according to a local resident), Moray, Nottinghamshire (two cats shot following four earlier incidents), Rutland, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Sussex and Worcestershire (two separate incidents).

A dog was shot with an airgun after being let off its lead in Grimsby (Lincolnshire). A man used his rifle to shoot dead a bull terrier which attacked his own dog on a walk in Sutton-in-Ashfield - police are investigating the use of the firearm and why the dead animal was not under control.

Teenagers who have been drinking are causing problems at fishing ponds in Wigan (Greater Manchester) by firing on wildlife - one gander has been shot with an air rifle.

One teenage boy received an official caution and another a 24-hour community payback order for being in possession of a loaded air weapon after residents in Staincross (South Yorkshire) told the police that birds had been shot in the woods.

Convictions

A man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, admitted robbery and various firearms offences has been detained under the Mental Health Act - he had admitted shooting dead a shopkeeper in Huyton (Merseyside).

A man who arranged to murder a man at a pub in Salford, an attempt which resulted in the victim and another man being seriously injured and the two gunmen themselves being shot dead, has been jailed for life after being convicted of conspiracy to murder.

A man who shot and injured a man who came to the aid of a security guard at the station in Rayleigh (Essex) during a robbery has been found guilty of a number of offences - two other defendants face a retrial after the jury failed to reach verdicts.

A teenager who fired a 12-bore shotgun at a friend from his parents' home in Up Hatherley (Gloucestershire) whilst he was drunk was given a suspended nine months custodial sentence after admitting having a firearm with intent to cause his friend to believe unlawful violence would be used against him.

A man who was armed with a knife and threatened to get a gun during a robbery at a shop in Talwrn (Anglesey) has been jailed for three years and four months. A man has admitted assault and robbery at a shop in Dennistoun (Glasgow) when he brandished a handgun and snatched £60 - sentencing was deferred.

A man caught with a semi-automatic pistol and ammunition in his car in Loughborough (Leicestershire), as well as a small knife and cannabis, has been jailed for a total of eight years.

A man has admitted a breach of the peace and a firearms offence after he had admitted sending shotgun cartridges and threatening letters to politicians in Scotland.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases)

A 16-year-old boy has been given a 10 month custodial sentence after pleading guilty to causing actual bodily harm and possessing a firearm - he left a woman with horrible bruises after shooting her in the face with an air rifle in Norwich.

A man has admitted behaving in a culpable and reckless manner and endangering a teenager - he fired an airgun at a 14-year-old girl in Aberdeen, hitting her in the head and body.

A 17-year-old, who was one of a group of youths being led by an older woman which threw eggs at an Asian neighbour in Gravesend (Kent), fired an airgun during the incident and has been given community service and supervision.

A man who fired an airgun out of his window in Broughton (Flintshire) admitted possessing a firearm with intent to cause people to believe that unlawful violence would be used against them and was given a suspended 40 week jail sentence.

A driver who threatened another motorist with an air rifle and aimed it at his car in Draycott (Derby) admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and has been jailed for two years and five months. A man who forced his way into a neighbour's house in Flint (Clwyd) and pointed an air rifle at her face has admitted affray, assault, possessing a firearm and breaching his Asbo.

There were a number of court cases in which men admitted to charges of robbery involving airguns or imitation weapons.

Two men who burst into a shop in Allenton (Derby) armed with an airgun have pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and possession of an imitation firearm and asked for a total of 23 other offences to be taken into consideration - they were each jailed for seven years.

A man who entered a shop in Malvern (Worcestershire) armed with a replica Colt 45 pleaded guilty to attempted robbery and also theft of a shotgun which was found later by police - he was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Two teenagers have been sentenced to four years youth detention after admitting robbery following an incident in which a taxi driver was threatened with a gas powered air pistol in Mablethorpe (Lincolnshire).

One man has admitted possessing an imitation firearm, a blank-firing pistol, with intent to commit robbery at a shop in Old Colwyn (Clwyd) - his brother has admitted some other charges and a third man has denied all charges in an ongoing court case.

Two men who attempted to hijack a car in Motherwell whilst armed with a carbon dioxide-powered pistol have pleaded guilty to a charge of abduction and robbery and one of them has admitted having a firearm with intent to make two police constables believe it would be used against and possessing the weapon after serving a long jail sentence - sentencing was deferred.

A man who fired a pellet from an air rifle in a car park in Halesworth (Suffolk) was fined £100 - magistrates ordered the gun, which he had just bought on an internet auction site, to be destroyed.

A teenager, who had also just acquired an air rifle that he had swapped for a car amplifier and who fired it at a van parked in Earls Colne (Essex) has admitted he had behaved recklessly and been ordered to pay compensation.

Another man who had been banned from possessing firearms after a previous conviction has pleaded guilty to possession of air rifles and a stun gun, as well as other charges and has been jailed for 12 months - the weapons were found during two raids on his former home in Winsford (Cheshire).

A teenager who dressed up in army kit and carried an imitation machine gun and handgun to college in King's Lynn was sentenced to 120 hours unpaid community service after admitting being in possession of imitation firearms.

A man who showed off a BB gun in a Sunderland pub has been sentenced to 51 weeks imprisonment, suspended for two years with 12 months supervision after he admitted possessing the gun and two knives in public

APRIL 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries - Four people were reported to have been killed in shooting Incidents during April

Following a double shooting in Dousland (Devon) it was reported that a man who collected antique guns had shot his partner and then killed himself

A man was shot dead and a second victim injured in a targeted attack in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire): two men have been arrested.

A 20-year-old man was shot in a street in Handsworth(Birmingham)

Other shooting incidents which resulted in injury occurred in:

Bedfordshire (2) - there were two separate shootings in Luton, one in which a teenager was shot whilst getting out of a taxi and another in which the victim was shot on his doorstep - there was also a third shooting in the town involving an airgun (see below)

London (4) - a teenager was shot in the lower back in Hainault, another teenager was shot in an estate in Brixton, a man was shot in the head in Thornton Heath and another was in a life-threatening conditioning after a shooting in Gospel Oak

Merseyside (4) - shooting incidents which resulted in injury occurred in Kensington (a gunman went into the victim's house), Croxteth (three men shot a teenager in a pub) and Prescot (two victims were shot)

Strathclyde (1) - a man was seriously injured when he was shot on his doorstep in Paisley: a man has been charged

West Midlands (1) - a man arrived at hospital with gunshot wounds, and his shooting may be linked to reports of a gun fired in Lee Bank and the arrest of three people after police found drugs

West Yorkshire (1) - a second man was injured during the fatal shooting in Huddersfield (see above)

There were also a number of incidents involving airguns and imitation weapons in which the victims were injured (see below).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - There were robberies and attempted robberies in which a gun is alleged to have been used at:

Bookmakers - in Shaw (Greater Manchester), Worthing (West Sussex) and Walsall (West Midlands)

An Estate Agents - in Kingswood (Surrey)

An Hotel - in Walsall (West Midlands)

A Petrol Station - in North Shields (Tyneside)

Post Offices - in Bleasby and Watnall (Nottinghamshire) (a man was later arrested in connection with these and an earlier raid in the county) and Padstow (Cornwall)

Shops - in Cardiff, Portsmouth (a man has been charged with attempted robbery and possession of a firearm), Colchester (Essex), Brighton (the perpetrator, who wielded an imitation gun, was tackled by staff and customers) and Drumchapel (Glasgow)

Security guards were robbed in Thornaby (Teesside) (the suspects were chased to Manchester by police where one man was eventually caught) and Pudsey (West Yorkshire).

A car was stolen at gunpoint in Anfield (Merseyside) and a man was later arrested after it crashed into a lamppost. Another car was stolen by two men armed with a gun in Rochdale (Greater Manchester). One man was robbed when two men threatened the occupants of a car in Bromsgrove (Worcestershire) with a crossbow and a ball bearing gun or air weapon. Another man, who was in his car in Hook Heath (Surrey), was injured when he was robbed of a large sum of money by two men who threatened him with what is thought to have been a gun.

A man who presented what appeared to be a firearm at another man in Paisley stole the victim's bank card.

Other Incidents - A teenager charged with the murder of his girlfriend, who died following a fire in Arbroath, has also been charged with discharging a firearm.

A man escaped injury after his car was shot at in Prestwich (Greater Manchester).

Shots were fired from a handgun at a taxi in Coventry (a man was charged with two counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm).

Another man was lucky to survive an attack on his doorstep in Barton (Oxford) when his attackers fired a shot at point-blank range which missed him and hit the wall behind.

Another victim was targeted on his doorstep in Gilmerton (Edinburgh) by two men, probably armed with a shotgun, but he slammed the door in their face - the gun was fired in the street.

Four men were arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after a shotgun was reportedly fired from a car in Woking (Surrey).

Several gunshots were fired in Possilpark (Glasgow), but police were uncertain whether they were aimed at anyone in particular.

A shotgun was fired at a car in a street in Halifax (West Yorkshire).

A man was charged with a public order offence after allegedly making threats with a legally-held firearm near a school in Hooke (Dorset).

Shots were fired at houses in Wavertree (Merseyside), Dunscroft (South Yorkshire) and Low Moor (Bradford) (the shooting may be related to a dispute over a bike).

An historic cross at Stocksbridge (South Yorkshire) had its bulbs shot out twice, probably with a shotgun.

Police responded to other incidents in which firearms were apparently seen:

A passer-by saw a small black handgun carried by a group in Stoke-on-Trent: no weapon was found.

A man was arrested after he had barricaded himself into a loft in Girvan (Ayrshire)mafter police received a report of a man with a gun.

Armed police were called to a church and a college in Bridgwater (Somerset) after reports of a man being spotted with a firearm.

A man was arrested after a "domestic report" that someone had a gun at an address at Southsea (Hampshire).

Bus windows have been shattered in Stanway (Essex): one driver said the impact marks suggested that it was "not just an airgun".

A man was cautioned after trying to sell a shotgun from his car boot in Swineshead (Lincolnshire).

Airguns and Imitation Guns - Further evidence that, in spite of recent legislation, some traders are still selling imitation firearms came from Blackpool where trading standards officers took various goods off sale including ball bearing guns.

There were more victims of airgun and BB gun attacks during April. We are aware of at least 18 people hit with pellets, nine of whom were females, three of them young girls.

Three women were shot in the head, one in her garden in Lincoln, another whilst walking in Harwich (Essex) (she needed stitches after the pellet was removed in hospital) and the third in Aberdeen.

Another woman was with her baby when she was shot in the hand at a bus stop in Rainscough (Greater Manchester) (two boys have been arrested for causing grievous bodily harm with intent).

A teenage woman had to have a pellet removed in hospital after being shot with an airgun in Wyberton (Lincolnshire).

A young girl was shot in the leg with an "air rifle-style pellet" in Frimley (Surrey) and an 11-year-old girl was shot with an airgun whilst she queued for an ice cream in Huyton (Merseyside).

A 9-year-old was shot three times in the face, neck and leg with BB gun pellets as she played near her home in Grimsby.

A man was shot in the eye with an airgun in a park in Luton (Bedfordshire) and another was hit whilst he was walking in a street in Loughborough (Leicestershire) (two teenagers have been arrested).

Another male victim suffered leg injuries when he was shot in Whitehaven (Cumbria) and a school caretaker was shot in the forehead with an air weapon in Middlesbrough.

Two footballers were hit with airgun pellets at the end of a match in South Wales.

Three people, two men and a woman, were hit with what they believe were airgun pellets in separate incidents in Norwich.

A man was hit in the face after a BB gun was fired from a car in Pangbourne (Berkshire).

A boy who shot at an aerosol can with an airgun in his back garden in Pentre (Flintshire) suffered serious burns when the can exploded.

Two men repeatedly fired a ball bearing gun at a man on a street and at a house in Barrhead (Renfrewshire).

Police had to deal with a number of other incidents involving imitation guns:

Two BB guns were seized from two boys who were seen waving them in Epsom (Surrey)

A man was arrested after reports he was taking potshots with a BB gun and wielding a samurai sword in Plymouth

A man who resisted arrest in Shoebury (Essex) whilst armed with an imitation gun is due to appear in court

A youth involved in a game with realistic-looking replica firearms sparked a firearms response when he was seen with two guns

Two men found with two plastic BB guns were arrested in Wolverhampton

Five men were arrested after a man was threatened with a handgun in Crewe (Cheshire) (an imitation firearm was found later)

Police also had to deal with a number of other incidents involving airguns:

A man has been charged with two counts of common assault and possession of an air weapon after allegedly being seen with a gun in Hull

A man was arrested in Grimsby and an air weapon recovered after a man was reported getting into a car with what looked to be a firearm

Police conducted house-to-house inquiries in Dundee after a man was seen brandishing an air rifle

A man was charged under the Explosive Substances Act 1883 and the Firearms Act after he was found to be in possession of several bottles of fluid and an airgun in Motherwell.

A man who confronted two engineers with an air rifle when they went to fix an electrical fault at a caravan site near Belbroughton (Worcestershire) was given advice by police

A man tried to carry two guns into court in Consett (County Durham): when he was barred from entering he took the air pistol and air rifle back to a limousine.

In Cambridgeshire, a number of shop windows in Chatteris were damaged (it is thought the damage could have been caused by an air rifle) and in Eaton Socon the rear window of a property was shot with what was believed to be an air rifle.

A church in Northfields (west London) was damaged in an airgun attack.

Damage worth £35,000 was caused to a windows at a school in Poole (Dorset) by slingshots and BB guns

It was reported that an air pistol had been confiscated from a girl at a school in Sandwell (West Midlands) earlier this year.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts - Two officers from Durham Constabulary have been arrested or suspended during an inquiry into the sale of firearms (shotguns and rifles) that had been handed into the force.

A shotgun and cartridges were recovered from houses in Dalton and Crosland Moor (West Yorkshire): a man was arrested.

Guns were also recovered from properties during raids in which drugs were found:

In Wigan where a stun gun and cash were recovered: a man and a teenage girl were arrested

At five addresses in Carlton, Bestwood and Broxtowe (Nottinghamshire) where drugs and two firearms were found

In Chapeltown (Leeds) where a gun and heroin were seized

In Swallwell (Tyneside) where cash, an air rifle and blue tablets were recovered

In Wetherby (West Yorkshire) where heroin and a stun gun were found: a man was in custody

Nine people were detained on a variety of charges after raids on four suspected brothels in London and Hertfordshire during which a stun gun was recovered.

Police in Preston have seized two genuine guns and eight imitation weapons since January.

A rucksack contained a ball-bearing gun and a Stanley knife was found in a car park in Tring (Hertfordshire).

A gun collection was stolen from a remote farmhouse near Wray (Lancashire).

A pair of shotguns was stolen from a car in Owston Ferry (Lincolnshire) and a shotgun, rifle and ammunition were taken from a house in Framlingham (Suffolk).

Incidents Involving Animals - There has been no let up in the attacks on animals and birds, especially cats.

There were reports of at least 15 cats being shot with airguns in Aberdeen, Cornwall, Coventry, Devon, Dorset, Herefordshire, Hull, Kent (two incidents), Lancashire, Nottingham (two incidents), Somerset, Sussex and Wiltshire. Another missing cat is believed to have been shot dead in Angus.

An animal care complex in Bath has appealed for help in looking after a dog found riddled with airgun pellets.

Two birds, a swan rescued in Buckinghamshire and a goose that had been attacked by a dog in Staffordshire, were both found to have airgun pellets in their bodies.

A 13-year-old boy was convicted of repeatedly shooting at two dogs and a cat with a ball-bearing gun in Whitley (Reading).

Court Cases - A number of men were convicted of murder and attempted murder following the deaths of two men who were shot in Manchester: five of them received sentences of more than 32 years.

A man who put a gun to a woman's mouth in woods near Banbury (Oxfordshire) because she owed him money was convicted of various offences: he had previously been found guilty of shooting a man who also owed him money.

A man was jailed for seven years for a robbery in Stevenage (Hertfordshire) in which the victim was pistol whipped.

A man pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and possessing a firearm after he handed himself in, ten years after the incident in Bath: he was given a 2 year jail sentence.

Two brothers were each jailed for eight years for storing guns at a property in Haydock (Merseyside).

A teenager who kept a loaded submachine gun in a rucksack at his home in Tulse Hill (south London) has been jailed for nine years.

A man was jailed for six years (five for a firearm offence) after an illegal revolver and child abuse images were found at his home in Standish (Greater Manchester).

A number of men admitted or were found guilty of offences involving shotguns:

Four men have been convicted of robbery and two of them were found guilty of wounding with intent following the shooting of a female police officer at a pub in Bamber Bridge (Lancashire): she was hit 12 times in the thigh when one of the men fired a sawn-off shotgun.

A third man has been jailed, for six years and nine months, after he admitted possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after a sawn-off shotgun was pointed at a family in Elland (West Yorkshire)

A man who was shot in the street in Chapeltown (Leeds) but fired back with a sawn-off shotgun has admitted possession of a prohibited firearm and has been jailed for five years

Another man was found guilty of possessing a banned weapon (a sawn-off shotgun) at his home in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire) and was jailed for five years

A man from Walton (Merseyside) was jailed for five years nine months for possessing a sawn-off shotgun that was found in his loft

A man from Worksop (Nottinghamshire) has admitted robbing a petrol station and possessing a sawn-off shotgun

A man from Little Downham (Cambridgeshire) who kept a shotgun in his kitchen with a box of ammunition without having a certificate was fined £250

A man from Exmouth (Devon) has admitted possessing a shotgun without authority but a charge of possessing the gun with intent to cause fear of violence to his wife was dropped.

After police found a sawn-off shotgun in a wardrobe at a home in Houghton Regis (Bedfordshire) a man has been convicted of possessing a firearm.

A Lithuanian who was caught trying to enter the UK at the Channel Tunnel control zone with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol and three blank cartridges has been given a five year jail sentence.

A man from Buxton (Derbyshire) has appeared in court charged with possession of a shortened single barrel .420 shotgun and also faces an allegation of purchasing cartridges without a firearm certificate.

A gun collector from West Bridgford (Nottingham) was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence after admitting three offences of possessing a firearm and ammunition without a certificate.

Two teenagers from Pinehurst (Wiltshire) pleaded guilty to drugs charges and one admitted having a stun gun and they have been jailed for a year and 14 months.

Inquests - A coroner recorded that a man, who was a keen shooter and held a firearms licence, killed his wife and daughter at Maesbrook (Shropshire) by shooting them in the head before killing himself, dying of smoke inhalation.

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - A recent research paper (Wheal & Tilley, Howard Journal 48, 172-189) has confirmed that a high proportion of gun-enabled crime involves imitation guns.

There was further evidence from court cases this month that imitation weapons are being used in armed raids:

Two cousins who robbed a bank in Bebington (The Wirral) were armed with a ball bearing gun: they have been jailed for seven years four months

A man, who was one of a gang of three that attempted to rob a shop in Barnoldswick (Lancashire) whilst armed with a fake military rifle, has been given a five year custodial sentence

A man responsible for three robberies in the Bristol area who was caught on CCTV wielding a toy gun has been jailed for seven years

A man who used a water pistol when he held up a bank in Brentwood (Essex) was given a three and a half year sentence

Two men were sentenced to four years and six years for an armed robbery in Newport in which the assailant was armed with an imitation firearm

A teenager, who shot his friend in the arm with an air rifle in Shevington Nook (Lancashire) and immediately regretted it, was given a suspended 12 month prison sentence and ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.

A man who shot at a neighbour and police in Dumbarton with an air rifle has been given a 40 months prison sentence

A man who took an imitation handgun to a pub in Highcliffe (Dorset) has admitted possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and been jailed for two and a half years.

A man from Cheltenham (Gloucestershire) who fired an air rifle from his bedroom window has been given a £200 fine, and his weapon will be forfeited and destroyed.

A man who fired an air rifle at a house name sign in Callander (Perthshire) awaits sentence.

A man spotted by police with an air rifle in a car park in Cardigan pleaded guilty to possessing a loaded air weapon in a public place was give a six month community order.

An alcoholic found with an air pistol in a bag in a car park in Aspley (West Yorkshire) admitted being drunk and disorderly but was found not guilty of carrying an air weapon in public without reasonable excuse.

There are frequent cases of men who are prohibited from possessing a weapon through previous convictions being in possession of airguns. There were two more this month:

A man from Rugby (Warwickshire) was jailed for ten months for possessing an air pistol which he claimed he had bought for target practice in his garden

A man from Scarborough (North Yorkshire) was given a 21 month sentence after he was caught in possession of an air rifle and for a later incident involving a hammer

MARCH 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were nine fatal shootings reported during March, five of which were apparent homicides, but the number of shooting incidents which resulted in serious injury was fewer than in the preceding month.

Three of the homicides occurred in London, in Mottingham (a man has been charged with murder), Tottenham (the victim was 18-years-old, and two men have been arrested) and Holloway (the victim's son was also shot and seriously injured). The other victims died as a result of apparent domestic incidents in Yorkshire, a woman was shot at a house in Thorne (South Yorkshire) (her partner is facing charges) and a man died at a house in Eccleshill (West Yorkshire) (a second man who also shot was in a critical condition, and a third man is being sought by police).

A 15-year-old boy was killed after being shot with an air rifle whilst target shooting with two other teenagers in his garden in Hayes (west London).

Three men were found dead with shotgun wounds in circumstances which the police are not describing as suspicious. Their bodies were discovered in Didcot (Oxfordshire), near Gainfield (Oxfordshire) and between Caerphilly and Rhondda Cynon Taf (South Wales)

In addition to the above incidents others which resulting in injuries occurred in:

Bedfordshire (1) - a man was shot whilst he was getting out of his car in Luton

Glasgow (1) - a man was shot a number of times in his car in Springburn after being chased by men in another car

Greater Manchester (1) - a man was shot in the buttocks in Glodwick

London (2) - a suspected gunshot victim was found in a street in Finsbury Park, and a man received shotgun wounds to both legs in a shooting in Brockley (a man has been arrested and bailed)

Merseyside (2) - two male victims were shot in the leg in separate attacks in Huyton and Stockbridge Village

Tyneside (1) - an 8-year-old boy was left critically ill after receiving shotgun wounds at a site in Gateshead

West Midlands (3) - a man was shot in Bushbury (another man has been charged with attempted murder and firearms offences), another victim was shot with what was believed to be a pistol outside his home in Small Heath and a third man needed hospital treatment after he was shot in Stoke (Coventry)

West Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the chest in Bradford (two men have been bailed in connection with the incident)

A man was hit on the head with a pistol during an attempted robbery at a house in Botley (Oxfordshire).

A 13-year-old boy was arrested after fellow schoolchildren were attacked with a stun gun in Leamington Spa (Warwickshire).

There were, however, more gun victims who were injured by shots from air weapons and imitation guns (see below).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - There were robberies and attempted robberies by men apparently armed with guns at:

Banks, Building Societies and Post Offices - in Birkdale (Lancashire), Melsonby (North Yorkshire), Helsby (Cheshire), Guide (Lancashire), Droylsden (Greater Manchester) (a bank and a building society were robbed by the same gang; a police officer fired a shot at the getaway vehicle after a shotgun was pointed at him), and Greatworth (Northamptonshire) (two men have been arrested)

Betting Shops - in Aldershot (Hampshire), Hoole (Cheshire), Watford (Hertfordshire) and Netherfield (Nottingham)

Business Premises - in Harlow (Essex) (the robbers claimed to have a gun though no weapon was seen)

Petrol Stations - in Manton (Nottinghamshire), Market Harborough (Leicestershire) and Newport (Shropshire) (a man has been arrested)

Pubs - in Hucknall (Nottinghamshire) and North Shields (Tyneside)

Shops - in Maidenhead (Berkshire), York (three men are in custody after an armed robbery at a jewellers), Wolverhampton (two attacks on the same shop occurred within a week), Bromley (south London), Poole (Dorset), Widnes (Cheshire) (two separate robberies), Maghull (Merseyside), Coleshill (Warwickshire), Radford (Nottingham) (two men were arrested), Southend-on-Sea (Essex) and Old Colwyn (North Wales) (a customer was shot in the neck with a BB gun; three men have been arrested and charged)

Some of the robberies in Cheshire were apparently carried out by a man who had escaped from court in December 2008: he has since been caught and charged with 14 new offences.

Security men were robbed of a large amount of cash by armed men in Uddingston (Lanarkshire).

There were attacks on houses by armed men in Botley (Oxfordshire) (a man was hit on the head with a pistol and his partner stabbed during he attempted robbery) and Robroyston (Glasgow). A couple were robbed at gunpoint whilst walking through a car park on Haverstock Hill (north London).

A taxi driver was robbed at gunpoint in Bolton (Greater Manchester).

A truck driver was stunned with a stun gun and dumped as his truck and load were stolen from outside an industrial estate in Saltley (Birmingham). Another lorry driver was hijacked at Fulwood (Preston) and forced to drive to Walsall and Gloucestershire; the robbers were also armed with a stun gun.

Other Incidents - Shots were fired in a number of other incidents:

A family were trapped inside their home in Birkdale (Lancashire) when a gunman opened fire

Shots were fired at a house in Huyton (Merseyside)

A masked man fired several shots into a taxi office in Buttershaw (West Yorkshire)

A shotgun was fired through the window of a pub in Anstey (Leicestershire)

Four teenagers and a man were arrested after a shotgun was fired at a party in Oxfordshire where a teenage girl was sexually assaulted

A car thief threatened to shoot a police officer after a stolen car was stopped in Greater Manchester: the gunman escaped towards Ardwick railway station.

A man who threatened another man in a pub in Christchurch (Dorset) was later arrested. A man was charged with a number of offences, including four contraventions of the Firearms Act, following an apparent armed abduction in Grangemouth (Stirlingshire).

Police recovered a handgun after a man was seen brandishing a gun in the street in Burslem (Staffordshire). A man wielding a gun in Loughborough (Leicestershire) was arrested after being shot with a baton fired by the police.

A mother fought and disarmed a teenager brandishing two pistols after he threatened to shoot her son in Crawley (West Sussex).

A man was reported to the procurator fiscal after a firearms incident in Inverness.

A teenager was arrested when a school in Clifton (Bedfordshire) was evacuated after he had told a pupil that he would shoot him.

A police firearms team was despatched to Wookey (Somerset) after a resident heard a series of shouts and screaming followed by what she believed to be a gunshot: no evidence of a shooting was found.

A man charged with murder after a stabbing in Greenwich (south east London) has also been charged with firearms offences.

A man who had shotgun cartridges in his pocket by mistake has described how security at Bristol Airport failed to detect them.

Guns Recoveries and Thefts - Guns being found during a number of police operations, in some of which drugs were also recovered:

Stun guns were found during raids in Hounslow (west London), Hartlepool, Chesham (Buckinghamshire) and Pinehurst (Swindon)

Guns were found during raids in Greater Manchester (a man and a woman were arrested) and Blaina (South Wales) (a man was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm)

Police found a loaded gun stuffed into a sock after they chased two men in Battersea (south London) (a man has been charged).

A gun was recovered by police from under a hut in Merridale (Wolverhampton)

Guns were discovered in cars in Littleborough (Greater Manchester) (a shotgun was found and man has been charged with possession of a prohibited firearm) and in Whitworth (Lancashire) (a prohibited Brocock airgun was found, one man has been charged and another recalled to prison). Police seized an air pistol and a large amount of cash when two cars were stopped in Torquay (Devon) (two men have been arrested).

Ammunition was recovered by police from a house in Huddersfield (West Yorkshire). A bag of 9mm bullets was discovered by a member of the public in the centre of Manchester.

Three shotguns, stolen during a burglary in Boughton Lees (Kent), were recovered from the River Stour in Chartham.

A paintball gun, an imitation of a Second World War assault rifle, was stolen from a car in Hereford.

Airguns and Imitation Guns - A 15-year-old was killed by a shot from an air rifle whilst target shooting in his back garden in Hayes (west London).

A number of innocent victims were hit by pellets fired from airguns and BB guns, and as we pointed out in our recently-prepared list of airgun incidents these victims are often young or female:

A woman from Cobham (Surrey), who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has been terrorised by youths has been shot at with an air rifle.

Air rifle snipers hit two women in Longridge (Lancashire) (two teenagers were arrested)

A PCSO was shot in the back with an air rifle in Grantham (Lincolnshire) (a man has been charged with common assault and firing an air weapon beyond a premises)

A 13-year-old girl required surgery to remove an airgun pellet after being shot in Anfield (Liverpool)

A man was hit by an airgun pellet whilst walking in the street in Watford (Hertfordshire)

A woman was shot with an airgun near to a primary school in Sheerness (Kent) and required hospital treatment

An 8-year-old boy needed stitches after being shot in the head with an airgun whilst riding his mini-motorbike in a field in Crewe (Cheshire)

A teenager injured a 12-year-old pupil when he fired a ball-bearing gun in the grounds of a school in York

A teenager was shot with a BB gun in a fast food restaurant in Stafford

An elderly man was shot in the face with a BB gun in Easingwold (North Yorkshire)

A supermarket customer was hit in the neck with a BB gun pellet during an attempted robbery in Old Colwyn (North Wales) (see above)

A man injured in the stomach in Fazakerley (Merseyside) was later reported to have been shot with a pellet gun

A man was arrested after shots were fired from an air rifle in Barry (South Wales).

A woman armed with two BB guns caused an alert at a secure mental health unit in Rainhill (Merseyside): she has been detained under the Mental Health Act. A man subsequently found to have been armed with a BB gun was hit with a rubber bullet by police in Falmouth (Cornwall) and then charged with possessing an imitation firearm.

A teenager appeared in court following an incident which is alleged to have involved a gas-powered BB gun in Middleport (Staffordshire). A man was arrested and an air weapon recovered after someone allegedly threatened youths in Alcester (Warwickshire). Another man has denied possession of a firearm after a dispute over a taxi fare in Middlesbrough in which an air pistol was apparently involved.

A man has been charged with having a firearm in his possession with intent to cause another man to believe that unlawful violence would be used against him and with stealing a gat gun from a farm in Stanley (Perthshire).

Five people were held under the Terrorism Act after imitation guns, including an imitation Kalashnikov rifle, were found by police at an address in Plymouth: the find was linked to the forthcoming G20 summit.

Air weapons caused damage to property:

Airgun pellets were fired at a house in Pevensey Bay (East Sussex)

Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused to historic windows at a church in Darwen (Lancashire)

Extensive damage has been done to a primary school's windows in an air rifle attack in Trannack (Cornwall)

There have been a series of airgun shootings in Trawden (Lancashire) where a pub and a home have recently been damaged

Homes in two areas of Halifax (West Yorkshire) were shot at with what is thought to have been an air rifle

Damage was caused to the door of a home in Skipton (North Yorkshire)

The window of a TV studio in Cardiff was shot at with an airgun.

and to vehicles:

Passengers in Marchwood (Hampshire) had to duck when an airgun was fired at a bus.

Another bus was targeted by an air rifle sniper in South Brent (Devon) and damage was caused to one of the windows.

A teenager was arrested after an incident with a replica gun on a bus travelling between Canterbury and Whitstable (Kent).

Two girls have been expelled from a school in Alcester (Warwickshire) after BB guns were found there. A primary school pupil was suspended after taking a ball bearing gun to school in South Croydon (south London) and waving it at girls in the playground.

An estate in Wokingham (Berkshire) has been plagued with anti-social behaviour, including shooting with BB guns.

Incidents Involving Animals - There were more airgun attacks on cats, this month reported from Aberdeenshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Derbyshire, Hertfordshire and Staffordshire (two attacks in different towns) and Wiltshire. A cat in Lincolnshire was shot in the face with a shotgun.

A dog was shot with an airgun in front of a 5-year-old boy and his mother in Corsham (Wiltshire).

There were also further attacks on swans in Godstone Green (Surrey) and Wednesfield (West Midlands) on a canal where attacks have taken place previously and airguns may have been used to kill two swans found dead in Silksworth (Sunderland).

A buzzard was shot in Aglionby (Cumbria), where in the last three months five other carcasses have been found on a golf course.

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Convictions - A man who shot an intruder with a shotgun at his home in Chilham (Kent) was acquitted of murder.

Three men have been sentenced for their involvement in an incident in which a man was shot in the leg in a garden in Allenton (Derbyshire): the sentences were six years, nine years and 95 days and 20 years.

A man has admitted firing a shotgun in Worksop (Nottinghamshire) but denied attempted murder. Two men have admitted firing a shotgun at a pub in Broomhouse (Edinburgh). A man who fired a shotgun at a group of youths in Bridgend (South Wales), injuring a 16-year-old, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent and common assault and was jailed for 20 months.

Three men who were involved in attacks on others in the southside of Glasgow, during which they pointed a gun or similar weapon, have been jailed for a total of 11-and-a-half years.

A man from Hevingham (Norfolk) who pointed a loaded shotgun at his ex-wife while she lay in bed has been jailed for three years.

A man involved in an armed robbery at a hotel in Brislington (Bristol) has been found guilty of robbery and having a handgun with intent to rob. An offender who was involved in a number of gunpoint robberies in the south of England after he escaped from a prison van in Barking (east London) has been jailed for 16 years: two other men involved in the escape, in which they brandished pistols, and a robbery were jailed for four years and ten years. Another man, who was part of a gang that raided shops in Newmarket and Barrow (Suffolk), has been jailed for eight years.

An Army sergeant has pleaded guilty to brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle at a barracks in Minley (Hampshire).

A man who was stopped in Walthamstow (north east London) in possession of a gun and then fled to Spain was extradited and has admitted a string of offences including possessing a prohibited firearm and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and an attempted robbery 10 years ago: he was jailed for a total of 15 years. Another man from Walthamstow who was convicted for counterfeiting offences had been jailed for eight years for possession of a gun and ammunition.

A number of people have been convicted after firearms were found:

A man from Wolverhampton and his teenage girlfriend have been jailed for nine years and four-and-a-half years after admitting possession of a shotgun and cocaine.

A man from New Eltham (south east London) has been jailed for seven years after a police raid revealed a stash of weapons at his home.

Another man has been jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of a string of firearms and drug offences including supplying weapons: police found drugs, a pistol and almost 200 bullets at his girlfriend's flat in Salford.

A man who kept an Uzi sub-machine gun under his bed at his home in Knotty Ash (Merseyside) has been jailed for 12 years for possession of the gun and ammunition and for drug offences.

A teenager from Cardiff who was minding a gun for a gang admitted possession of the firearm and ammunition and was sentenced to five years in a young offenders' institution.

A gun enthusiast who hoarded military memorabilia pleaded guilty to illegal possession of ammunition, missiles and firearms without a certificate as well as possession of articles with a blade at his home in Chorley (Lancashire) and was given 24-week suspended prison sentence.

There were convictions of a number of men over possession of stun guns:

A man from Rowley Regis (West Midlands) who admitted arming himself with a stun gun during a dispute with neighbours was given a 12 month suspended jail sentence and placed under supervision for two years.

A man who tried to bring a stun gun into the country from Thailand and was caught at Edinburgh Airport pleaded guilty to charges under the firearms act.

Another who attempted to bring stun guns and drugs into the country from Thailand through Heathrow Airport has been jailed for three and a half years.

Another man has admitted having a prohibited weapon after a stun gun and drugs were found at his house in Annan (Dumfriesshire).

Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - A teenager has pleaded guilty to robbery and possession of an imitation firearm after a man was robbed outside a restaurant in Harpenden (Hertfordshire). Another teenager received a four year sentence after an attempted robbery in Baillieston (Glasgow) during which he pointed a ball bearing pistol at the shopkeeper. A man who made and used a fake firearm as well as a knife during five robberies in Headington (Oxford) has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

A man who pointed an air rifle at people in the vicinity of his house in Grimsby (Lincolnshire) after an egg was thrown at him has been given a 12 month community order and ordered to complete 80 hours unpaid work. A man who threatened a neighbour in Staining (Lancashire) with an air pistol during a domestic dispute has received a 21 month jail sentence. Another man who repeatedly fired an air pistol to "frighten" a group of men who attacked him in Edinburgh has pleaded guilty to a breach of the peace and possessing a firearm in a public place.

A newspaper reported that a man who fired an airgun at his neighbours in Lanchester (County Durham) during a catalogue of violence has been allowed to move back into his house after a six month ban: he had been given a suspended six month jail sentence.

A man who aimed a ball bearing gun at police in Birkenhead (Merseyside) in the hope they would shoot him has been jailed for 20 months.

A man admitted firing a paintball gun at a colleague at a paintball centre in Ratho (Edinburgh), causing his victim long term damage to his eye.

A man has admitted uttering threats of violence, holding a gun to a woman's head and having a BB gun in his possession after a dispute at a house in Motherwell (Lanarkshire)

A man has been fined £600 for terrifying a group of boys by following them with an air rifle in Ardrossan (Ayrshire).

A man has admitted having an unloaded air pistol without reasonable excuse in Hawick (Scottish Borders). Another man who walked through an industrial estate in Ayr with an air rifle has had his sentence deferred for six months.

FEBRUARY 2009

There were a number of shooting incidents in London which resulted in serious injuries to the victims, three of whom died from their injuries. Elsewhere, there were relatively few other incidents in which people were hurt. There were, however, many reports of robberies in which the suspects were armed with guns. More evidence from February's incidents and court cases heard during the month indicates that in a significant proportion of these the weapon is likely to have been an imitation gun.

Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were three fatal shooting attacks during February all of which took place in London, in Stonebridge, Tottenham and East Dulwich - the victims were all in their mid-twenties and the murders are being investigated by the Metropolitan Police's Operation Trident (arrests have been made in connection with both the Stonebridge and Tottenham shootings).
A man apparently committed suicide by shooting himself in a park in Southampton - a pistol was found. Another man was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in woods in Ottershaw, Surrey.
Shooting incidents in which victims, more than half of them teenagers, were injured occurred in:
London (9) - a teenager was in a serious condition after being shot in Camberwell, two teenagers were seriously injured in a shooting in Neasden (three people, including boys aged 14 and 15 have been arrested), three people suffered gunshots wounds in an incident outside a pub in Greenwich and three teenagers were shot and injured in Hackney
Merseyside (3) - a man was shot in the leg in Speke (a man has been arrested) and two teenagers received gunshot wounds to the face in Norris Green (a 15-year-old boy was arrested and released on bail)
South Yorkshire (1) - a teenager was shot in the head, though only injured slightly, in a pub car park in Halfway (Sheffield)
Teesside (1) - a man suffered a gunshot wound at a house in Thornaby
West Midlands (2) - two men were taken to hospital after a drive-by shooting in Edgbaston
West Sussex (1) - a man was shot in the head while at home in Burgess Hill
West Yorkshire (1) - a man was found with a gunshot injury in Leeds
A man was pistol-whipped during a robbery at a flat in Croydon (south London) and a newsagent was violently assaulted when he was hit on the head with the butt of a gun during a raid on a shop in Shawlands (Glasgow).
A man was arrested and a gun recovered after another man was assaulted in Newton (Greater Manchester).
Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - There were robberies and attempted robberies by men apparently armed with guns on:
Banks, Building Societies and Post Offices - in Harrogate (North Yorkshire) (see below), Bexhill-on-Sea (East Sussex), Winsford (Cheshire), Woking (Surrey), Southampton and Swansea
Betting shops - in Worthing (West Sussex) and Llandudno (North Wales)
Petrol stations - in Marston (Oxford) (see below), Benfleet (Essex) (a 19-year-old later surrendered himself), Harlow (Essex) (a man has been arrested and charged with robbery and possession of an imitation firearm) and Deanshanger (Northamptonshire)
Shops - in Eastwood (Essex), Gorton (Greater Manchester) (four young men were arrested and two guns seized), Rochdale (a shotgun was fired as the robber tried to escape), Wheatley (Oxfordshire) (see below), Middlesbrough (the robber was armed with a hammer and a BB gun), Milton Keynes, Slough (Berkshire), Bedworth (Warwickshire) (a ball-bearing gun was used), Wootton Bassett (Wiltshire) (a suspected imitation firearm was found near a car used in the robbery), Shawlands (Glasgow) (the shopkeeper was hit on the head with the butt of a gun) and Slateford (Edinburgh) (an imitation shotgun was used)
Security guards were robbed in Daventry (Northamptonshire), Thetford (Norfolk), Easterhouse and Riddrie (both in Glasgow)
There was a worrying number of gunpoint robberies on homes.
Two women were robbed at a house in Northern Moor (Manchester)
A couple were robbed of cash in Epping (Essex) (the attackers were armed with a blank-firing imitation weapon).
A man was pistol-whipped at a flat in Croydon (south London) during a robbery (see above).
In Surrey a woman was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in Weybridge, and in Bletchingley two armed men burst into a house and punched the homeowner.
In Northamptonshire a disabled man was robbed in Kettering and an elderly couple were tied up and robbed in Pipewell (three men and a woman have been arrested).
An armed gang stole jewellery and cash from a house in Shawlands (Glasgow).
In Essex a man was lured to an ambush and robbed of cash in Theydon Bois, and a mother and daughter were victims of a street robbery in Shoebury. A motorist had his car stolen by four men armed with a handgun in Liverpool.
Police found a gun on a train in Reading and arrested four men, three of them teenagers, after items and cash were stolen from a property in the town.
A man has been arrested by police investigating two armed robberies in Harrogate (North Yorkshire). A man has appeared in court charged with four counts of robbery in connection with recent incidents in Oxfordshire (in Marston and Wheatley during February). A teenager from West Reading (Berkshire) has denied one count of using a firearm to cause fear and violence in people and one of attempted robbery.
Other Incidents - Shots were fired at houses in Sarisbury Green (Hampshire) (this was the second time in a month, three men have been arrested and released on bail), Whalley Range (Greater Manchester) and Shiregreen (Sheffield). A gun was reported to have been fired at a house in Heaton (Bradford) in an incident which may be linked to earlier reports of shots being fired in Lidget Green.
A car was shot at in Heywood (Greater Manchester) (two men have been charged with attempted murder). Shots were fired in a street in Birmingham where a car was damaged.
A man in a car pulled a gun on a teenager as he walked along a road in Worle (Somerset).
A man was held on suspicion of supplying a firearm after an incident involving a hand grenade in Hull. Two men were arrested in Hanley (Staffordshire) in connection with firearms offences. Four men arrested on the M6 near Stoke-on-Trent after reports of a firearm being carried were released without charge.
Police investigating organised dog fighting questioned a man and a woman arrested in Drighlington (West Yorkshire) on suspicion of possession of a dangerous dog, along with drugs and firearms offences.
A police helicopter was scrambled after reports of a man with a gun in a nature reserve in County Durham.
Gun Thefts and Recoveries - Guns were stolen from properties in:
Berkshire - two airguns and a pump gun were stolen from a storage unit in Lambourn, and a bolt action rifle was stolen from a car in Speen.
Derbyshire - an air rifle was among items stolen from a caravan in Barrow-upon-Trent
Lincolnshire - two shotguns were stolen from a house in Stamford
North Yorkshire - in Boltby an elderly man was tied up and assaulted as a gang stole two shotguns and two rifles
Firearms were recovered in a number of police raids targeted at criminal activity:
Imitation guns and drugs were among items recovered during a series of raids across Northumberland.
A .22 air rifle was among nearly 30 items recovered by police during an operation to beat burglary in Whitley (Reading).
A sawn-off shotgun and drugs were recovered from an address in Manor Park (east London) (a 17-year-old was arrested).
An air pistol and a ball-bearing gun were recovered along with suspected cocaine at a property in Bovey Tracey (Devon).
A man was arrested after a sawn-off shotgun was found in Cambridge.
A firearm was found when cash cigarettes and drugs were seized at an industrial unit in Cannock (Staffordshire).
Firearms were found in an operation tackling the supply of drugs, firearms and counterfeit clothing in Hertfordshire
A stun gun was found with cash and drugs during a raid in Earlsfield (south London)
Airguns and Imitation Guns - In all previous Summaries incidents involving Imitation Guns were dealt with separately from those involving Airguns. However, because of the confusion over definitions future summaries will include them in one section.
Three men have been charged with possession of a firearm without a certificate following the death of a teenage girl who was shot in the head with an air rifle at a party in Bury in December 2008.
Victims reported to have been shot with airguns and imitations during February included:
a teenager shot in the face when an air rifle was fired at him in a park in Collier Row (east London)
three teenagers hit when they were shot at with an air rifle in Blacon (Chester)
a 9-year-old boy who was left 'covered in blood' after being shot in the head with a BB gun in Plymouth
a man shot in the chest with an air rifle in a drive-by shooting in Nantwich (Cheshire)
A man was arrested after shots were fired from the window of a flat in Manchester with what is believed to have been an airgun. A street in Faifley (West Dunbartonshire) was closed off after shots were allegedly fired from an air weapon (a man was arrested).
Police seized an air rifle and two knives from two men in Ashington (Northumberland) who have been charged with affray.
There were a number of attacks of vehicles:
Buses were fired at with an airgun in North Baddesley (Hampshire) (shards of glass were splattered over a passenger) and with a BB gun in Billericay and Tiptree (both in Essex) (windows were broken in both cases).
A car window was smashed by a ball-bearing, probably fired from an airgun, in Chester-le-Street (County Durham).
A parked car was hit with an airgun pellet in Harwich (Essex). A house window may have been damaged by an air rifle or BB gun in Whitby (North Yorkshire). Damage to homes, bus shelters and a community centre in Exwick (Exeter) is believed to have been caused by an airgun.
Imitation firearms have been linked to armed robberies carried out in Epping (Essex), Middlesbrough, Bedworth (Warwickshire), Wootton Bassett (Wiltshire), Harlow (Essex) and Slateford (Edinburgh). It is very likely that the weapons used in many more of the armed robberies reported this month (see above) were also imitation weapons.
Armed police swooped on a street in Hove (Sussex) after reports of a man pointing a gun at a baby - it turned out to be a toy gun.
Two teenagers were seen carrying an airgun in Tile Hill (Coventry) in what is being described as a "suspicious activity".
Police said that they have a duty to treat all reports of firearms as genuine after they were alerted when a group of people attending a party at a pub in Castle Donington (Leicestershire) were seen carrying guns which turned out to be cap guns or water pistols.
Incidents Involving Animals - In addition to the growing list of cats injured and killed in airgun attacks (this month there were reports from Devon, Oxfordshire and Staffordshire) there were a number of reports of birds being shot.
Swans were attacked in Hartlepool, Leicestershire (a bird shot in flight with a shotgun) and Surrey (two dead birds found with puncture wounds to their heads).
Other birds have been shot with air rifles on pathways in Skegness (Lincolnshire) (where squirrels have also been attacked) and between Heckmondwike and Norristhorpe (West Yorkshire). A kestrel found in Mablethorpe (Lincolnshire) will never fly again after being shot with an airgun.
Convictions - A 20-year-old has been convicted of killing a teenager in Stoke Newington (north London) in a possible gang-related shooting. Three men have been convicted of the murder of a man shot dead with a sub-machine gun in Romford (Essex).
A man has admitted the attempted murder of his estranged wife's boyfriend whom he shot with a shotgun near South Ormsby (Lincolnshire).
A man has been warned that a custodial sentence is inevitable after he pleaded guilty to possession of a gun and ammunition following a dispute between opposing groups in Nottingham.
A man who fired a sawn-off shotgun at a police officer in his patrol car in Loughton (Essex) and had earlier shot a friend in the shoulder will serve a minimum of 11 years in jail. Another man who threatened two police officers with a gun after firing shots in West Bromwich (West Midlands) has been jailed for ten years.
A drug dealer was jailed for 10 years after being caught with cocaine, a sawn-off shotgun and cartridges in Derby.
There were convictions for a number of people caught possessing firearms:
A woman and a teenage boy have been given custodial sentences of two-and-a-half and two years, respectively, after a loaded self-loading pistol was found at the woman's house in Levenshulme (Greater Manchester).
A drug dealer was jailed for seven years after a machine gun was found during a search of his home in Mitcham (south London): the same gun had been used in the murder of a man in Chingford in 2005.
A man has been jailed for five years after pleading guilty to possessing of a 9 mm pistol and ammunition found at his girlfriend's house in Newtown (Birmingham).
Another man from Wymondham (Norfolk) was jailed for five years after pleading guilty to possession of a .22 revolver and ammunition he had shipped from the USA and kept in storage.
A gun enthusiast and firearm certificate holder from Ulceby (Lincolnshire) has been jailed for three years after admitting conspiring to import a pistol from the USA and to possessing a sawn-off shotgun, a semi-automatic shotgun and an air weapon.
Two men admitted possessing an illegal weapon after stun guns were found, one at a home in Holcombe (Somerset), the other after a disturbance in Darlaston (West Midlands).
Airguns and Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - see note above.
A man who had been drinking fired a gas powered air pistol at friends working in a barbers shop in Wall Heath (West Midlands) and fired shots in the street: he was jailed for four years after admitting possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
A man who threatened his neighbour in Purley (Surrey) with an air rifle pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm and threatening behaviour: he was warned that a custodial sentence was likely.
A man who threatened police with an air rifle and a samurai sword in Bognor Regis (West Sussex) has been warned he would face a jail term. Another man who pointed an imitation shotgun, a paintball gun, at police officers in Ilkeston (Derbyshire) has been given a one year suspended jail sentence.
A man from Stourbridge (Worcestershire) has been remanded in custody after admitting being in possession of an imitation rifle with intent to cause fear of violence.
A number of people appeared in court after using airguns and imitation guns in robberies and attempted robberies.
An 18-year-old has been jailed for nine years after a robbery at a shop in Bradford in which a ball-bearing gun was pointed at the shopkeeper.
A man who pointed a BB gun at betting shop staff in Bothwell (South Lanarkshire) during a robbery has pleaded guilty to presenting an imitation firearm and demanding money and robbing one of the staff.
A man has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after he stole a BB gun in a burglary and then wielded the weapon in Ipswich town centre, demanding a kebab from a takeaway.
Three teenagers who were armed with an airgun have been sentenced to six and seven years in custody after robbing a betting shop in Bedworth (Warwickshire) and speeding away in a stolen car.
A man has been jailed for 56 months after he pointed an imitation gun at a toddler at a flat in Glasgow.
A boy who was given an air rifle by his mother which he then used to threatened people in Darlington has been given a two-year anti-social behaviour order.
A 17-year-old has admitted being in possessing of a machete and a loaded air rifle in a public place in Norwich and has been given a six-month referral order.
A man who stole knives and an air rifle from a flat in Birchwood (Cheshire) has been jailed for eight months.
An ex-prisoner who was not permitted to have a firearm as a condition of his release pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm and ammunition following an incident in St Neots (Cambridgeshire) when he pointed an air rifle out of a window: he was given an 18-month conditional discharge. A man from Ambleside (Cumbria) who had a dismantled air rifle at his home whilst he was banned from being in possession of a firearm has been jailed for 12 months.
A shooting enthusiast who was caught storing an air rifle without a proper certificate at his home in Hastings was fined £65.
Source:- Gun Control Network

JANUARY 2009

Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were nine fatal shootings reported during January, four of them apparent homicides which took place in:

Edinburgh - the male victim may have been murdered as part of a gang war

Isle of Wight - a man was shot dead in Wellow: the victim's wife, a clay-pigeon shooting enthusiast, has been charged with murder

Merseyside - a man was found shot dead in a street in Fazakerley

Worcestershire - the victim was the son of a sub-postmaster in Fairfield where both men were shot during an attempted robbery: four people have been charged with murder, attempted murder and attempted robbery

The full details of two other fatal shootings have not been revealed:

Lincolnshire - a man died after receiving a shotgun injury in Gayton-le-Marsh: a woman was arrested and bailed until March

Teesside - a man died from shotgun wounds in Stockton: a man was arrested on suspicion of firearm offences

Three other men appear to have taken their own lives in shooting incidents in Gleadless (Sheffield), where a man had barricaded himself into a flat, at a park in Rivington (Lancashire) and in a field in Brewood (Staffordshire), close to a property where a woman had been shot and injured.

Shooting incidents that resulted in injury occurred in:

Humberside (1) - a man suffered a stomach wound in a shooting incident in Hull - nine people have been arrested and three have been charged with violent disorder

Merseyside (3) - one man was shot in the leg in a targeted attack in Speke, another was shot outside a nightclub in the centre of Liverpool and a third male victim was hit in the face with shotgun pellets in St Helens

South London (2) - a man walking his dog was shot in the leg in Clapham (the dog was also shot and injured) and another man was shot in the leg in Camberwell

South Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the leg in Sharrow (Sheffield)

Staffordshire (1) - a woman was shot twice at a house in Brewood, where police discovered the body of her partner and a gun in a neighbouring field (see above)

West Midlands (3) - two men were shot in the leg in separate incidents in Dudley and West Bromwich, and another victim was shot in the hand and shoulder in Hockley

West Yorkshire (1) - a man was shot in the bottom in Bradford

Worcestershire (1) - the father of the man fatally shot during an attempted robbery on a post office in Fairfield (see above) was injured by a shot in the leg

A man was seriously injured after he was shot by the police during an incident at a house in Brighouse (West Yorkshire). Another man was is a serious condition after he was shot by a police officer in Palmers Green (north London) during an pre-planned operation during which the police had stopped two cars.

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - The number of reports of robberies and attempted robberies involving men armed with guns suggests they are on the increase. More types of premises were targeted. In one of three incidents in which shots were fired, at a post office in Fairfield (Worcestershire), one man was killed and his father seriously injured. No one was injured in the other two incidents: two police officers came across an armed raid on two security guards delivering cash to a building society in Kings Heath (Birmingham) and during a raid on a shop in North Kensington (west London). In the majority of incidents no weapon was fired, and quite often the perpetrators fled empty-handed when challenged. It seems likely that in many instances the weapon was a replica firearm. Nevertheless, the possibility that the weapon being brandished could be lethal and loaded means that any realistic-looking gun, real or imitation, will always be a threat.

In addition to the raid in Kings Heath (see above), security guards were also targeted in Bramley (Leeds) and Clacton (Essex)

A man was arrested in connection with three armed robberies in Darlington (County Durham) including one outside a bank and one on a post office. There were other armed raids on:

Banks in Headington (Oxford) (the staff did not believe the gun was genuine) and Gloucester (two people have been arrested), and a cash handling centre in Beaumont Leys (Leicester)

A Car Wash in Harrogate (North Yorkshire)

A Cinema in Sapley (Huntingdon)

Bookmakers in Brighton (a ball-bearing gun was found and may have been connected with the raid), Gilmerton (Edinburgh), Hamilton (South Lanarkshire), Ingol (Lancashire), Oldham (Greater Manchester) (a man put a gun against a woman's face and pulled the trigger) and Shrewsbury (Shropshire)

Petrol stations in Middlesbrough (the gunman was believed to be just 16 years old) and Spaldwick (Cambridgeshire)

Post Offices in Elwick (Teesside), Harrogate (North Yorkshire) and Stanton Harcourt (Oxfordshire) (a man and a woman have been arrested), as well as the fatal attack in Fairfield (Worcestershire) (see above)

A Pub in Sherwood (Nottingham)

Shops in Bootle (Liverpool), Cippenham (Berkshire), Gorton (Manchester) and North Kensington (west London) (two robberies in one of which shots were fired)

A Travel Agents in Atherton (Greater Manchester)

A man was struck on the head with a small handgun during a robbery at a house in Stoneleigh (Surrey).

A car was stolen at gunpoint in a street in Ladbroke Grove (west London).

There were attempted robberies on drivers in Alfreton (Derbyshire) and Blackburn (Lancashire) (the police believe the robbers were after the takings from a shop).

There was a street robbery in Paisley (Renfrewshire) which may have been linked to a later incident in Bridge of Weir.

Other Incidents - Two men were charged after a gun was fired during a disturbance in Leeds. On Merseyside police were called after three shots were fired at an empty car in Crosby and shots were fired at a property in Birkenhead. Gunshots were also fired at a house in Sarisbury Green (Hampshire).

A suspected burglar escaped from a prison van when two men with a shotgun held up the van in Feltham (west London): he was recaptured a few days later.

A teenager has been charged with possessing an automatic firearm and ammunition after a street fight in Aston (Birmingham). A man forced his way into a house in Whitehaven (Cumbria) and threatened the occupant with a firearm which was retrieved by police. Four men were arrested and a firearm recovered after an altercation at a pub in Melton Mowbray (Leicestershire).

Two young girls had a firearm pointed at them by two young men as they were walking in Letham (Angus).

A suspected gunman was arrested after armed police were called to flats in Southampton. Police arrested two people at a house in Toothill (Wiltshire) after investigating calls about a firearm. A man was arrested in Didcot (Oxfordshire) on suspicion of making threats to kill and there were allegations that the man had firearms in the house. Four people were arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm after a siege at a flat in Blackpool.

Two men were charged with grievous bodily harm, robbery and possession of a firearm after an incident in Weymouth (Dorset) in which a woman was stabbed.

Two men were arrested in Scotland in connection with a drugs and firearm investigation in Lancashire. A man from Whitley (Berkshire) has been accused of possessing a shotgun, cocaine and cannabis.

Gun Thefts and Recoveries - A number of shotguns and airguns were reported stolen:

Three shotguns together with boxes of ammunition were stolen from a house in Seven Sisters (Neath, South Wales): a man has been arrested

Three shotguns were stolen during a burglary in Middleton Cheney (Northamptonshire)

Four shotguns were stolen, along with a sports car and other items, during a break-in at a house in Rolleston (Nottinghamshire)

A shotgun was stolen during a burglary in Snelland (Lincolnshire)

Air rifles were stolen from a property in Metherington (Lincolnshire), a car in Bethersden (Kent) and a garage in Wynyard (County Durham).

A shotgun was recovered from undergrowth in Wingate (County Durham).

A machine gun, pistol and ammunition were found during a police raid on a house in Wythenshawe (Greater Manchester): one man has been charged.

Police found a handgun at a property in Thornbury (Gloucestershire) where a cannabis factory was discovered in the roof. A ball-bearing gun was recovered from one of seven properties raided by police in High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire) during an operation aimed at combating drugs and organised crime.

Stun guns have been recovered by police in a number of drug-related raids. One was among items seized from a house in Edinburgh where counterfeit material was also found, another was recovered in Cleckheaton (West Yorkshire) and one was found during a series of raids in Hartlepool.

The Metropolitan Police reported that a month-long crackdown on the carrying of weapons in London netted five guns and led to 50 arrests.

Airguns - During January victims were targeted with airguns in:

Middlesbrough - a 17-year-old walking in the street was hit in the hand and had to have a pellet removed in hospital

Swansea - a man claimed he was struck in the knee by a pellet as he was walking along a street

Truro (Cornwall) - a 14-year-old was shot in the arm: it was believed that the gun responsible was given as a Christmas present

Wellingborough (Northamptonshire) - a man and a woman were both hit with airgun pellets in the same area of the town

A man was arrested after armed police were called to an apartment block in Hatherleigh (Devon) where a man, believed to be armed with an airgun, had been making threats.

A man who confronted youths in Smethwick (West Midlands) over airgun pellets being fired in the area later had a gun pulled on him.

A man pleaded not guilty when he appeared in court for allegedly being in possession of an air pistol in Turnford (Hertfordshire).

An airgun was fired a number of times at a van in Dorking (Surrey). Six bus shelters have been vandalised, probably with airguns, in Whitburn (County Durham). Residents in Fulwood (Preston) are concerned about a cycle route because the area is already affected by troublemaking: this has included an air rifle being shot through the window of a home.

Imitation Guns - Two more young people were injured with imitation guns, a 12-year-old boy hit with pellets from a BB gun in Airdrie (North Lanarkshire) and a 14-year-old girl who needed hospital treatment after she was shot with a ball-bearing gun in Bolton (her handbag was stolen during the incident).

A group of teenagers may have been threatened by another teenager with a ball-bearing gun in North Finchley (north London).

A man was charged with false imprisonment, possessing an imitation firearm and threats to commit criminal damage after a siege at a house in Wigan.

A 15-year-old from Burghfield Common (Reading) has been charged with possessing a firearm (a "BB air weapon") as well as beating up five people and intimidating witnesses. Police seized a CO2-powered ball-bearing gun after an incident in Crawley (Sussex) and a 17-year-old was charged. Armed police went to a college campus in Chippenham (Wiltshire) and detained another 17-year-old who had concealed an imitation gun in his trousers: he was cautioned.

Incidents Involving Animals - More animals and birds were reported to have become victims in shooting incidents during the month.

Cats were shot with air rifles or ball-bearing guns in Aberdeenshire, Buckinghamshire, County Durham, Hampshire, North London, Oxfordshire (where another of the owner's cats had been injured in an airgun shooting in December 2008), Somerset and South Yorkshire (two separate incidents). A dog was shot with an air rifle in Somerset at a location close to where a cat was also shot.

Two horses were shot in the eye in Leatherhead (Surrey) and one of them has had to be put down.

An animal welfare group has called for an investigation into the alleged shooting of a seal during its breeding season near Kyle of Lochalsh (Ross-shire). In another incident in Scotland a deer, which had been a tourist attraction in Glencoe (Argyll), had to be put down after being shot with an air rifle.

Ducks in Chalfont St Peter (Buckinghamshire) and Greatham Village (Hartlepool) were shot dead with airguns, swans were targeted in the Black Country, Wombwell (South Yorkshire) and in Shepperton and Chertsey (Surrey). Several coots were also found shot in Chertsey. Seagulls and a pigeon have been the target of airgun attacks in Pevensey Bay (East Sussex).

A man was given a suspended 12-week prison sentence for encouraging his son to shoot a wood pigeon with a high velocity air rifle in their garden in Tettenhall (Wolverhampton).

Convictions - A man was found guilty of killing a teenage girl at a party in Tottenham (north London) and has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 27 years. Another man, who pleaded guilty to murdering a man who was shot at a pub in Wolverhampton, has been jailed for 23 years. A man described as a "gun fanatic", who killed his mother by shooting her several times in the head with a handgun and also shot dead their four dogs at the family home in Hamworthy (Dorset), has been jailed for a minimum of 10 years.

Another man was found guilty of two counts of attempted murder after opening fire at police officers in Manor House (north London) and has been jailed for 20 years.

A man who had already been jailed for threatening two policemen with a shotgun has been convicted of trying to kill a man in Cardonald (Glasgow).

Three men who carried out a series of armed raids in Sheffield and shot one victim in the foot with a shotgun have been jailed for a total of almost fifty years.

A man was jailed for 15 years after robbing security guards in Sittingbourne (Kent) - he had denied robbery, possessing a firearm, false imprisonment and concealing criminal property. Five men and two women have been given sentences ranging from 3 years to 21 years for their various roles in a series of armed robberies on banks, security guards and stores in Loughton (Essex) and South Woodford, Romford and Harold Hill (London) in which staff were threatened with a firearm.

Two men have been sentenced to three years and three years and nine months after admitting possessing firearms - they were arrested following an incident in Norwich when two loaded shotguns were recovered after a shots were fired in the street. A teenager has been given an indeterminate sentence after he was caught with a converted blank-firing pistol loaded with ten bullets in Handsworth Wood (Birmingham).

A man was jailed for six years after he admitted keeping a stolen army sub-machine gun and ammunition at a flat in Glasgow - he has been given an additional four years in jail.

A 17-year-old from Merseyside has admitted possession of a shotgun, a handgun and ammunition - he was filmed assembling a shotgun for a BBC Panorama programme. Another teenager from Merseyside caught who was caught with a sawn-off shotgun and cocaine at his home in Huyton has received a six year jail sentence. A 14-year-old boy has been given an 18-month detention and training order for storing a Baikal semi-automatic pistol, silencers and ammunition at his home in New Cross (south east London).

A photographer from Rainham (Kent) was given a suspended jail sentence after he admitted having an illegal Colt 45 - the judge said he accepted that his intent (to use the gun as a prop) was not malevolent and that he did not know possession was illegal but it is hard to understand how anyone would not know that ownership of a handgun is illegal in Great Britain.

Three men were convicted of possessing a stun gun:

A lorry driver from Leith who claimed to have bought the weapon for self defence against criminals

A man from Stockbridge Village (Merseyside) who admitted possessing a prohibited weapon and was given a suspended 50-week prison sentence

A man arrested after a fight in a bar in Leigh (Greater Manchester) who was found to have a stun gun and has been jailed for 14 weeks after pleading guilty to theft, possessing an illegal weapon and breaching his bail

Airguns (Court Cases) - There have been a number of cases in which men have used airguns to threaten others including, in two instances, their own children

A man threatened to blow up his home in Tredworth (Gloucester) and pointed an air rifle at his own son has been jailed for eight months after he admitted having an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

A man from Bradford pointed an air rifle at his teenage daughter and has been given a suspended one-year prison sentence.

A man who brandished an airgun at a paramedic following a suicide bid at his home in Dagenham (east London) and then stole and crashed an ambulance has been jailed for three years.

A man who threatened a traffic warden with an airgun in Hove (Sussex) pleaded guilty to affray and was fined £200 and ordered to pay £300 compensation.

A serving soldier who caused a major alert when he opened fire with an air rifle across the River Ayr near to where families were picnicking has admitted causing a breach of the peace.

A man who roamed the streets of Cleator (Cumbria) armed with an air pistol and stun gun whilst banned from ever owning guns has been sent to prison for three-and-a-half years.

A man who pleaded guilty to culpably and recklessly discharging a firearm after he allowed an air rifle to be fired at targets in his garden in Lerwick (Shetland) has been fined and ordered to forfeit his rifle.

A man from Tamworth (Staffordshire) who bought a lethal, high-powered air rifle from a car boot sale in order to "shoot rats" whilst he was fishing has been jailed for nine months after he admitted possessing an illegal firearm.

A man from Alkrington (Greater Manchester) who had collected a number of guns, two of which were prohibited air weapons, was given a five year sentence after pleading guilty to possessing two unlicensed illegal firearms and a further 12 month sentence to run concurrently for having an imitation firearm with him in a public place.

Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - There was more evidence of the use of imitation guns in armed robberies:

A member of an organised gang responsible for robberies in Leeds and Manchester has been jailed for 12 years for robbery and possessing an imitation firearm.

Two men were jailed for 10 years and 7 years after denying armed robbery in Westbury-on-Trym (Bristol) and possession of an imitation firearm.

A man was given a 12 year jail after admitting to 20 robberies on various premises in Greater Manchester and London during which he had been armed with a ball-bearing gun.

Two men who were among a gang of seven who forced their way into a house in Huyton (Merseyside) and terrorised three children at gunpoint have been convicted of attempted robbery, robbery and possessing an imitation firearm and have been jailed for six-and-a-half and nine years.

A man has been jailed for four-and-a-half years after robbing a post office in Thorpe St Andrew (Norwich) whilst armed with an imitation gun.

A suicidal man who terrified passers-by in Cippenham (Berkshire) by thrusting a replica handgun in their faces has been jailed for two years and nine months.

Two men who took pot shots at youths with BB guns in Adwick (South Yorkshire) have each been ordered to carry out 140 hours of community work.

A 19-year-old has admitted affray and possessing an imitation firearm in public after he had been seen in a car in Wrexham holding what looked like a gun.

DECEMBER 2008

The Incidents reported in December showed a similar pattern of gun crime and misuse as in recent months. They continue to reflect the worrying fact that, despite a fall in gun crime, a disproportionate number of incidents involve teenagers as victims and/or perpetrators.

Gun Deaths and Injuries - There were fatal shootings reported in South London (Camberwell) and West London (Shepherd's Bush) (two teenagers have been charged with the shooting). An 18-year-old died two weeks after she was shot in the eye with an air rifle at a party in Bury (Greater Manchester).

Shooting incidents that resulted in injury also occurred in:

Edinburgh (1) - a 19-year-old was shot in the stomach in a drive-by shooting in Broomhouse - it is believed the shooting was related to a drug feud

Greater Manchester (4) - two men were shot in the leg in separate incidents in Levenshulme and Pendleton, a teenager was shot in the buttock in Bury and a man was shot in the chest in Oldham

Lancashire (1) - a security guard was shot in the leg by robbers as he delivered to a cash machine in Blackburn

London (1) - a 14-year-old boy was shot in the chest in Greenford

Merseyside (2) - a 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg in a park in Everton and a 15-year-old was shot as he walked along a disused railway line in Knotty Ash

West Midlands (1) - a man was in hospital with stomach injuries after being shot in Foleshill (Coventry)

West Yorkshire (3) - a teenager was seriously injured in a shooting in Ravensthorpe, and two people, a woman and a teenage man, were injured in a shooting incident in Huddersfield.

There were other incidents in which victims were injured with airguns and imitation guns (see below).

Armed Hold-Ups and Assaults - A security guard was shot and injured during a robbery in Blackburn (Lancashire): a man has been arrested. In another attack on security men a money container was grabbed by a masked gunman in Bothwell (South Lanarkshire).

There were a number of raids on homes in December:

County Durham - Armed men, one with a handgun, stole hundreds of pounds from a house in North Magdalene.

Dorset - A couple were robbed of £1000 at gunpoint at their home in Ashington.

Greater Manchester - Three men held a gun to a man's head, hit him on the head with a machete and stabbed him in the back when they broke into a house in Middleton.

Hertfordshire - Robbers armed with a shotgun stole thousands of pounds from a home in Goffs Oak. A woman was held up at gunpoint during a robbery at her home in Brookmans Park.

West Yorkshire - A man was punched in the face by a gang of five who forced their way into his home in Barkerend (Bradford) armed with a knife and what is believed to have been an imitation firearm.

There were robberies and attempted robberies by men apparently armed with guns on:

a Bank - in Walkden (Greater Manchester)

Betting shops - in Caversham (Berkshire), Godmanchester (Cambridgeshire) (linked to a robbery at a store in the town), Headington (Oxford), Huntingdon (Cambridgeshire), Llanedeyrn (Cardiff) and Openshaw (Greater Manchester) (a shot was fired),

a Food outlet - in Woodthorpe (Nottinghamshire)

Post offices - in Capel St Mary (Suffolk) (there were two robberies at the same premises during December), Wingate (Country Durham), Christchurch (Cambridgeshire) and Stotfold (Bedfordshire) (a long-barrelled gun was fired towards the ceiling)

a Pub - in North Shields (Tyneside)

a Service station - in Thame (Oxfordshire)

Shops - in Broadstairs (Kent) (a man was later arrested at Victoria station in London), Cambridge, Cardiff (an air rifle was fired, injuring a shop assistant), Coseley (West Midlands) (the offender chased a woman customer down a road), Godmanchester (Cambridgeshire) (linked to a robbery at a bookmakers in the town) and Minehead (Somerset)

A man has been charged with a string of robberies and possession of firearms and imitation firearms in connection with a series of alleged raids, the latest this month on a jewellers in Stanmore (north London).

Two men have been arrested after a series of incidents in Oxfordshire in which two bus drivers were held up at gunpoint in Wheatley and Headington and a woman was robbed of her car in a pub car park in Stanton St John. Another woman was robbed of cash whilst she was sitting in her car in Hexthorpe (South Yorkshire).

A taxi driver was threatened with a shotgun on a remote stretch of road in West Yorkshire.

Other Incidents - Two men have been charged after shots were fired at police officers from the back of a car in Ladbroke Grove (west London).

A car driver was shot at after an argument in a lay-by near Kilmacolm (Inverclyde). A man was seen with a gun and at least one shot fired in Crabbs Cross (Worcestershire): a man has appeared in court charged with firearms offences.

A 19-year-old has appeared in court in Bolton accused of firing a warning shot from a converted blank-firing revolver at a witness's front door.

A man and a woman were charged with possession of a firearm (a shotgun) with intent to cause fear of violence and also with possession of a firearm with intent to resist arrest after police were called to a domestic incident in Didcot (Oxfordshire). A man was arrested in connection with an alleged firearms incident at a farm in Kildary (Easter Ross). A man has appeared in court accused of threatening his wife with a rifle at their home in Exmouth (Devon).

Three men were charged after a gun and a stun gun were found in a car pulled over in Southampton.

Three teenagers and an older man were arrested in Hartlepool (Teesside) for being in unlawful possession of a firearm.

A Plymouth teenager was charged by police after allegedly being found in possession of a stun gun and cocaine.

Gun Finds and Thefts - A number of weapons were found in raids in Ashington, Blyth and Cramlington in Northumberland: these included a Glock replica handgun re-activated to fire live rounds and two BB guns. Police seized replica weapons and drugs during raids on properties in Buttershaw (Bradford).

A shotgun was stolen from a parked Land Rover in Penmaen (South Wales). Four shotguns have been stolen from a house near Botus Fleming (Cornwall) but the theft could have occurred at any time between April and December.

A small air weapon was stolen from a farm in Clayton West (West Yorkshire).

Airguns - An 18-year-old woman who was shot in the eye in an incident at a flat in Bury (Greater Manchester) died two weeks later: a man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and was bailed until February 2009.

There were other injuries, mostly to teenagers, as a result of airgun shots in:

Basingstoke (Hampshire) - a teenager was shot in the hand with an air rifle

Bedford - a 17-year-old girl was shot in the leg as she walked along a footpath

Cardiff - a shop assistant was shot during an attack on a store

Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire) - a young man shot a woman in the stomach on the doorstep of her house

Looe (Cornwall) - a teenager was in hospital after he was apparently shot in the eye with an air rifle (criminal charges are apparently being considered against three teenagers)

Two airgun attacks took place in as many days in a street in Beaumont Leys (Leicester): a car and a bus carrying elderly people were fired at. An air rifle was fired from a car window as it was driven around Ingleton (North Yorkshire), and an airgun pellet shattered a bus window in Chaddesden (Derby).

A spate of airgun shootings occurred during one night in Aberdeen: three men, including two teenagers, have been arrested.

A rear window of a house was damaged with an air weapon in Almondbury (Huddersfield). Lampposts in parks in Seaham (County Durham) have been damaged with an air weapon. An advertising airship has been shot twice with airgun pellets in Ditching (East Sussex). A 15-year-old boy was arrested after allegedly firing an airgun at road signs in South Shields (Tyneside).

Three people, all teenagers, were arrested in Newton Abbot (Devon) after two air rifles were found in their car. A man has appeared in court after allegedly causing a breach of the peace whilst possessing an air weapon in Hawick (Scottish Borders).

Imitation Guns - Imitation guns were responsible for injuries to:

an 11-year-old schoolboy who was almost blinded when fellow students fired ball bearings at his head in the playground of a school in Market Drayton (Shropshire)

a 14-year-old girl who was shot in the eye with an ball-bearing gun as she waited for a friend in Pontefract (West Yorkshire): a 14-year-old boy was arrested

A 14-year-old boy was arrested after a paramedic and ambulance crew were shot at with plastic pellets while they were treating a patient in Portsmouth

Police had to deal with a number of incidents caused by suspects armed with imitation guns:

A group of teenagers filming themselves with fake guns for a project in Plymouth

Two people, a man and a 12-year-old, brandishing a handgun in Little Harwood (Lancashire), found to have two ball-bearing guns

A youth who fired pellets at shop windows in Market Drayton (Shropshire) and were spoken to by police officers

A man who threatened staff at a supermarket in Taunton (Somerset) with a ball-bearing gun

A police helicopter had to be scrambled over Westwood (East Kilbride) after two boys with a replica gun or an airgun were spotted

Two men have appeared in court accused of carrying an imitation firearm and a sword in Horley (Surrey).

The Parks Constabulary of the London Borough of Haringey has seized an imitation Kalashnikov and ball-bearing guns during the past three months.

Incidents Involving Animals - Airgun attacks on cats show no signs of abating with incidents reported from Cheshire (three attacks, two in the Widnes area), East Lothian, Kent, Oxfordshire, West Midlands, West Sussex (three separate attacks) and Worcestershire.

Two swans died after being shot in Derbyshire (Ironville, Codnor), at least one with an airgun.

Two rare breed animals were killed in separate attacks at a smallholding in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell (Oxfordshire).

Two teenagers, aged 18 and 14, who were armed with a .22 rifle and a shotgun when they killed two pet Shetland ponies in Whitchurch, Shropshire, admitted a number of offences and have been remanded in custody and local authority care.

Convictions - A number of people, most of them teenagers, were convicted following the murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones: the gunman, who was 16, at the time of the murder was found guilty of murder and has been sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison.

A man who shot a man 16 times in an "execution style" murder in Birmingham will serve a minimum term of 22 years after being found guilty of murder. Another man found guilty of killing a man who was shot in Leeds will serve a minimum of 30 years.

A convicted murderer will serve an additional five years in prison after admitting attempting to defeat the ends of justice and possessing firearms and ammunition: he had fled from the dock when he was found guilty of murder and had a cache of weapons and ammunition hidden in a car parked in a car park in St Rollox (Glasgow).

A man has been jailed for eight years after he was found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life after he threatened staff at an Oxford nightclub.

A number of men were convicted of crimes involving shotguns:

A pub landlord from Congleton (Cheshire) who shot two of the regulars before turning his shotgun on himself has been jailed for 10 years

A man who fired a shotgun outside another man's house in Perth admitted a number of offences, including possessing a firearm with intent to cause his victim to believe unlawful would be used against him or another: he is aware that a custodial sentence is inevitable

A man who was found to have a double barrelled sawn-off shotgun during a police search in Bury (Greater Manchester) and was sentenced to four years after pleading guilty to a number of offences

A man from Gateacre (Liverpool) who admitted carrying a loaded shotgun in a public place and will be sentenced in January

A man from Wootton (Northamptonshire) who shot at his own burglar alarm and has been given a year's conditional discharge after admitting having a firearm in public

A man from Warndon (Worcester) who pleaded guilty to possession of a shotgun when prohibited by a previous four-year jail sentence and of 15 shotgun cartridges

A man who admitted carrying out six armed raids in Glasgow had presented a handgun or imitation handgun during five robberies at bookmakers: he will be sentenced later.

A former policeman from Offord Darcy (Cambridgeshire) has been jailed for fourteen years for a string of offences including fraud and firearms charges.

A 20-year-old who has represented Scotland at shooting faces a minimum five years' detention after he admitted a series of offences under the Firearms Act: police found an arsenal of illegal firearms he had been assembling from imported parts at his home in Longniddry (East Lothian).

Two men were jailed for three years after pleading guilty to actual bodily harm and false imprisonment following an incident in Blackpool in which they stripped their victim and shot him with a stun gun: one of the men was given an additional 18 months for possession of an offensive weapon to run concurrently.

Airguns (Court Cases) - In a second such case this year a coroner in Wrexham has recorded a verdict of suicide at the inquest into the death of a man who shot himself with an air rifle.

A woman from Tonbridge (Kent) who tried to kill her teenage son by firing an airgun at his head has been jailed indefinitely for public protection with a minimum term of three years.

A man who shot a young girl in the eye with an airgun pellet in an incident in Hersden (Kent) has been sentenced to 18 months in prison.

A man who terrified his wife's ex-husband in Fraserburgh (Aberdeenshire) when he turned up with an authentic-looking air pistol has been jailed for 12 months.

A gamekeeper who pointed a loaded air rifle at a bouncer at a nightclub in Stowmarket (Suffolk) has been jailed for three years.

A man seen in possession of a .22 air rifle in Lancaster was also responsible for criminal damage at a church in Morecambe and has been given an eight month suspended prison sentence and ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work.

A man who admitted possessing an over-powerful air rifle, a knuckleduster and cannabis has been warned he faces a prison sentence.

Imitation Guns (Court Cases) - A man raped a woman in Stevenage (Hertfordshire) whilst he was armed with an imitation gun and will serve at least five years in jail.

Imitation guns were used by men who committed robberies in:

Blackpool - a robber who was armed with an imitation handgun when he got trapped in a bank has been jailed for six years and four months

Glasgow - a man has been jailed for five years after carrying an imitation gun in one of two raids on bookmakers

Northamptonshire - three men received long prison sentences for a series of shop robberies, during one of which a teenager was injured with a shot from a BB gun

Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire - a man who robbed council offices in Eastwood and bookmakers in Heanor and Skegness whilst armed with an imitation gun has been jailed for nine years

A man who threatened a car dealer with an imitation handgun in Rhyl (North Wales) has been sentenced to three years youth custody. A woman who made a threat to kill her husband's mistress whilst armed with an imitation pistol in Rugeley (Staffordshire) has been given a three year community order.

A man, who is now the subject of a Hospital Order, was found guilty of being in possession of a sawn-off shotgun after being charged with possessing an imitation firearm and ammunition: the weapon was produced when police called at his home in Brierley Hill (West Midlands).

A man pleaded guilty to possessing an imitation firearm after being caught with a loaded pistol in Risley (Warrington): he was given a 6-month suspended jail sentence and a 12-month supervision order.

Six members of a gang which caused thousands of pounds of damage to cars in drive-by shootings in Oxfordshire (Witney, Carterton, Eynsham) using a ball bearing gun have all been given community orders of between 40 hours and 100 hours.

A 15-year-old from Royston (Hertfordshire) has been given a two-year ASBO which prevents him, among other things, from being in possession of any BB gun, soft air pellet gun or imitation weapon in a public place.

OCTOBER 2008

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.