John Charlton has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence for possessing three air weapons that had been modified to have three times the legal power limit without a certificate and possessing amphetamine at his home in Amble, Northumberland. The drugs and guns were confiscated during a raid of his home but the weapons were mistakenly given back to Charlton after he was charged when he went into the police station to collect his personal effects while he was on bail. He reportedly disposed of them in order to avoid committing further offences and Northumbria police claimed to be investigating the error.

Two boys were shot in the head and the leg respectively by an older pupil with an airgun during a lunch break outside their secondary school in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. The victims sustained pellet injuries and the 14-year-old had the gun confiscated and was excluded from school. An SNP councillor has called for an end to the sale of the airguns in the town in light of the incident.

Naeem Shazad, 38, has been jailed for 18 months for threatening to shoot his neighbour and his neighbour's brother and friend, and threatening to rape a woman connected to the men in Nelson, Lancashire. He reportedly made several death threats to the victim and at one point confronted the three in the street and told them he was going to shoot them dead.

A man has been arrested and charged with illegal possession of two firearms and of the ammunition for them, two counts of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property in Birmingham, West Midlands. He was arrested after police carried out a planned firearms raid on a property in the centre of the city.

Denis Toporov has been handed an 18-month suspended sentence for importing and selling imitation firearms over the Internet from his home in Bristol. He imported three weapons and sold two before one was intercepted and police arrested him during a raid of his property. Toporov was not given the minimum five-year sentence because his case was deemed "exceptional" in that he did not know his actions were illegal and had researched the guns in a diligent attempt to ensure that his side business was lawful.

Dale Fallows has been jailed for six years and eight months for attempting to rob a man using an imitation gun and threatening to shoot police on the street in Burnley, Lancashire. He pointed the realistic BB gun at the forehead of the victim and demanded cash, but the victim refused, and Fallows walked off. When he was later confronted by police he threatened to shoot them dead with what appeared to be a handgun in front of passers by, but surrendered to armed officers and was arrested. At the time of the attack Fallows was also serving a suspended sentence for sending a threatening text message to his former partner that included a picture of a gun.

Two men armed with a gun attacked a cash-in-transit worker as he was leaving the store of a petrol station in Ilminster, Somerset. They brandished the gun at the victim, causing him to drop his money box, before escaping in a stolen car with the cash. The victim was left shaken but uninjured.

A worker was held at gunpoint by a masked man with a gun as he was taking money to be cashed from the service station at which he worked in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. The robber pointed the gun at his face and forced the victim to hand over thousands of pounds in cash before escaping in a vehicle driven by a second man. Police chased the vehicle at high speed and arrested the men near the scene of the robbery. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment of shock.

The proportion of firearms incidents attended by police involving young people in South Yorkshire has fallen to 11 percent from 46 percent before 2005 when the Guns and Knives Take Lives education programme was started in the county. The police scheme has recently received renewed funding for another year of operation.

The proportion of firearms incidents attended by police involving young people in South Yorkshire has fallen to 11 percent from 46 percent before 2005 when the Guns and Knives Take Lives education programme was started in the county. The police scheme has recently received renewed funding for another year of operation.