The Infer Trust makes every effort to record and categorise the firearms incidents reported in the UK but we recognise that it is not a complete record.
If you are aware of a gun incident which is not listed please notify us. You can do this by either sending us the link for an on line report, or a hard copy of a press article to our address.
Three soldiers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders have been arrested on suspicion of stealing machine guns, grenades and ammunition from their base and selling them to criminal gangs in Scotland. The arrests were made when police raided their barracks in Canterbury, Kent.
2008/2/16
Sunderland Echo
An injured cat was found by a dog walker on a football field in South Hylton. The cat had been shot in the head with an airgun and left for dead. Vets removed the pellet and the cat is now in a stable condition.
2008/2/16
Northern Echo
A would-be robber hit a customer over the head with a gun before pointing the barrel at the owner of a newsagents in Hartlepool. One of her sons rushed into the shop and the assailant fled empty handed. Police later arrested a man suspected to be the getaway driver while the robber was still being hunted. Police also recovered an imitation gun.
2008/2/16
Lincolnshire Echo
Jay Henderson pointed an air rifle at a man during a burglary at a home in Lincoln in June 2007. He carried out the offence while on bail for another armed burglary in Lincoln following which the air rifle belonging to the occupant of the flat was found to be missing. Henderson admitted two charges of aggravated burglary and has been sent to a mental hospital for an indefinite period.
2008/2/16
Evening Courier (Halifax)
An 18-year-old who bragged to this aunt that he would shoot his flatmate was seized by armed police in the centre of Hebden Bridge after his aunt saw him carrying an airgun and phoned his stepmother. Joseph Hartley said he found the weapon in a skip and only intended to use it to shoot tin cans. He pleaded guilty to carrying the firearm and was given a 12-month community order, had the gun destroyed and was ordered to pay £60 costs.
2008/2/16
Bolton News
Armed police raided a house after a man was seen walking in Breightmet with a handgun tucked into his trousers. An air pistol was found which police believe was the weapon the man was carrying. Thomas Neary was arrested and has pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear (This is Lancashire, 28 February 2008). He has been given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months and must undergo 12 months supervision from probation officers (Bolton News, 19 March 2008).
2008/2/16
BBC
A number of shots were fired a restaurant in the centre of Birmingham. The incident apparently happened in a private room. No-one was hurt in the shooting which police said was not random. A man has been charged with possessing a firearm with intent to cause unlawful violence (BBC, 7 April 2008).
2008/2/15
Personal Communication
A correspondent in Rushden, Northamptonshire, has told us about an airgun attack which has left her cat with a pellet embedded in her leg (click here)
2008/2/14
Evening News (Edinburgh)
A man was attacked with a stun gun as he walked home in Broughton, Edinburgh. He was also kicked in the attack and suffered a fractured eye socket and blurred vision. Steven Burns, who shot the banned weapon, was out on bail at the time of the attack. He has been convicted of assaulting his victim to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement and impairment in June 2007. Burns has been jailed for five years (Scotsman, 6 March 2008).
2008/2/14
Scotsman
A team, including a councillor who had come to speak to community workers about drugs and violence in the area, were taking a tour of a housing estate in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, when they came under fire from teenagers shooting air rifles. Police were analysing pellets in a bid to track down who fired the shots.
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