Andrew Tongue, a 43-year-old army staff sergeant, has been handed a suspended nine-month prison sentence and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work after admitting five counts of theft by an employee. Between January 2014 and July 2018, Tongue stole parts of small arms from military premises in Tidworth, Wiltshire and gave them to a weapons maker (since deceased). He in turn provided firearms to companies in the entertainment industry for military shows and films. After receiving information about the enterprise, police officers searched the man’s address and found several weapons in a room hidden behind a bookcase. Detectives also discovered messages between the Tongue and the man in which they discussed how to steal the items.

A male youth allegedly stabbed and threatened a man with a gun in Devizes, Wiltshire. The victim was treated in hospital for arm wounds. A teenage boy has since been arrested on suspicion of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and robbery.

Armed police officers were deployed following a report that a man had threatened a worker and fired a gun in a shop in Liverpool, Merseyside before fleeing empty-handed. Shortly afterwards, the gunman reportedly fired shots outside a cinema before threatening two workers in the foyer of the building. He allegedly went on to fire shots into the air as he left, escaping by car. An hour and a half later, shots were heard at a property in the city. A man was subsequently Tasered and arrested on suspicion of possession of a Section 1 firearm with intent to endanger life and robbery. No one was injured during the shootings.

Sean Duffin, aged 44 and from Birkenhead, Merseyside, has been handed a suspended eight-month prison term after admitting attempted sexual communications with a child and breaching court bail. In August 2022, Duffin began communicating with a decoy from the Child Online Safety Team UK, believing he was messaging a 14-year-old girl. He sent photos, including an explicit one and another of him holding an airgun, and asked to meet up. Duffin was arrested after the messages were forwarded to police.

Police appealed for information after a man suffered leg injuries in a suspected shooting in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Click on media link to read full report.

Five swans, found injured in Staines, Surrey, are believed to have been shot with an air rifle or catapult. All are now recovering at a bird rescue charity. The same charity rescued a cygnet that had a ball bearing lodged under its beak in Windsor and treated a sixth swan that had been shot with an air rifle in the region. Another swan was found dead on the Grand Union Canal. The charity, Swan Support, campaigns for stronger penalties to deter wildlife crime across the UK.

Armed police officers were deployed following a report that a man with a gun had attacked a woman in Bridport, Dorset. An air weapon was seized and a man was arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a firearm. The woman, who was known by her attacker, did not suffer any serious injuries.

Police officers Tasered and arrested a man after he crashed his vehicle into a parked car in Burgess Hill, West Sussex. Click on media link to read full report.

Daniel Buckley, aged 35, has been jailed for sixteen years and four months after pleading guilty to conspiring to supply cocaine, conspiring to supply amphetamine, possessing amphetamine with intent to supply, conspiring to possess a firearm and ammunition, and money laundering. The court heard that Buckley was the head of an organised crime gang involved in large-scale drug dealing and that he bought a gun and ammunition to protect himself from his rivals. After the criminal messaging network, EncroChat, was decrypted, detectives uncovered messages that revealed Buckley’s operation had sold more than 80Kg of cocaine, worth around £3.3 million, between December 2019 and June 2020. In other messages Buckley discussed buying a firearm, believed to be a convertible blank-firing pistol and bullets for £3,000. He subsequently bragged that he had the weapon, adding, “Wanna use it on someone.” Police officers raided Buckley’s home in Newton Heath, Manchester in October 2021 and recovered drugs and high-value items.

Armed police officers responded to reports of two people fighting in Stroud, Gloucestershire. A man, found in possession of a BB gun, was later charged with possession of an imitation firearm in a public place.