A man allegedly threatened staff with a suspected firearm at a shop in Liverpool, Merseyside before fleeing with money from the till. No one was injured. Police have issued a description of the suspect and appealed for information.

Michael Feeley, aged 47, has been jailed for seven years after pleading guilty to two counts of possession of a firearm. In 2020, police officers recovered a Skorpion sub-machine gun and ammunition from under a bed pillow at an address in Leeds, West Yorkshire. After another man was jailed for possession of the prohibited weapon and ammunition, a forensic scientist said that Feeley was a billion times more likely than an unknown individual to be the major DNA contributor to that found on the weapon. After further weapons, including a second Skorpion machine gun, two self-loading pistols, a Taser and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition were subsequently recovered, Feeley’s DNA was found on a number of the items. Police also found messages on the decrypted criminal messaging network, EncroChat, that linked Feeley to firearms trafficking.

Following reports of a disturbance and a gun being discharged at an address in Golborne, Greater Manchester, police officers arrested a man on suspicion of firearms offences. Two shotguns were recovered from the property for forensic examination. No one was injured.

One of two males on an e-bike allegedly fired a gun at a man on a street in Bootle, Merseyside before fleeing. The man was not injured. Shortly afterwards, a car driver sped off when patrol officers tried to speak to him and, following a short pursuit, his vehicle collided with another car. The man was initially arrested on suspicion of drink driving and other driving offences, and later further arrested on suspicion of possession of a firearm. The two incidents are believed to be linked.

Following the death of a man who was Tasered by police, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has found, “no indication that the actions of any officers involved in this incident justified the bringing of disciplinary proceedings or that they had committed a criminal offence”. In November 2022, the officers responded to reports of a disturbance outside a property in Braintree, Essex. A single Taser was discharged “multiple times” at the man after he allegedly assaulted an officer. He became “unwell” shortly afterwards and was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. An inquest opening into the man’s death was told that he died from complications related to cocaine ingestion. The IOPC will provide further details about its findings after the inquest proceedings have concluded in July 2024.

Armed police officers were deployed following reports of a man with a machine gun in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. After the suspect was located, the firearm was found to be a toy. No arrest was reported.

Aaron Anderson, 46, and James Paragon, 29, have been jailed for twenty-two years and ten years, respectively, after being found guilty of conspiracy to supply firearms and conspiracy to supply ammunition. In August 2019, police officers stopped a taxi in Birmingham, West Midlands and seized a bag of firearms and ammunition. The find led to Anderson’s home address in the city, where officers recovered boxes of live and blank ammunition, booklets for firearms, component parts of a gun and a bag containing a broken blank-firing pistol. The property was said to contain the equipment and materials required to convert blank-firing weapons and construct homemade ammunition. The seizures enabled the National Ballistics Intelligence Service to link the items to eight other recoveries of weapons and ammunition in Birmingham, Oxford and addresses in the Hampshire area. Two other men involved in the enterprise were jailed in April 2023.

Hamza Ahmed, aged 26, has been jailed for five years and nine months after being found guilty of possession of a gun and ammunition. In June 2023, police, supported by armed officers, seized a firearm and a magazine with ammunition from Ahmed’s home in Tottenham, North London. Ahmed was arrested at the scene and his DNA was subsequently recovered from the gun.

In Doncaster, South Yorkshire, police have charged a man of no fixed abode with kidnap, attempted robbery, possessing a blade in a public place and three counts of possessing a firearm. Click on media link to read full report.

It has emerged that, in October 2023, a man was dropped off at a hospital after being shot in the leg in Smethwick, West Midlands. Two men have since been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.