A sparrowhawk died after being shot near Saffron Walden, Essex. Police have appealed for information.

A man from Glanamman, Carmarthenshire has been charged with attempting to possess a firearm and attempting to possess ammunition for a firearm without a certificate. The charges relate to a Glock 26 pistol and 10 rounds of 9mm ammunition.

After a man allegedly threatened staff and customers at a bar in Birkenhead, Merseyside with a crowbar, his car was tracked to an address in the town. As police officers approached the property to speak to him, the man reportedly threatened them with a suspected gun. Armed police officers were called in and the man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a suspected firearm, criminal damage and affray.

Keano Palmer, aged 27, has been handed a suspended 21-month prison term with a ten-day rehabilitation activity requirement after pleading guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possession with intent to supply Class B drugs. In May 2022, Palmer behaved aggressively after a housing officer and locksmith visited his flat in Cardiff, South Wales to change the locks. He went on to point what looked like a small black handgun from a bedroom window towards the officer and another resident as they waited outside and, when they drove off, Palmer came out onto the street still holding the gun. When firearms officers responded, Palmer came out of his flat with his hands up and was arrested. The gun was found to be a 6mm semi-automatic gas-powered airsoft pistol. The court heard that cash and cannabis had been seized from Palmer’s flat earlier the same year and that he had been suffering a “drug-induced psychosis” at the time of the firearm offence.

Police officers responded after two boys found a revolver and a quantity of ammunition while playing in a wooded area in Halewood, Merseyside. During an extensive search of the area, officers also recovered a self-loading pistol with a magazine and ammunition. A police spokesperson later said, “We know that offenders involved in serious and organised crime sometimes use public spaces to hide firearms so that they can distance the gun from themselves and avoid being caught by police. Leaving viable weapons in open public spaces is despicable, and it could put innocent members of the public at risk.”

Stephen Dynan, aged 37, has been jailed for twelve years after pleading guilty to six charges including planning to obtain a Skorpion machine gun, import cocaine and cannabis, and transfer criminal property. Dynan used an encrypted device to plan a warehouse burglary, organise the false imprisonments of multiple people and discuss the supply of drugs and a machine gun. He was arrested in January 2023 at his home in Croydon, South London.

Armed police officers were deployed following a report that a male had been seen with what appeared to be a firearm in Lake, Isle of Wight. Click on media link to read full report.

Kyle Gordon, aged 24, has been jailed for at least 28 years after being found guilty of murder, causing grievous bodily harm and possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life. In March 2018, Gordon was one of four men who attacked a young man standing outside a shop with friends in Enfield, North London. The group shot the man in the abdomen with a shotgun and stabbed him twelve times. He died at the scene despite treatment by paramedics. The assailants also stabbed one of the man’s friends in the back. The court heard that the victims had been chosen at random, possibly because they were wrongly identified as rival gang members. The other three offenders have been previously convicted of the same murder.

During a week-long operation to disrupt County Lines drug dealing and the criminal exploitation of young people and vulnerable adults, police officers in Merseyside recovered 18kg of drugs, thousands of pounds in cash, stolen watches and 39 weapons, including nineteen knives and a handgun. Over 200 arrests were made, 39 vulnerable people were safeguarded and eight drug lines were broken.

A man has been charged with possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence following an altercation among a small group of men on a residential street in Alvaston, Derbyshire. Click on media link to read full report.