January 2026 Review

GCN is committed to preventing gun violence and we work to pursue that objective through changes to the legal system, public services and attitudes to guns. We collect and analyse data to provide all stakeholders with the evidence needed to initiate change.

GCN collects data on gun incidents and related sentences, inquests and investigations in England, Scotland, and Wales, as reported in the British media. We know our information is incomplete, though we believe nearly all the most serious crimes are included.

This Review refers to incidents that occurred January 2026 and to earlier incidents for which further information has now been reported, often as a result of a court case or inquest. Please note that the data used for the Figures is derived solely from incidents that occurred, or first came to our attention, in January 2026.

Figure 1: January 2026 incident reports by type

Gun Death

We monitor FATAL GUN INCIDENTS in Great Britain and compile lists that summarise the available information. Our summaries for 2017 to 2025 are available at https://gun-control-network.org/news-analysis/

We are not aware any reports concerning gun deaths in January 2026.

Inquests

We are aware of two reports in January 2026 of inquests, relating to three gun deaths:

• The coroner at the inquest into the death of a man in Steventon, Hampshire in February 2025 has recorded a conclusion of suicide, cause of death being multiple complex traumatic brain injuries from a single gunshot wound to the head. After receiving a concerning text from him, a friend found the man’s body in a wooded area, with a rifle nearby. The inquest heard that the deceased had been experiencing personal pressures and was worried about changes at work and the possibility of losing his job. Described as someone who “internalised his worries”, the man had not spoken with his doctor about his concerns.

• The coroner at the inquest into the deaths of a married couple in Thornton Curtis, Lincolnshire in July 2023 has concluded that the man unlawfully killed his wife before taking his own life. The couple, who had represented England in shooting competitions, ran a shooting school from their property. The inquest heard that the man had taken an overdose in 2021 after an argument with his wife and that she had contacted police a month before her death to tell them she was divorcing her husband and had concerns about the guns in their home. The guns were removed and the woman went to stay with a friend because she felt “very scared and vulnerable”. A couple of weeks later, the man assaulted his wife and was bailed on the condition that he did not contact her or go to their home. Around a week later, the man convinced a friend to lend him a shotgun, saying he had an issue with crows. After parking in his neighbour’s driveway, he shot his wife outside their home as she returned to collect some belongings. A ballistics report showed the gun was fired from several metres away and then at close range. Shortly afterwards, the man shot himself in the neck in a shed.

Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator

We are aware of two reports in January 2026 that we believe to relate to the above:

• See Inquest above — A licensed gun owning man from Lincolnshire, whose guns had been seized from their shooting school home due to domestic violence, borrowed a gun from a friend and fatally shot his wife before taking his own life.

• A 41-year-old man from Hartlepool, Co. Durham has been jailed for 22 months after admitting making threats to kill and affray and being convicted of assault. In June 2025, the man put the barrel of an airgun inside his mouth after a row with his partner. When she tried to talk him down, he threatened to shoot her. Armed police officers, responding to the victim’s call for help, arrested the man after he shouted at them from a window: “Just shoot me, I’m not coming out. I’m going to get my gun and shoot the lot of you.” The court heard that the man had reportedly punched his partner on a previous occasion and not taken his prescribed anti-psychotic medication before the gun incident.

Licensed/Former Licensed Owners/Dealers/Legal Guns and Ammunition, and Stolen Guns and Ammunition

We are aware of four reports in January 2026 that we believe to relate to the above:

• See Inquests above — A licensed gun owner from Lincolnshire, whose guns had been seized from their shooting school home due to domestic violence, borrowed a gun from a friend and fatally shot his wife before taking his own life. 

• The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has concluded that a police officer who fatally shot a man in January 2019 will not face misconduct proceedings. The decision came after new evidence was presented at the deceased’s inquest, which found that he had been lawfully killed. The man was shot in the chest after armed police officers raided a property in Coventry, West Midlands. The officer involved fired after seeing the man exiting the back of the premises holding what he believed was a gun. The item was, in fact, a mobile phone. After an initial investigation in 2023, the IOPC decided not to refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider criminal charges against the firearms officer; however, a family member of the deceased said that he “strongly disagreed with the IOPC finding” and believed the officer should face a gross misconduct hearing. 

• A man has been jailed for two years after pleading guilty to the possession of a firearm and ammunition without a certificate. His 31-year-old co-defendant received fourteen months for two breaches of a non-molestation order, vehicle interference and theft. In January 2025, the 31-year-old went to her grandfather’s home in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire despite being under a court order not to go near the address. Two men accompanied her and, while they were there, a rifle was taken from the property. The first defendant then charged his co-defendant’s grandfather £700 for the return of the rifle. When caught with the rifle and some ammunition, he claimed he had been given the items.

• Police appealed for information after a number of licensed firearms were reported as having been stolen from a business park in Manston, Kent. Two men have since been arrested in connection with the theft.

We are aware of at least four reports in January 2026 involving the use of a police Taser, including:

• A 35-year-old man has been jailed for a minimum of sixteen years after pleading guilty to pre-meditated assault, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, false imprisonment, threatening another with an offensive weapon and two counts of possession of a bladed In July 2025, the defendant pulled two large kitchen knives and a BB gun from his bag during a meeting with two probation workers at their office in Preston, Lancashire. He attacked one worker with a knife before approaching other staff members as they tried to distract him. Armed police officers arrived within minutes and ordered the man to drop his weapon. After he reportedly asked them to shoot him, he was incapacitated with a Taser. The court heard that the man blamed the probation service for problems in his life and was “angry from the outset” of the meeting. His victim was treated for four stab wounds, described as life-threatening injuries. In an impact statement, she said, “I play the events of that day continuously over and over in my head, on a constant loop that I cannot escape from. It consumes me. I find myself catastrophising every situation, constantly scanning rooms for exits in case I need to escape. What was once ordinary now feels unsafe.”

• A police officer, who tasered a man in Woodford, East London, has been acquitted of inflicting grievous bodily harm. Responding to a report of an attempted burglary in April 2022, the officer banged on the side of a van reversed up to a line of shops and tried to pull a suspect out. After the man ran off down a cul-de-sac and climbed onto a shed, the officer fired his Taser twice, causing the man to fall. He suffered life-changing injuries, leaving him tetraplegic and using a wheelchair. The prosecution said, “The discharge of (the officer’s) taser, in these circumstances, was an unreasonable use of force…” However, the officer said he “had an honest belief that people in the properties were at imminent risk of harm from the suspect”. He added, “The only tactical option was to activate my Taser with the intention of stopping him before he went into a rear garden”.

• It has emerged that, in December 2021, firearms officers tasered an 80-year-old white man after forcing entry to his home in Cricklewood, North London. The officers, who went to the wrong address due to a call handler’s error, had been looking for a black man in his 20s. The victim brought a civil claim against the Metropolitan Police (MET) alleging negligence, assault and battery, false imprisonment and breaches of his rights under article 8 (private life) of the European convention on human rights. The Met has now settled out of court without accepting liability.

• Footage has appeared online of a police officer allegedly kicking and elbowing a man after he was tasered on a street in Walthamstow, East London. Police have not yet commented on the incident.

Animal Death and Injury

We are aware of at least three reports in January 2026 of animal cruelty and/or death involving a gun:

• A cat was found with a severe leg wound in Wimborne St Giles, Dorset after being missing for three days. X-rays revealed a hind leg was shattered below the knee with embedded fragments of gunshot. Following treatment, the cat recovered at home. The incident has been reported to police.

• It has emerged that a cat was shot with an airgun in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire in December 2025. He underwent surgery after it was discovered that an airgun pellet had fractured a large piece of his femur. The pet is now recovering slowly at home. The incident has been reported to the RSPCA.

• A 35-year-old man has been ordered to pay a total of £1,520 in fines, victim surcharge and prosecution costs after admitting encouraging or assisting the killing of a Schedule One wild bird and possessing a shotgun for the purpose of killing a Schedule One wild bird. In October 2024, RSPB investigators covertly recorded the defendant and two other gamekeepers on the Conistone and Grassington Estate in North Yorkshire as they discussed protected birds shot that day, including a buzzard and a raven. During the conversation, the men spot a hen harrier but decide not to shoot as its satellite tag would result in unwanted attention on the roost from the authorities. They do, however, fire shots to scare it off. After a second, untagged harrier is spotted, covert filming shows the defendant loading his gun and walking in the direction of the roost. A single shot can be heard, followed by the others congratulating him. No charges have been brought against the other, unidentified, individuals.

Imitation, Airsoft, airguns and BB guns do not currently require a licence in England or Wales. These guns are responsible for many gun injuries to both humans and animals.

N.B. Since January 2017, airgun owners in Scotland have been required to have a licence, and airgun crime in Scotland has decreased by one third.

The previous Government’s Response to a further Consultation, sent predominantly to shooting organisations but not to women’s organisations or those supporting victims of domestic violence, concluded not to license airguns in England and Wales.

Border Force and National Crime Agency

We are not aware of any reports in January 2026 relating to the above.

Sentences and Convictions

We are aware of at least 36 reports in January 2026 of sentences and convictions for gun crime, including:

• A 21-year-old man has been handed a suspended 26-week prison term with a ten-day rehabilitation activity requirement and a 120-day night-time curfew after pleading guilty to possessing an electrical incapacitation device, possession of criminal property, possessing four canisters of liquid synthetic cannabinoid and handling a Ford Eco Sport worth £9,000 knowing or believing it to be stolen. In November 2023, the man was stopped while driving a stolen car on cloned plates in Burnley, Lancashire. Police officers recovered the Taser, cash and drugs from the vehicle.

• A 33-year-old man has been jailed for 38 years after being convicted of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent, three counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and three counts of possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life. In October 2024, the man disguised himself as a delivery rider and called to a home in Nottingham Hill, where he shot a man in the thigh. The following month, he donned a similar disguise and fired four shots at an address linked to the victim. No injuries were reported. Later the same month, the man fired seven shots into a vehicle Ladbroke Grove, West London, occupied by a second victim. Five shots hit the man targeted, causing him life-changing injuries, while two shots hit his daughter in the front passenger seat. Police officers subsequently searched the suspect’s home and recovered a loaded pistol from under a concrete paving slab at the back of the property. In an impact statement, the second victim said, “The actions of (that man) on the evening of the 24^th November 2024 have completely shattered both my life and my family’s. I have frequent flashbacks and relive that evening every day. The incident has completely turned my daughter’s life upside down. She is a shadow of the bubby, bright, larger than life character she once was, and now rarely wants to go out and socialise while suffering daily trauma and questioning why it happened.”

• A 43-year-old man has been jailed for six years after admitting arson with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. In May 2025, he fired multiple shots at a home in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire and set fire to a car on the driveway. He was arrested after being spotted on CCTV at a service station shortly after the attack. The man claimed to have been hired to carry out the attack.

• A 28-year-old man has been jailed for a minimum of fourteen years after admitting rape, sexual assault, intent to commit a sexual offence, possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, making a threat to kill and possession of a Class B drug. In September 2025, he threatened a woman with an imitation gun before raping her in a park in Stockport, Greater Manchester. After the victim managed to escape, she alerted police. The perpetrator also reported his offence to the police and he was arrested within an hour. He will spend an additional eight years on licence and was made subject to an indefinite restraining order and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

• Two men involved in a violet disorder in Birmingham, West Midlands have been sentenced: A 21-year-old and a 23-year-old received 27 years and 22 years, respectively, for possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition, whilst the 21-year-old was also sentenced for possession of a bladed article and two counts of attempted murder. The older man further admitted committing grievous bodily harm. In Mach 2025, police officers responded following reports of men fighting with weapons including machetes and bats and a gun being fired several times. One man later self-presented at a local hospital with a gunshot injury. CCTV footage revealed that, although the gun had been aimed at one of the men involved, members of the public had been put at risk of serious harm. Three other men were also sentenced for their involvement in the incident.

• Four men and a teenage youth have been given sentences totalling over 110 years for their involvement in a shooting that left one of their victims paralysed down one side of his lower body. Charges included attempted murder, firearms-related offences and assisting an offender to evade arrest. In October 2025, two of the defendants travelled to Canning Town, East London in a stolen car, armed with knives and a loaded firearm. One of them fired seven shots at two brothers who were out walking their dog, hitting one of them in the hand and, the other, in his back. Police found five bullet casings at the scene as well as a balaclava revealing the DNA of one of the attackers. Other arrests were made later including one at a house where police recovered a loaded handgun, an imitation firearm and live ammunition.

• Four men have been jailed for life for murder with sentences totalling over 117 years on charges including murder, theft, street robberies, perverting the course of justice, a weapon-related offence, GBH and drugs offences. In April 2023, a 46-year-old man drove a 29-year-old man to pick up a converted starter pistol before collecting another 29-year-old co-conspirator. All three then drove to a street in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, where one of them shot a man in the leg in a targeted attack. The man crawled up two flights of stairs before suffering a cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards. The court heard that the shooting had been carried out as a “punishment” after the victim and his brother had been warned off drug dealing near a “patch” controlled by two of the co-conspirators. A fourth man, who owed a drug debt to one of the men, called the victim before the attack to check he was at home.

• A 25-year-old man has been jailed for life, to serve a minimum term of 32 years and 101 days, after being found guilty of murder, conspiracy to rob, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. In December 2023, the 25-year-old and accomplices went into a property in Sheffield, South Yorkshire to steal cannabis. The plan failed when someone drove at one of them and, the following day, the 25-year-old mistakenly identified a car as the vehicle involved. An accomplice shot at the car four times, killing one of the two innocent brothers sitting inside. The court heard that the 25-year-old who ordered the shooting as a revenge attack, fled to Dubai the following day and was arrested on his return in May 2025. The accomplice who shot at the car was jailed for life in December 2024, while three other men and a teenage boy have since been convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery. In an impact statement, the victim’s father said he was “overwhelmed with grief”. He said his son, himself a father of two young children, “will be loved and missed by us forever”.

• Five people have been sentenced for kidnapping and torturing a vulnerable woman in Oldham, Greater Manchester. In January 2025, one of the defendants lured the woman into her home before being joined by a loan shark who had “trapped” their victim with “crippling interest rates”. The kidnapped woman phoned her mother to beg for money after the pair refused to let her leave until she paid her debt. After three more defendants joined them, a youth tasered the victim’s body while another man used it on her face, head and torso. The woman then strip-searched the victim and took money concealed in her underwear. The assailants later drove the victim to Saddleworth Moor and threatened to leave her there in the dark. Police officers, alerted by the victim’s mother, stopped the car after it left the moor and rescued her. In an impact statement the woman said, “I have spent three stints in mental health units since what happened. I suffer from complex PTSD as well as hallucinations and flashbacks. I have tried to take my own life on two occasions I can honestly say this is directly as a result of what happened to me. I think about it every day, every hour, every minute, the fear and humiliation that I suffered.” Sentences totaling over fourteen years were given for charges including kidnap, false imprisonment, robbery and possession of a prohibited weapon. A 17-year-old was handed a youth rehabilitation order for false imprisonment and possessing a prohibited weapon. A fifth man will be sentenced at a later date.

• A man has been jailed for life, to serve at least 24 years, after being convicted of attempted murder and two counts each of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life. In November 2023, he shot a man six times though the open window of a car in Notting Hill, West London, hitting him in the head and body. The victim managed to get back to his flat, where police officers found him “in shock and severely injured”. The defendant’s DNA was recovered from the stolen car used in the drive-by attack and he was arrested three months later. A second firearm and ammunition were recovered from his home address.

Many incidents involve the use of airguns*, Airsoft, imitation and BB guns, which do not require a licence and may not contain ammunition but are used by perpetrators to capitalise on the fear of victims who believe they are about to be shot. Traumatised victims are often unable to identify the weapons used. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between imitation and live-firing guns unless the weapons are fired and/or recovered, and, for this reason, guns involved in incidents frequently remain unidentified.

Shotguns and rifles can be legally held by those granted a licence. Ultimately, legally-obtained guns in every country tend to find their way into the wrong hands, whether through theft, corrupt gun dealers, and/or the failure of the licensing procedure to identify legal gun owners who pose a risk to themselves and/or others.

Please see the endnote for further explanation of gun types and current legal status.

Figure 2: January 2026 Weapon types recorded in firearm incidents

Notes

See Gun incidents in Great Britain page for details of incidents involving these gun types.

Guns that do not require a licence: Airguns* (so-called ‘low-powered’); Airsoft; ball-bearing; imitation; paintball; antique; deactivated; bolt guns** certain starting pistols/blank firers. These guns are cheap, accessible and available to buy on impulse. Moreover, lack of secure storage requirements enables theft. Many are capable of being converted into more powerful weapons. Guns deactivated to early specifications are capable of reactivation and recent, more rigorous specifications are not retrospective.

There is no legal definition of ‘antique’ and, although possession of antique guns is prohibited to those having served or received a criminal sentence, it is unclear how this is administered during sales and transfers.

Airsoft guns are exempt from the terms of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 and are ‘self-regulated’ by the Airsoft industry. The Home Office fails to collect data on the proliferation of Airsoft skirmishing sites.

• *From January 2017 airgun owners in Scotland have required a licence.
• ** A ‘slaughter licence’ is required for a bolt gun.

Guns that require a licence: Airguns in Scotland; shotguns; rifles; police firearms/ Tasers. Gun Control Network and others welcome the increase in Firearms Licence fees to ‘Full Cost Recovery’ in the interests of public safety. The under-resourced licensing procedure has consistently failed to protect the public from licensed gun-owning perpetrators and women are particularly at risk of domestic violence involving licensed gun owners. Any number of shotguns can be held on one certificate, which lasts for five years.

NOTE Inquests above. Relationship breakdown can be a dangerous catalyst for members of the shooting community. The above couple had represented England in shooting competitions but, after an assault, the guns were seized from their shooting club home. A gun owning ‘friend’ provided the perpetrator with a borrowed gun, with which he fatally shot his wife, then himself.

The Home Office continues to fail to publish data regarding the number of Licensed Gun Owners/Dealers/Legal Guns and Ammunition involved in non-fatal crime. Similarly, the status of guns used in suicides is not necessarily recorded at Inquests.

Guns that are prohibited: Handguns (revolvers, pistols etc.); 3D guns, Olympic starting pistols; Tasers; certain top venting blank firers; submachine guns; and ‘other’ weapons (pepper spray/CS Gas; home-made guns and explosive devices). Certain handguns are exempt from prohibition. Handgun, Taser and pepper spray use is authorised for police, but there are concerns regarding fatalities and Taser training.

Imitation/Airsoft guns are available without background checks. Crimes reported in the media as involving handguns are likely to involve imitations, airsoft, air pistols or other guns that look like handguns, resulting in misleadingly-inflated reports of handgun crime.