July 2015 Review
by Gun Control Network on 07-10-2015
See July Incidents and July Sentences for the full lists.
Gun Deaths
We are aware of at least five gun deaths in July:
- A 55-year-old man died after being shot in the drive of his home in Salford, Greater Manchester in what is believed to have been a targeted attack.
- An 18-year-old man died after being shot with a shotgun on a street in Liverpool in a suspected targeted attack.
- A 42-year-old man has died after being shot in a drive-by shooting on a street in Wood Green, north London.
- A 64-year-old man, with links to criminal activities, was initially said to have died due to natural causes when found dead in the garden of his home in Brentwood, Essex. However, upon post mortem examination six days later it was discovered that he had sustained six shotgun wounds. The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
- A 58-year-old man has been found shot dead in the garden of his home in Caergwrle, Flintshire. A shotgun was found lying close by.
Click to view earlier Gun Deaths.
Inquests
We are aware of at least two inquests in July 2015.
An inquest into the death of 23-year-old Jordan Begley returned a narrative verdict, recording that the victim had died at his home in Manchester in July 2013 after being restrained by 11 police officers, tasered 'inappropriately and unreasonably' for eight seconds at close range, and left face down in handcuffs for too long. As a result of the findings the Independent Police Complaints Commission report, which found that the officers acted correctly and in line with their training, has been withdrawn. A national inquiry into the safety of stun gun use by police will be undertaken.
An inquest into the death of 33-year-old Daniel Hill (also known as Kent) found that his death was an 'accident'. Mr Hill (Kent) was found at his home in Southminster, Essex on Christmas Eve 2014 with shotgun wounds and a sawn-off shotgun lying nearby. The victim was found to have been drinking and to have used cocaine and cannabis following an argument with his girlfriend.
Sentences and Convictions
We are aware of at least 24 sentences and convictions handed down during July, including several involving the use of tasers.
Romahn Richards, Jake Prempeh, Kayode Freeman and Omar Berryman have been jailed for a total of 35 years for using a sawn-off shotgun to threaten staff and customers at various outlets in Manchester and Derbyshire.
Five people have been jailed for a total of 64 years for threatening a witness by throwing a hand grenade and firing shots at his home near Ongar, Essex while he and his family were asleep in the property.
Liam Lyburd, 19, has been found guilty of possessing a nine-millimetre Glock gun, 94 hollow point bullets designed to expand upon impact, canisters of CS gas, two home made explosive devices, and five pipe bombs with nails taped to them with intent to endanger life and plotting to carry out a mass killing at his former college in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear. During his trial Lyburd claimed that buying the gun online had been as easy as purchasing a bar of chocolate.
Mohammed Ahmed has been found guilty, and Mohamud Mohamud, Cadil Huseen, and Hussein Ali have been jailed for a minimum of 25 years each for shooting a man dead in a drug-related feud on a street in Edinburgh.
Armed Domestic Violence
We are aware of at least six sentences relating to armed domestic violence in July 2015.
Grant Pearson, 19, has been given a 16-month suspended sentence in a Young Offenders' Institution with 180 hours of unpaid community work after pleading guilty to using an imitation firearm to threaten two of his girlfriend's friends while searching Kingswinford, West Midlands for the man with whom he believed she had become involved after his relationship with her broke down.
Jahanzeb Ismail has been jailed for nine years for threatening several members of another family with a loaded sub-machine gun in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the belief that his own family had been threatened by a man in the other family. Ismail had previously been jailed for seven years for manslaughter after fatally shooting another man with a handgun in 1999 in the city. When he committed his latest offence he had been out of prison just a year after he was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2011 for using part of a hoover as an imitation gun to threaten a garage cashier.
Ejemai George, 22, has been jailed for 16 years and Lackston Powell, 41, has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after they threatened a man with whom Powell's girlfriend had previously been in a relationship and his friend with a knife and a nine-millimetre pistol from which George fired two shots.
Derek Hardie has been jailed for 14-and-a-half months after using an unlicensed shotgun to threaten his best friend in Brigend, West Lothian after he discovered that his girlfriend and friend had been seeing each other.
James McLaren has been handed a community payback order consisting of 300 hours of unpaid work after putting a realistic starting pistol into his mouth and to his temple and pulling the trigger so that he fell to the ground in front of his partner, and firing the gun again in the presence of paramedics in Dunfermline, Fife.
Armed domestic violence is known to involve licensed guns as well as airguns, BB guns, and imitation gunsfor which no licence is required. Click to view earlier incidents of Armed Domestic Violence.
Animal Cruelty
We are aware of at least12 incidents of animal cruelty in July 2015, 10 of which involved air weapons. Three cats have been killed and seven injured. One swan has been shot in the head and may not recover. See the Airgun Incidents page for a catalogue of animal attacks and reports of further airgun violence.
Assaults causing Fear
Most firearms assaults in England, Scotland, and Wales involve guns being used to threaten individuals, usually for the sake of robbery. Traumatised victims are often unable to identify the weapons used. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between replicas, BBs, airguns, and imitations etc. none of which require a licence, unless the weapons are fired and/or recovered: for this reason many incidents are attributed to 'unknown' weapons (see explanation). Fear of gunfire is also evident when citizens call police to report hearing gun shots.
The chart below shows data compiled from new incidents and sentences causing fear in England, Scotland, and Wales as reported in the British media from September 2014 to July 2015:
As the graph demonstrates, many robberies involve the use of imitations and BBguns which do not require a licence and may not contain bullets but are used by perpetrators to capitalise on the fear of victims who believe they are about to be shot. Thisexperience is more common in England, Scotland, and Wales than incidents causing physical injury.
Incidents causing Injury
In many armed robberies and assaults in Britain resulting in severe injury, perpetrators club or 'pistol-whip' victims using weapons reported to be 'unknown' or imitation firearms. Although imitations, BBs, and airguns do not require a licence in England, Scotland, and Wales they are responsible for many gun injuries to both humans and animals.
The chart below shows data compiled from new incidents and sentences causing injury in England, Scotland, and Wales as reported in the British media from September 2014 to July 2015:
GCN is particularly concerned about the criminal use of shotguns (which are licensed to unsafe individuals, lost, or stolen), 'low-powered' airguns, legally held without a licence (though sufficiently powerful to kill adults, children, and animals), and realistic imitation guns (legally held without a licence but illegal to trade/manufacture).
The table below counts new gun incidents in England, Scotland, and Wales as reported in the British media from September 2014 to July 2015:
New Incidents by Month
| Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | |
| Shotgun | 15 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| Airgun | 36 | 30 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 12 | 23 | 32 | 23 | 11 | 18 |
| Imitation | 12 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 18 | 6 | 9 | 13 |
| Unknown | 49 | 34 | 38 | 27 | 26 | 51 | 40 | 35 | 20 | 18 | 22 |
GCN is committed to preventing gun violence and we work to pursue that objective through adjustments to the legal system. Ultimately, legally obtained guns in every country tend to find their way into the wrong hands, whether it's through theft, or the failure of the licensing procedure to identify legal gun owners who pose a risk to themselves and/or others.
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