August 2025 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 during August 2025 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 August 2025.

Figure 1: August 2025 incident reports by type

Gun Deaths

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 aware of three reports concerning gun deaths in August 2025:

• A man died at the scene shortly after suffering multiple gunshot injuries outside a coffee shop in Stoke Newington, North London.

• A man died after being shot from a suspected stolen car in a drive-by attack in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Three men have since been charged with murder.

• The inquest into the death of a man in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire has been opened and adjourned. The man was admitted to hospital in November 2024 after reportedly shooting himself in the head with an old gun. He died the following day. A provisional cause of death was given as traumatic intracerebral and subdural haematoma due to gunshot wound on the right temple side of the head.

Inquests

We are not aware of any inquest verdicts in August 2025 relating to gun deaths.

Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator

We are aware of three reports in August 2025 that we believe to relate to the above:

• A man has been jailed for fifteen months after pleading guilty to possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, harassment and two counts of common assault. In January 2025, the man threatened to fetch his gun after his wife confiscated a bottle of rum from him. After she alerted police, the man pointed an airgun at his son before both victims locked themselves in a bedroom at their home in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. The man handed the weapon over to responding officers and was arrested at the scene. He was handed an indefinite restraining order not to contact his family or go to his former marital home.

• A 46-year-old man has been jailed for five years and three months after admitting assault and possession of a firearm. In August 2024, the man flew into a rage after a woman who had agreed to lend him £30 made a mistake when transferring the cash. The man shouted at her and held a sawn-off shotgun to her head before fleeing from her flat in Glasgow, Scotland. The victim, who had managed to take a photograph of her assailant wielding the gun, then alerted police. The firearm, described as an “old musket” was subsequently found at a unit rented by the man and his DNA was recovered from it. He was arrested two weeks later.

• A 46-year-old man from Hemingbrough, North Yorkshire has been handed a twelve-month community order, with 80 hours’ unpaid work, and ordered to pay costs after admitting possessing an imitation firearm in public and using threatening words and behaviour. In April 2025, following a drinking session, the man challenged his neighbour to a fight while he had an imitation handgun tucked into his waistband. The male victim did not see the gun at the time but captured footage of it on his CCTV. The court heard that there had been an “ongoing issue” between the neighbours and that the 46-year-old was “sorry things had escalated”. The weapon will be destroyed.

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

We are not aware of any reports in August 2025 related to the above.

We are aware of at least eight reports in August 2025 involving the use of a police Taser:

• Police officers discharged a Taser while arresting a man and woman following a disturbance in Dunfermline, Fife. The two suspects have since been charged in connection with the incident.

• Armed police officers responded following reports of a disturbance in Glasgow, Scotland. Officers deployed a Taser and arrested a man at the scene.

• Police officers arrested a man following reports of disturbance in Edinburgh, Scotland. A police spokesperson confirmed a Taser had been discharged during his detention.

• Armed police officers responded following reports of a man seen wielding a sword and knife in Istead Rise, Kent. After he reportedly acted in a threatening manner, the man was tasered and arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of an offensive weapon. A police officer, who suffered a hand injury during the incident, was treated in hospital.

• Police officers tasered a man who allegedly smashed up a convenience store in Havant, Hampshire. He was arrested at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage.

• Police officers reportedly used a Taser to subdue a man following reports of a stabbing in Romford, East London. Two men were taken to hospital, one of whom was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent, possession of an offensive weapon, affray and criminal damage.

• Police officers were deployed following reports of a woman with broken glass making threats to hurt herself and responding ambulance staff at a hotel in Weymouth, Dorset. After a Taser was used to disarm her, she was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

• Police officers pepper sprayed and tasered a man who ran into the road and shops in Totton, Hampshire, shouting abuse at members of the public and shop staff. After he was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in a public place, officers found a knife in the man’s backpack. He was further arrested for being in possession of a knife in a public place.

Animal Death and Injury

We are aware of at least seven reports in August 2025 of animal cruelty and/or death involving a gun:

• A cat had a leg amputated after being shot with a metal pellet in Rossington, South Yorkshire. The incident has been reported to police.

• A cat was reportedly shot with a pellet gun last month in Birmingham, West Midlands. The pet’s owner said he had had a leg amputated after he and two more of her other cats were shot in December last year. The other two pets died after the attack.

• The bodies of seven pigeons that had been shot dead have been found in an underpass in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Pellet wounds were found on the birds, three of whom appeared only a few weeks old. The incident has been reported to the police and RSPCA.

• A wood pigeon died after being shot in the chest at a nature reserve near Filey, East Yorkshire. Police have appealed for information.

• A cat is recovering after being shot with an air weapon in Loftus, North Yorkshire. The pet required surgery to have pellets removed after the attack. Police have been informed of this incident and are aware of other possible similar attacks in the area, unreported but mentioned on social media.

• A duckling was left injured after being shot with an air gun in Llandrindod Wells, Powys. A spokesperson from the RSPCA said, “Anyone caught deliberately using an air gun to injure an animal can face up to five years in prison and/or an unlimited fine if found guilty under the Animal Welfare Act.

• It has emerged that a cat was shot with an air weapon in Thornton Heath, South London earlier this month. The RSPCA appealed for information and renewed calls for better education and explanation of the law to be given to anyone buying an airgun.

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.

Gun Control Network, The RSPCA, Cats Protection, other organisations and individuals are calling for similar legislation in England and Wales after 300,000+ members of the public petitioned in favour of airgun licensing.

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 August 2025 relating to the above.

Sentences and Convictions

We are aware of at least 35 reports in August 2025 of sentences and convictions for gun crime, including:

• A 45-year-old man has been handed a suspended eight-month prison term, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and a fifteen-day rehabilitation activity requirement, after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing imitation firearms with intent to cause fear of violence. In July 2024 he approached two security guards at the railway station in Cardiff, South Wales and told them he needed protection from a county lines drug gang that had taken over his home. He was taken to a private room, where he spoke to police on the phone. During the conversation, the man became aggressive and walked out onto the station concourse, pointing a BB gun at the sky and saying, “You better get the police before I harm someone, I have a gun.” He left the scene before officers arrived but was arrested at home early the following morning. Two BB guns were recovered from the property.

• A 21-year-old has been jailed for ten years and two months after admitting conspiracy to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life. His 27-year-old co-defendant received 20 months for perverting the course of justice and handling stolen goods. In August 2023, a third man fired a self-loading pistol towards homes in Huyton and Prescot, Merseyside. A woman banged on an upstairs window and shouted after spotting the gunman near a front garden occupied by a neighbour and her grandchild. The man turned and fired at the woman at the window, forcing her to take cover, before shooting again at the neighbour’s house. The gunman fled the scene on the back of a motorbike, driven by the 21-year-old. Refuse workers then saw him shoot at a third home, where the occupants returned fire with a shotgun. The two defendants later hid the stolen vehicle. The alleged gunman has not yet been charged in connection with the shootings. In an impact statement, the victim said, “I find it hard to accept what happened, as I did nothing wrong. In the months following the incident, I struggled with my mental health and became depressed. I stopped going out except for shopping and became very anxious.”

• A 41-year-old and a 37-year-old have each been jailed for fourteen years and five months for possession of a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life. In November 2024, CCTV captured the sound of three gunshots, believed to have been fired by the younger man towards two males on a bike in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The footage subsequently showed the car the two men were in deliberately straying towards the bike before the two groups of men begin exchanging fire. Between fifteen and eighteen gunshots can be heard before both parties disperse. The men on the bike have not yet been identified.

• A 29-year-old man and a 27-year-old man have been jailed for thirteen years, seven months, and twelve years, nine months, respectively, for firearms offences. In November 2023, police officers recovered drugs and three viable firearms with compatible ammunition from a flat in Birmingham, West Midlands. During the subsequent search of another property in the city, officers found a manufacturing station where blank-firing weapons were adapted to fire live ammunition. Empty bullet casings, magazines for handguns and tools to adapt firearms were also seized. The court heard that the older man was the armourer, while the younger man organised the sale of the weapons for between £1k and £3k.

• Seven members of an organised crime and drug supply gang, known as The Harrow Road Boys, have been jailed for a total of 115 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and drug offences. Following a gang war during which three people, including the brother of one of those sentenced, were fatally shot, the defendants targeted a rival gang member who had livestreamed rap songs and videos “glorifying violence and goading rivals.” The court heard that the gang stored guns in several locations, replacing them if they were seized by police. Two guns found in Kilburn, North London in October 2022 were forensically linked to two of the men, while a further firearm was recovered from a flat in Vauxhall the following month. One of the guns recovered had been used to shoot at a group of rival gang members. The gang also used drones to smuggle phones and drugs into prisons. Following sentencing, a police spokesperson said, “This trial has brought to light the true nature of criminal gangs intent on bringing violence, intimidation and lawlessness to this city’s streets. This gang thought they were acting above the law and obtained lethal weapons they planned to use in attacks against rival factions.”

• A 27-year-old man has been fined £80 after admitting having an imitation firearm in a public place. In April 2025, he took a “Glock-manufactured air weapon and imitating a real firearm” into a hotel in Capel St Mary, Suffolk. The weapon has been confiscated and destroyed.

• A 43-year-old man has been jailed for three years and four months after pleading guilty to wounding without intent. In June 2024, the man fired an air rifle in Bolton-upon-Dearne, South Yorkshire, causing a serious stomach injury to a child. The court heard that the man who had drunk six cans of beer before the incident, had borrowed the weapon from a neighbour to shoot rats and had not realised the child had been shot.

• A 39-year-old former Police Community Support Officer has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years after being found guilty of attempting to make a firearm. Following intelligence that the defendant had bought prohibited material online, police officers searched her home in Lincoln, Lincolnshire in December 2024 and seized a cache of weapons, including knives, a crossbow and two sets of 3D-printed gun components. One of the homemade weapons needed only one more part to make it operational. Armed police officers simultaneously intercepted the woman’s car and arrested her. The court heard that she had carried out online searches on 3D-printed guns and other weaponry, though she claimed she’d been making “toys” rather than viable firearms. She was made subject to a forfeiture and destruction order for the seized weapons and a five-year Serious Crime Prevention Order upon her release.

• A 32-year-old man has been handed a six-month community order with eight rehabilitation activity requirement days after pleading guilty to possession of an imitation firearm, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a variety of items of police uniform. In April 2025, police officers stopped the man’s car in Castleford, West Yorkshire and found a Glock-style air weapon, genuine police uniform including tactical vests, handcuffs, baseball caps and gloves, as well as fake blue lights and fake police radios. The man claimed to have bought the items for a fancy dress party but the judge rejected this assertion.

• A 45-year-old woman has been jailed for 30 years after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol with intent to cause fear of violence and illegally importing ammunition. In September 2019, she tried to shoot a man outside a house in Birmingham, West Midlands with a self-loading pistol. The gun jammed when she tried to pull the trigger and the man escaped in his car. The woman returned later the same day and fired three shots at an upstairs window of the same property. The court heard that she agreed to carry out the attempted assassination after meeting a man on a dating app. He and his father planned the revenge attack following a feud with another family. Both men, from Derby, were jailed last year for their involvement. Following the shooting, the woman flew to the US but was extradited to the UK earlier this year.

• A 45-year-old man has been jailed for six months after pleading guilty to possessing a knife in a public place, possessing a loaded air weapon in public, assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty and possession of a Class B drug. The man was arrested earlier this month following a stop-and-search in Warrington, Cheshire. He was found carrying an airsoft pistol, a meat cleaver, a knife and a quantity of cannabis.

• A 38-year-old, originally from Salford, has been jailed for 21 years, with a further four years on licence, after pleading guilty to conspiracies to possess firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life, conspiracies to supply cocaine and ketamine and two counts of conspiracy to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent. After the criminal messaging network, EncroChat, was decrypted, detectives discovered texts revealing that the man was organising the supply of drugs, ammunition and firearms including a submachine gun. He also used the network to organise the shooting of a man as part of an ongoing feud. The victim was shot in the leg on the doorstep of his home in Warrington, Cheshire by a man posing as a pizza delivery driver. The defendant was extradited from Spain in 2020 to stand trial in the UK. Nine co-defendants were jailed alongside him for a total of 138 years. Following sentencing, a police spokesperson said the 38-year-old was “a well-established organised criminal who believed his connections would allow him to commit extreme acts of violence whilst remaining under the radar. While he lapped up the Spanish sun, his associates carried out his orders and searched the streets of Warrington for those he had intended to harm.”

We note a ten-year custody term for a teenage boy charged under the Terrorism Act relating to an incident which involved the use of an airgun.

• A teenage boy, who cannot be named because of his age, has been handed a ten-year custody term, with an eight-year supervision period after his release, after pleading guilty to a charge under the Terrorism Act and possession of documents likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism. In January 2025, he was found outside a Muslim centre in Greenock, Inverclyde carrying an airgun and aerosol cans. He planned to set the building on fire and use the airgun to keep worshippers inside. The youth had previously gained access to the mosque by pretending to be interested in Islam but, on the day of his planned attack was intercepted by police officers acting on intelligence reports. The court heard that the boy had been radicalized through social media, with his phone and home revealing a list of far-right “inspirations”. On sentencing, the judge said, “What you had in mind can properly be categorised as a quite diabolical atrocity involving extreme violence and multiple deaths. You even requested that your attack be live-streamed. Your conduct was only stopped by your arrest when you were quite literally, at the door of the centre.” The mosque’s chairman issued a statement saying he was thankful for the quick response by police, adding, “We hope the young person can get the support and help he neds to understand the impact of his action. And we have sympathy for his family for such a difficult time. Forgiveness and understanding each other. That’s the most important thing. If you understand each other, most of the problems can be solved.”

We note an eighteen-month custodial sentence for another teenage boy having terrorist information and relating to weapons including six airguns.

• A teenage male, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been handed an eighteen-month custodial sentence after pleading guilty to possessing a butterfly knife, stun gun, baton and crossbow, as well as having terrorist information relating to manifestos of those who went on to commit acts of terror. In November 2024, police officers raided the youth’s home near Market Drayton, Shropshire after he developed an interest in mass attacks and discussed online whether to “shoot up” his school with a modified air pistol. The officers seized weapons including three crossbows with bolts, six air weapons, a Samurai sword, six knives and a stun gun in a tactical vest bearing a far-right symbol. Following his arrest, the youths mother bought him a crossbow “pistol” with a 50lb draw weight which officers seized alongside other weapons two weeks later. The youth was referred to the Prevent deradicalisation programme and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, while his bail conditions stated he should have no unsupervised internet access and not buy any more weapons. However, within months he had a new internet device and had logged into chats about crossbows, so-called Islamic State beheading videos and discussions about school shootings. The court heard that the youth, who has autism, had become fixated after “falling down a hole of anger and extremism” on the internet, and had discussed killing “lots of people” with a “taser, knife and much more” on Hitler’s birthday. The judge also handed the defendant a three-year criminal behaviour order and imposed a twelve-month parenting order to provide his mother and father with training and advice.

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: August 2025 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** and 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.

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; 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.