March 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 March 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 March 2025.

Figure 1: March 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 2024 are available at https://gun-control-network.org/news-analysis/

We are aware of four reports concerning gun deaths in March 2025:

• A teenage boy died at the scene after being shot on a street in Stockwell, South London. A man and a teenage male have since been charged with murder.

• One man died and another was injured in a shooting incident in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. Five men have since been charged in connection with the attack and remanded in custody.

• A woman died at the scene after being shot in a block of flats in Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf. A man has since been arrested on suspicion of murder, while two other men and two women, who are believed to have travelled to the area from Leicester, have been arrested in connection with the attack. A police spokesperson said, “We are exploring several lines of enquiry, including the possibility that she was the victim of mistaken identity.”

• Following reports of a shooting at a property in Tottenham, North London, police officers found two men suffering gunshot injuries. One man, who had been shot in the head, died shortly afterwards, while the second man was treated in hospital for injuries to his leg. No arrests have yet been made.

Inquests

We are aware of two reports of inquests in March 2025 relating to gun deaths:

• The coroner at the inquest into the death of a man in Plumstead, East London in October 2023 has concluded that he took his own life, cause of death being a gunshot wound. In the months before his death, the man made videos in which he spoke of the pain of rheumatoid arthritis and, on the day he died, he recorded an apology to the people in his life.

• A jury at the inquest into the death of a man in Chelsea, West London in June 2022 could not conclude that the actions of police officers involved probably caused his death. The jury stated that the man was suffering a mental health relapse, which impacted his decisions and actions. The police officers responded following reports of a man holding a screwdriver or knife in the middle of a road. The item was later identified as a plastic cigarette lighter. After he was Tasered three times by one officer, the man ran towards the barrier of Chelsea Bridge. The officer Tasered him again as he was running and a fifth time as he jumped over the bridge railings and fell into the water. The man was rescued but died in hospital later the same day due to complications from downing. Following the jury’s decision, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) made public that they had found no indication the officers had behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings or had committed a criminal offence. The IOPC investigated whether the police officers’ actions caused or contributed to the man’s death, as well as allegations made by his family. These included that the officers behaved in a discriminatory manner, used unnecessary and unreasonable force, and complaints about the wording used in a statement released by the Met on the day of the incident.

Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator

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

• A 19-year-old man has been handed a suspended two-year prison term after admitting two counts of possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. In November 2023, the man put his hand through a car window in Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd and pointed one of two air pistols he was carrying at a woman he knew. He held the gun about 20cm from her face and said, “Pow”. Police arrested the man shortly afterwards and seized both weapons from his home. The court heard that the incident happened during “a complex family breakdown” and that the victim had believed she was going to be killed. The man was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehabilitation activity, as well as attend a twelve-month mental health treatment requirement. He was given a three-year restraining order prohibiting him from approaching his victim.

• A 19-year-old man has been jailed for a minimum of 49 years after pleading guilty to three counts of murder. In September 2024, the man shot dead his mother, sister and brother at their home in Luton, Bedfordshire. He also stabbed his brother more than 100 times. Two police officers, leaving the scene of the murders a few hours later, arrested the man and retrieved the shotgun and 33 cartridges from a bush. An investigation revealed that the man had planned to shoot dead 30 children at his former primary school before killing himself and that, being fascinated with mass shooters, he had gone down “an internet wormhole” and posted “disturbing videos” online. Prosper committed the murders with a shotgun that he had bought in a private sale, showing the seller a fake firearms licence he had made himself. He also bought 100 cartridges from the man who reported the sales to the police at about 5.30pm the same day. Because the report was made “out-of-hours”, the illegal purchase was not picked up in time to prevent the murders.

• A 25-year-old man has been handed an eighteen-month community order with 26 sessions of a Building Choices Programme after admitting possessing an imitation firearm and assaulting his partner. In October 2024, he had a violent row with his partner at their home in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, pushing her and pulling her hair. His partner’s mother came to the couple’s home after overhearing the row on her daughter’s phone. When she arrived, the man shouted and pointed an imitation firearm at her. Armed police officers were called in to detain the man.

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

We are aware of at least two reports in March 2025 that we believe to relate to the above:

• See Armed Domestic Violence and/or Victim Known to Perpetrator above — A 19-year-old man in Bedfordshire fatally shot his mother, sister and brother with a shotgun purchased from a licensed gun owner.

• A 65-year-old man from Leicester, Leicestershire has been fined £307 and ordered to pay costs after pleading guilty to two counts of illegally buying guns and two charges of illegally selling them. The man bought two shotguns from a man and sold them on to another man despite neither of them holding a firearms licence. Police officers discovered the illegal transfer after speaking to the original licensed owner of the weapon.

We are aware of at least three reports in March 2025 involving the use of a police Taser, including:

• See Inquests above — A man died in West London from complications from drowning, shortly after being Tasered five times.

• Police officers Tasered a man following an incident involving a knife in Tottenham, North London. A man was arrested on suspicion of possession of a bladed or pointed article.

Animal Death and Injury

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

• It has emerged that, in December 2022, two young hen harriers were found dead in the North Pennines. Both corpses were found to contain shotgun pellets. Natural England’s database has recorded the birds as “suspected illegally killed”.

• A cat had a leg amputated after being shot with an airgun in Ystalfera, South Wales. X-rays revealed that a pellet had shattered the cat’s hip and lodged in a muscle. An RSPCA spokesperson said, “We want to see a world where every kind of animal is treated with compassion and respect and deliberate brutal acts of cruelty should be consigned to the past. We continue to call for tighter controls on air weapons. This, along with better education and explanation of the law when buying an airgun, and requirements that everyone must receive basic safety training before being allowed to walk out of the shop could help relieve the problem.”

• One cat was injured and another killed after they were shot with an air rifle in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The two pets were shot in the same area of the city within two weeks. Police have been informed.

• During a routine check, a vet discovered that a cat had been shot with an airgun, the pellet lodging under the skin. The pet is believed to have been attacked in the last few months in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.

• A badger, found injured by a member of the public in Barnt Green, Worcestershire, was put to sleep after X-rays revealed it had suffered serious gunshot injuries to the head. An RSPCA spokesperson said, “Badgers are also protected by their own law – the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 – in addition to other wildlife legislation, and it is an offence to kill, injure or take a badger. Only those with a special licence from Natural England are permitted to cull them.”

• Police have appealed for information following reports of someone shooting pigeons in Bourne, Lincolnshire. A police spokesperson said, “A pigeon is a protected bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. To shoot one in someone else’s garden with an air rifle or off the top of a house roof is very dangerous and illegal.”

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 aware of at least three reports in March 2025 relating to the above:

• A 28-year-old man has been jailed for six months after admitting knowingly being concerned in the fraudulent evasion of a restriction on a prohibited weapon. In February 2025, Border Force officers intercepted a lorry driven by the man in Holyhead, Anglesey and found him carrying a handgun and ten blank bullets. The man told the officers the gun was fake but analysis revealed it was a viable weapon. He said he had bought it from a shop in France to “frighten migrants” there because he had felt threatened by them when coming back into the UK. The gun will be forfeited and destroyed.

• A 40-year-old man has been jailed for eight years after pleading guilty to smuggling firearms. In July 2024, Border Force officers discovered 36 top slides and 36 barrels for 9mm self-loading pistols hidden under the windscreen, behind the engine block and in the fuel tank of a car shipped from Pakistan to the UK via London Gateway port near Corringham, Essex. During an investigation, National Crime Agency (NCA) officers found voice notes on the man’s phone revealing he had contact with a supplier in Pakistan who had access to the manufacture of component parts for firearms. Evidence was also uncovered that the man had purchased several deactivated firearms in 2023 which he was suspected of converting into viable lethal firearms. The man was arrested with the support of the NCA Armed Operations Unit.

• Armed National Crime Agency officers raided a property in Warwick, Warwickshire and seized a self-loading pistol with magazine and eight rounds of ammunition. A man was arrested at the scene and charged with possessing a prohibited weapon, importation of a prohibited weapon and possession of ammunition.

Sentences and Convictions

We are aware of at least 44 reports in March 2025 of sentences and convictions for gun crime, including:

• A 23-year-old man has been jailed for 27 years, with a five-year extended licence, after being found guilty of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. In July 2024, the man put a pistol to a man’s head and pulled the trigger in a car in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The man fled after the trigger jammed but the defendant went on to drive past him while firing the gun. The man was uninjured. The court heard that the victim was targeted following a row about money.

• A 25-year-old man has been handed a suspended two-year prison term and ordered to complete a Building Better Relationships anger-management course, 20 rehabilitation days and 200 hours of unpaid work after admitting possession of an imitation firearm with an intent to cause fear of violence. In June 2024, police officers called at a flat in Leeds, West Yorkshire to check on the welfare of a woman who had discharged herself from hospital against the wishes of medical staff. The man refused the officers entry and waved an air rifle at them. Armed police were called in but the man left the property before they arrived. The air rifle was retrieved and found to be loaded. The court heard that the man had ADHD, mental health issues and was alcohol dependent.

• A 47-year-old man has been jailed for eight years after being found guilty of possession of an explosive substance for unlawful purposes (gunpowder), possession of an explosive substance for an unlawful purpose (Improvised Explosive Device), attempt to manufacture a firearm and attempt manufacture ammunition. In December 2023, police officers raided the man’s home in Luddenfoot, West Yorkshire and recovered chemicals, explosives, electrical materials, firearm components and ammunition. The court heard that he had been building bombs and guns at the property.

• A twenty-five-year-old woman has been jailed for two years after admitting possession of an imitation firearm to cause fear of violence, two counts of assaults on an emergency worker, assault and possession of a bladed article. In August 2024, the woman fired an airgun at a staff member after being asked to leave a homeless charity in Leeds, West Yorkshire. The worker suffered a slight injury to the leg. The woman left before police responded but was arrested when she returned six days later, again in possession of the gun, as well as a knife. On sentencing, the judge said, “Yours is a sad case. You are someone who suffers from a personality disorder, but having said that, because of your drug and alcohol addiction, it has been exacerbated. Your behaviour on the CCTV shows the unpredictable nature of you. It was a loaded firearm. It looks like a real gun and I’m sure those who saw when you pointed it at them would have thought the same. I have considered your case carefully and I’m afraid I can’t take the risk on a community sentence.”

• A 27-year-old man has been jailed for nine years after admitting aggravated burglary, GBH with intent, possession of a knife or bladed article, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate. His 19-year-old co-defendant received eleven years after being convicted of the same offences. In April 2023, a group of people, including the defendants, broke into a family home in Grays, Essex, threatened the occupants and stole watches and jewellery. One victim required hospital treatment for injuries received during the burglary. Police officers recovered a firearm at the scene.

• A 20-year-old man has been jailed for fourteen years with a further five years on licence after being found guilty of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. His co-defendant, also aged 20, received seven-and-a-half years after admitting two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. The pair were charged following two firearm incidents in 2024: In March, shots were fired on a street in New Ferry and, in May, two men on an electric bike, one of whom was carrying what looked like a pistol, were seen in Tranmere, Merseyside.

• A 24-year-old man has been jailed for thirteen years after admitting multiple charges relating to the possession of firearms and ammunition, and manufacturing prohibited firearms and ammunition. Acting on intelligence, police officers raided the man’s flat in Birmingham, West Midlands and recovered a submachine gun, a silver revolver, two pistols (converted from blank-firers) and two blank-firing guns. They also found welding and tooling equipment, a drill lathe and metal piping.

• A 24-year-old and a 34-year-old have been jailed for eight and nine years respectively, after being convicted of possession of firearms and possession of prohibited ammunition. In March 2023, police officers stopped a suspected cloned truck occupied by the two men at a motorway service station near Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and recovered a case containing three guns and ammunition. It was discovered that the two men had collected the weapons from Sheffield the same day. Following an investigation, an organised crime group was dismantled and nine other people have since been convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and supply firearms and prohibited ammunition.

• A 29-year-old man has been jailed for life, to serve a minimum term of 37 years, after admitting firearms offences, possessing an explosive substance with intent and having a document likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism. In January 2023, the man took a homemade pressure cooker bomb, knives and an imitation firearm to a hospital in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He planned to use a bomb threat to evacuate the hospital so that he could attack “fleeing workers” with knives. The imitation gun was carried to provoke responding police officers to shoot him. A patient at the hospital came across the man in the grounds and alerted police after dissuading him from carrying out his plan. The court heard that the defendant, a clinical support worker at the hospital, had “a long-running grievance with nurses on his ward” and an investigation revealed that he had become self-radicalised through extremist material online. He found bomb-making instructions in a magazine published by Al Qaeda that encouraged lone-wolf terrorist attacks against the West.

• A 34-year-old man has been jailed for thirteen years after being convicted of conspiracy to murder, directing others to commit serious offences and possessing a handgun to commit acts of violence. A co-conspirator, also aged 34, received eleven years for conspiracy to murder, being involved in serious organised crime and being concerned in the supply of benzodiazepines. Messages on the criminal network, EncroChat, revealed that the two men planned to have a man shot dead in Glasgow, Scotland. They had identified his address, monitored his movements, offered money for the attack to be carried out using stolen cars with false number plates and made plans to hide the gun. The court heard that the first defendant, a crime gang leader, had identified the man targeted as “a grass” saying in one message, “this rat has to get got”. Fortunately, the murder plan failed because the hitman “did not like the getaway cars or arrangements on offer”.

• Three people have been jailed for their involvement in a drugs ring and for the possession of illegal firearms. In November 2022, police officers searched a property in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and recovered eight homemade slam guns and a quantity of compatible shotgun cartridges. Ammunition matching a previously-recovered handgun was also found. At a linked address, officers seized a loaded pistol and magazines of ammunition. During the searches, £55,000 in cash and 2.5kg of cannabis were also discovered, while 1kg of cocaine and cash were seized from a car and other residential properties. A 25-year-old man, described as the group’s ringleader, has now been jailed for 25 years after being convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, possessing a prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition without a certificate, possessing criminal property and drug-related charges. A 32-year old was handed an eight-year sentence after being found guilty of the same first four charges, while a 40-year-old received nine years for firearms and drugs charges. Following sentencing, a police spokesperson said, “It can’t be stressed enough how dangerous and serious an offence it is to be in possession of a lethal firearm, whether that be a viable handgun or an improvised one like a slam gun.”

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. NOTE The circumstances of the fatal domestic shotgun attack above, in which three family members died at the hands of a perpetrator using a weapon purchased from a licensed gun owner.

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

Figure 2: March 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 proposed 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. The inadequate licensing procedure has been subsidised by taxpayers to the tune of £20+ million a year. 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.); Olympic starting pistols; Tasers; 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.