Gun Incidents in Great Britain

Express

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Metro

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It has emerged that, in March last year, a police officer Tasered a man multiple times in Hammersmith, West London after chasing him in an Uber taxi and on foot. The officer discharged his Taser towards the male suspect as he ran long the Thames footpath, firing at him five more times after he fell into the river. A Metropolitan Police disciplinary panel found that the officer committed misconduct by keeping his Taser armed and his finger on the trigger while in the back of the Uber, and gross misconduct for the final three taser discharges. The Independent Office for Police Conduct found that there was a case for gross misconduct but not enough evidence to support criminal charges. The suspect was not injured as a result of being Tasered.

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Birmingham Mail, 10 September 2013Kieron Henry has been jailed for 10 years for using an imitation gun to carry out multiple armed robberies in Birmingham, West Midlands. He and an unidentified accomplice threatened workers at a store with the firearm and escaped with £90 in cash and some mobile phone top-up cards. Three days later Henry used a replica firearm to pistol-whip shopkeeper as he was locking up his off licence but the victim tackled him to the floor and hit him in the head with a shop sign. He was assisted by an accomplice and the two kicked and punched the victim as he lay on the ground before escaping with his drink and cigarettes. Henry was arrested at gunpoint by armed officers with dogs who followed his footprints through the snow to his hiding place.

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One of three men reported to have stolen cigarettes and cash from a shop in Birmingham, West Midlands, allegedly struck a member of staff on the head with a suspected firearm during the raid. The attack came just 90 minutes after two men raided a nearby shop, armed with a knife and bat. A police spokesperson said that it was not known if the robberies were linked.

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BBC News, 4 June 2013Christopher Sims, 40, has been jailed for a minimum of 16 years for a campaign of harassment against a couple in their 60s in which he shot dead their dog and attacked them at their home in Longparish, Hampshire, and assaulted two other men in the county. He used the Internet to scope out the couple's home before conducting a 16-month campaign of unmotivated harassment in which he shot dead their pet, attacked them several times causing the male victim grievous bodily harm, and stole a car, leaving them afraid to walk outside alone and requiring anti-depressants and sleeping medication. He also attacked a 74-year-old man with a lump hammer and assaulted a 22-year-old on two occasions with a hammer and coshes. Sims has been diagnosed with a personality disorder, which caused him believe that he had been cheated out of money in his failed business and that he was in contact with high-level police officers and MI5, and he has received treatment in hospital for the condition.

News & Star

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Scott Robinson was jailed in July after pleading guilty to possessing a firearm with a barrel of less than 30 cm in length.  A sawn-off shotgun was found in the wardrobe of his bedsit in Penrith, Cumbria, when his landlord took re-possession.  He had originally planned to kill himself with the gun, which he had shortened after taking it from his uncle who had a farm.  He was sentenced to five years in jail but has failed to have the sentence cut at the Court of Appeal.

Express & Star

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Two men, one a teenager, who are on trial both deny two charges of possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life, two of possession an firearm or imitation firearm to cause fear of violence and violent disorder.  The charges follow a shooting in which a nightclub boss and two bouncers were hit when at least five shots were fired from two Russian-made pistols in Bilston, West Midlands, in September 2008 (see Incidents).

the Leader

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While a family was enjoying their Christmas dinner at their home in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, an unknown assailant reportedly fired an air weapon at the front window, causing it to shatter. A toddler and a baby were among those in the room at the time of the attack but no one was harmed. The incident has been reported to police.