Gun Incidents in Great Britain

BBC

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A man was admitted to hospital with serious bullet wounds after being shot.  It is believed he was at a party at a pub in Smethwick, West Midlands, before going to hospital.

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Kendell Farrell and Donroy Joseph have been jailed for 17 and 23 years respectively after pleading guilty to three charges of robbery, aggravated burglary and seven firearms offences. The pair carried out a series of armed attacks over two days on people in their homes in Birmingham, West Midlands. They woke one female victim up pointing a gun at her head and grabbing her two-year-old son in front of her before escaping with mobile phones and tablets. They also used the gun to threaten a man who had just returned from hospital, hitting him around the head and stabbing him in the stomach. They then broke into student accommodation, threatened a woman with a knife and a gun, and smothered her with a pillow before Joseph sexually assaulted her. Meanwhile Farrell went into another room and stabbed another woman in the groin and her with a gun, escaping with her phone and bank card. Police later found a BB gun and pellets during a search of Joseph’s home.newtown

Bolton News

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Three men armed with a gun, kitchen knife and metal bar threatened staff at a bookmakers in Bolton, Greater Manchester.  One of the men jumped over the counter, demanded cash and escaped with £150 from the till.  CCTV pictures have been released of the raid.  The police believe the men could be responsible for three other raids on betting shops this year, including one at the same shop two weeks earlier and two in Great Lever (This is Lancashire, 3 March 2010).

Northern Echo

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A teenage rat catcher has had to forfeit two guns after he admitted charges of possession of an unloaded air rifle and an unloaded air pistol.  Stephen Thompson was spotted by police among a crowd in an alleyway in Darlington smelling of alcohol.  He was told by the judge that "People are frightened of guns.  To those of us not skilled in guns, from a distance an air rifle with a telescopic lens is frightening".  Thompson was given a 12 month conditional discharge.

Oxford Times

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A woman was approached by a man in Oxford and threatened her with what was believed to be a gun.  She was forced to hand over her handbag, a mobile phone and sunglasses.  Two teenagers were arrested in connection with this and another robbery involving a knife.  Police said an imitation handgun has been seized.

BirminghamLive

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In a drive-by attack, a shotgun was fired twice from a car towards a house in Birmingham, West Midlands, causing the householder to dive for cover. Two neighbours also rushed inside to avoid the gunfire. Three hooded assailants had smashed the windows of the targeted house with baseball bats shortly before the shooting, with some residents believing this was a ploy to lure the homeowner outside before the gunman attacked. Police later confirmed this and another nearby shooting, adding that no one was injured in either incident.

Daily Post

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Daily Post, 18 December 2009
The stained glass windows of a church in Minera, Clwyd, have been damaged, probably by somebody who shot at it with an air rifle.  A replacement could cost hundreds of pounds.  A Christmas tree was also stolen from the church.

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Three kittens have been shot with an airgun and left for dead in an attack in Llanfigael, Anglesey.  One of them survived despite being shot in the neck and sustaining a broken leg, but another was already dead when they were discovered and a second who was seriously wounded is believed to have crawled away to die.

BBC News

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A dog reportedly shot with an air rifle at a park near High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire is "lucky to be alive" according to his owner. Members of the public helped pull the pet from a river after he was shot, only to see "a very round hole in his side and a lot of blood". An X-ray revealed that the pellet had missed his spine by millimetres and lodged in muscle. Police have appealed for information.

Northern Echo

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James Mosley, 19,  was drunk when he waved an imitation handgun from a car window at a couple walking in a street in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in August 2009.  Mosley, a former soldier, was arrested shortly afterwards and the firearm was found to be a novelty lighter, an exact replica 9mm Beretta handgun which he had bought in Turkey.  He was sent to an institution for  young offenders for eight months.  The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the imitation handgun.