A man who shot dead five people in eight minutes in the English city of Plymouth before taking his own life was given a “licence to kill” by incompetent police officers, the families of his victims have claimed.
On Aug. 12, 2021, Jake Davison, 22, shot dead his mother Maxine, 51, at their home in the Keyham area of the city. Armed with a shotgun, he then left the house and walked through the area, killing three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father Lee, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66.
The inquest jury delivered verdicts of unlawful killing for all five victims and was heavily critical of Devon and Cornwall Police, as the force had returned Davison’s gun to him—having confiscated it after an incident nine months beforehand in which he had assaulted two teenagers at a skate park.
In their narrative verdict, the jury said: “There was a catastrophic failure in the management of the firearms and explosives licensing unit, with a lack of managerial supervision, inadequate and ineffective leadership. This was compounded by a lack of senior management and executive leadership who failed to notice or address the issues.”
The jury went on to say: “There was a lack of scrutiny and professional curiosity at all levels. There was a seriously unsafe culture within the firearms and explosives licensing unit of defaulting to granting licences and to returning licences after review.”
The relatives of Davison’s victims called for the 1968 Firearms Act to be overhauled, and their plea was echoed by the new Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall Police, Will Kerr.
Kerr said: “It is a permissive piece of statute, and it says very clearly that you shall—police forces shall—issue a licence unless certain requirements are met. We think, and certainly having listened to the inquest over the last couple of weeks, that presumption should be turned on its head.”
‘Act of Pure Evil’
The victims’ families said Davison’s actions on Aug. 12, 2021 were “an act of pure evil,” but insisted they had been “facilitated and enabled by a series of failings and incompetence from the people and organisations that are supposed to keep us safe.”In a statement read out by their solicitor, Patrick Maguire, the families said: “It is beyond us how Davison, a man with a known history of violence, mental health issues, and with no real need to own a firearm, was granted a licence to possess a gun in the first place. Warning signs were ignored and a licence to kill was granted.”
In their verdict, the jury went one step further and claimed that successive governments had failed to implement all of the recommendations of Lord Cullen, who compiled a report after Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 primary-school children and their teacher in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996—in what remains the UK’s deadliest mass shooting.
“There was a serious failure at a national level by the government, Home Office and National College of Policing to implement the recommendation from Lord Cullen’s Report in 1996 arising out of the fatal shootings in Dunblane,” said the jury.
In Britain, it is illegal to own a handgun of any type and shotguns can only be held if the owner has a licence, which is granted by the local police force.
The inquest heard that Davison first applied for a shotgun licence in July 2017, when he was 18, saying he wanted to go clay pigeon shooting with his uncle.
Davison had declared that he had autism and Asperger’s syndrome, but his doctor refused to give the police any more information when they enquired.
The police were also aware that Davison had assaulted two teachers when he was 12, and that the following year, he had punched a fellow student at his special school.
He was also suspected of an assault outside a supermarket in 2016.
Nevertheless, he was granted a five-year shotgun licence in January 2018.
Davison subsequently bought a black Weatherby pump-action shotgun—the gun he was to use to carry out the shooting.
In September 2020, he was caught on CCTV punching a 16-year-old boy up to nine times in a skate park and slapping a 15-year-old girl after an altercation. Davison subsequently claimed he had been called a “fat (expletive).”
Shotgun Returned to Davison Five Weeks Before Shooting
However, both shotgun and licence were returned to Davison five weeks before the shooting.The inquest heard that after shooting his victims, Davison held the shotgun under his chin.
A police officer, PC Zach Printer, ran toward him and urged him to surrender. However, Davison pulled the trigger, and his death was recorded by Printer’s body-worn camera.
It has emerged that the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), made a series of recommendations to Devon and Cornwall Police—but that no officers were sacked as a result of the mistakes made in the run-up to the shooting.
Devon and Cornwall Police says it has invested £4 million in the firearms licensing unit since the shooting.
Kerr apologised for the failures and said: “I accept Devon and Cornwall Police has failed our communities in regard to Jake Davison, but had there been clearer national guidance, direction and specific legislation concerning firearms licensing—decision making locally may well have been very different.”
Senior coroner Ian Arrow said he would be preparing a so-called Prevention of Future Deaths Report addressing his concerns.
A Home Office spokesman said: “This was a devastating tragedy and we thank the coroner for their investigation. Once received we will reflect on the coroner’s report, including any recommendations, and respond in due course.”
Philp added: “I commit today that any further changes needed to protect the public will be made.”
