Police under escalating pressure as inquiry starts into how killer was ever given a gun licence
Town mourns victims as questions mount over background checks on gunman
The police were under mounting pressure yesterday to explain why a young man with anger management issues and an online history
of hatred against women was ever given a gun licence before he killed five people then himself.
An inquiry was launched into the vetting of Jake Davison, 22, before he was allowed to have a pump-action shotgun. His firearms licence, which had been revoked last December amid an allegation of assault, was returned before he shot dead five people and then himself in Plymouth on Thursday. His victims included his mother and a three-year-old girl.
A civic leader said yesterday that people have been left in shock and reluctant to leave their homes following the mass killing, the worst in Britain for 11 years.
Davison’s social media use is a key part of the investigation, with posts revealing his interest in guns and the emerging incel, or involuntary celibate, movement which is followed online by men who claim they are oppressed by women due to a perceived lack of sexual interest.
Experts have warned the movement may have to be upgraded to terrorist status amid growing concerns which now include the role the incel movement may have played in influencing Davison.
Davison, who spent part of his childhood in Shetland, shot dead his mother Maxine Davison, 51, at a house in Biddick Drive, in Plymouth’s Keyham area, before going into the street and shooting dead Sophie Martyn, aged three, and her father Lee Martyn, aged 43. He then killed Stephen Washington, 59, in a nearby park before shooting Kate Shepherd, 66, who died in hospital. Two other people were shot and injured.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct will investigate and said Davison’s certificate, issued by his local force, Devon and Cornwall Police, and shotgun had been removed by police in December following an allegation of assault in September. According to reports, Davison’s licence was returned after he attended an anger management course. The investigation will also look at whether the force had information concerning Davison’s mental health.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer yesterday welcomed the launch of an investigation into Davison’s firearms certificate, saying: “How on earth did he get a gun licence in the first place and what backup checks were done? I am glad there is the investigation already into why the licence was returned. I do think there are wider questions here and that could involve a review of the gun licensing laws because there are other questions here that urgently need to be addressed.”
Nick Kelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, added yesterday: “At the moment people are a bit reluctant to come outside their doors. They are in a state of shock.”
Boris Johnson called for the circumstances of Davison’s gun ownership to be fully investigated and said the shooting was absolutely appalling.
Flags in Plymouth are at halfmast and a minute’s silence will be held at 11am tomorrow with books of condolence available for the public to sign. Home Secretary Priti Patel yesterday placed a floral tribute near the scene.
Davison and his family lived in Shetland during the 1990s before his parents separated.
The family then moved to Plymouth after Davison’s father was jailed for eight months for an attack on a fellow fisherman.
Nazir Afzal, a former Chief Crown Prosecutor, said there were 10,000 people in Britain with incel views like Davison.
Mr Afzal said: “That kind of extreme misogyny of the type we have seen here and in terms of the incel community is a threat to all women and, ultimately, to all our communities. If you treat it as terrorism then you have other options open in terms of intelligence gathering, of being able to prosecute for disseminating materials, and of being able to hold them to account if they are conspiring with each other.”
Jonathan Hall QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, said: “If we see more of these sorts of attacks, then I have got no doubt that it will be treated more seriously, as terrorism.”
The Scottish Government, which has promoted the adoption of anti-misogyny legislation, said yesterday: “We recently set up the independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice in Scotland. The group is gathering evidence from a number of experts and from a large survey to determine if there are gaps in the law that require legislation to deal with misogynistic conduct, including street harassment.”
The group will report its recommendations in February.