Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Jury retires to consider its verdict in teenager gun trial
JUDGE Paul Cook took more than two hours at Gloucester Crown Court yesterday to complete his summing up of the evidence in the Kyle Davies trial.
The 19-year-old, of Wotton, Gloucester, has admitted evading the prohibition on the importation of firearms and ammunition but has denied attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.
It follows Davies buying a Glock handgun from the ‘dark web’ and having it sent to him from the USA.
After being tipped off by Homeland Security on June 18 last year, British police intercepted the gun and five live ammunition cartridges.
Two days later, they arrested Davies at his home after he accepted a replica package that the police sent him.
The trial has lasted for two weeks and has centred on the prosecution’s claim that Davies planned to use the gun for a mass shooting, possibly along the lines of the Columbine School massacre in the USA.
Davies denies this and says he wanted the weapon because he was depressed and wanted to kill himself.
The judge reminded the jury of seven women and five men that one of the main themes of the case had been the police looking at Davies’ searches on the internet and how they believed it showed he planned to commit mass murder.
He began by saying that an expert had said that the Glock gun he had bought was the kind used by police forces throughout the UK.
The judge recalled that Davies was
found to have a USB stick containing an article on maximising killing but that such information was freely available on the internet.
He recapped evidence that looked into the mental health of the defendant, including an incident in September 2015 when he went to a motorway bridge, seemingly planning to jump off and kill himself.
The judge said Davies was depressed because he had been bullied at school.
The court heard that Davies went to Chosen Hill School, Millbrook Academy and the Crypt School in Gloucester,
Teachers at the latter described him as being intelligent but quiet and with a bad attitude towards working hard that made them concerned about how well he would do in his A-levels.
Psychology teacher, Patrick Newman, described Davies as “pleasant, humorous and intelligent”, saying history was his favourite area.
Mr Newman said: “He would make some comments in class, such as ‘if you take my books, I will do a Stalin on you and kill you all’. But I don’t think he meant it.”
The judge reminded the jury that Davies had searched the internet for methods of suicide, as well as looking into the Columbine massacre, the acts of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik and English student Liam Lyburd, who was arrested before attacking his school with a gun and pipe bombs.
Davies, the judge said, insisted he did not have radical views and researched many things because he was interested in them.
He believed using a gun would be the safest and most reliable way of committing suicide, the judge said.
He recapped on the fact that Davies, asked about the internet searches of mass killers, had told the court: “I do not sympathise with their agenda to kill people.”
He reminded the court that Davies said he originally intended to use explosives to kill himself but discounted the idea for fear of surviving but being left brain damaged.
Davies, the judge said, would spend his evenings after school on his computer because he did not have any friends and did not go out socialising or take part in sporting activities.
The judge said Davies’ parents had been unaware that he was looking at material on the internet related to mass killings and weapons.
The court heard his father had no idea that he had watched videos of beheadings and other executions online since the age of 12 or 13.
The trial has been adjourned until Monday. The judge has told the jury to postpone their deliberations until then.