Plymouth shooting: Senior officers ‘distracted completely’ by planning for the G7 summit before Jake Davison killings | UK News
Senior police officers were “totally distracted” from planning the G7 summit in Cornwall in the weeks before the deadly shooting in Plymouth, according to an investigation.
Two months after the gathering of world leaders in 2021, the largest and most complex event undertaken by Devon and Cornwall Police, Jake Davison killed his mother and four others with a shotgun in Devon City. Plymouth.
During an inquest into the victims’ deaths on Friday, Superintendent Kara Sherwood said: “Senior officers were planning the G7 and were completely distracted.”
She also said that the force’s weapons department was “basically understaffed” during the preparation for the shooting.
She disagreed with Dominic Adamson KC, representing victims’ families, who asked whether the safety of world leaders was more important than guns in the region.
Davison, a 22-year-old apprentice crane operator, killed his mother, Maxine Davison, after an argument and then left her in the street.
He fatally shot Sophie Martyn, three, her father Lee Martyn, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66, in the Keyham area of the city before killing himself.
The force stripped him of his handgun and license in 2020 after he attacked two teenagers in a park, but returned it to him weeks before the August murders. 2021.
Ms Sherwood was also asked what she would do in the event a violent offender had his weapon confiscated.
She said: “I wouldn’t return the weapon if it was a particularly violent attack. It’s a high-risk decision.”
Jake Davison
Davison’s Weatherby Pump Action Pistol (top) with a more popular shotgun
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Plymouth shooter’s father warns police that his son shouldn’t own handguns
‘Not enough staff’ in police department returned handgun to Davison
The inquest heard Davison state he has autism in his application and consent to his GP sharing information with police about his medical history.
However, Davison’s GP declined to comment for police to assess whether he should be issued a handgun certification.
Police Chief Roy Linden, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said investigators should have gathered medical evidence on Davison when reviewing his application for a pistol license.
Boris Johnson and other world leaders at the summit
He told the inquest: “Opinion should have been sought from a GP.”
Speaking to the families of the victims, Ms Sherwood also said it was “unthinkable” what they were going through and that the incident had “affected all of us personally and professionally”.
She added: “We and others will learn from this.”
The investigation continues.
