Teen jailed for 24 years after attacking school pupil with double-barrelled shotgun

1 November 2021, 19:06

A teenager who shot a 15-year-old boy in the face with a double-barrelled shotgun as he walked to school has been sentenced to 24 years in custody for his attempted murder.

The 16-year-old defendant, who was obsessed with guns and violent computer games, "ruthlessly executed" his plan to attack his victim on 7 September last year, judge Martyn Levett told Ipswich Crown Court.

The youth defendant can now be named as Jacob Talbot-Lummis after the judge lifted a reporting restriction that had banned his identification.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been walking to school in Kesgrave, near Ipswich, for the first day back after the first national lockdown when he was shot from less than 1.5m away.

An earlier trial heard that Talbot-Lummis took his father's car to drive to the location and lay in wait for the boy for more than an hour before shooting him with his grandfather's Beretta.

Judge Levett said the victim suffered "unimaginably serious injuries", still suffers flashbacks and continues to be "reliant on his family".

"The intention to kill wasn't formed on the spur of the moment," he said.

"This was all pre-planned and pre-meditated."

He said Talbot-Lummis had played a virtual reality computer game called Blood Trail the day before the shooting.

A friend of the defendant said the game was "hyper-realistic in its violence" and that Talbot-Lummis "adores it".

The judge told the defendant: "You had this obsessive interest in all kinds of firearms and had become entrenched in watching computer games online."

He said Talbot-Lummis had played computer games "obsessively" since he was nine years old, "playing games in a virtual world more suitable for 18-year-olds".

He said that playing such games "was a factor for the onset of violent fantasies you had".

And the judge voiced concern about "the frequent glorification of shooting a character on screen".

Talbot-Lummis said in evidence that he wanted to "scare" the boy who had caused him "humiliation and fear" and claimed that he fired the gun unintentionally, but jurors rejected his account and found him guilty of attempted murder.

The judge said the defendant did not report his bullying claims to the school, adding: "I don't accept there was bullying of the scale or the degree suggested."

The judge said Talbot-Lummis had a "haul" of lawfully-held BB guns in his bedroom, adding: "If you wanted to scare (the victim) you could have used one of your own authentic-looking guns."

He said Talbot-Lummis "ambushed" his victim and "didn't show any mercy or restraint".

The defendant was also convicted of possession of a shotgun with intent to endanger the boy's life and possession of a shotgun with intent to cause fear of injury to the boy.

The judge said he had the "protection of the public in mind" as he imposed the extended sentence, comprising 24 years in custody and five years on licence.

Addressing Talbot-Lummis, he said: "That sentence will affect you until you're 45 years old."

Diana Ellis QC, mitigating, said Talbot-Lummis has "expressed his regret and remorse".