Gunman given 'licence to kill': Police slammed for Plymouth massacre as coroner rules victims unlawfully killed
20 February 2023, 15:52 | Updated: 20 February 2023, 16:07
The families of a child and four adults shot dead by a rampaging gunman in Plymouth have accused police of giving the gunman a ‘licence to kill’ by giving him permission to possess a gun.
In a statement released after an inquest jury concluded the five people gunned down during the Keyham shooting were unlawfully killed, the families of Jake Davison's victims said his actions that day were "an act of pure evil", which were "facilitated and enabled by a series of failings and incompetence from the people and organisations that are supposed to keep us safe".
They 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."
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Jake Davidson assault caught on CCTV
In just eight minutes Davison killed his mother Maxine, 51, and then shot dead three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father Lee, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66.
He then turned the weapon upon himself as he was confronted by an unarmed police officer on August 12 2021 in Keyham, Plymouth.
Jurors at a long-running inquest held at Exeter Racecourse gave their conclusions on Monday afternoon, ruling each victim was unlawfully killed.
The inquest heard the 22-year-old legally held a shotgun certificate and weapon having been obsessed with firearms from a young age due to a trait in autism of developing a "special interest".
He applied to Devon and Cornwall Police for a shotgun certificate in July 2017 aged 18, saying he wanted to go clay pigeon shooting with his uncle.
As part of the application process Davison had declared his autism and Asperger's but when police sought relevant information from his GP, the doctor declined to provide any as it was not mandatory.
The police granted the application in January 2018 to last five years.
Later that year the apprentice crane operator bought a black Weatherby pump-action shotgun which he kept at home in Biddick Drive.
Police were already aware Davison had a history of violence and knew that aged 12 he had assaulted two teachers and aged 13 had punched a pupil at the special school he attended.
Aged 17 he was involved in a domestic verbal argument with his father Mark and was also suspected of an assault outside a Tesco store in 2016.
In September 2020, Davison was captured on CCTV punching a 16-year-old boy up to nine times in a skate park and slapping their 15-year-old female friend after another boy called him a "fat c***".
Detectives did not know he was a firearms holder and put him on the deferred charge Pathfinder scheme instead of prosecution.
It was only two months later a concerned Pathfinder worker alerted police and the shotgun and certificate were seized.
But just five weeks before the killings, they were handed back to Davison.
Witnesses to the shootings recalled seeing the smirking gunman on his rampage and dialled 999 after hearing gunshots.
Davison left Biddick Drive and walked into the nearby Linear Park and killed dogwalker Mr Washington.
Mrs Shepherd was fatally shot outside a hair salon on Henderson Place.
As two unarmed officers tried to save her life, Davison returned with the shotgun nestled under his chin.
Risking his own life, Pc Zach Printer rushed towards him to try to make him surrender but Davison pulled the trigger - with his death captured on the officer's body worn camera.
The five-week inquest heard there were multiple failures within the firearms licensing unit and staff were not using "professional curiosity" to scrutinise applications properly.
They had also not received nationally recognised training, which had been recommended in the wake of the Dunblane tragedy.
The decision-making system was "fundamentally flawed" and was in place for at least five years, the inquest heard.
Chief Superintendent Roy Linden, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said Davison should never have been granted the certificate.
"Jake Davison should not have had a licence. Jake Davison should not have had a licence again in 2020. For that, we very much apologise. It should not have happened," he said.
