'A licence to kill': Families accuse police after coroner rules Plymouth shooting victims were unlawfully killed

The families of the victims of Plymouth gunman Jake Davison say his shooting spree was “an act of pure evil” which was “enabled by a series of failings and incompetence from the people and organisations that are supposed to keep us safe”.

The statement was released after a coroner ruled the victims of the shooting were unlawfully killed.

The attack took place in Keyham, Plymouth, on 12 August 2021 and was one of the worst mass shootings in UK history.

“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,” they said in a statement released by their lawyers.

“Warning signs were ignored and a licence to kill was granted.”

Jake Davison, 22, shot his mother Maxine, 51, before killing three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father, Lee, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66, in August 2021 in the Keyham area of Plymouth.

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He then turned the weapon on himself.

The findings come after a jury inquest in Exeter heard nearly six weeks of evidence.

The inquest heard how Davison, an apprentice crane operator who had been obsessed with guns from a young age, legally held a shotgun licence despite having a history of violence.

He was granted a certificate in 2018 and had declared his autism and Asperger’s when applying – but Davison’s GP refused to provide details when asked by police processing his application.

Later that year, Davison bought a black Weatherby pump-action shotgun which he kept at home.

Firearm returned five weeks before killings

In September 2020, he was captured on CCTV punching a teenage boy nine times in a skate park in Plymouth and slapping a 15-year-old girl after a boy shouted abuse at him.

Police investigating the assault did not know he was a firearms holder – unaware that ‘FC’ on police database meant ‘Firearms Certificate’ – and put him on the deferred charge Pathfinder scheme instead of prosecution.

His shotgun was eventually seized two months later – but as he was deemed low risk it was returned just five weeks before the killings.

Returning shotgun ‘should not have happened’

During the inquest, Chief Superintendent Roy Linden from Devon and Cornwall Police apologised for the decision to grant and later return the shotgun – telling the inquest: “It should not have happened”.

He added: “The scrutiny and the quality of the decision-making by inquiry officers throughout, and the interpretation of the national guidance, was not as it should have been.”

The jury heard there were multiple failures within the firearms unit and staff had not received training that was recommended in the wake of the Dunblane tragedy in 1996.

Police force ‘failed us’

Patrick Maguire, representing the victims’ families, said: “Whilst today marks the end of this inquest, it will never mark the end of the pain for all of our families and loved ones. Nothing will ever bring back Sophie, Lee, Stephen and Kate.

“On 12th August 2021 our lives were changed forever. Our hearts are still incredibly heavy with grief, and we are still struggling to come to terms with our loss.

“We will never be able to understand or comprehend why Davison did what he did.

“It was an act of pure evil.

“However, we now know that this evil act was facilitated and enabled by a series of failings and incompetence from the people and organisations that are supposed to keep us safe.

“The system has hopelessly failed us. In particular, the Devon and Cornwall police force has failed us.”

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