Questions police HAVE to answer over Plymouth massacre: Concern over how shotgun was returned

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The devastating rampage Jake Davison undertook in Plymouth on Thursday evening sent shockwaves across Britain.

But it also raised urgent questions about how the 22-year-old killer was able to have access to such a deadly weapon.

Disturbing social media posts and videos he published on open accounts appear to have been missed or ignored when granting him a gun licence.

The sick killer also had a firearm snatched off him by Devon and Cornwall Police last year because he allegedly assaulted someone.

Yet officers, for reasons that are not yet fully known, felt an anger management course would suffice – and gave it back to him last month.

The authorities have burning questions to answer over how they handled the troubled young man, with some of the pressing issues outlined here.

Were his mother’s fears about his mental health ignored?

The biggest question Devon and Cornwall police must urgently answer is whether Davison was fit to be allowed to store a lethal weapon.

The 22-year-old blasted his mother to death before killing four others including a three-year-old girl during his rampage in Plymouth.

The random nature of the other four killings further begs questions about his mental state, with him appearing to take a pop at whoever was in front of him.

Davison then doubled back on the route of his shooting spree to some garages behind the local hairdressers and shot himself in the head.

This is on top of the disturbing videos he posted on YouTube and other platforms about being a ‘f***ing fat ugly virgin’ and pulling deranged faces to viewers.

He said: ‘I used to be OK with being a virgin too, but when you get older and the inferiority complex kicks in and the feeling of despair and missing out occurs.

‘Try being an unemployed, autistic, poor, sexually frustrated male with tons of health issues, no social circle and being stuck in government housing with my mother for years on end, having missed out on so much in life.’

Meanwhile his own mother, Maxine, 51, is believed to have begged police and health services to check her son’s welfare.

A friend of the family wrote on Thursday night that other relatives had made similar pleas for help. They said in a Facebook post: ‘The NHS basically said they are short staffed and that was it.

‘The family even asked the police to come out to see him as he was talking acting and acting strange – they didn’t do a welfare check. And now six people are dead.’

Davison was diagnosed with autism as a child and was sent to Mount Tamar special school in Plymouth, where he was said to have been ‘disruptive’ for his peers.

Jess Wallace recalled: ‘My boyfriend went to school with him and said he was pretty shy and quiet and would talk about how cool Americans are, and the idea of having a gun collection.’

Another woman related to a former classmate added: ‘He was well-known for his anger issues.’

Did he have a licence for the pump action shotgun he used?

Police have already said the killer had a gun licence, but at a press conference yesterday they could not say whether it was for the firearm he used to murder.

He was seen holding a pump action shotgun but it is not yet clear how he would have acquired the weapon.

Professor of Criminology at Brighton University Peter Squires, who is also a member of the Gun Control Network, explained ammunition for these are restricted in the UK.

The guns are fed from a fixed tubular magazine with cartridges loaded in manually in a similar way to a regular shotgun.

But they can hold more at once than a standard shotgun, meaning the user can fire more bursts in quick succession like a semi-automatic weapon.

In Britain, where gun laws are reasonably strict, Prof Squires said there are restrictions to having just two cartridges in the magazine at one time.

He told MailOnline: ‘Pump action shotguns are not as long as regular ones. There has been an issue surrounding those.

‘They were prohibited to some extent after the Hungerford shootings and restricted to two rounds in the pump action magazine.

But he said there are loopholes for sport and pest control which means people can justify needing a gun.

He said: ‘This is gun licencing in the UK in a nutshell. We have very tough gun laws but when it comes to licence applications and renewals it’s the classic case of 43 police forces do it with 43 different shades of due diligence.

‘I think there’s a real issue about the time and resources that police put into firearms licencing because it costs them money to do it, which is the absurd thing.

‘The fact he may well have been showing signs of lunacy may not have come through. It opens up that whole question about whether GPs should certify if someone is sane at point of licence application or renewal.’

It begs the questions whether Davison had a right to use the gun, whether he was a member of a shooting club and if he modified the gun to suit his twisted needs.

Why was the gun returned to him after being confiscated in December?

In a move that could have prevented the tragedy of Thursday night, Devon and Cornwall Police snatched Davison’s shotgun from him in December.

The legally held weapon had been taken from him following an allegation of assault in September.

But it was returned to him in July after he attended an anger management course after which police classed him as being fit again to possess the three-shot gun.

IOPC regional director David Ford yesterday announced an investigation into the shooting and ‘police contact with Jake Davison prior to the incident’. This includes the force’s role and actions regarding firearms licensing.

Mr Ford said: ‘After assessment of the referral we have determined we will carry out an independent investigation focusing on Jake Davison’s firearms licensing history and its impact on the tragic events of Thursday August 12.

‘We will examine what police actions were taken and when, the rationale behind police decision-making, and whether relevant law, policy and procedures were followed concerning Mr Davison’s possession of a shotgun.

‘The investigation will also consider whether the force had any information concerning Mr Davison’s mental health and if so, if this information was appropriately considered.

‘It appears the force’s response to reports of the shootings was very prompt and having reviewed information currently available, we are not intending to investigate the Devon and Cornwall Police response to the shootings.

‘This will be kept under review as more information emerges. However, the investigation will explore whether there was any causal link between the arrival of police and Mr Davison apparently shooting himself.’

Mr Ford added: ‘It has not yet been established whether the shotgun returned to Mr Davison was used in yesterday’s shootings.’

In its investigation the IOPC will seek to get to the bottom of why officers returned the deadly weapon to Davison and what checks they did.

Was he a member of a shooting club which gave him the right to have one?

There are few reasons to justify having lethal weapons in the United Kingdom, with gun licencing laws being tough.

One of them a person can fairly apply using is if they are a sports shooter who goes to shooting ranges or hunts game or other animals.

The Telegraph reported this morning that this was Davison’s justification for needing a shotgun. Prof Squires said the type of pump action shotgun the killer had on him is often used for sport shooting.

He said: ‘There has been a sort of rock and roll shooting sport created which involved them. It’s been a bit controversial.

‘The law was always a bit of a loophole that a conventional pump action shotgun, which is basically a semi-automatic shotgun was restricted to two rounds.

‘But these new practical shooting shotguns seem to be permissible to have fairly large magazines because they use them in combat simulation sports.

‘It’s a bit like an assault course shooting. They dive behind vehicles, shoot through windows, and jump over walls to hit small targets on a timed basis.

‘It’s a rifle licence, so not just a shotgun licence, but the upgraded rifle licence. To have one you’re supposed to evidence it by being a member of a club and actually taking part in real competitions.

‘That’s your good reason and someone else has to say you’re a genuine sport shooter.

‘So someone has vetted him and said he’s okay and there will be a question about whether he did any competition because that’s really the only reason you’re allowed one.’

If this is the reason Devon and Cornwall Police allowed Davison to keep a gun, more information is urgently needed on whether he used it for this purpose.

Were police aware of his social media rants before the killing spree?

Hours after the shooting, MailOnline uncovered a range of disturbing videos Davison had posted online.

They could be found on mainstream platforms such as YouTube and were not hidden from the public or taken down until after the tragedy on Thursday.

The footage shows a deeply troubled young man who appears ready to blow at any moment.

Calling himself ‘Professor Waffle’, he posted videos of himself working out and most recently ten-minute rants about life being ‘rigged against you’.

He said humanity was on the ‘brink of extinction’ and that he was repulsive to the opposite sex.

He also shared clips from ultra-violent video games and just two days ago ‘liked’ videos of a M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle being shot.

In his most recent online rant from his bedroom he said: ‘You wake up and you stare at the wall and you’re thinking um nothing’s changed but I’m still in the same position, same period in life, still a f***ing this, that virgin f***ing fat ugly, what.’

He added: ‘I like to think sometimes, you know, I’m a Terminator or something. And despite, despite, um, you know reaching almost total system failure he keeps trying to accomplish his mission.’

A fortnight ago, the 22-year-old also spoke of his affinity with the ‘incel’ movement, which has been linked to a number of mass shootings in the US.

Some followers believe they are owed sex by women. Davison says repeatedly in his videos he is repulsive to women, overweight and so is all his family.

He also talks about being a ‘black pill-er’ – a group who believe they are unworthy of love and attempts to form relationships with women are ‘destined to end in failure’.

Davison also ‘liked’ a series of videos about guns, shared posts on Facebook quoting former Donald Trump and pictures of a statue holding a rifle with the US flag.

Devon and Cornwall Police have not said whether they were aware of the videos or not, but will face pressure to clarify.

How did the conversations between Davison and police go on previous occasions?

Thursday’s shooting was not the first time Devon and Cornwall Police had been in contact with Davison. It emerged yesterday officers had taken his firearm off him in December following an alleged assault.

It is therefore likely they had seen first-hand what the twisted man was like as a person.

The IOPC during its probe will need to uncover the conversations police had with him and whether there was a missed opportunity to help him or grounds to lock him up.

Was he being monitored by police or spooks?

With the deranged killer’s YouTube page being accessible, it would seem confusing if he was not being watched by police or the security services.

A former top prosecutor said today the gunman should have been on a watchlist before the shooting spree.

Nazir Afzal, who was previously chief crown prosecutor for the North West said Davison was ‘exactly the type of person the authorities should be keeping an eye on’.

When asked on BBC Breakfast on Saturday if Davison should have been on a watchlist, Mr Afzal said: ‘Yes, absolutely, particularly given that he had a firearms licence and given that we now learn in December it was taken off him temporarily because of allegations he was facing and returned to him.

‘He was exactly the kind of person that you would be keeping an eye on or the authorities should be keeping an eye on.’

Mr Afzal said none of Davison’s social media posts seemed to have been taken into account when restoring his gun licence.

When asked on BBC Breakfast if a year seemed like a short period of time for the licence to be revoked, he said: ‘100 per cent I agree with you.

‘It’s not just about the fact that the gun was returned to him, his licence was restored.

‘In the interim there were all these social media posts talking about the violence he believed in or felt was necessary, how he felt about women.

‘None of that seems to have been taken into account.’ He added: ‘If they [the police] were aware (of his social media posts) then they have got even more questions to be asked.’

Mr Afzal said that Davison’s social media posts painted a picture of a man who thought women were ‘lesser beings’.

He added: ‘We have now seen posts on various social media sites which paint a picture of somebody that has a very low opinion or had a very low opinion of women, who seemed to have a belief he was entitled to do whatever he wanted to, a real expectation that women were some kind of lesser being.

‘That kind of extreme misogyny of the type we have seen here and in terms of the incel community is a threat to all women and, ultimately, to all our communities.’

Police and the security services need to reveal whether they were monitoring him and messed up, or if he completely avoided their gaze.

Will police look to clamp down on gun licences in the county?

The Tragedy of Britain’s first mass shooting in 11 years has inevitably reignited questions over whether gun laws are tough enough.

Rolled out to the press to answer questions on the matter, Nick Kelly, leader of Plymouth City Council, said the investigation could show there are wider issues about scrutinising people who are given firearms.

Councillor Kelly told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: ‘My personal view is let’s see what the investigation unearths, let’s try to piece together exactly why the licence was suspended, taken away in the first place, and why it was deemed appropriate to give back.

‘It could be a wider issue nationally with regards to greater scrutiny of people who are given firearms because the last thing we want as a nation, or indeed as a city, is for anybody else to endure and go through the horrific actions and the loss of five innocent lives and two people who have got serious injuries in hospital.

‘My own view with regards to guns is I think why do you need a gun in the first place?

‘If there’s a very legitimate reason, well I would not want to take guns away from everybody, but I think gun crime in Plymouth is unheard of – perhaps nationally there’s more of an issue.

‘We just need to review it, look at the facts in this specific case and hopefully if tighter legislation is required that will be forthcoming.’

Yet many use guns for completely legitimate reasons, such as farmers for pest control – with rural Devon full of landowners unlikely to want to give up theirs.

Devon and Cornwall Police will surely look closer at their gun licencing practice after this, but it is not yet clear what action it will take.