Keyham inquest: Gunman told police he 'lost it' during violent attack on teen before shooting

A gunman who shot dead five people told police he "lost it" and "had to make somebody pay" when he violently attacked a teenager in a skate park a year before the killings, an inquest has heard.

Jake Davison was not charged with a criminal offence for the assault in Plymouth's Central Park in September 2020, which left a 16-year-old boy injured in hospital.

Instead, he was referred to the Pathfinder scheme, designed to address anger management as an alternative to prosecution.

He then went on to commit one of the UK's worst mass shootings, killing five people, including a three-year-old girl, in August 2021.

He carried out the shootings using a legally-owned pump-action shotgun, which he then turned on himself.

Three months after the assault, Davison was interviewed by Pathfinder keyworker David Huggett, who is a former police inspector.

Mr Hugget worked with the 22-year-old on the deferred prosecution scheme after he had assaulted the two teenagers.

"He told me he’d had a bad day, he had been at home, he and his mother were getting on each other’s nerves, he felt he needed to get out of the house, have a walk and calm down,", Mr Huggett told the inquest.

Davison told Mr Huggett he had been verbally abused by someone as he was walking through Central Park.

"He said he just snapped", Mr Hugget said.

"He went up to the group and he lost it. He said he knew that the person he assaulted was not the person that had shouted abuse, but he felt he had to make somebody pay for the comment directed at him.

"He expressed remorse and accepted what he’d done was wrong. Walking away he immediately recognised he shouldn’t have done what he did."

Mr Huggett wrote a report following the meeting, in which he classed Davison as at "low risk" to himself and to others.

Mr Huggett's report reads: "Jake has been referred for an assault so the potential for violence is there.

"He does not appear to hold any grudges against anyone and does not know who the victims were in this case.

"Clearly he does have an issue with his temper which will need to be managed, but at this point, I assess that the risk to others is low.

"He understands that any further offences would result in his removal from Pathfinder and summons to court, and he wishes to ensure he does not have to go to court."

Mr Huggett, a former member of the Armed Forces and police officer for 27 years, said on reviewing Davison's record he was "surprised" he had a shotgun certificate.

"The limited information available to me suggested he had autism," he said.

"I had seen the previous incidents, unprovoked assaults against teachers and a pupil, it seemed he had issues where he had meltdowns and lashed out against people.

"I thought this was unpredictable behaviour - are firearms licensing aware of this, do they know this? So I took it upon myself to e-mail them."

Mr Huggett contacted David Rees, firearms enquiry officer, asking whether he was aware of Davison's violent past, medical conditions and whether he was suitable to own a gun.

"I wasn’t happy. I just thought that doesn’t sound right to me", he said.

"They are the experts. I’ve never had experience of firearms licensing. But I was concerned, so I raised my concerns with them."

Davison's shotgun and licence were confiscated shortly after his meeting with Mr Huggett but returned to him the following summer.

Mr Huggett told the inquest he "never had any expectation" Davison would ever get his gun back.

But in March 2021, after Davison completed an online course and was given a booklet about anger management, Mr Huggett said he had "no ongoing concerns" about him.

The shotgun and certificate were later returned.

Bridget Dolan KC, counsel to the inquest, asked Mr Huggett: "Why did you not say from the outset, despite the fact he’s been through Pathfinder, my view is that this man is not safe to have a firearm?

He replied: "That’s not what I was asked. If a department needed more information, they should come back and ask questions and explore that. We were never asked about the suitability of him to have a firearm.

"If that request had come back, a discussion would have taken place, I’m certain my recommendation would have been this person should never have a firearm."

Asked whether the Pathfinder scheme had been a success, Mr Huggett said: "Obviously what happened is awful, but my view is that he was successful on Pathfinder.

"We can't rehabilitate everyone. Sadly a lot of people re-offend."

The inquest continues.

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