Home Office's response to coroner's report after mass shooting in Keyham delayed

The Home Office has been given more time to respond to a coroner who called for "root and branch" reform of UK gun laws after the mass shooting in Plymouth.

An inquest found there was a "catastrophic failure" and "seriously unsafe" culture in Devon and Cornwall Police's firearms department when Jake Davison shot dead five people in the streets of Keyham in August 2021.

It also found there was a “serious failure” at a national level by the Government, Home Office and National College of Policing to implement the recommendation from a 1996 report following the Dunblane killings.

Senior coroner Ian Arrow said the 50-year-old Firearms Act was at “odds with public safety and the fundamental principle that owning a gun is a privilege and not a right”.

Following the inquest, he issued a Prevention of Future Deaths report which the Home Office was given 60 days to respond to.

ITV News understands that the deadline has now been extended by the coroner at the request of the Home Office.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The UK has some of the strictest gun controls in the world, which we keep under constant review to preserve public safety.

Jake Davison killed five people and then himself in August 2021 in Plymouth Credit: PA

"Since the tragedy in Plymouth, the government has already taken steps to tighten firearms licencing including introducing Statutory Guidance for the police, and requiring that applications will only be considered if they include medical information from the applicant’s GP.

“We thank the senior coroner in Plymouth for his Prevention of Future Deaths reports. We are carefully considering the findings and expect to respond shortly.”

What happened in Plymouth on 12 August, 2021?

Lone gunman Jake Davison shot dead his mother, Maxine Davison, at their home in Biddick Drive on 12 August, 2021.

He then walked out onto the streets of Keyham and shot dead Lee Martyn and his three-year-old daughter Sophie, Stephen Washington, and Kate Shepherd. When confronted by an unarmed police officer, Davison turned the gun on himself.

Two other people shot by Davison recovered from their injuries.

An inquest heard Davison had a history of medical conditions and violence.

The crane operator had his shotgun and licence removed after he assaulted to teenagers in a Plymouth park. The pump-action shotgun was returned to him just five weeks before the killings.