On Friday, 27 January, a 17-year-old male, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was sentenced to a 12-month referral order at Kingston Crown Court after shooting himself in the foot with a shotgun.
On December 1, 2022, he pleaded guilty in the same court to having a firearm with the intent to instil fear of violence.
Tyrese Campbell, 19, of Chrislea Close, Hounslow, was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Friday, 27 January, after pleading guilty to carrying a firearm in a public place on 1 December 2022 at the same court.
The court heard that shortly after 11.55pm on March 11, 2022, the 17-year-old went to the hospital with a gunshot wound to his foot and stated that he had been shot.
Officers conducted investigations and determined that his account was false due to the nature of his injury. Witnesses and CCTV investigations revealed that he had accidentally discharged a shotgun concealed in his waistband into his foot while walking down Lionel Road North, TW8.
The investigation discovered that another teenager, Campbell, was present at the time of the incident and took the firearm with him.
The 17-year-old and Campbell were illegally in possession of the shotgun, and they clearly only had it with the intention of causing fear of violence – or worse,” said Detective Constable Katie Newton of the Specialist Crime Command.
We know that gun crime is closely linked to gangs, drug markets, and organised crime groups, and we will go to any length to disrupt the supply of firearms on London’s streets.
“But we can’t do it on our own. We can reduce gun crime much more quickly if members of the public provide us with information about where firearms are stored and who is using them.”