Relatives of Plymouth Shooting Victims Say Police Granted Assailant a ‘Licence to Kill’

Devon and Cornwall Police chief calls for reform of 1968 Firearms Act

Patrick Maguire, a solicitor representing the families of the victims of Jake Davison, speaking to the media outside the inquest at Exeter racecourse in Devon, England, on Feb. 20, 2023. PA

A man who shot dead five people in eight minutes in the English city of Plymouth before taking his own life was given a “licence to kill” by incompetent police officers, the families of his victims have claimed.

On Aug. 12, 2021, Jake Davison, 22, shot dead his mother Maxine, 51, at their home in the Keyham area of the city. Armed with a shotgun, he then left the house and walked through the area, killing three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father Lee, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66.