Moment ‘incel’ gunman Jake Davison viciously attacks 16-year-old boy after he was insulted by another teenager is revealed – as inquest jury finds ‘catastrophic failure’ and ‘unsafe culture’ in police licensing unit
- Shocking CCTV footage of Plymouth shooter Jake Davison has been shown at an inquest
- In the clip, the killer who shot his own mother, beats up two teenage boys
Shocking newly released CCTV footage shows Plymouth gunman Jake Davison punching a 16-year-old boy after he was called a ‘fat c***’ by another teenager – less than a year before he shot dead five people, including his mother.
The new footage was shown at an inquest into Davison’s five victims, which found that Devon and Cornwall police had overseen a ‘catastrophic failure’ in allowing violent Davison to own a shotgun and license.
In August 2021, Davison – a member of the ‘incel’ community – shot dead five people, including his mother Maxine, 51, in August 2021 with a firearm he legally held.
The Keyham gunman was granted ‘a licence to kill’ because of failures in a police licensing unit, his victims’ families said as an inquest jury found there was a ‘seriously unsafe culture’ in the department.
In the short clip, the boy who insulted Davison ran off and the 22-year-old responded with a burst of violence so extreme his blameless victim suffered injuries to his eyebrow, nose and lip.
In August 2021, Jake Davison killed his mother Maxine, 51, after a row and then shot dead four others
CCTV of the incident in a Plymouth park showed him approaching the boy, who was sat on a wall, and then dragging him off to begin the attack – giving him no chance to defend himself.
Davison punches the boy at least five times but he could have unleashed between seven and nine blows during the assault.
As the teenager goes limp Davison continues the punching before the footage shows him picking him up and throwing him to the ground.
Davison then swings a punch at another boy and misses.
He then appears to either stumble over the teenager or kick him as he was on the floor.
When a 15-year-old girl goes to her friend’s aid she was slapped by Davison and he then leaves the scene.
Davison was not charged with the September 2020 assaults and instead a detective sergeant referred him to a deferred charging scheme as an alternative to prosecution.
The parents of the boy wanted Davison charged but he was instead enrolled on the Pathfinder scheme.
After being alerted by staff from the scheme, Davison’s certificate and legally held pump-action shotgun and certificate were seized by Devon and Cornwall Police firearms enquiry officer David Rees but were later returned.
In a statement, the families of Davison’s victims said his actions that day were ‘an act of pure evil’, which were ‘facilitated and enabled by a series of failings and incompetence from the people and organisations that are supposed to keep us safe’.
They said: ‘It is beyond us how Davison, a man with a known history of violence, mental health issues, and with no real need to own a firearm, was granted a licence to possess a gun in the first place.
‘Warning signs were ignored and a licence to kill was granted.’
The Weatherby pump action shotgun used by Jake Davison in the shootings
The jury in the Keyham victims’ inquest found there was a ‘catastrophic failure’ and ‘seriously unsafe culture’ in the Devon and Cornwall Police firearms and explosives licensing unit before Jake Davison’s shooting spree.
In recording a verdict of unlawful killing, the jury concluded the death was caused by the fact ‘that the perpetrator had a lawfully held shotgun.’
They said contributing to this were ‘serious failures by Devon and Cornwall Police FELU in granting and, later, failing to revoke the perpetrator’s shotgun certificate.’
They added: ‘In licencing the perpetrator to have a shotgun there was a serious failure by Devon and Cornwall Police to protect the deceased.
‘There was a failure of Devon and Cornwall Police to have in place safe and robust systems. Foremost, the training of FELU staff, governance of the FELU, quality assurance of FELU staff’s decision-making and ensuring decisions were made at the correct level.
‘There was a failure by Devon and Cornwall Police FELU staff to obtain sufficient medical information in respect of the perpetrator’s application for a shotgun certificate and also on review.
‘There was a failure by Devon and Cornwall Police FELU staff to properly seek out and consider all the relevant evidence and information available before deciding whether to grant the perpetrator a shotgun certificate.
‘Following the perpetrator having assaulted two children in 2020, there was a failure by Devon and Cornwall Police to protect the public and the peace.. Firstly, within the Local Investigation team regarding the downgraded charge and secondly, within the FELU to sufficiently investigate whether it was safe to return to the perpetrator his shotgun and certificate after initially seizing them.
‘Incorrect application of the risk matrix meant there was a serious failure by Devon and Cornwall Police to implement an adequate system to ensure that the decision whether or not to (i) grant or (ii) return a shotgun certificate following review, was made or approved by a manager of sufficient seniority.
‘A lack of national accredited Firearms licensing training has and continues to fail to equip police staff to protect the public safety.
‘Serious failure’ giving Davison license after ‘violent episodes’
In its conclusions, the jury also recorded: ‘In 2017, given the absence of medical information, the known history of assaults and the intelligence held by Devon & Cornwall Police suggesting involvement in other violent episodes, it was a serious failure to protect the public and the peace to grant a licence to the perpetrator.’
They said there was a ‘serious failure’ within the Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit (FELU) to heed and apply the 2016 Home Office guidance and said ‘inadequate steps’ were taken to obtain specific and relevant medical evidence.
They also said the ‘referee’s tasks and responsibilities were not made clear and insufficient inquiries were made of the referee given the known history of assaults at school’ and described a culture in the firearms unit of an ‘insufficient degree of professional curiosity.’
They said the decision to return the shotgun and licence to the perpetrator in July 2021 was ‘fundamentally flawed and as a result failed to protect the public and the peace.’
‘The officer investigating the skate park assaults in September 2020 should have noted that the perpetrator was a firearms certificate holder and taken immediate steps to alert the FELU to the incident,’ they added.
They said it was ‘unreasonable to categorise the level of the assault upon the boy in the skate park as battery.’
The jury added: ‘There were clear aggravating factors to suggest this should have been charged at a higher level and there was inadequate investigation of whether the assault on the boy in the skate park had led to his unconsciousness.’
They also described use of referring Davison to the Pathfinder scheme in this instance as ‘wholly inadequate in reducing the perpetrator’s future offending.’
‘There was a catastrophic failure in the management of the FELU, with a lack of managerial supervision, inadequate and ineffective leadership. This was compounded by a lack of senior management and executive leadership who failed to notice or address the issues.’
On reviewing the perpetrator’s suitability to retain the shotgun certificate, they said the ‘FEO ought to have shown a greater degree of professional curiosity in obtaining and evaluating further information. The case was not passed to the FLM for review which was against Home Office guidance.’
The jury also said there was a ‘serious failure at a national level by the government, Home Office and National College of Policing to implement the recommendation from Lord Cullen’s Report in 1996 arising out of the fatal shootings in Dunblane, to provide training for FEOs.’
The training and informal mentoring was also described as ‘insufficient to enable the FEOs to safely discharge their duties.’
They added: ‘Informal mentoring had inherent limitations, meaning incorrect processes were perpetuated and not formally recorded as an agreed training method to deliver learning outcomes.
‘There was a catastrophic failure in the management of the FELU, with a lack of managerial supervision, inadequate and ineffective leadership. This was compounded by a lack of senior management and executive leadership who failed to notice or address the issues.
‘There was a lack of scrutiny and professional curiosity at all levels. The ineffective auditing and governance of the FELU in place led to an inadequate system of dip sampling, qualitative assessment of staff’s decision-making, and learning from the results of the same.
‘There was a seriously unsafe culture within the FELU of defaulting to granting licences and to returning licences after review.
‘There was a dangerous lack of understanding on the part of the Devon and Cornwall Police FELU staff regarding the use and application of the FELU risk matrix.’
The jury went on to say there was a lack of a national accredited firearms licensing training for police staff assessing applications.
They went on: ‘There was a catastrophic failure in the management of the firearms and explosives and licensing unit, with a lack of managerial supervision, inadequate and ineffective leadership.
‘This was compounded by a lack of senior management and executive leadership who failed to notice or address the issues.’
The firearms confusion meant that Devon and Cornwall Police’s firearms licensing unit were not aware of this burst of violence in September 2020 until the following November
After the shooting ‘incel’ Jake Davison, shown here on a CCTV image, turned the gun on himself
A street cleaner outside a police cordon in Biddick Drive in the Keyham area of Plymouth, Devon, where five people were killed by the gunman
Patrick Maguire, a partner at law firm HCC who is representing the families of the Keyham victims, said: ‘There has been a huge amount of information for our clients to process during the inquest over the past five weeks.
‘In the coming weeks we will work with our clients and provide the coroner with our client’s thoughts on how future deaths can be prevented.
‘Our clients are all united and are dedicated to ensuring that fundamental changes are made to prevent firearms getting into the hands of the wrong people.
‘Systems and legislation needs to change. My team will now be supporting our clients in navigating the next steps to do our best to make these things happen.’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog found two employees of Devon and Cornwall police had a case to answer for misconduct over the way they dealt with Jake Davison’s gun licence.
READ MORE: Terrified Plymouth resident told ‘smirking’ Incel gunman Jake Davison ‘what have you done’, inquest hears
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One firearms licensing supervisor failed to ensure Davison’s shotgun certificate application was correctly risk assessed, and failed to ensure that he could be permitted to possess a shotgun without danger to public safety. They received a written warning.
A firearms inquiry officer (FEO), who has since retired, would have had a case to answer for misconduct had they still been serving, for failing to make adequate inquiries as part of a case review following the September 2020 park assaults, and failing to correctly risk assess Jake Davison.
The IOPC found there was no case to answer in the FEO’s handling of the application for a gun licence in 2017, as failings there were due to a lack of training and supervision.
The officer in charge of investigating the park assaults had no case to answer for failing to notify the firearms licensing unit about the violent offence or take steps to seize Davison’s gun.
This was also found to be due to a lack of guidance and training.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Our thoughts are with the loved ones of Maxine Davison, Lee and Sophie Martyn, Kate Shepherd and Stephen Washington.
‘Once received we will reflect on the Coroner’s report, including any recommendations, and respond in due course.’
IOPC regional director David Ford said: ‘I again send my heartfelt sympathies to the families of those who died, to those injured, and everyone so deeply affected by the horrific tragedy in Keyham on 12 August 2021.
‘The terrible events in Plymouth that day remain understandably raw in many people’s minds. It is vital that meaningful change is implemented to help police personnel responsible for firearms licensing make safe and sound decisions. Those changes are aimed at reducing the risks of a tragedy like this happening again.’
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