The families of Jake Davison’s victims have branded his shooting spree “an act of pure evil” but said he was “facilitated and enabled by a series of failings and incompetence from the people and organisations that are supposed to keep us safe”.
Three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father, Lee, 43, Stephen Washington, 59, and Kate Shepherd, 66, were gunned down by Davison in a matter of minutes. The shootings in Keyham, Plymouth, on August 12, 2021, shocked the country and were one of the worst mass shootings in UK history.
“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,” they said in a statement released by their lawyers. “Warning signs were ignored and a licence to kill was granted.”
