Shooting prompts law rethink

Nicola Diston lost the sight in her left eye

The government is to examine the possibility of tightening laws around airguns following a meeting with a delegation from Gateshead.

The meeting - led by Labour MP Joyce Quinn - was prompted after a teenager from the town was injured in a shooting incident last year.

Nicola Distin, then aged 15, lost her sight in one eye when she was shot by two teenagers in November.

The delegation, which also included, Gateshead Councillor John McElroy and campaigner Bob Goldsworthy, met Home Office Minister Bob Ainsworth on Monday.

We want to stop the misuse of these weapons which have led to appalling injuries and fatalities

Bob Goldsworthy, airgun campaigner

Mr Goldsworthy, leader of the Heworth and Pelaw Labour Action Team, has played a leading role in the campaign to have airguns licensed.

He said: "We pressed the government to make it more difficult to obtain and keep airguns.

"We want to stop the misuse of these weapons which have led to appalling injuries and fatalities."

There have been a spate of airgun incidents across the the country in recent months.

On Sunday, a 45-year-old man, who was born deaf-blind and without speech, needed hospital treatment after being shot in Middlesbrough.

In March, a bus company in South Yorkshire reported a number of airgun attacks on drivers.

Jail sentence

A court case after Nicola was injured led to custodial sentences for two teenagers who admitted charges of unlawful wounding.

She was permanently blinded when the pellet lodged behind her left eye.

Daniel Lumsden, 18, of Donside, Leam Lane, Gateshead, was jailed for two-and-a-half years, in March.

Damon Davison, 17, of Sheraton, also Leam Lane, was given an 18-month detention and training order.

Nicola's mother, Sandra, has helped raise 18,500 signatures for a petition campaigning to tighten airgun laws.