A 34-year-old mother of three was injured by a BB gun pellet as she left work at the Co-op in Nocq Road, St Sampson’s. (Picture posed by model, 0625312)
A GROUP of youngsters is believed to have been behind the shooting of a woman with a BB gun on Tuesday night.
The 34-year-old was next to the Co-op unloading bay in Nocq Road, St Sampson’s, just after 10pm when a pellet hit her upper-left arm.
The mother of three, who works at the Co-op, was shocked by the incident and has been left with a pea-sized swelling.
She said she had been shot at twice and believed the teenagers responsible were hiding in the Salvation Army car park.
‘At the time I was really scared. It happened as soon as I took five steps out of the Co-op and I was stood on the side of the pavement.
‘I didn’t see anything, but I felt it. It was a real stinging sensation and as I looked around to see where it might have come from, I heard another shot being fired but that one missed me.
‘As I started to walk faster to get away, I heard laughing so I know it was a group of more than one but less than five.
‘I got my phone out and called the police straight away.’
She was left with a stinging sensation for more than 30 minutes.
Police investigating the matter are treating it as an assault.
‘I was in tears that night when I got home,’ said the 34-year-old. ‘I don’t know if it was aimed at me on purpose or whether I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and they were maybe just aiming for a sign or something.’
The victim said she usually left work at 10pm while other members of staff worked until 11pm or later.
She has already asked her manager that in future she be let out of the front door of the shop into the car park rather than out the back way into the road.
‘The police have said there is no CCTV where I got shot and the Co-op only has cameras on the inside, but there are others on the Bridge that might have captured the group as they ran away.
‘But the whole incident has worried me as a parent because I’ve got three sons and although they want to look after mummy now, what will they be like in years to come even if I bring them up the right way?’
Sergeant Stuart Ogier said police would be doing all they could to find the culprits.
‘We searched the area immediately but found nobody.
‘We are appealing for witnesses or people who know of youths who hang around the area to contact us.
‘Incidents like this are taken very seriously and we are treating it as an assault because the woman was injured.’
Article posted on 21st August, 2008 - 11.30am
Loading ...
7 Article Comments
I’m afraid this is what Guernsey has been reduced to…. There are various areas around the island that are more like a ghetto rather then the parish life we all desire… Why you might ask?? I think we need to lay the blame firmly at the door of the authorities. As long as youth’s get away with crime so easily then what reason do they have to stop?? Shootings with BB Guns, cats kicked to death, bullying elderly people, mindless vandalism, common assault, theft - all recent examples of what youths do in Guernsey & still - STILL no-one does anything about it - that is the pathetic society we live in today. The courts are too scared to habd out harsh penalties to make examples, they will never bring back the birch…
Its a sad state of affairs that the lovely island that we once lived in has now been thrown to the dogs…
In response to W H Bonney’s email, while I agree that the behaviour of these youths is reprehensible, I do not believe that the authorities are entirely to blame.
There must be parents out there who allow their children to own BB guns and probably don’t care where they are at night. Surely they must be held responsible. No doubt they also allow their kids to spend hours playing incredibly violent computer games and watching bloodthirsty DVDs.
Parents have to take some responsibility for the behaviour of their children - trouble is, in many cases, the parents are either too lazy, too stupid or too badly behaved themselves to make any difference.
Bring back the birtch !
Any shop which sells BB guns should have some form of record who they were sold to. The police should be able to track all of them down this way.
BB guns ARE guns and therefore should be registered. This is not a difficult law for the States to pass. Just simply extend the current law to include any weapon which fires a projectile. This would include paint guns (the majority of which are owned by one or two companies).
The Police state they will charge the culprits with assult - I would hope that the culprits do not get off on some legal technicality. BB guns are weapons and concealable.
Can anyone out there actually concieve of an activity that BB guns could be used for apart from shooting at a ‘practice range’. NO, there is no legal place for them to be fired, so they should be registered and locked away at secure sites where they are legal to be fired.
The shops should be more responsible - one local shop selling them is clearly laid out to glamourise guns and the whole Vietnam / Deer Hunter image. Maybe they should also grow up and recognise what they are promoting / selling.
Agree that they should record and identify customers with valid ID like a passport etc. Theoretically they could well be selling replica weapons now being used to shoot at people (could they prove its not their stock??).
Surely it’s simple just to ban the ownership, importation and distribution except under licence for the proper paint-ball type companies. Just add the word ‘air’ to the firearm laws - the Law Officers should be able to knock that out in a week.
What is wrong with people today, getting enjoyment from injuring other pepople for amusement!
These BB guns should be licensed like regular firearms then at least you have some form of control as to who can or whether they should be able to own one in the first place.
Then again on hearing other news over the weekend, serious injuries can result without a weapon being used ie the assault on a man and woman near the liberation monument resulting in two charges of GBH. lets hope they teach this person a lesson and sentensce him for each charge to keep this nasty peson of the streets of Guernsey for as long as possible !!