Plymouth shooting inquest: police took ‘high risk’ decision to return shotgun licence

Devon and Cornwall force say they did not have enough staff to deal with number of licensing applications

A police force that took the “high risk” decision to return a shotgun licence to a man who went on to kill five people in Plymouth has admitted it did not have enough staff to deal with the number of licensing applications it was receiving.

Devon and Cornwall police also told an inquest on Jake Davison’s victims that there were no records of audits being undertaken to check decision-making in the firearms licensing department at the time.