Plymouth shooting inquests: Police encouraged restorative justice

Jake Davison killed five people in Plymouth, in August 2021

Police "failed to protect the public" from a mass killer by not referring him to the Crown Prosecution Service after an earlier attack, an inquest heard.

Jake Davison, 22, shot dead five people in Keyham, Plymouth, on 12 August 2021 before taking his own life.

An inquest heard he was handed an anger management leaflet after assaulting a teenager in September 2020.

It came at a time when officers were being asked to consider lesser charges in such cases, the hearing was told.

Davison killed his mother Maxine, 51; three-year-old Sophie Martyn; her father, Lee, 43; Stephen Washington, 59; and Kate Shepherd, 66, before turning his legally-owned pump-action shotgun on himself.

Tributes to the victims were placed near the scene of the shootings in August 2021

The hearing at Exeter Racecourse was told police were encouraged to press for lesser charges for violent offences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

On Monday it heard Devon and Cornwall Police were sending regular emails to detectives, urging them to seek restorative justice rather than criminal prosecution where possible.

Det Insp Deborah Wyatt was "the gatekeeper" in the assault case in which a 16-year-old boy was left unconscious, according to witnesses, with a two-inch (5cm) cut above his eye that required stitches.

She made the final decision of a deferred charge of battery - which could be dealt with by restorative justice - rather than the more serious charge of actual bodily harm.

She told the inquest: "We were receiving regular emails to say we had to consider out-of-court disposals."

'Clear message'

The inquest heard Davison admitted the assaults and was dealt with by the Pathfinder restorative justice service.

Bridget Dolan KC, on behalf of the coroner, asked: "Was there some pressure to send everyone you could to Pathfinder due to Covid pressures?"

Det Insp Wyatt replied: "There were regular emails but I was very much of the view that I do things for the right reasons."

Ms Dolan asked if there were "regular emails" from Devon and Cornwall Police's criminal justice unit with a "clear message" to send cases to Pathfinder.

Det Insp Wyatt replied: "If appropriate."

She said she believed Davison would be put on an anger management course through Pathfinder.

Davison later handed himself into the police after a public appeal was made using CCTV images of a suspect wanted for the September 2020 assaults

Ms Dolan said he was not put on a course due to the £40 cost and was instead given a leaflet about anger management.

Ms Dolan said: "You don't need hindsight to know you should not put someone through a gate unless you know what is on the other side, do you?"

Det Insp Wyatt responded: "That's correct."

Det Insp Wyatt told the inquest she believed the assault was "borderline" in terms of whether it constituted battery or actual bodily harm.

Ms Dolan asked if it could still have been referred to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Det Insp Wyatt replied: "At the time in Covid if we had put that to the CPS I believe they would have turned around and said the police need to make the charging decision."

The inquest also heard from Det Sgt Ed Bagshaw, who had considered evidence against Davison and possible charges.

Nick Stanage, representing Davison's brother and sister, asked him "The decision not to treat the skatepark case as actual bodily harm was a decision that failed to protect the public - do you agree?"

Det Sgt Bagshaw replied: "I would agree with that."

Mr Stanage asked: "It was a decision that posed a danger to the public, was it not?"

"Yes, I would agree with that," replied Det Sgt Bagshaw.

The inquest previously heard an officer missed a "warning marker" on police files to say Davison had a shotgun.

His gun and certificate were later seized after a member of the scheme warned the force he was a licence holder, but they were later returned in July 2021.

The inquest continues.