A visit from the boys in blue yesterday!

Dag

Dag

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About 9am yesterday there's a knock on the door and I have three pc's outside asking if I have been shooting a firearm. Apparently the guy behind my garden has called the police to say someone has been shooting birds and they have found a 'wounded' one in their garden.
Fair enough the pc's are very polite and appear to believe me when I say I haven't been shooting apart from the evening before and that was into a pellet catcher.
They ask if I have heard anyone else shooting which I haven't, nor do I know of anyone else that lives nearby that shoots.
I ask if they would like to see my setup and rifles and they say No and apologise for bothering me.
Now I only write this as there are a couple of points here worth making.
First of all I was polite and very open with them and they didn't ask about my rifles or how powerful they were or want to see them, I also mentioned I belong to the local rifle club.
They did seem more interested when I mentioned that the people in the garden behind had in fact been shooting airsoft pellets into my garden which had hit the house and gone over it. I told them I had spoken to them politely and the shooting had been stopped - but was there some sour grapes going on.
So, not all police want to check your rifles and politeness and openness can pay, but be aware some neighbours aren't as nice as you might think!
Jim
Ps in twelve years of living here I've hardly ever seen a copper let alone three together!
 
Obviously a malicious allegation. The Police behaved sensibly for a change.

Some years ago, the son of a scrote family whose property backed onto mine acquired an air rifle. He started taking potshots at animals and finally people from his bedroom window.

I went round to see the father. There was a conversation during the course of which certain facts were pointed out and he was advised to make the air rifle disappear. It did and there was no more trouble.
 
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Nice to see the police identify what's obviously an attempt to pull the wool over their eyes. False allegations are so common they're generally quite good at it as well as telling when someone's being truthful.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if the other party have previous history, are known to etc etc.
 
Always good to see a nice result, but if you don't already I'd definitely set some cameras up covering your garden, covering where you shoot, at least then they can see clearly you're shooting at a target and only a target if they try it again.
 
Good on the police for handing this well, and also on you for handling it well from your side.

Also shows how easily neighbours can cause harm, and that it will then be on you to prove your innocence.

Good idea to have a camera up where you shoot, these days there are so many affordable options.
 
Nice to see a positive encounter with the Peelers. Politeness and civility cost nothing. Well handled sir. Now if you'd answered the door with a negative attitude and ' I know my rights!' type response I wonder what would have happened? hmmm....,..........some people need to learn from this. Being in the 'job' I've seen the results of routine Police enquiries going south fast due to people being rude, awkward and hostile. Usually ends in cuffs and a wee ride in the Black Maria.
 
Good outcome. Just asking the question though: if you had been shooting eg magpies or pigeons in your garden (under the GL!) with a suitable and lawful backstop, not within 50ft of a highway and not doing so in a manner likely to cause alarm or distress to a member of the public, and your target had managed to fly away injured, what law has been broken? Sure, there is a duty to get a clean kill to prevent suffering, but a bird can always move at the last minute.

Seems to me that not only was no crime actually committed, but the false allegation was itself a non-crime issue...
 
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