Scala’s History of Support for Legislative Reform into Crossbow Ownership

There have been renewed calls for tighter crossbow ownership laws in the UK this week. It tragically comes after the attack on the wife and two youngest daughters of John Hunt, a BBC racing commentator. Carol Hunt and her daughters, Hannah and Louise, were killed in a crossbow attack at a house in Bushey, Hertfordshire.

It is a subject Scala is unfortunately familiar with, as we have historically campaigned for the sale of crossbow laws to be tightened in the UK. This was in response to an incident in January 2018 when Shane Gilmer was killed following their next-door neighbour breaking into his home, which he shared with his partner Laura Sugden. Their neighbour Anthony Lawrence used a crossbow to inflict a fatal wound on Shane, also wounding Laura, who at the time was pregnant with their first child together.

Scala was instructed by Gemma Vine, a solicitor at Ison Harrison to assist with the media interest in the inquest of Shane Gilmer. The inquest garnered mass media attention, sparking a national debate about crossbow ownership.

Indeed, Laura’s own traumatic experience and the loss of her partner Shane led her to launch a campaign, which was managed by Scala, on the last day of the inquest to restrict the sale of crossbows, essentially bringing them under the same rules as gun ownership. The campaign was called the UK Campaign to Change the Law Governing Crossbows.

Some of the coverage Scala secured is as follows:

• Crossbow regulation 'will prevent future deaths', says campaigner - BBC News
• Shane Gilmer inquest updates as jury says council worker was 'unlawfully killed' in crossbow attack - Hull Live (hulldailymail.co.uk)
• Crossbow killing: Man facing eviction after feud with neighbours waited in their home before shooting, inquest told | UK News | Sky News
• Inquest into the death of Shane Gilmer who was killed with a crossbow by his neighbour starts today (yorkshirepost.co.uk)

This was launched in conjunction with a parliamentary petition, which obtained 42,082 signatures which led to a response from . This led to  the then-Home Secretary, Priti Patel, who publicly stated that the ownership laws were sufficient. . It wasn’t until another incident on 25th December, 2021, when a man was arrested after an attempted break-in of Windsor Castle with a crossbow. At this point, the Home Office launched a review into crossbow ownership.

Laura has continued her campaign ever since, writing another letter to the Home Office in February 2024. With a change in government, Laura is aiming to reach out to the new Home Office and secure a meeting with Yvette Cooper, Labour’s Home Secretary.