Kelly Fitzgibbons: Gun victim's twin to meet ministers in law change bid

The twin sister of a woman shot dead by her partner is to meet with Home Office ministers in her fight to change gun licensing laws in the UK.

Kelly Fitzgibbons was shot dead by Rob Needham in March 2020 along with their two daughters, Ava and Lexi, at their home in Woodmancote, West Sussex.

A coroner ruled they were unlawfully killed and Needham turned the legally-owned gun on himself and took his life.

Emma Ambler is now campaigning for tougher laws on gun ownership.

The inquest heard Needham lied on his shotgun application to Sussex Police in 2016 about a caution for theft which could have been picked up if his application had been scrutinised.

He had also not disclosed he had been treated for depression. Even though his dishonesty was discovered by police, he was granted a licence anyway.

"He'd lied on every box on the application form. He said he hadn't ever been in trouble with the police. It was only minor conviction, but he had," said Emma, from Birmingham.

"He said he'd never had any mental health issues. Yet when they wrote to the GP they found out he had."

Any fabrications found on a firearms application form should flag up a lack of integrity, Emma said.

Losing Kelly and the girls in such a brutal way has been completely devastating for their family and friends.

Emma described knowing something was wrong when she hadn't heard from her sister for a whole day, which was unheard of in their close relationship. Emma called her aunt and partner who went round to their flat to check on them.

"I remember calling my aunt a few minutes later, it just kept ringing and ringing, and she finally answered and just told me 'they're all dead'."

It is difficult to imagine the devastation in the aftermath of an incident like this, which is sometimes termed as a family annihilation case. The biggest question is always why.

But the more Emma discovered about the gun licensing process, the more she also believed there are serious questions about the process that must be addressed.

She has now started The Kelly Fitzgibbons Foundation, to raise awareness and campaign to tighten up the process.

"There are numerous things we think need to change. I think people would be surprised just how easy it is to get a gun in this country," she said.

"It costs less to get a gun licence than a fishing licence. And it's costing the taxpayer £200 at least for each person that wants a gun licence because the licence fee itself nowhere near covers the cost of checks that should legally be carried out.

"Some of those clearly aren't being done properly. Gun licence reviews are only done every five years because they don't have the resources. GPs aren't funded to do checks either."

The Home Office is currently reviewing a Domestic Homicide report which is likely to include recommendations around gun licensing, including better communication with GPs and more frequent checks on gun licensees.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also said in the wake of recent shootings that the issue of whether gun ownership laws are strong enough needs to be looked at again.

She has also had the support of the Birmingham Yardley MP, Jess Phillips, who is the shadow minister for domestic abuse and safeguarding.

Mrs Phillips said: "The safeguards simply don't stop someone getting a gun and killing their entire family.

"I think the majority feeling in the country is that gun regulation should be as tight as possible, to prevent the killing of people like Kelly Fitzgibbons and her daughters."

Emma is now due to meet with ministers to discuss her concerns and said as rare as these cases may be, they're not rare enough to do nothing at all.

"We still believe that if Rob hadn't had access to such a deadly weapon there could have been a very different outcome," she said.

"Knowing that he'd lied and he should never have been granted that gun licence has just made everything even harder."

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