Stanley Metcalf death: Home secretary meets shot boy's mother

The mother of a boy shot dead by his great-grandfather has met the home secretary as part of her campaign to tighten the law on air guns.

Stanley Metcalf, six, died after being hit by a pellet fired from an unlicensed air rifle in Sproatley, near Hull, in July 2018.

His great-grandfather Albert Grannon was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Stanley's mother Jenny Dees has called for all air weapons to be licensed.

Ms Dees said she was "more hopeful" after the meeting in London with Home Secretary Priti Patel.

"I just explained how traumatic this has been and I don't want another family to go through this," she said.

"I just basically said that I would like to see a licence being put in place and also if she could look at that there's no database put in place.

"So that if you are convicted of a crime you can come out that same day out of prison. You could then go into a store and buy another gun, because there's no database for that shop owner to check if you've been convicted of a crime."

In his trial last year, Sheffield Crown Court heard Grannon shot Stanley in the abdomen from a few feet away at a family gathering at the pensioner's house.

The court heard the weapon needed a firearms certificate because its power meant it was categorised as "specially dangerous".

Grannon admitted possessing an air rifle without holding a firearms certificate, along with the charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.

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