A LABOUR parliamentary candidate has called for a rethink on gun laws after his mother was shot in the head with an air weapon.

Roddy Ashworth

A LABOUR parliamentary candidate has called for a rethink on gun laws after his mother was shot in the head with an air weapon.

Jordan Newell, who is due to stand in the next general election in the Colchester constituency, was walking with his mother and father in Main Road, Harwich, when the gun was fired.

“There was a loud bang. My mum put her hands to her head. The next thing she was crying out and there was blood coming from her head.

“She had been shot with an air gun. The pellet was actually lodged in her head - the entry wound was near her crown. The pellet hit her bone and travelled under her scalp.”

Mr Newell, 25, who lives in Tufnell Way, Colchester, said that by sheer luck a police patrol car passed by a few moments later and he flagged it down.

His mother was taken by ambulance to Colchester General Hospital where the pellet was removed and she was given stitches to the wound.

However, yesterday he said she was still shaken up by the shooting, which happened on Saturday at around 10.45pm.

“We are all shaken, actually, the whole family are.

“But people working at the hospital - who were fantastic - say they see these incidents quite a lot now, and they can't understand why people are allowed to go around with these guns.

“They took the pellet out and at first I thought it was .22 calibre but someone else who saw it thought it was bigger than that.

“These air weapons are dangerous. At the time it happened she had turned towards me talking, but if she hadn't been in that position it could have hit her temple or her eye.

“If it had been a child or an elderly person who was hit then it could even have been a fatality.

“These guns don't need licenses and are too readily available. This situation needs looking at.”

An Essex Police spokeswoman said: “We urge residents to report any suspicious activities or anyone that you have seen with an air gun toy or other implement.

“Essex Police is committed to finding the person responsible for this crime.”

Anyone with information about the shooting, which happened by the entrance to Harwich's Redoubt Fort, is asked to contact Harwich Police on 0300 333 4444.