Gun Crime Down in Devon & Cornwall

Heart can reveal gun crime across Devon & Cornwall's continuing to drop.

Figures we've had from our police show it's come down every year from 197 offences in 2005, down to 67 in 2009 (January-October).

Conviction rates look comparitively low on paper, normally around the 15% mark, but Police say that's because most gun crimes here are so minor, most offences don't even need dealing with in Court.

For example. it's quite common here for someone Game Hunting to accidentally trespass onto someone's land - that's technically classed as a crime involving a firearm, but the offender would only be given a caution.

We're told serious gun crime does exist here, but our overall levels are much lower than pretty much everywhere else in the country.

Click here to listen to our interview with Superintendant Tim Swarbrick.