Plymouth shooting inquests: Mother ed mental health service

The mother of a man who shot dead five people had three months earlier ed a mental health service over concerns about him, an inquest heard.

Jake Davison's mother Maxine ed the Livewell mental health first response service in May 2021.

She told the call handler her son had "recently self-harmed" and "struggled with his body image".

Davison, 22, was classified as "low risk" and his GP was not ed ahead of the killings in August 2021.

Davison killed his mother, 51; three-year-old Sophie Martyn; her father, Lee, 43; Stephen Washington, 59; and Kate Shepherd, 66, in the Keyham area of Plymouth, before turning his legally-held pump action shotgun on himself.

A subsequent report of his mother's call also recorded Davison as saying he "feels fat and is still a virgin", the inquest into their deaths heard.

Davison was signposted to organisations that could help with social interaction and anger management.

Earlier, the inquest at Exeter Racecourse heard how an ex-detective was "surprised" to find Davison had a shotgun licence after an earlier assault.

Davison had been referred to restorative justice officer David Huggett after repeatedly punching a teenage boy in a skatepark in September 2020 after somebody called him "fat".

Police referred him to Pathfinder - a police scheme dealing with deferred charges - and Mr Huggett , who had served in the Army and as a police officer for 27 years, was assigned as his keyworker.

Aware of Davison's "meltdowns" and tendency to lash out, Mr Huggett raised concerns with firearms licensing officers.

Mr Huggett said: "He had issues where he had meltdowns and lashed out at people.

"I thought this was unpredictable behaviour. I thought, 'Are firearms licensing actually aware of this":[]}