Youths using catapults

Good afternoon Resident,

Last night, a post was put onto Connecting Gainsborough which showed images of youths using a catapult. The information on the post details that the two youths have killed a bird with the projectile, and then put the bird in their school bag. This incident happened on Highfield Close, Gainsborough. Lincolnshire Police were NOT made aware of this incident at the time, which has put a significant delay in our response time. Please ring us on 101, or if in progress, call 999 if you do see this type of behaviour. 

I would be grateful if local residents near to the area specified could check their CCTV/door cams to see if anything has been captured and let us know by emailing - westlindseynpt@lincs.police.uk 

We are aware of youths using catapults previously to cause damage to property or injure wildlife. 

There has been concern raised that some parents/youths may not be fully aware of the implications of carrying catapults.

The legislation on catapults is that while they are NOT illegal to own or purchase, if they are being used to harm people, animals, property, or for anti-social behaviour, their use could be illegal under existing laws and may be classified as an offensive weapon. This is a serious incident, which we are fully looking into.