A 16-year-old boy was hospitalised this week after being shot at random with an air rifle.

The teenager was walking with three friends along a road in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, last Sunday, when he was hit by a pellet from an air rifle.

The boy underwent surgery in hospital to remove the pellet, which had lodged close to his kidney. Air rifle owners received this warning from local police: “Anyone using an air rifle or pellet gun to shoot at another person, especially an innocent passer-by, is putting lives at risk,” (Nottingham Evening Post, 2009).

Police advised those with air rifles to “think very seriously about their legal responsibilities as an owner,” (Nottingham Evening Post, 2009). The exact circumstances of the accident are unknown, but appeals have been made for witness information, with a £1,000 reward being offered by Crimestoppers.