A WORRIED mum has visited schools in South Lakeland to warn of the dangers of BB guns after her seven-year-old daughter was repeatedly shot in the back while playing in a playground.

Young Charlotte Reilly's back had eight red marks where the brightly-coloured yellow pellets hit her after she was targeted by two older boys in the play area on Castlefield, Ambleside.

Her mother, Angela Reilly, was visiting Charlotte's grandmother, Phyllis Carpenter, at a house nearby when two young boys outside the playground are said to have started firing at Charlotte and another young child inside.

The two boys then leaned against the gate to stop her getting out. When Charlotte eventually ran back to

her grandmother's house, her mother was so shocked by the red marks on her back that the family contacted the police.

"When my husband Greg got home he was absolutely furious and just couldn't believe what had happened. The police dealt with the matter and reprimanded the boys and talked to their parents.

"They told us it could have been a case of actual bodily harm, but Charlotte soon got over the whole incident and we didn't want to take matters any further. That's all over and done with, but my real concern now is to warn other parents how dangerous these guns could be, especially when I heard how many complaints there have been about them," said Mrs Reilly.

Various versions of the guns are on sale at Ambleside's open air market, along with bags of pellets, although it is not known where the weapon concerned was bought from.

"I just don't think their parents realise how dangerous these guns could be, but there are so many BBs around now, I don't know how they'll ever get rid of them all," she added.

A trader on the market this week declined to make a public comment on the issue but spoke to the Gazette at length off the record'.

The trader has a sign issued by Blackpool Seasonal Traders Association that advises buyers to use BB guns in a "safe and responsible manner" and that there was a danger they could be mistaken as a real gun by police or the general public.

The Gazette has managed to locate a gun of its type, made by You Yi Toys in China. The realistic-looking semi-automatic-style Lorcin Series M38-10 can take up to eight pellets in a magazine housed in the handle.

Its box warns of the pellets being a choking hazard for children under 14 and it includes safety advice in its instructions, such as "Never aim the gun at people," and "Make sure no people or animals stray near the target."

Firing yellow pellets loaded by spring, at point-blank range, the gun pierced three sheets of A4 paper.

Cumbria Police spokesman Mike Smith confirmed officers had spoken to the parents of the boys involved and that the Reilly family did not pursue a formal complaint.

Mr Smith said that carrying a BB gun in a public place without reasonable excuse was soon to become a prosecutable offence, while shooting someone could also constitute assault.

Mr Smith said: "What concerns us most is if somebody is using such a weapon in a public place, some people might assume it is a real firearm, and they will call us and we will dispatch a trained firearms team. Unless you are close-up it is difficult too tell if it is real or not and if someone is brandishing it as a weapon in a public place and there is a danger of injury to the public, we may have to take action."

Two BB guns were handed in during the recent firearms amnesty and, where police have found them being sold, traders have been warned of the forthcoming legislation and that there may then be a risk of prosecution for aiding and abetting an offence, as could parents.

May 9, 2003 09:00