By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 12:09, Tuesday, 15 January 2013

One of Cumbria’s top police officers told a court that he withdrew a man’s shotgun licence because he considered him to be a potential danger to the public.

Assistant Chief Constable Jerry Graham said he believed 34-year-old forestry worker Robert Cubby was such a “volatile individual” he should not be allowed to own firearms.

He was giving evidence at Carlisle Crown Court where Cubby, who lives in Glassonby, near Penrith, was appealing against a decision not to grant him shotgun and firearms licences.

Cubby said that he needed the licences so he could more easily expand his forestry business into deer management as well.

He claimed the fact that he had a previous conviction for violence against his wife – along with other worries about his behaviour while working as a bouncer in Penrith – was not enough to justify the police decision.

Cubby said he had started shooting at the age of 12 and in 1995 had become one of the youngest people ever to hold a firearms certificate in Cumbria.

He said he had regularly shot with his late uncle when he was the Forestry Commission’s head ranger at Grizedale so knew how to behave responsibly with guns.

But Mr Graham, the man responsible for all firearms applications in the county and whose job it is to “act at all times in the interests of public safety”, said Cubby’s behaviour over the past ten years demonstrated that he was not a fit person to be allowed a licence.

The court heard that Cubby had his licence revoked in May 2010 after being convicted of assaulting his estranged wife Gillian by throwing kitchen utensils at her.

Explaining why he had turned down Cubby’s application to have the firearms licences returned to him, Mr Graham said: “I took the view that over ten years there were several examples that led me to believe he was a volatile individual who had a temper that on occasions led him into acts of violence.”

The court’s decision was being made today.

First published at 11:55, Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk