Jail for gunman who opened fire on Huddersfield primary school

A GUNMAN who brought terror to a Yorkshire primary school has been jailed for a total of four years.

Staff at Moldgreen Community Primary, in Huddersfield, were forced to move youngsters from the classrooms and clear the playground as Russell Armitage fired off an air rifle from the bathroom window of his nearby home.

Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday that the 40-year-old was banned from possessing any weapons because of a six-year jail term for wounding.

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However, he had used a compensation payment he received for spending too long in custody to buy two air rifles along with equipment such as a laser sight and a silencer.

The incident took place just after pupils had arrived at the school in May last year.

Prosecutor Joanna Butler-Savage told the court that the hour-long drama began after a seven-year-old boy told one of the staff that he had seen a man aiming the a from the window of a house. The matter was reported to the deputy head who initially thought that the man was holding some kind of DIY glue-gun.

But when the weapon was pointed in the direction of the school she realised it was a real gun with a thin barrel and a sight fitted to it.

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Miss Butler-Savage said several more shots were fired in all directions while Armitage was leaning out of his bathroom window.

In December Armitage, now of Wakefield Road, Waterloo, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a firearm when prohibited, an allegation of affray and an intimidation charge.

Armitage’s barrister Chloe Hudson said he had long-standing problems with drug use and alcohol and on the day of the incident his judgement was “completely skewed” after taking amphetamine.

But Judge Jonathon Rose said Armitage had deliberately fired in the direction of the school and the use of alcohol and drugs was an aggravation not a mitigation.

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Armitage was jailed for two-and-a-half years for the firearm and affray offences, but the judge added a further 18 months in prison for an intimidation offence relating to an incident the that took place following day.

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