Graham Rishton & Stephensons Solicitors Successful in Contested Firearms Licence Appeal

The client was a 59 year old man of good character. He had held a firearms licence for over two decades.

In 2015, during the course of an acrimonious marriage breakdown, he visited his GP for help to address his inability to sleep. He was prescribed a sedative. Unbeknown to him, the GP added to his notes a reference to “anxiety”.

A diagnosis of anxiety is not fatal to any application for a firearms licence, but it is a relevant medical condition which ought to be disclosed as part of any application.

In 2024 the client sought to renew his licence. A change in the regulations meant correspondence from the client’s GP was required. It revealed the entry in respect of anxiety – which our client duly disclosed as part of his application.

Cumbria Constabulary refused the client’s application to renew, concluding that he had deliberately withheld relevant details in respect of his mental health and also cited a failure to declare participation in a speeding awareness course.

Such failures, asserted Cumbria Constabulary, meant there were concerns in respect of the client’s honesty and reliability.

A comprehensive bundle and skeleton argument was composed and provided by the defence legal team to the effect that the client had been entirely unaware of a potential diagnosis of anxiety, and to the effect he had been unaware of the need to declare the speeding matter.

It was asserted that Cumbria Constabulary had sought to draw the worst possible inference from each strand of evidence rather than conduct a fair and holistic review of the circumstances.

After a contested hearing on 16 December 2025, Carlisle Crown Court allowed the appeal finding that the client had not deliberately withheld information. The client’s licence was reinstated.

Graham Rishton was instructed by Paul Loughlin and Caitlin Taylor of Stephensons Solicitors. For more information, or to instruct Graham Rishton, please contact Senior Criminal Clerk, Andy McGuinness.