Father of Plymouth Incel Killer Reveals Struggle in New Ross Kemp Documentary
In a poignant new documentary series, the father of 22-year-old incel killer Jake Davison has opened up about his ongoing struggle to comprehend his son's "senseless" actions. Mark Davison spoke to Ross Kemp for the Crime+Investigation programme Lost Boys, Deadly Men, which premiered on Monday, nearly five years after the horrific Plymouth shootings.
The Tragic Events of August 2021
On August 12, 2021, Jake Davison committed a devastating mass shooting in the Keyham area of Plymouth, Devon. The attack began with Davison killing his 51-year-old mother, Maxine, following an argument at their home on Biddick Drive. Over the next 12 minutes, he shot dead four more people before turning the gun on himself as police arrived.
The victims included three-year-old Sophie Martyn, her father Lee Martyn (43), Stephen Washington (59), and Kate Shepherd (66). This tragic event stands as one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent UK history, sparking nationwide outrage and serious questions about firearm licensing procedures.
A Father's Unanswered Questions
Mark Davison described his son as having been "bubbly and fun" in childhood but becoming increasingly introverted as he grew older. "I thought he was just a bit shy," Mark recalled, explaining that Jake never spoke to him about any resentment toward women. The father only assumed his son was heterosexual because of a picture of a young model in a bikini on Jake's bedroom wall.
"Jake never spoke to me about resentment of women, and it's only because he had a picture on his bedroom wall of some young model in a bikini that I knew that he was heterosexual," Mark told the documentary makers.
The Dark Influence of Incel Culture
Unknown to his father, Jake Davison had become deeply immersed in the incel (involuntarily celibate) subculture online. While the term originally referred to individuals unable to find romantic partners despite desiring them, Davison engaged with a radicalised version characterised by extreme misogyny and hatred toward women.
On his YouTube channel (since removed), Davison posted numerous rants expressing frustration about his inability to find a girlfriend while attacking women as "simple-minded" and overly concerned with physical appearance. In one video, he lamented working in a "male environment" that limited his opportunities to meet women.
Davison also posted hate-filled messages on Reddit targeting single mothers, including his own mother Maxine, whom he described as a "vile, dysfunctional, chaotic mother."
Warning Signs and Missed Opportunities
Mark Davison recalled visiting the Biddick Drive home and noticing holes punched in doors, clear signs of underlying anger and distress. "Whatever was going on in that house, it was obvious the last thing you wanted to bring into that environment was a 12-bore pump-action shotgun," he said remorsefully.
This shotgun would become the murder weapon used in the 2021 attacks. The case raised serious concerns when it emerged that Davison had been granted a firearm license despite documented mental health issues and a history of violence.
Records show Davison declared an autism diagnosis on his 2017 application, yet Devon and Cornwall Police issued a certificate in January 2018. Although his gun was temporarily seized after he assaulted two teenagers in 2020, it was returned to him in July 2021 after he completed a police-endorsed rehabilitation program.
A Father's Anguish and Warnings
Mark Davison became emotional as he described arriving at the cordoned-off crime scene, swarming with police vehicles. "There was a good part of me shouting, 'I told you so, you just wouldn't listen to me,'" he recalled. "You should never have given him the shotgun in the first place. Everybody would have still been alive."
At a January 2023 inquest hearing, Mark revealed he had tried to prevent his son from obtaining a firearm, including warning police not to grant the license four years before the shooting.
Continuing the Conversation
Lost Boys, Deadly Men aims to continue important conversations about violent crime against women in Britain, following similar themes explored in Netflix's Adolescence released last year. The series examines what can be done to prevent such tragedies, with the first episode focusing specifically on the Plymouth killings by what has been termed "Britain's incel killer."
New episodes of the Ross Kemp-hosted documentary are released on Crime+Investigation every Monday, offering further exploration of these critical societal issues.
