THE FATHER of an 11-year-old girl who was shot in the face with a BB gun has urged the Government and delegates at the Labour Party conference to put gun and knife crime at the top of the agenda.

William Gallagher, of Oldhams Terrace, Astley Bridge, spoke in front of hundreds of delegates about the menace of gun and knife crime and called for effective enforcement of anti-gun laws.

His speech, delivered in the main auditorium at Manchester Central in Manchester on Sunday morning, was greeted with a round of applause.

Mr Gallagher’s daughter, Natasha, was shot by a 10-year-old boy while she was playing in Barlow Park, Astley Bridge, in July.

Natasha lives in Glasgow with her mum, but was visiting her dad when the attack happened.

Luckily, she was not seriously injured.

Mr Gallagher has close links with Bolton Council’s ruling Labour group.

He stood as a Labour candidate in the Breightmet ward in May’s local elections, but lost the seat to the Conservatives.

He said in his speech: “I am here today to praise the zero tolerance approach to knife and gun crime that the Government is taking, but also to call for effective enforcement of the laws Labour have brought in.

“We need to make sure that we take action, not just with those individuals who are using replica guns, but also on those who sell them because the action we are taking against knives and guns is working, but we need to keep making sure the police and other agencies have the powers they need to deal with the problem.”

Mr Gallagher, aged 38, also told delegates about the death of Paul Gilligan, who was stabbed during a night out in Bolton town centre in July.

He added: “So let’s continue to take the fight to the criminals, take effective action on all levels and make the streets safer for my Natasha and all of us.”

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