Northern Ireland

Co Derry star Cara Dillon ‘shot in eyeball’ with BB gun

Folk singer spoke of her shock following incident in England on Wednesday

Dungiven folk artist Cara Dillon will also perform on the main stage at Stendhal when the two-day festival takes place in July
Dungiven folk artist Cara Dillon.
By Paul Ainsworth

Co Derry singer-songwriter Cara Dillon has been left “shocked” after being shot in the face by a “BB gun” in England.

The 48-year-old folk artist from Dungiven said she was shot “multiple times” with an air gun weapon with one shot hitting her left eyeball while walking in the town of Frome in Somerset.

This afternoon Ms Dillon posted details of the attack on the X social media platform.

She described how she was walking with her husband Sam Lakeman in Froome in Somerset and noticed a car drive past with the window down before the attack took place.

“We both heard an automatic B or Airsoft gun fire about 8-12 shots and I was hit in the face several times”, she wrote.

“My left eyeball was hit, my cheek and around my eye. It felt like someone had thrown a handful of stones at me, it was very painful.”

The singer described being in tears and said she could not open her eye. She said the couple found “gel like” pellets on the ground.

Ms Dillon said she has since been checked by an optician and everything seems fine with her eye.

Ms Dillon, who has been nominated four times for Folk Singer of the Year at the annual BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, initially described her ordeal in a post to the X social media platform on Wednesday evening.

The post was accompanied by a photo of what appear to be BB pellets.

Fans expressed concern in replies to her post, with one writing: “Hoping the culprits are caught and dealt with appropriately. Must have been very frightening.”

Another wrote: “That’s horrific - so sorry this has happened to you.”

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: “Officers are investigating two reports of individuals being hit by a suspected BB gun pellet in Bath Street and Rodden Road, in Frome.

“Thankfully, we do not believe anyone has been seriously injured or requiring any medical treatment and enquiries into the incident are ongoing.”