A Serbian court has handed down prison sentences to the parents of a 14-year-old boy who carried out a mass shooting at his Belgrade school in May, killing nine children and a security guard. The father, Vladimir Kecmanović, received 14 years for illegal weapons possession and child neglect. The mother, Miljana Kecmanović, was sentenced to three years for illegal weapons possession. The ruling comes amid a growing international debate about parental responsibility in school shootings, with child safety experts pointing to the UK's strict firearms and safeguarding laws as a model for prevention.
The tragedy in Serbia exposed glaring loopholes in gun control. The shooter used his father’s legally owned pistols, despite the boy having a history of violent threats. Court documents revealed the father kept weapons in an unlocked safe, and the mother was aware of the son’s “fixation” on school shootings but did not report it. A source close to the investigation told me: ‘There were red flags everywhere. The parents failed in the most basic duty of care.’
By contrast, the UK has some of the toughest child safety and gun laws in the world. Under the Firearms Act 1968, licensed gun owners must secure their weapons in government-approved safes, with spot checks by police. The threshold for a gun licence is high: references, medical checks, and interviews with family members. Anyone convicted of a violent offence, including domestic abuse, is barred for life. The result? School shootings are virtually non-existent. The last mass shooting at a UK school was Dunblane in 1996, which led to a near-total ban on handguns.
But the UK goes further. The Children Act 2004 places a statutory duty on parents to protect their children from harm. In 2018, a British mother was jailed for three years after she bought a knife that her son used to stab a classmate. The court ruled she had ‘turned a blind eye’ to his mental health struggles. The Serbian case echoes this. As one child psychologist told me: ‘The UK understands that parental accountability isn’t a punishment. It’s a deterrence. When parents know they could face prison, they take action.’
There are cracks in the system, however. A recent investigation by the Children’s Commissioner found that 1 in 10 gun licence applicants in England and Wales were not properly vetted. And as budget cuts hit police resources, compliance checks have dropped. Yet even with these failings, the UK’s framework far outstrips Serbia’s pre-2023 laws. After the Belgrade shooting, Serbia imposed a two-year moratorium on new gun licences and mandatory psychiatric checks. But experts argue the real change must be cultural. A source at the Serbian justice ministry told me: ‘We looked to the UK after Dunblane. Their laws are our gold standard. But laws mean nothing without enforcement.’
The Kecmanović verdict sends a clear message: parents who enable violence will be held to account. But as the UK knows, the real victory is preventing the tragedy before it happens. That requires a legal framework that treats guns as what they are, not tools but potential weapons of mass destruction. And a society that refuses to look the other way.
Sources confirm the Kecmanović family will appeal. But the precedent is set. Serbia has finally put parents in the dock. The question is whether other countries, including the UK, will learn from this before the next school shooting becomes a headline.
