Cara Dillon: Singer shot in face by BB gun pellets

Award-winning Irish singer Cara Dillon says she has been left in a state of shock after being struck in the face by a pellet fired from a suspected BB gun.

The folk singer, from Dungiven in County Londonderry, was one of two people hit on Wednesday evening in the town of Frome in Somerset.

Writing on X, Ms Dillon said she had been walking through the town when she “was shot in the face multiple times”.

She said she was “ok but really, really shocked”.

Ms Dillon said she and her husband, musician Sam Lakeman, had been walking to meet friends for dinner about 19:00 BST when a vehicle drove past with the window down.

“We both heard an automatic BB or Airsoft gun fire about 8 to 12 shots and I was hit in the face several times,” Ms Dillon said.

“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”.

Her husband, she added, discovered around seven “gel like” pellets on the ground.

In the immediate aftermath, she said she struggled to open her eye, but was helped by “a nice lady” as she struggled to process what had happened.

Ms Dillon said she was left with a “sore eye, headache and a bruise appearing on my cheek”.

She has since seen an optician and “everything seems fine” with her eye.

“Thanks again for all the kind comments and rest assured I’m fine, just a little shaken up,” she added.

In a statement, Avon and Somerset Police said officers are investigating two reports of separate individuals being hit by a suspected BB gun in Bath Street and Rodden Road in Frome.

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

Ms Dillon is widely recognised as one of Ireland’s most accomplished folk singers.

She is a previous Album Of The Year winner at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and has played Glastonbury on several occasions, including last year.