The British developed rubber rounds—the "Round, Anti-Riot, 1.5in Baton"—in 1970 for use against people in Northern Ireland. A low power propelling charge gave them a muzzle velocity of about and maximum range of about ."The round is generally deployed in low trajectories or skip fired in the general direction (non-target specific) of the intended targets," causing pain but not injury, but is also intended to be direct fired at the discretion of the operator. From 1970 to 1975, about 55,000 rubber bullets were fired by the British Army in Northern Ireland. Often they were fired directly at people from close range, which resulted in three people being killed and many more being badly injured. Among these injuries, a notable victim was Emma Groves who was blinded in one incident. In 1975, they were replaced by plastic bullets. In Northern Ireland over 35 years (1970–2005), about 125,000 rubber and plastic bullets were fired—an average of ten per day—causing 17 deaths.