DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
Shoot NI
HTML https://shootni.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: General Discussion
*****************************************************
#Post#: 747--------------------------------------------------
guns & drink are not a good mix
DIR By: semiauto
Date: November 22, 2012, 5:50 am
---------------------------------------------------------
this is unbelievable ! have a read yourself
Drunk garage boss shot three people at clay pigeon shoot with
faulty pump action shotgun
He had broken rules of shoot by pointing gun in direction of
other people
The wealthy 45-year-old was three times the drink driving limit
His gun was described as 'cheap' and 'poorly made'
A victim who was left with 140 pellets in his body called it a
'reckless act'
Another victim, 56, lost her hearing and has shot lodged in her
head
By EMMA REYNOLDS
PUBLISHED: 15:59, 21 November 2012 | UPDATED: 22:13, 21 November
2012
Comments (21)
Share
'Careless': David Richards was three times the drink-drive limit
when pellets from his gun hit three people at the clay pigeon
shoot
A drunk BMW garage boss wounded three people at a clay pigeon
shoot when his faulty gun discharged - without him pulling the
trigger.
David Richards, 45, was three times the drink driving limit
while shooting with a 'cheap' and 'poorly made' pump action
shotgun last year, Gloucester Crown Court heard.
The gun accidentally discharged as he pointed it in the
direction of three shoot attendees just 10 feet away - flouting
basic rules - and peppered them with pellets.
Retired health and safety officer Graham Wheeler, 69, was left
with 140 pellets lodged in his arm and chest while another,
Trudy Chinn, 56, has lost her hearing and has shot stuck in her
head.
Richards was arrested after the accident and today admitted
three charges of unlawful wounding on November 27 last year.
But a judge ruled Richards, of Longhope, Gloucestershire, will
not be sent to prison for the incident as he had not pulled the
trigger or intended any harm to his victims.
Two firearms experts found Richards’ gun was poorly made and
could discharge by itself because of a fault that left the
firing pin pressing against the cartridge.
Judge Jamie Tabor told the court: 'The basis of plea says that
the weapon being used was a pump action shotgun, which had been
limited to fire two rounds.
'It was a cheap and not particularly well made weapon.
More...
'Lawyers do get tremendously pompous': Defence Secretary takes
swipe at Attorney General for refusal to intervene in SAS sniper
jailed keeping Iraq pistol
Girl, 13, shot dead in front of her sister on school bus this
morning on way to class
Three dead in murder-suicide at senior citizens' complex after
80-year-old man shoots two women before killing himself
'When the experts came to examine it they found that by moving
the gun and the action of the gun it could cause the firing pin
to come into contact with the cartridge inside the chamber.
Sentencing adjourned: A judge at Gloucester Crown Court ruled
that Richards, of Longhope, will not be sent to prison because
he had not pulled the trigger or intended any harm to his
victims
'Not to the extent to fire off the gun but to leave an
impression of the firing pin on the cartridge.
Dangerous: The 'cheap' and 'poorly made' pump action shotgun
discharged as he pointed it towards people stood just 10 feet
away (file picture)
'The culpability of the defendant is not for putting his finger
on the trigger.
'He broke the gun rules. He pointed it at a direction where
there were others. He wasn’t doing this deliberately, he was
doing it carelessly.'
Judge Tabor adjourned sentencing until December 21, for full
victim impact statements to be taken.
The court heard how Richards, who runs Gloucester Independent
BMW Specialists, was at a pro shoot when the gun discharged at
three strangers waiting to shoot in the lane next to him.
He was badly hungover from a drinking binge the night before
following the 'lowest ebb of his life', the court heard.
The judge added: 'He hadn’t drunk that day, he had drunk the
night before. He was more than likely suffering a hangover.
'This was a dreadful accident. One that was caused principally
by a defective weapon that he couldn’t have known was
defective.'
The gun discharged as he pointed it towards people stood just 10
feet away - not at the ground or clay as per basic rules.
Speaking outside court, two of his victims criticised his
'reckless' behaviour but said they were pleased he was not being
sent to prison.
Bailed: Wealthy Richards ran Gloucester BMW specialists,
pictured, and was 'hungover' on the day of the shoot
Mr Wheeler, of Stinchcombe, said it had been a ‘terrible
reckless act’ by Richards but he did not want to see him locked
up for it.
'Reckless act'; Graham Wheeler, pictured, was left with 140
pellets lodged in his arm and chest while Trudy Chinn, 56, lost
her hearing
'I was shot in my arm and chest,' he said. 'The doctors left the
pellets in there because they say that’s safer than to remove
them.
'I have around 140 inside me and I can feel them. I also have a
blank patch on my chest where my iPhone protected me. It was
ruined, as well as my watch.
'But the fact I have recovered and that he is not going to jail
doesn’t alter the fact that he should never have pointed the gun
in the direction he did.'
The third victim, 40-year-old Paul Murray, 40, was injured in
the arm, where nine pellets lodged, but has recovered well.
Defence barrister Kannan Siva said that since the incident the
owner of the shooting site had made significant changes to the
layout, moving the ammunition bins so they did not require a
shooter to turn around so far at a stand.
Richards had thought he was sober at the time of the incident
was ‘not fully cognisant’ of his condition, Mr Siva added.
'I ask the court to take an exceptional course with him.' he
said. 'This was a momentary lapse of, a failure in someone who
has otherwise always used a gun responsibly. '
Mrs Chinn added: 'It has really affected my hearing. The noise
was huge. I have one pellet left in the side of my head.'
Richards was bailed for a pre-sentence report and will be
sentenced on December 21.
MOST READ NEWS
Read more:
HTML http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2236361/Drunk-garage-boss-shot-people-clay-pigeon-shoot-faulty-pump-action-shotgun.html#ixzz2Cx2uy1O7<br
/>
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
#Post#: 749--------------------------------------------------
Re: guns & drink are not a good mix
DIR By: jacob5060
Date: November 22, 2012, 9:14 am
---------------------------------------------------------
wat make of a gun was it?
#Post#: 752--------------------------------------------------
Re: guns & drink are not a good mix
DIR By: Dancake
Date: November 22, 2012, 10:34 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Has anybody ever tried to pattern a shotgun at 10 feet? The shot
wouldn't have time to expand. How he managed to shoot 3 people
at that distance with one of them ending up with 140 pellets
stuck in their body baffles me. He must have had a blunderbuss
attachment on the end of his shotgun.
#Post#: 782--------------------------------------------------
Re: guns & drink are not a good mix
DIR By: springerman
Date: November 23, 2012, 1:07 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
i doubt if an ipone would offer much protection at ten feet
*****************************************************
Page 1 of 1