Man shot in head "for a laugh". Hilarity did not ensue.

[Wonk]

A teenage gunman shot a garage mechanic in the head in Cattedown 'for a laugh' Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Darren Beer, of Beech Avenue, Cattedown, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm. The 19-year-old is accused of shooting Chris Hepper with an air rifle.

Mr Hepper, aged 19, needed surgery at Derriford Hospital to remove a pellet from his forehead following the incident as he worked in Cattedown MoT Centre's back yard on November 11.

Malcolm Clarke, prosecuting, told the court that Beer was with two other teenagers on ground overlooking the MoT station when he fired twice, once at a vehicle and once at Mr Hepper, hitting him in the head. He is alleged to have asked the two other teenagers with him on the 'cliff': "Shall we shoot him for a laugh?" before firing at Mr Hepper.

http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=133464&command=displayContent&sourceNode=133158&contentPK=10870942

In a way Mr Hepper is lucky, since this shooter only had an air powered pellet gun and not something more powerful.

[petronius]

1. "The lorry had its shutters open."

I can tell the bonnet from the boot, but who would put shutters on a vehicle? :)

[slackmaster]

2. Well there's a stretch of logic for you

In a way Mr Hepper is lucky, since this shooter only had an air powered pellet gun and not something more powerful.

Or maybe the shooter didn't intend to do any real harm and thought shooting someone with an air gun would be OK. We can't know how his behavior might have differed had he had a firearm instead.

[UpsideDownFlag]

3. this air gun owner is an excellent example of why i think that

universal gun ownership is not necessarily a good idea...

garsh pa, it was so fun shootin um with ma air rifle, next time i'll use a .22! they're almost the same, i reckon.

[skippythwndrdog]

4. Good thing it was obviously an inferior air rifle

I have a couple that hit as hard as a .22.

[slackmaster]

5. Nice mockery of people who weren't involved in the incident in question

In case you didn't notice, the air gun shooting occurred in the UK.