Ball acher - literally
Discussion
[url]http://www.policeoracle.com/news/detail.h2f?id=4578&category=1&refresh=EF983413-761D-423F-B38EDDFFB7BF6877">www.policeoracle.com/?page=http://www.policeoracle.com/news/detail.h2f?id=4578&category=1&refresh=EF983413-761D-423F-B38EDDFFB7BF6877[/url]
A man who shot himself in the testicles with a sawn-off shotgun was jailed for five years yesterday.
David Walker, 28, had drunk 15 pints of lager when he accidentally discharged the gun, which had been stuffed down his trousers, Sheffield crown court heard.
Walker underwent emergency surgery after the accident in Dinnington in South Yorkshire. Tests are continuing to find out how it will affect his fertility and sexual performance.
A judge heard how Walker went home for the gun after spending an evening in the pub arguing with a lifelong friend, Stuart Simpson, about whose turn it was to buy a beer.
Andrew Hatton, prosecuting, told the court that when Walker returned the bar had closed and Mr Simpson had left: "He went home to get his gun. As he was returning to the area of the pub with it the gun went off. He had it shoved down his trousers.
"After the shotgun had discharged he placed it in a rubbish bin and crawled back to his home address."
Walker told police he was so drunk that he had no idea why he went to get the gun or how he managed to shoot himself.
Mr Hatton said the defendant's mother had found him at home covered with blood in the groin area. A doctor at Bassetlaw hospital in Worksop called the police.
Gulzar Syed, defending, said: "He is still suffering as a result of the injuries. There are still pellets embedded within the scrotum area."
Asked by the judge about medical predictions for Walker's future, Mr Syed said it was still too early for them to be sure "in terms of his fertility and the degree in which any sexual relationship he has subsequently will be affected".
Walker had been suffering from depression. Mr Syed said his client had bought the gun for £15 four years before the accident on March 6 this year for self-protection and that he had been beaten upseveral times. "This was an isolated incident, an aberration. It was out of character," he added.
Judge Robert Moore said recent legislation on banned guns meant he had to impose the statutory minimum sentence of five years in prison.
"The shooting of yourself is plainly an exceptional circumstance which is capable of reducing the sentence," he said. "But in this case, I am quite certain, it does not justify reducing it below the statutory minimum."
The judge added: "You had this gun for something like four years. You had not handed it in to the firearms amnesty organised before these new provisions."
The court heard that Walker had a number of previous convictions for minor offences and one for possession of a screwdriver, which he said was for protection. He had no history of firearms offences.
A man who shot himself in the testicles with a sawn-off shotgun was jailed for five years yesterday.
David Walker, 28, had drunk 15 pints of lager when he accidentally discharged the gun, which had been stuffed down his trousers, Sheffield crown court heard.
Walker underwent emergency surgery after the accident in Dinnington in South Yorkshire. Tests are continuing to find out how it will affect his fertility and sexual performance.
A judge heard how Walker went home for the gun after spending an evening in the pub arguing with a lifelong friend, Stuart Simpson, about whose turn it was to buy a beer.
Andrew Hatton, prosecuting, told the court that when Walker returned the bar had closed and Mr Simpson had left: "He went home to get his gun. As he was returning to the area of the pub with it the gun went off. He had it shoved down his trousers.
"After the shotgun had discharged he placed it in a rubbish bin and crawled back to his home address."
Walker told police he was so drunk that he had no idea why he went to get the gun or how he managed to shoot himself.
Mr Hatton said the defendant's mother had found him at home covered with blood in the groin area. A doctor at Bassetlaw hospital in Worksop called the police.
Gulzar Syed, defending, said: "He is still suffering as a result of the injuries. There are still pellets embedded within the scrotum area."
Asked by the judge about medical predictions for Walker's future, Mr Syed said it was still too early for them to be sure "in terms of his fertility and the degree in which any sexual relationship he has subsequently will be affected".
Walker had been suffering from depression. Mr Syed said his client had bought the gun for £15 four years before the accident on March 6 this year for self-protection and that he had been beaten upseveral times. "This was an isolated incident, an aberration. It was out of character," he added.
Judge Robert Moore said recent legislation on banned guns meant he had to impose the statutory minimum sentence of five years in prison.
"The shooting of yourself is plainly an exceptional circumstance which is capable of reducing the sentence," he said. "But in this case, I am quite certain, it does not justify reducing it below the statutory minimum."
The judge added: "You had this gun for something like four years. You had not handed it in to the firearms amnesty organised before these new provisions."
The court heard that Walker had a number of previous convictions for minor offences and one for possession of a screwdriver, which he said was for protection. He had no history of firearms offences.
Dibble said:
The court heard that Walker had a number of previous convictions for minor offences and one for possession of a screwdriver, which he said was for protection. He had no history of firearms offences.
Wow! Is now a good time to admit to owning dozens? Should I mention the spanners too?
I drove through Dinnington last week - it seems to be the nation's depository for speed bumps. There's hundreds of the b*ggers.
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