Man shot in head "for a laugh"

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12:00 - 01 September 2004
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.

Yesterday, prosecution witnesses Daniel Collins and Robert Harris - with Beer at the time of the incident - gave evidence. Mr Collins said: "We were walking along the coastal path and we got to where we were looking at the MoT station. Darren was on about shooting down at the bloke but I said 'that's out of order'. "Me and Robert thought it was a joke. He said 'shall we shoot him for a laugh?'"

Mr Collins said he and Mr Harris told Beer they would leave if he fired at people. Mr Collins said Beer shot a pellet at an abandoned white taxi, and then reloaded and fired at men standing outside the MoT station. The three fled and Mr Collins was caught by police. The other two escaped.

Mr Collins said that earlier the three had been taking turns to fire the gun at targets such as tin cans and birds.

He also said the gun was at Robert Harris's house when he arrived on November 11 and Mr Harris had been shooting targets in a field near Saltram the night before.

Mr Harris gave a different account of the events leading up to the shooting and of the details of the shooting. The 16-year-old said he had never seen the gun before Beer showed it to him on November 11 and had never fired it.

Mr Harris, talking about the day of the incident, said: "Darren loaded the gun and shot down at this lorry that was unloading. The lorry had its shutters open. There was a bloke inside.

"We said 'do not do that or we're going'. Darren then shot down to the garage. Loads of blokes came out of the garage. We was hiding. We said we're going because you shot down where people were."

The trial continues.

Tommy Vercetti

If my surname was Beer, I would demand immunity from prosecution on the basis of what would happen to me in prison.

Sarky

Not one mention of GTA 3? Stunning, simply stunning.

passive

GTA has nothing to do with it, whether or not the kid owns the game. whoever bought the f*cker an air rifle is the person responsible...

i wonder if he'll get away with it though

knifey_spoonie

And Sarky's comment glides over Passive's head at about 30,000 feet....

Stephen

he probably bought/robbed it himself. They're legal in the UK aren't they?

Dr. Loon

Stephen wrote:

he probably bought/robbed it himself. They're legal in the UK aren't they?

Yeah they're legal. I was over in Scotland last week, shooting one. At targets in a field. Still they'd wreck you if you were hit.

JackKelly

there legal here with the right lisence too.

I found that article pretty funny to be honest. WShould we shoot him for the laugh".lol

OY

Tommy Vercetti wrote:

If my surname was Beer, I would demand immunity from prosecution on the basis of what would happen to me in prison.

Or perhaps change his name on the basis that it is confusing... anyone else find reading this difficult? For example...

Malcolm Clarke, prosecuting, told the court that Beer was with two other teenagers on ground overlooking the MoT station

Yesterday, prosecution witnesses Daniel Collins and Robert Harris - with Beer at the time of the incident

Mr Collins said Beer shot a pellet at an abandoned white taxi

The last one was particularly distracting, i just kept visualising a kid screaming/sobbing "It wasn't me...it was the beer...it was the beer"

And what are the prosecution witnesses doing with beer, it is a court of law!

Zukustious

passive wrote:

whether or not the kid owns the game. whoever bought the f*cker an air rifle is the person responsible...

I'd say the kid is responsible whether he bought the rifle or not. He's 19 innit?

passive

-_-...eh, okay. i wasn't sure if sarky was being sincere or tongue in cheek... it seems more obvious now.
and oh...19? i didn't notice that. maybe i should just scrap my whole previous post? *gets his coat*

Sarky

Sincere? Me?