A British man who shot dead his 6-year-old great-grandson with an air rifle has been sentenced to three years behind bars.
Grannon was accused of pulling the trigger of a modified .22 caliber air rifle in July of last year, striking Stanley Metcalf in the abdomen.
Moments after the pellet lodged itself in his body, the boy reportedly told the 78-year-old Grannon, “You shot me granddad.”
The child was rushed to the hospital, where he died from his wounds.
‘Never Once Has He Said Sorry’
ITV News reporter Ben Chapman was in court at Grannon’s sentencing and shared parts of the proceedings on Twitter.Dees also criticized the great-grandfather’s “stupidity and lack of forethought,” adding that Grannon has never apologized for his role in the child’s death.
“Never once has he said sorry to us,” Dees said, according to Chapman.
“I hope he can live with himself and the pain he has caused,” the boy’s mother said, according to the BBC.
‘Obviously a Very Dangerous Thing to Do’
The great-grandfather shot the youngster at close range at a family gathering at the pensioner’s house, prosecutor John Elvidge QC told the court, the BBC reported.Expert analysis cited by The Independent indicated the shot had been fired directly into the boy’s stomach.
The judge told Grannon, “You ended a young life and you brought lifelong grief and misery to his parents and to the whole of his family.”
“What you did was obviously a very dangerous thing to do,” the judge said, according to ITV. “Why on earth did you do it?”
Reactions
ITV News posted the story on its Facebook page, where it garnered emotional reactions.“My heart missed a beat when I read about this tragic accident,” one commenter wrote.
“I feel for the whole family even the granddad as he wouldn’t of wanted to hurt the kid. He will have to live with it for the rest of his life now,” wrote another.
The Irish Post shared the story on its Facebook page, to various comments.
“And didn’t show any remorse,” one commenter wrote.
“I do not understand the lack of remorse here,” another person commented. “It sounds like it was a freak accident. Air rifles are just not that powerful unless you are at point blank range. It reads like an accident, but the man’s actions after the fact seem sinister at best. Even if he did it in some fit of anger, apologize at the least. They rushed him to the hospital, so it is clear that the intent was not to harm the child. Just strange all around.”
Grannon’s attorney insists his client “blames himself totally” for his great-grandson’s tragic death.