Harry Studley is recovering at home after being shot with an air rifle last year
A woman whose partner shot a toddler in the head with an air rifle has been found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm (GBH).
Harry Studley, now aged two, was shot at a block of flats in Bristol last July. He underwent emergency surgery and now suffers several seizures a day. Emma Horseman, who denied GBH by aiding or abetting the shooting, was acquitted by a Bristol Crown Court jury. Her partner Jordan Walters had previously admitted causing GBH. During the two-day trial, prosecutors said Ms Horseman told Mr Walters to “shoot” the air rifle to “scare” Harry as he was crying. But Ms Horseman, 24, told the court: “I can’t remember saying that.”
Emma Horseman, 24, denied causing GBH by aiding or abetting the shooting
The court heard that Harry lived with his parents and brother in a top-floor flat in Bishport Avenue, Hartcliffe, while Ms Horseman lived on the second floor with Walters and their two children. The jury was told they were all friends, with children of similar ages who spent time together. Ms Horseman said Harry was sitting on the lap of his mother, Amy Allen, when he was shot and the first she knew of it was when she “looked down” and saw that he was bleeding. She said Ms Allen told Mr Walters to call an ambulance and everything “happened so quick”, with “loads of ambulances and police” appearing.
The jury was shown the air rifle used in the shooting
Ms Horseman said she had felt “horrible” and “so sorry” for Harry. She said she kept thinking it “could have been my child”.
Ms Horseman studied childcare at college and had “always wanted to work with kids”.
She said she had known Ms Allen for about six years, the pair were “very close” and she had treated Ms Allen’s children as “my own”.
Source bbc.co.uk
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