A man left his neighbours\u2019 crying toddler fighting for life after he aimed and fired a loaded air rifle into his head to \u2018shut him up\u2019, a court has heard.<\/p>\n
Harry Studley, then 18-months-old, was visiting couple Jordan Walters and Emma Horseman\u2019s flat with his mother\u00a0Amy Allen and brother Riley, two.Miss Allen\u2019s children were crying and Horseman told her partner \u2013 who was cleaning his rifle \u2013 to \u2018shoot Harry just to frighten him, shut him up, shoot it at Harry\u2019, it is alleged.Father-of-two Walters thought the weapon was empty so \u2018aimed the gun at Harry and fired it right into Harry\u2019s head\u2019, the jury was told. The bullet penetrated the toddler\u2019s skull and emergency surgery saved his life but \u2018it\u2019s not possible to say if he will make a full recovery\u2019, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Walters, 24, pleaded guilty to GBH last year, but Horseman, also 24, denied the same charge by aiding and abetting him, and her trial started today.<\/p>\n
Opening the case at Bristol Crown Court, prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane, said: \u2018The circumstances of this case are both simple and horrifying.<\/p>\n
\u2018Parents in a block of flats in Bristol meet up on one Friday afternoon with their children and within an hour a baby is fighting for his life on his way to hospital.\u2019<\/p>\n
He added: \u2018While the boys were upset Amy heard Emma say \u2018Oh Amy how do you cope with them crying all the time?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018She replied \u2018easy you just give them attention. You\u2019ve just go to do it\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018In fact it was just seconds later while Harry was still crying that Amy heard Emma say \u201cshoot Harry just to frighten him, shut him up, shoot it at Harry\u201d. Then Amy heard the sound of a gun firing.<\/p>\n
\u2018It appeared to Amy that Jordan had aimed the gun at Harry and fired it right into Harry\u2019s head, which is indeed what happened as you will hear.\u2019<\/p>\n
Neighbours and college friends Miss Allen and Horseman were meeting in the defendant\u2019s flat to discuss a \u2018lending club\u2019 when the incident happened on July 1.\u00a0 Miss Allen brought sons Harry and Riley to the flat in Hartcliffe, Bristol, where Horseman lived with Walters and their sons, then aged two and two-months-old.\u00a0 She watched as Walters took the air rifle \u2013 used for shooting rabbits \u2013 out of a kitchen cupboard and clean it in front of the children, it was heard.\u00a0 Mr Macfarlane told the jury Miss Allen was attending to Riley, who was upset, when her youngest Harry started to cry because \u2018he wanted mummy too\u2019.<\/p>\n
The prosecution allege Horseman told Walters to shoot the boy \u2013 both thinking the gun was unloaded.\u00a0 Describing the aftermath of the shooting, Mr Macfarlane added: \u2018Amy picked him up in her arms.<\/p>\n
\u2018Blood was gushing out of Harry\u2019s head \u2013 down and down Amy\u2019s arms. He was in and out of consciousness.\u2019<\/p>\n
Harry was taken to Bristol Royal Infirmary by air ambulance and underwent surgery and \u2018fortunately his life was saved\u2019, it was heard.<\/p>\n
The prosecution allege Horseman \u2013 along with her partner \u2013 was \u2018reckless to the point of extreme\u2019.<\/p>\n
The trial, expected to last two days, continues.<\/p>\n