A man has accidentally blasted himself in the stomach with a gun which has severally been used in criminal shootings.
The scene of the shooting
After he shot himself, the bullet passed through John McAtee's stomach and lodged in his buttock.
The 23-year-old had reportedly been asked to look after a ‘hot’ revolver used in three different incidents. But the weapon went off within seconds of him taking hold of it.
According tot Manchester Evening News, he had used a towel to pick it up so as not to leave fingerprints, but it went off.
The incident happened when McAtee was living in Cannon Street, off Deane Road, Bolton, and followed a series of tit-for-tat shootings in Little Hulton and Bolton .
McAtee, now of Pansy Road, Farnworth, first told police he had been shot in a field by an unknown gunman - but then admitted what had happened.
Police linked the gun to an incident on October 5th when a man was shot three times on his doorstep in Coniston Avenue, Little Hulton, but survived.
It was also linked to incidents in Gorse Drive, Little Hulton, and Worsley Road, Farnworth on October 10th when shots were fired at houses but one was hurt.
At Bolton Crown Court McAtee, who had no criminal record prior to the incident, was jailed for two years after admitting possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life.
He spent four weeks in hospital after the shooting and still requires medication.