THE owner of a high-powered air rifle used to kill a much-loved grandfather has narrowly avoided an immediate prison sentence.

James Hume was carrying the weapon in his car when his drunken friend Jamie Hellings decided to point the weapon out of the window before firing the fatal shot.

Christopher Kay was innocently gardening outside his east Cleveland home when he was hit with the pellet which severed a main artery.

Despite the best efforts of neighbours and paramedics the grandfather was pronounced dead at James Cook University Hospital following the drive-by shooting last August.

Hume appeared at Teesside Crown Court for sentence after pleading guilty to two charges of possessing a firearm without a certificate following the investigation into the death of 58-year-old.

The Northern Echo: Chris Kay was shot dead last AugustChris Kay was shot dead last August

The air rifle, a BSA ultra multi-shot, had just been returned to Hume on the day of the tragic shooting, the court heard.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said following Mr Kay's shooting, a police investigation was launched and Hume's Skoda was captured on CCTV in the area at the time.

The defendant was initially arrested on suspicion of murder and accepted he was the owner of the BSA air rifle, Miss Masters added.

She said the unlicensed air rifle, as well as a silencer, were later recovered from an allotment.

Thomas Bennett, in mitigation, said his client had shown remorse for Mr Kay's death and 'bitterly regretted' his role in events.

He said there was no evidence the air rifle had been modified and the defendant believed it was 'legally' owned and didn't require a licence.

Hume, of Cloverhill Drive, Loftus, was sentenced to 14 months in custody, suspended for 18 months.

Judge Howard Crowson accepted that the defendant could not foresee what would happen on the fateful day. He said: "He doesn't habitually carry around this potentially lethal weapon and placed it into his car with little opportunity to do anything with it until he finished work."

The Northern Echo: Jamie HellingsJamie Hellings

  •  Jamie Hellings, 32, of Coronation Road in Loftus was sentenced to six years and eight months for manslaughter and a two year concurrent sentence for the possession of a firearm.

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