THE victim of a shooting fears for his life after a bungled police investigation led to the case being thrown out of court.

Father-of-two Joe Clarke had 150 shotgun pellets embedded in his back after he was attacked on his doorstep.

Five people were arrested, but walked free from Newcastle Crown Court last week after a judge ruled that police had acted illegally by searching for legal files at the home of the five’s solicitor’s Mr Clarke, of Fairways, Consett, County Durham, who plans to make a formal complaint to Durham Police, said: “I’m living in fear for my life now because the police have messed up. I would never trust them again.”

The shooting in December 2007 left him with pellets in his back, head and neck, and his organs.

Doctors say it is too dangerous to operate and remove the pellets, including two pieces wedged in his heart, and those which damaged his kidneys.

The former oil rig worker will be on medication for the rest of his life, have to have regular hospital tests to check his organs are not failing and the pellets have not moved into a more dangerous position.

His life-expectancy could have been shortened by about 25 years because of the attack.

He said: “The hospital said that they have never seen anything like it. Any knock could kill me if the pellets move, and I can’t go back to work because of the medication – it makes me drowsy and has given me fits.”