Exclusive by Emma Grove

A housewife has spoken of the terrifying moment she was shot in the leg by a caller to her quiet village home.

Surgeons removed 80 shotgun pellets from Marilyn Finch’s legs following the attack in Bramley Way, Eastchurch.

The horror started about 4.50pm on March 9 when 41-year-old Mrs Finch was sitting in the living-room of her bungalow and the door buzzed.

She and her husband Peter have CCTV at the front door and Mrs Finch saw a man standing with his back to the camera.

She went out into the hallway and opened the front door.

As soon as she did this, the man began arguing with her and within seconds she was faced with a sawn-off gun.

Mrs Finch said: "From behind his back he pulled a shotgun. He shouted and screamed and then pulled the gun out.

"I slammed the door and started running back up the corridor and he shot through the bottom of the door.

"It felt like about three people had shoved me really hard to the ground and it felt like my leg was on fire. It was terrifying."

Quietly spoken Mrs Finch fell to the ground and managed to drag herself into the living room, leaving a trail of blood.

Mr Finch, 46, was having a lie down in the bedroom when it happened.

He said: "All I heard was an almighty bang and something hit my bedroom door.

"I heard Maz screaming and I came into the lounge and she had crawled into there from the door and I had to pick her up off the floor."

Mrs Finch, who is a full-time carer for her husband who has blood clots on the brain, was rushed to Medway Maritime Hospital with gunshot wounds to both of her legs.

There are still signs of the ordeal in the Finch’s house - a hole blasted through the bottom of the front door, wallpaper scraped away from the wall where the pellets from the shotgun cartridge hit it and a hole in the bedroom door at the end of the corridor.

But the worst damage was to Mrs Finch. Using crutches to get around, she is now on strong pain-killers and antibiotics and still has pellets buried deep in her legs.

Although the tablets make her feel drowsy she said she can remember the drama quite clearly.

She said: "I don’t know how long I will be on the tablets for. I’m still in a lot of pain.

"I have to inject myself in the stomach because there are still pellets in me and I hate needles."

The couple, who have lived in Eastchurch for eight years, say they have no idea why the gunman turned up at their house.

They said it was completely out of the blue and were horrified it happened in the afternoon when there were children playing outside.

Mr Finch added: "The doctor said if Marilyn had been about a foot further back, nearer the door, she would have lost her leg.

"I think when she shut the door it pushed the gun down and that’s why it got her legs. It could have been so much worse."