A drunken man who accidentally shot his uncle in the neck with an airgun has been jailed for 18 months.

Noel Hutchinson was left with the pellet lodged near his spine and could have been paralysed if surgeons had tried to remove it.

But he tragically committed suicide less than a month later because he was seriously ill with lung cancer.

His nephew Andrew Frape, of Boundary Road, Chatham, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm and having a firearm in a public place.

Frape appeared at Maidstone Crown Court for sentence by Recorder Matthew McDonagh.

Thomas Stern, prosecuting, said Mr Hutchinson, 64, drove to his sister’s home in Rochester on May 17 to pick up a friend.

Frape, 48, was there with another man. Both had been drinking and were using the gun to shoot at targets in the garden.

Mr Hutchinson took his friend in his car to cut his grass at his home in Arran Green, Rochester and Frape and his friend went as well.

Mr Stern said: “Frape was in the back of the car and still had the air pistol which he was waving around, despite being told to stop. The gun went off.”

Mr Hutchinson felt instant pain to the left side of his neck behind the ear and drove to a medical centre but it was closed. He went to Medway Hospital. The pellet was lodged in his neck near to his spine.

He spent two days in hospital. The pellet couldn’t be removed because of its proximity to the spine and there was a risk of paralysis had surgery been attempted, Mr Stern said.

Mr Hutchinson died on June 6, but there was no suggestion this was linked to the offence.

When arrested, Frape said he did not know the gun was loaded when he took it with him.

“This is a case of reckless conduct and he was remorseful about it,” Mr Stern told the court.

Gordon Carse, defending, said Frape and Mr Hutchinson had a loving relationship and were close. “Frape did not know if he was the last person to use the gun,” Mr Carse said.

“He did not load it and thought it was empty.

“He should have checked whether it was loaded. The remorse he feels is real" - Gordon Carse

“The weapon was not deliberately used. It was an accident. He had no desire, even in jest, to cause his uncle any injury. But he should have realised his inhibitions were damaged by alcohol and he should not have taken the gun out and waved it in the air.

“He should have checked whether it was loaded. The remorse he feels is real.”

Recorder McDonagh told Frape: “Because of your drunkenness you did not realise the gun was loaded. You were drunk, took the gun in the car, did not check it, waved it around, even when told to stop and then discharged it and shot the driver.”

Recorder McDonagh said a number of people in the car and on the highway had been exposed to danger and this was very serious. He ordered the gun to be destroyed.