Man shot former friend outside house as toddler and pregnant fiancée hid inside on Boxing Day

A man has been jailed for showing up at a former friend's home and shooting him while his toddler and pregnant fiancée were indoors.

Ricky Dull, 34, used a .44 calibre shotgun to carry out the "point blank" attack outside the man's house in Poppy Lane in Stockton.

Teesside Crown Court heard Dull arrived in a Land Rover and argued with his former boxing training companion over a drug debt before shooting him and he driving away.

The shot went straight through the victim's leg and his fiancée rushed him to North Tees Hospital, where he lied to staff about what had happened to him, prosecutor Jonathan Walker told the court.

The court heard that Dull was captured on neighbours' CCTV footage and that he was arrested at an address in Fishburn, County Durham, on 27 December. He claimed it was not him in the footage.

On searching his house, police found pepper spray in Dull's kitchen drawer. Dull was re-arrested on 25 February, at an address in Norton. This time police found a taser with a cartridge, a charger and power leads in a bedroom drawer.

A machete was also discovered at the house on Drake Road.

Dull, of Dundas Street in Stockton, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent; the possession of a firearm with intent to cause violence; the possession of ammunition without a certificate; and two counts of the possession of a prohibited weapon.

The court heard that he has previous convictions for poaching and for driving without due care and attention in 2014.

Paul Abrahams, mitigating, said that Dull had written a letter of remorse to the judge. Dull spoke via video link from HMP Durham: "Your Honour, I want to say I'm truly deeply sorry to my victim and his family.

"I'm sorry to my family, to my fiancée and my kids, for what I have done. I promise with all my heart, I'll never be in this situation again. I'm asking for a second chance to be with my family."

Mr Abrahams said that his client was "behaving exceptionally well" in prison, and engaging with counsellors. A psychiatrist's report had found that he has "potential issues with post traumatic stress disorder."

The judge jailed Dull for 11-years-and-one-month, and told him that he will serve two-thirds of the prison term, before being released on licence.

Dull was made subject to an indefinite restraining order, prohibiting him from contacting his victim.

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