Pedestrian shot in the head from a passing car after pellet gun was discharged

Jaiden McMullan (18), of Seacourt Road in Larne, admitted a charge of assault in relation to Sunday December 4 last year.A prosecutor told Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, said a man attended Antrim Police Station saying that as he was walking on a footpath at Fountain Street in Antrim he was "hit by something to the back of his head, just below his right ear".The court, on Tuesday, heard the man said a witness told him a passenger in black-coloured Peugeot 207 had "discharged" a pellet gun.Police recovered CCTV from a business premises and it showed a Peugeot 207 with an R plate driving past the man who could then be seen placing his hand on the back of his head and looking around.Police attended the address of the last registered owner who confirmed he had been driving at the time.The court heard the defendant had been a passenger and had "fired a pellet".The defendant admitted the incident, saying he had fired a pellet from a "£20 BB gun" but was unaware it had hit the man.A defence solicitor said the driver of the car had bought the gun a few hours earlier at a market and he and the defendant had been on their way home.The lawyer said the defendant's behaviour had been "very foolish" during the journey home as "for whatever reason he discharged this out the window, no intention of hitting anybody, not aiming at anybody".The lawyer said his client, who had a previously clear record, accepted there could have had more serious consequences although it was not believed there was any serious injury.The solicitor said if the incident had been "read wrongly," an armed response team could have been called out and there could have been a "fatality from his point of view".District Judge Nigel Broderick slammed the defendant for shooting a pellet gun at an "innocent member of the public".He told McMullan it had been "very dangerous and foolhardy" and had it not been for the clear record and guilty plea he would have taken a "more stringent view" of the incident but said he was prepared to "put it down to a very foolish decision by a young man".As well as a £300 fine the judge also ordered the defendant to pay the victim £200 compensation.The judge added: "Hopefully that will be enough to persuade you not to engage in this behaviour again but I have to warn you if you do anything similar to this on another occasion I will have no hesitation in imposing a much more stringent penalty".