ianstone
06-18-2010, 01:15 PM
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01068/Michael-Hole_WNS_2_1068148a.jpg
Jailed ... Michael Hole gave a gun to his stepson
was jailed for five years today after his teenage stepson accidentally shot himself in the head while posing for photos with an illegal gun.
Michael Hole, 50, failed to check the Beretta .25 pistol was loaded before asking schoolboy Lewis Bailey to put it against his temple for the picture.
The weapon went off and blasted the 15-year-old at point-blank range but he miraculously survived.
Dad-of-four Hole dialled 999 and told the operator: "A little boy has shot himself in the head. Hurry up - he's dying."
Fled
He then grabbed the gun and mobile phone and fled the house in Newport, Gwent, before paramedics arrived to find Lewis in a pool of blood but still conscious.
The schoolboy told them: "I held it to my head for a photograph while my stepdad took a picture."
Hole visited family to change his clothes before dumping the gun in a drain and destroying his phone.
Cops found him nine hours later and arrested him for attempted murder.
He was jailed at Cardiff Crown Court when he admitted illegally possessing the firearm and child neglect.
Prosecutor Martyn Kelly said: "Lewis came home from school and he was told by his stepfather to keep his jacket on.
"Hole then said: 'Do you mind taking a picture with the gun to your head for my friend?' Lewis said: 'OK'.
"Lewis did what he was told and held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. He described a buzz and then he collapsed."
Mr Kelly added: "Hole was extremely upset and said it was an accident. But this was gross stupidity."
Hole later told police: "Me and my stepson were messing around with the gun.
"We didn't have any bullets for it - he fired it at me and nothing happened, at the floor and nothing happened. But he fired it at himself and it went off."
The court heard that Lewis had made a "remarkable recovery" and has been taking his GCSEs — but may suffer medical problems in the future.
Lewis's mum Edwina, who married Hole four years ago, was in court to support him.
In a letter to the judge, she appealed for leniency and described Hole as a "wonderful father".
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-e4m3Yko6bFYVc.gif?labels=NewsAndReference,Entertai nmentNews http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-e4m3Yko6bFYVc.gif?labels=NewsAndReference,Entertai nmentNews http://cache.adviva.net/creative/blank.gif?ts=20100618181207&cmxid=2101.020007545200785573xmc
She said: "Michael had been the glue that holds this family together. He has an excellent relationship with Lewis and he misses Michael and does not wish him to go to prison."
But Judge Nicholas Cooke QC said he had to be jailed and added: "This is a terrible tragedy for all concerned."
Outside court Detective Chief Inspector Steve Mogg said: "Lewis is a very lucky young man.
"For somebody to be shot in the head and survive without any long-term effects is absolutely amazing, nothing short of a miracle.
"A millimetre one way or the other and it might have been a different story.
"Nobody even checked whether the gun was loaded. It's unbelievable."
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3020271/Dad-gave-son-loaded-gun.html#ixzz0rE3evl8w
Jailed ... Michael Hole gave a gun to his stepson
was jailed for five years today after his teenage stepson accidentally shot himself in the head while posing for photos with an illegal gun.
Michael Hole, 50, failed to check the Beretta .25 pistol was loaded before asking schoolboy Lewis Bailey to put it against his temple for the picture.
The weapon went off and blasted the 15-year-old at point-blank range but he miraculously survived.
Dad-of-four Hole dialled 999 and told the operator: "A little boy has shot himself in the head. Hurry up - he's dying."
Fled
He then grabbed the gun and mobile phone and fled the house in Newport, Gwent, before paramedics arrived to find Lewis in a pool of blood but still conscious.
The schoolboy told them: "I held it to my head for a photograph while my stepdad took a picture."
Hole visited family to change his clothes before dumping the gun in a drain and destroying his phone.
Cops found him nine hours later and arrested him for attempted murder.
He was jailed at Cardiff Crown Court when he admitted illegally possessing the firearm and child neglect.
Prosecutor Martyn Kelly said: "Lewis came home from school and he was told by his stepfather to keep his jacket on.
"Hole then said: 'Do you mind taking a picture with the gun to your head for my friend?' Lewis said: 'OK'.
"Lewis did what he was told and held the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. He described a buzz and then he collapsed."
Mr Kelly added: "Hole was extremely upset and said it was an accident. But this was gross stupidity."
Hole later told police: "Me and my stepson were messing around with the gun.
"We didn't have any bullets for it - he fired it at me and nothing happened, at the floor and nothing happened. But he fired it at himself and it went off."
The court heard that Lewis had made a "remarkable recovery" and has been taking his GCSEs — but may suffer medical problems in the future.
Lewis's mum Edwina, who married Hole four years ago, was in court to support him.
In a letter to the judge, she appealed for leniency and described Hole as a "wonderful father".
http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-e4m3Yko6bFYVc.gif?labels=NewsAndReference,Entertai nmentNews http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-e4m3Yko6bFYVc.gif?labels=NewsAndReference,Entertai nmentNews http://cache.adviva.net/creative/blank.gif?ts=20100618181207&cmxid=2101.020007545200785573xmc
She said: "Michael had been the glue that holds this family together. He has an excellent relationship with Lewis and he misses Michael and does not wish him to go to prison."
But Judge Nicholas Cooke QC said he had to be jailed and added: "This is a terrible tragedy for all concerned."
Outside court Detective Chief Inspector Steve Mogg said: "Lewis is a very lucky young man.
"For somebody to be shot in the head and survive without any long-term effects is absolutely amazing, nothing short of a miracle.
"A millimetre one way or the other and it might have been a different story.
"Nobody even checked whether the gun was loaded. It's unbelievable."
Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3020271/Dad-gave-son-loaded-gun.html#ixzz0rE3evl8w