Man jailed for doorstep shooting

The judge described the shooting of Barry Simpson as "chilling."

A man has been jailed for nine years at the High Court in Edinburgh for shooting a father on his doorstep in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire.

Barry Simpson, 33, was just three to five feet away when Gary McFadyen, 26, opened fire with a sawn-off shotgun.

McFadyen admitted a charge of attempted murder and a firearms offence on 22 January at an earlier hearing.

On sentencing Judge Lord Hodge described the near-fatal shooting as "chilling."

The court heard that just before the attack Mr Simpson and a neighbour had spoken to two women about their comings and goings at the flat in Blantyre.

One of them, Danielle Hughes, was McFadyen's girlfriend.

Drink problem

The women complained to McFadyen, who armed himself with a sawn-off shotgun and returned to the flat at Ballantrae Road in Blantyre.

Mr Simpson's chest was peppered with shotgun pellets, some of which were embedded in his ribs

He was taken to Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride, with a large wound to his lower chest.

He went through an exploratory operation during which 17 pellets were removed.

McFadyen, of Berkley Drive, Blantyre, admitted to the offences at the High Court in Glasgow in June.

The court was told that in the months leading up to the attack McFadyen had spent most of his time with a local gang, moving from house to house drinking and smoking cannabis.

Tommy Ross, defending, said there was another side to the "callous and uncaring individual" described by the prosecution, explaining that he been looking after his mother since she had surgery for breast cancer.

He said McFadyen had sobered up since the incident and was seeking help for his drink problem.