Quinn, R v

[1] The defendant is to be sentenced on his plea of guilty to wounding Gintaras Gedrimas with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, contrary to s. 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. The defendant was originally charged with the attempted murder of Mr�Gedrimas, and was due to stand trial on that charge on Monday 15 March 2010, but on Wednesday 10 March 2010 he asked to be re-arraigned and pleaded guilty to the charge under s. 18, and this plea was accepted by the prosecution.

[2] On 25 May 2008 Mr Gedrimas and a group of fellow Lithuanians were walking through Coalisland after a party when they were approached by a masked man carrying a gun resembling a rifle which the gunman held at waist level. He then fired a shot from 10-15 metres away which struck Mr Gedrimas in the right side.

[3] The gunman was chased by some of the crowd and seen to get into a waiting car, but before he did so he turned and pointed the gun at Vidmantas Gedrimas, the injured man's brother, who had chased the gunman.

[4] Mr Gedrimas suffered a severe gunshot wound to the right chest and arm, resulting in a pneumothorax. A number of pellets lodged in his arm, the wall of the large bowel, liver and right kidney, thereby indicating that the weapon was a shotgun. He spent some time in the Intensive Care Unit. The wound was described as a serious injury which was potentially life threatening.

[8] It transpired that the car was driven by the defendant's girlfriend Emma Rintoul. She came to the police and described how she and the defendant had a row earlier that night. The defendant later sent her a text asking her to meet him which she did at Canal Quay. He asked her to wait and walked away. She then heard a bang, and the defendant ran towards the car chased by a Lithuanian man, got in and told her to drive off which she did. She saw that he had a shotgun and was wearing a balaclava. They drove to her home.