Kesgrave: Teen 'lay in wait for hour' before shooting friend

The shooting took place on the day schools reopened after the first national lockdown

A 16-year-old boy lay in wait for more than an hour before "deliberately" shooting a friend in the face at close range, a court has heard.

The victim, aged 15 at the time, was wounded at the Grange Farm housing estate in Kesgrave, Suffolk, on 7 September.

The defendant used his grandfather's Beretta shotgun, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

He denies attempted murder and four related charges.

The victim was airlifted to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where he was left with "devastating and life-changing injuries" after suffering a stroke and has been "partially paralysed", the jury heard.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones QC said the boys had known each other since primary school and were believed to be friends at the time of the incident.

The court was told the defendant held the gun less than a metre from the victim "before he blasted him in the neck and face"

The jury heard the defendant, who cannot be named and was also aged 15 at the time, drove himself to the estate in his father's car.

Ms Karmy-Jones told the court he waited for more than an hour for the victim to leave home for school before "deliberately" shooting him in the face at "close range" at just after 08:30 BST.

The victim saw the defendant standing in front of the car, pointing "a large double-barrelled shotgun" at him, the court heard.

Ms Karmy-Jones told the court the victim refused to get in the car.

"All he remembers after that is hearing a bang and falling to the ground, but he remained conscious," she said.

"He remembered [the defendant] just stood there over him, not looking bothered as he lay bleeding in the street."

The defendant pointed the gun at a neighbour who looked out of a window after hearing the shot, the jury heard.

He looked towards the victim's "screaming and inconsolable" mother and showed her the gun, the court was told.

The jury heard he was arrested nearby, in the car, and told officers, "I've done what I wanted to do, scummy as it is. I will 100% co-operate with you."

A mutual friend of both boys told police the defendant would often speak of how the victim would "bully him" and "slap" him over the head at school but they remained friends.

Ms Karmy-Jones said the defendant had been "forming a plan" to shoot someone "for nearly a year".

The case continues.

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