Dad who fired shotgun at masked intruder to protect his sons jailed

dailyrecord.co.uk:

An armed dad who fired a shotgun at a masked intruder on his driveway as he protected his two sons has been put behind bars.Graham Delmar, aged 51, armed himself with the weapon after three men clad in balaclavas stormed his home on May 6, 2021, at approximately 10.30am.Sheffield Crown Court heard that two of those men, later identified as Thomas Maughan and Nathan Marshall, had been armed with a spade and a metal bar and both launched attacks on Delmar and his son, as reported by Yorkshire Live.The father and son pair had been working on an outhouse at the rear of the property when one of the two attackers dragged a ladder away trapping Delmar on the roof of the outhouse building.He leaped off the roof, breaking his foot in the process, in an attempt to step in and help his son who had suffered a wound to his head while being beaten.The masked men were chased off the property, but prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told the court that Delmar went indoors and picked up the shotgun.He said: “At that point the defendant had the obvious option to go into the house to remain there, to lock the doors and, if necessary, call the police.“The defendant however decided to take matters into his own hands.“He was prohibited from having a firearm in his possession.

It is evident from what followed that he had a shotgun in his possession and had ammunition for it.“He took up the shotgun and loaded it.

The intruders returned to the front garden and they made threatening gestures.“The defendant came out with the shotgun and fired it at the man Maughan from a distance of 3.44 metres.

The pellets hit him in the upper right shoulder area.“Thomas Maughan and the others retreated in panic.”CCTV shown to the court pictured Delmar standing in the