A 78-year-old man has been jailed for three years after he shot dead his six-year-old great-grandson as he checked his unlicensed air rifle.

Albert Grannon fired the .22 calibre weapon into football-mad Stanley Metcalf’s stomach during a family gathering at his home in Sproatley, East Yorkshire, in July last year.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how the youngster said “you shot me granddad” as shocked relatives responded to the sound of a loud bang in the house.

Stanley’s mother, Jenny Dees, said of the defendant, who is her grandfather: “Not once did he say sorry. Now if he did, it would be meaningless – too little, too late.”

Ms Dees read an emotional statement to court after placing a photo of Stanley in front of her in the witness box.

She said that, immediately after the incident, she felt sorry for her grandfather but she told the judge: “I don’t feel sorry for him now.”

Paul Genney, defending, told the court that, despite the views of Stanley’s parents, Grannon, “blames himself totally”.

The judge told Grannon: “You ended a young life and you brought lifelong grief and misery to his parents and to the whole of his family.

“What you did was obviously a very dangerous thing to do. Why on Earth did you do it?”

Grannon showed no emotion as he stood to be sentenced.

The court heard how Stanley’s extended family had been split by the incident and some relatives sat in the court itself while others were in the overhanging public gallery.

Many were in tears as the sentence was passed.

As he led away, one woman shouted from the balcony: “Love you Dad.”

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