A BIOLOGIST who reacted to nine months of violence and intimidation by shooting one of his alleged assailants was jailed for eight years yesterday.

Simon Jennings, 37, wounded Sean Pritchard in the head and shoulder when confronting him with a pistol after bricks were thrown through the window of Jennings's home. Mr Justice Curtis, delivering sentence at Worcester Crown Court, told him: "That sort of conduct simply cannot be allowed on the streets to which the public have access."

A jury found Jennings, from Manchester, guilty of wounding with intent at a trial in Stafford last month. He was cleared of attempted murder, but was further charged with possessing an illegal firearm, a Glock handgun, and prohibited ammunition.

The earlier trial was told that on Nov 27, 1999, the defendant was in bed with his girlfriend at his then home in Garden Street, Stafford, when he heard glass breaking. Andre de Moller, defending, said it was the culmination of nine months of terror during which Jennings had been the victim of a "revenge vendetta" stemming from an earlier incident.

Petrol had been poured through his letter box, gangs had surrounded his house making threats and he had been forced to barricade his home with a mattress over the window and steel bolts on the door.

Jennings took his handgun, which he kept by his bed, ran outside and shot Mr Pritchard, 24, at close range. The judge told him: "You are very, very lucky that man did not die and you are not charged with murder."

Mr Pritchard admitted having [red]58 previous convictions.[/red] It was disclosed that he and two friends were returning from an all-day drinking session when the incident occurred. He denied being involved in the campaign against Jennings, although one of those present, Terry Hughes, 22, admitted throwing a brick through one of Jennings's windows.

A spokesman for Staffordshire Police said: "We recognise that the behaviour of the people who went to the house that night was unlawful, and the sustained harassment had put this man in fear over a period of time, but to shoot someone in the head is not a reasonable response."

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You're all forgeting that self defense in the UK is illegal.

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Oh?  What [b]would[/b] be "a reasonable response"??? Call the cops?  That helped over the previous 9 months of persecution?  I think a double-tap to the head is a PERFECTLY reasonable response.