Man's 'moment of stupidity' led to his own son's death

Jun 9 2009 by Ross McCarthy, Birmingham Post

A father whose moment of stupidity led to the tragic death of his young son, who died after being shot in the head with an air rifle pellet at his Birmingham home, has been shown mercy by a judge.

The 23-month-old victim died a week after the incident, which happened after Bakht Zaman left the rifle lying around without the safety catch on.

Judge William Davis QC told Zaman, of Bennetts Road, Washwood Heath: “On the twenty-fourth of August last year, you did something stupid, momentarily stupid. When you put the gun down, your momentary stupidity was not to put the safety catch on.

“It was within a matter of seconds that a child fired the gun, plainly not deliberately aiming at anyone, but tragically striking your very young son.

“What on earth can I do as a judge to punish you for what happened? Your punishment is your guilt at what your momentary inattention did. I cannot punish you any more.”

Zaman, 29, who previously admitted allowing or causing the death of a child, was conditionally discharged for two years and ordered to pay £580 costs.

Peter Grieves-Smith, prosecuting at Birmingham Crown Court, said that the defendant lived with his family, including his young son, Rashid Ullah, and that in March 2007 he had bought a .22 air rifle and scope.

“Tests were carried out to see if the weapon could be fired without pulling the trigger. In short, it was not possible,” he said.

He said on August 24, the defendant was at home in his rear garden, shooting his air rifle at empty cans positioned at the bottom of his garden, close to his shed.

At around 6.40pm, Zaman made a call to the ambulance services, saying that his son had been shot in the head. Paramedics who arrived found Rashid unconscious on the sofa.

Zaman said that, as he was firing the gun, his phone rang, and that he had put the gun down and went to answer the call.

He said that a child who had been in the garden had picked the weapon up and fired it, hitting his son with a pellet.

Mr Grieve-Smith said the boy was rushed to hospital in a coma, and although his condition improved briefly, he died on September 1 from a massive stroke as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

He said it had not been possible to tell whether the pellet had hit the boy directly, or whether there had been a ricochet.

Michael Nelson, defending, said Zaman was a well-liked and respected man in the community, and went on: “The defendant has shown immediate and incredible remorse, as a good father would.”

He said family and friends had to watch as the boy suffered, because it had not been an immediate fatal shot.