Man who shot acquaintance guilty of murder

A man has been found guilty of murder after shooting an acquaintance with a double-barrelled shotgun in Nottingham.

Nottinghamshire Police said it was called to a property in Ryeland Gardens, in The Meadows, at about 05:30 GMT on 28 February, when Jack Preston claimed a masked man had burst into his home and shot Coel Tainton.

Tainton, 24, whose family previously said had a "precious soul and contagious laugh", died soon after despite treatment by paramedics.

Preston, 34, of Ryeland Gardens, later told police he had acted in self-defence but he was found guilty of murder by a jury at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday. He will be sentenced on 24 September.

Police said both men had been socialising together on 27 February and "discussed the sale and purchase of a phone with drug dealing contacts on it".

CCTV footage caught them in various pubs that evening before they went to a cash machine in the early hours of 28 February, eventually returning to Preston's home.

"Within minutes of their return, events took a turn and Preston shot Coel with a double-barrelled shotgun that he had previously stored at the property," police said.

Preston then called 999 and told the call handler his friend had been shot by an intruder. He was the only other person inside the property when emergency services arrived.

He was arrested at the scene for attempted murder and went on to assault a police officer after being brought into custody.

When forensically examined, Preston's DNA was found on the shotgun but he initially claimed that was because he had grabbed it "during a tussle with the imaginary intruder".

Police said his story started to unravel when officers found a video filmed about an hour before the shooting showing Preston handling the gun in front of Tainton.

A shopping bag containing shotgun cartridges was also discovered under the stairs.

According to police, Preston "completely changed his story" in the weeks that followed and said he had acted in self-defence, claiming Tainton had tried to rob him with the gun before being shot accidentally "in the resulting scuffle".

Preston was later charged with murder, possessing a shortened shotgun and assaulting an emergency worker.

He admitted the firearms offence and the assault but denied murder, prompting a trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

After he was found guilty, Det Insp Clare Gibson, from the major crime team at the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: "Jack Preston's decision to keep a loaded shotgun in his home and then fire it in his kitchen were the key factors in Coel Tainton's death.

"His actions in the early hours of that morning have caused unimaginable pain and torment to all of Coel's family and friends.

"Preston then augmented their suffering by changing his account of events multiple times and even heartlessly trying to blame Coel for his own death.

"After months of falsely claiming a third party was involved and then stating he'd acted in self-defence, it was pleasing to see the jury reject his version of events and convict him of murder."

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