Boy Shot In Head With Pellet In County Durham

17 November 2014, 16:01 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

An 11 year old boy's needed hospital treatment after being shot in the head with a pellet in County Durham.

Officers are appealing for witnesses after the schoolboy was shot in the head while he was waiting on the side lines of a football match in Chester-le-Street at the weekend.

Connor Minto was a substitute in an under 12s game between Chester-le-Street Town and Coxhoe being played at the Hermitage Academy on Saturday at around midday when he was injured.

Detective Constable Andy Froggatt said:
“Connor was standing next to the nets with some other boys watching a nearby rugby game when he felt what he thought was a stone hit his head."

"He ran to his dad because he could feel blood and his dad could see that a .22 pellet was lodged in Connor’s forehead just above his left eye."

 “This was a very serious incident. The photos clearly show how nasty the injury was, but it could have been much worse if the pellet had hit the Connor’s eye. His dad took him to the RVI hospital where the pellet was removed and he received stitches. Thankfully Connor is recovering well now, but he was extremely upset by what happened."

“We are appealing to anyone who was at the football or rugby games that were being played on Saturday and witnessed the incident to contact police."

“We’d also like to remind people about the dangers of using air weapons in public places. If anyone needs any advice on this subject, particularly in relation to the laws around children using air weapons, please contact police.”

Three 14-year-old boys from the Chester-le-Street area have been arrested in connection with the incident and bailed pending further enquiries.