A man motivated by an apparent 'grudge' shot his victim with a crossbow at point blank range on a doorstep.
Adrian Adams called round to a house in Horwich his victim had been staying at on February 15 this year.
Bolton Crown Court heard how the man, who 53-year-old Adams apparently had 'issues with', opened the door to find a shocking scene waiting for him on the doorstep.
Bob Sastry, prosecuting, said: “Mr Adams was holding a medium sized crossbow and he immediately fired.”
He added: “It is accepted that the crossbow bolt did not have a tip, it had a blunt edge.”
A fight ensured, during in which Adams himself was injured, and he left.
The injured man experienced pains which worsened for the rest of the day and he later had to be taken to hospital where part of his bowel had to be removed.
Adams, who has 105 previous convictions for 119 offences including causing death by dangerous driving was arrested soon after.
According to Mr Sastry, on being cautioned by police Adams, from Birch Tree Way, Horwich, responded: “What? I’ve been battered.”
The 53-year-old continued to deny his latest crimes right up to the second day of his trial at which point he pleaded guilty to assault and possessing an offensive weapon in a public place.
Adam Watkins, defending, argued that Adams, who appeared via video link from prison, deserved credit for his belated guilty plea though he accepted his “frankly appalling record.”
He also pointed out that Adams’ victim had been able to “robustly defend himself” on the doorstep that day and had himself been injured.
Mr Watkins also claimed that Adams had shown some progress in recent year and had apparently been doing construction work with various community projects.
But Recorder Jeremy Lasker pointed out that whatever his motives, Adams’ actions had severely impacted his victim, having shot him “effectively at point blank range.”
He said that the victim had apparently believed that Adams had meant to aim at his testicles.
Recorder Lasker said: “Whether the grudge was valuably held, I have no idea.
“But there is no doubt that what you did was wrong, it was criminal, and it was extremely dangerous.”
He sentenced Adams to a total of 33 months in prison.
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