A jealous ex-boyfriend who shot his love rival outside a house in Westhoughton has been jailed for life.

Mark Ralphs, aged 21, was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court at an earlier hearing of attempting to murder a 19-year-old.

Ralphs, of Quakerfields, Westhoughton, Bolton, was sentenced today at Liverpool Crown Court to life in prison. He has been ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years.

He shot the man his ex-girlfriend had been seeing in the legs and hip because he was unhappy about their relationship.

On March 5, 2008, Ralphs had sent his former girlfriend text messages, in which he threatened to fight her boyfriend.

He also sent menacing texts to his victim, who went to see some friends at a house in Rutland Road, Tyldesley.

Shortly after 9.30pm, Ralphs got out of a car on the street and fired a sawn-off shotgun at his victim as he tried to run away.

The injured man was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital for treatment. He has been left with pellets lodged in his left thigh.

Detective Constable Paul Clayton, of Wigan CID, said: "Ralphs is clearly a dangerous man, who had easy access to a gun and was willing to use one against an innocent man, who was running away when he fired it.

"I hope the sentence passed today sends out a strong deterrent message to anyone who is prepared to pick up a gun to settle scores."