A JEALOUS thug wielding a one-handed crossbow and an axe fired a bolt into a man’s stomach after falsely accusing him of sleeping with his partner.

Delroy Mairah, 40, was caught on CCTV in a car park near flats in East Street, Colchester, telling his friends “watch this”.

Ipswich Crown Court heard he advanced on the victim with a small £80 metal tactical crossbow and fired.

The victim can be heard saying “what are you on about, don’t shoot me with that thing”.

The bolt was fired at 200ft per second and punctured the victim’s shirt and skin. Mairah also wielded a small axe in his other hand.

The court was told Mairah carried out a “revenge attack”, accusing the victim of sleeping with his partner.

The victim had moved into a flat neighbouring Mairah’s partner in the days prior to the attack.

The court heard there was a conversation between the defendant and the victim which caused Mairah to feel “some form of disrespect”.

The victim pulled the bolt from his abdomen following the attack and later handed it over to the police.

In a statement, he said he had felt anxiety when thinking back on the attack, particularly when considering “his own safety and the safety of his pregnant partner and son”.

Mairah, who has ten convictions for 17 offences, handed himself in at Colchester Police Station on September 16, four days after the attack.

He told the police he had not meant to fire the crossbow, an assertion Judge Emma Peters branded as “complete nonsense”.

He admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a blade.

Kevin Toomey, mitigating, said Mariah had struggled with depression after losing both his mother and his father to illness in quick succession.

Judge Emma Peters sentenced Mairah, of East Street, Colchester, to three years and four months imprisonment.

She acknowledged he had showed some concern for the victim when he handed himself in to the police.

But she added: “As you strode across the courtyard, as you shot him with that crossbow, there was no mercy at all in your heart that I could see." 

-

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our court and crime newsletter here.

Keep up to date with all the latest crime and court news with our dedicated Facebook page.