A GAMEKEEPER whose shotgun went off in a 4x4 vehicle, killing an 18-year-old colleague, was jailed for seven years on Thursday (June 27) after being convicted of “gross negligence” manslaughter.

Judge Rhys Rowlands told Ben Wilson, 29, of Ely, Cambridge, who was found guilty by a Caernarfon crown court jury following more than four hours of deliberation, his attitude towards the safe storage and handling of guns in the period leading up to the tragedy was “appallingly lax.”

He pleaded guilty to having a loaded shotgun in public.

Another gamekeeper, Ben Fitzsimons, 23, of Nanhoron, Pwllheli, was cleared of manslaughter.

But he was jailed for two years after a previous jury found him guilty of having a loaded shotgun in public.

They’d been accused following the death in a pub car park at the village of Llanbedrog, near Pwllheli, of Peter Colwell, in February 2017.

Judge Rowlands told the pair : "As a result of your criminally irresponsible behaviour a young man lost his life.

This was an accident which could so easily have been avoided.”

The judge said the teenager “would have expected to have had the best of his life ahead of him.”

He said :”Instead he lost his life wholly needlessly when the gun was discharged in an accident simply waiting to happen.

“You not only ended Peter Colwell’s life but also caused dreadful anguish to his family and friends.”

The weapon should have been kept in a secure gun room. ‘Drinking and handling guns don’t mix,” the judge declared.

Fitzsimons had been an under keeper, working under the direction of Wilson for the Boduan shoot, near Pwllheli.

Judge Rowlands said there was “absolutely no reason” to take the gun out on a social evening, visiting pubs, and left in a vehicle where anyone could have seen or stolen it.

He said Fitzsimons had been “less than truthful” about what caused the gun to go off and had been prepared to sit alongside and handle a gun when he had been out drinking.

“As a gamekeeper you would have appreciated it was very wrong and very dangerous to have the gun there at all, let alone in the passenger footwell pointing towards the rear seat passengers.”

Anthony Berry QC, defending Wilson, said : "He isn’t a well-educated or particularly intelligent individual.”

He’d waited a long time for the case to be dealt with, counsel added.

David Elias QC, for Fitzsimons, said his client was remorseful and would have to live with what happened.

The prosecution said the gun was owned by Wilson but he hadn’t been in the Land Rover Discovery when it went off.

Prosecutor Patrick Harrington QC said there had been a “cavalier disregard of the fundamental rules of gun safety.”

Peter Colwell was shot in the face as he sat in the middle back seat of the Land Rover. The prosecution said Fitzsimons had been sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle with the gun propped up to his right with the muzzle facing

backwards. The killing wasn’t deliberate but drink and guns didn’t mix.

The accused and Mr Colwell were all gamekeepers on the large Boduan Estate near Pwllheli.

Detective Chief Inspector Gerwyn Thomas of North Wales police said after the case :"The tragic death of Peter Colwell was totally avoidable and has left his family devastated.

“Those issued with gun licences for their work or for their leisure activities have a great responsibility to adhere to the strict licence conditions at all times for their own safety and the safety of others.

“This case demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can follow when people show an arrogant, casual disregard for basic gun safety and the privilege afforded them of holding a gun licence.

“These men have rightly been given prison sentences and I hope they will spend the time to reflect on their most irresponsible behaviour.”

Solicitor Michael Strain, speaking on behalf of Ben Fitzsimons, said outside court:

“Peter Colwell was a friend and colleague. We went out for a beer after work to relax and enjoy ourselves around the pubs of Abersoch and Llanbedrog, on the evening of February 5, 2017.

“The tragedy which then unfolded, resulting in Peter Colwell’s death, is something that will be with me for the rest of my life.

“I deeply regret getting into a vehicle for a night out which contained a loaded shotgun and I should simply have refused to get into that car. Once I was in the car, I did the only thing I could do which was to try and make the gun safe and this is what I did and have consistently explained since.

“I believe to this day that the state in which I left the gun outside St Tudwal’s public house in Abersoch was safe and I believe the jury have accepted that my account is the truth.

This comes as a huge relief for me personally but I understand it will do nothing to lessen the grief of Peter’s family.

“I accept, with the benefit of hindsight, that there are things I could have done better that night and accept my punishment unreservedly. I appreciate that is insignificant compared to the loss Peter’s family will have to deal with for the rest of their lives and any relief I feel for myself is tempered by the knowledge of the loss that will be with them forever.”

North Wales Police detective Chief Inspector Gerwyn Thomas said:"

The tragic death of 18 year old Peter Colwell was totally avoidable and has left his family devastated.

"Those issued with gun licences for their work or for their leisure activities have a great responsibility to adhere to the strict licence conditions at all times for their own safety and the safety of others.

“This case demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can follow when people show an arrogant, casual disregard for basic gun safety and the privilege afforded them of holding a gun licence.

“These men have rightly been given prison sentences and I hope they will spend the time to reflect on their most irresponsible behaviour.

“I would like to thank the investigative team for the thorough work on this challenging case and on behalf of North Wales Police I wish to extend our sincere condolences to Peter’s family and friends."